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Ambassador's Speech
AMBASSADOR WAYNE REMARKS AT THE COCKTAIL FOR THE U.S. CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION
February 21, 2008
Good evening ladies and gentleman. Thank you for being with us tonight.
I‘m pleased to see so many distinguished guests with us tonight, including Ministerial Secretaries of the Argentine Government, Ambassadors and other officials from the Foreign Ministry, and Congressional representatives.
I want to acknowledge in particular former Argentine Ambassador to the United States Octavio Bordon and his wife Monica and the new Ambassador Hector Timerman.
I also want to give a special welcome to our 12 Youth Ambassadors from all across Argentina, outstanding young men and women who will travel to the US tomorrow night for two weeks in Washington DC and Montana, getting to know the US and helping Americans get to know Argentina.
I am very honored to have as a guest and to introduce to you Mr. Eliot Engel, U.S. Representative from the State of New York and Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. Mr. Engel is joined in this visit by Representative Gene Green and his wife Helen from Texas; Representative Maurice Hinchey and his wife Allison from New York; Representative Jerry Weller from Illinois; and Representative Virginia Foxx and her husband Thomas from North Carolina.
The travels of our Representatives and Senators overseas are crucial to the formation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. While the President of the United States and his (or her) administration represent the face of U.S. foreign policy, it is often the members of our Congress who are either the authors of, or major proponents of, the United States’ policy initiatives with international impact. They also provide the “consent” that the framers of our Constitution incorporated into the tripartite division of powers that underpins our form of government. These men and women, and their colleagues in the House of Representatives, authorize the funds and provide the oversight that ensures that our country’s foreign policy represents the aspirations of the American people. U.S. foreign policy is not shaped in “isolation” by the Administration, but is a collaborative and negotiated reflection of political compromise and consensus – in effect, a reflection of the U.S politics.
Before turning the floor over to Mr. Engel, I would like to take the opportunity of this visit to recognize the passing of a great U.S. Statesman, and Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on International Relations. On February 11, a colleague of our visiting Congressional representatives, Representative Tom Lantos, passed away at the age of 80. As Secretary Rice said, “Tom Lantos was a genuine American hero. He came to America as a refugee from totalitarianism and he became a remarkable contributor to American political, civic and cultural life. Tom spoke to the best of American ideals. He was a staunch defender of freedom and an implacable foe of tyranny. No one could miss the compelling moral force of his vision, and yet he spoke unfailingly in an open and inviting and gentlemanly manner. America has lost a most eloquent voice and a true foreign policy leader.” Many of you here in Argentina know him, as well, as a leading supporter in Argentina’s efforts to identify and bring to justice those responsible for the 1994 terrorist bombing of AMIA.
And now I’d like to turn the floor over to Congressmam Engel.
