No one was more invested in today’s Senate ratification of New START than Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The treaty was her baby. She won Sergei Lavrov’s cooperation and respect. Their teams and they negotiated this treaty together, and Secretary Clinton has worked very hard behind the scenes to achieve those Senate votes. Here are some remarks and responses on the subject from P.J. Crowley’s press briefing today.
Philip J. CrowleyAssistant Secretary
Daily Press BriefingWashington, DCDecember 22, 2010“… Clearly, from the Secretary on down we are monitoring the Senate and anticipate a vote on the New START Treaty perhaps in the next hour. The Secretary has been monitoring developments this morning from home. She actually plans to go up to the Hill, perhaps is leaving her house as we speak, and will be there when the vote takes place.Over the course of a number of months either in phone calls, meetings, or interactions on the Hill, she has perhaps touched virtually every member of the Senate where she has great friendships from her time there. And we believe this will be a strong bipartisan statement and an important development both in the nonproliferation agenda and demonstrates our commitment to reduce our reliance on nuclear weapons. It is certainly appropriate that the two countries with the leading nuclear arsenals should demonstrate a commitment to arms control and to reduction in the size of their respective nuclear forces.
QUESTION: Why did you use the word perhaps?
MR. CROWLEY: Perhaps. Perhaps what?
QUESTION: She has perhaps touched –
MR. CROWLEY: I can’t say that she has talked to every single senator, but I think she has touched virtually everyone if not everyone. I can’t – I haven’t got a whip count. So that’s why I qualified it slightly.”
And here are some photos from today.
Going into the Senate chamber with her fingers crossed.
Jubilant (and probably greatly relieved) after te vote.
Cutie with a Christmas tree pin.
Outside Joe Biden’s Senate office.
Merry Christmas, Mme. Secretary! It should be a very happy one for you. Thank you for all of your very hard work negotiating this treaty for us and negotiating the vote!
Good for her. She deserves this success. Now I hope she can enjoy the holiday with her friends and family.
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Yes, and she deserves credit and praise. I watched Obama’s press conference and he thanked everyone except her! I couldn’t believe it!
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I can, but to bad he can’t acknowledge her work even if others do. I read somewhere asking if this was really hillary’s start treaty.
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I have had it open on my browser all day. Here it is, and he is right.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=40741
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There is was a little article on the 111th congress
I sure wish I could have saw hillary smack tom coburn
Mrs. Clinton, one of the Obama administration’s lead treaty boosters and a former Democratic senator, mingled with a group of GOP lawmakers clustered around Sen. John Thune, a budding presidential hopeful for 2012. While laughing, she slapped the arm of Sen. Tom Coburn, the Oklahoma Republican who drew flak this week for threatening to hold up an aid package for Sept. 11 first responders.
Later she walked the aisle with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican from Texas dressed in Santa Claus red, before exchanging a “Merry Christmas” with Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri.
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LOLOL!!!! I wish I had seen that, too! Those CSPAN cameras don’t get all the good stuff, especially since she probably made sure she was out of camera range for the slap. I only saw her hugging and kissing the aye voters.
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I don’t think this is the one you saw, but it’s similar. Lugar liked her tree pin (as I do). 😀
http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/7615-as-congress-wraps-up-members-share-wine-compliments-christmas-plans-
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Pin admiring, was he? Hmmm…. 😉
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Hmmmm… yes he was. It’s a beautiful pin!
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And I suppose the fellow behind her in the third picture (State Dept. security, I think) was admiring her purse, right?
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There’s much to admire when it comes to HRC!
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And he found something he liked.
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I guess so!!!!!
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Well I saw her and she was enjoying being on the Senate floor. I bet a lot of her friends are going out to dinner tonite. Merry Christmas Madame Secretary.
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I hope she is celebrating big time!
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I hope she and the Squire of State are enjoying themselves and partying tonight. Biden and Gates, too. Being a presidential proxy is hard work.
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And let’s not forget Mike Mullen – whose name seems always to slip Obama’s mind. I like him. He worked hard.
I wish ALL of them a lovely holiday break with NO terrorist attempts in the USA (or ANYWHERE)! PEACE on EARTH!
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Yes, I’m sorry I forgot the Admiral! He was sent out a lot to shepherd DADT to passage.
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*DADT repeal
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Another article in praise of Hillary. People know who is working. http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/255885/praise-hillary-clinton-duncan-currie
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Excellent, Rachel! Thank you!
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[…] work their teams put in to formulate the New START Treaty, to the day she quietly, and unofficially showed up on Capitol Hill in December 2010 to celebrate the ratification of that treaty for which she had fought so […]
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[…] Hillary Clinton’s New START: A Happy Beginning […]
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[…] Hillary Clinton’s New START: A Happy Beginning […]
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[…] before Christmas six years ago, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rushed to the Capitol to see the Senate vote and ratify the New S TART treaty. The treaty was the result of hard work and long cooperation between her and Russian Foreign […]
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