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U.S.
Senator Member: Agriculture, Energy, Veterans' Affairs, Ethics and Aging Committees |
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For Immediate
Release December 6, 2006 |
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Comm. Director 303-455-7600 Andrew Nannis – Press Secretary 202-224-5852 |
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Washington, DC – United States Senator Ken Salazar voted today to confirm Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense. The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Dr. Gates as Defense Secretary; Senator Salazar’s statement in support of Secretary Gates follows: “Mr. President, I rise to speak on behalf of the confirmation of Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense. “Mr. President, when I look at the testimony that was offered by Robert Gates yesterday in front of the Armed Services Committee, I was impressed by the qualities that he was proposing to bring to the job, and I want to speak to some of those qualities here this afternoon before we get to a confirmation vote on his nomination to be the next Secretary of Defense. “First, I was impressed with his candor. I think his sense of what is happening in Iraq and his grasp of the facts and being straightforward with the United States Senate in terms of how he views the picture of Iraq is refreshing. I think what it tells all of us is that Dr. Gates would bring in the fresh eyes that we need to have on the problem in Iraq so that we can hopefully develop a new direction that is one that will work for our country. So I appreciate the candor with which he spoke yesterday to the Senate armed services committee. “Secondly, I was impressed with Dr. Gates and his openness with respect to considering all options in response to questions that were asked of him by members of the Committee. What he said is that all options were, in fact, on the table. He did not simply say that he had a specific course of action or that we were going to stay the course, but what he said is that everything needed to be examined. “And third, I was impressed also by the quality of collaboration which he talked about. I think in his statement to the committee where he talked about working with all agencies and working with the members of Congress he was saying that Iraq is an issue that really belongs to all of America and will require all of us to work together. “I believe when you look at what has happened in the last five or six weeks, we see a growing momentum for a new direction in Iraq. I think that new direction is set forth with a lot of things that are happening, they're developing and hopefully will unite our country together as we look for solutions. “Let me say that the Iraq Study Group in its own study which I know is being heralded around the country today, starts out with its very, very candid assessment of what is happening in Iraq today and is set forth in the first paragraph of the Iraq study report. It says, and I quote, "The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating. There is no path that can guarantee success but the prospects can be improved." “Again, when this study group says that the situation “is grave and deteriorating,” there is a sense of candor here with respect to what is happening on the ground in Iraq. I had the honor and privilege of visiting Iraq with my friend from Virginia, Senator Warner, whom I have tremendous respect for, and Senator Levin from Michigan, whom I also have tremendous respect for, and that was in March of this last year. “I remember my conversations then with my good friend from Virginia where he talked about how things have changed in Iraq from the first time that he had visited Baghdad to the time that we were there in March, and his assessment is matters have gotten worse with respect to the violence that we see on the ground. “I strongly believe that we need to move forward in a bipartisan manner to develop a new direction for our country with respect to Iraq. I believe that we need to succeed in Iraq and I believe that getting the regional interests involved in helping us formulate a solution is very important and, thus, continuing to send the message to the Iraq people and to the Iraqi government that they first and foremost have the responsibility to bring about the security that will allow their government to function and the people of Iraq to have peace and stability is something that is very essential. “And I believe that we have the people and the leadership here in this body of the United States Senate to be able to charter our future bipartisan direction for the United States of America, not only in Iraq but in the Middle East because as was appropriately pointed out by the commission, this really is an issue that goes beyond Iraq and it's an issue that involves the entire Middle East. “I will quote again another friend of mine, former President Bill Clinton, in which he said, “The eggs have been broken. And now we have to make an omelet out of it.” Or former Secretary of State Colin Powell who made the comment at one point in time that, “We broke it, we bought it.” “Well, we have a problem in Iraq and in the Middle East. And in order for us to rise to the challenge that faces us, it's going to take tremendous bipartisanship and leadership from all of us here in this body and I look forward to working with my colleagues as we move forward on this agenda.” # # #
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