Dick Lugar: “Today the Senate will be considering S. 925, the State Department authorization bill. During the last 4 months, the…”

“Today the Senate will be considering S. 925, the State Department authorization bill. During the last 4 months, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has been working hard on issues related to the funding and operations of the State Department. We have held hearings on public diplomacy, embassy security, the role of the State Department in the war on terrorism, the nonproliferation programs overseen by the State Department, and the overall State Department budget. In numerous other hearings and briefings covering such issues as Iraq, North Korea, Afghanistan, and NATO, we have reviewed the vital role of diplomacy at this stage of our United States history. In our hearings and through our daily contacts with the State Department, the Foreign Relations Committee has witnessed the commitment and the skill of departmental personnel as they work to improve national security and our prosperity in increasingly difficult and often very dangerous circumstances. We cannot expect diplomacy to succeed 100 percent of the time, but it is vital that our diplomats have the resources and the capabilities that will maximize their chances of success.”