Frank Lautenberg: “I want to make a few brief remarks in connection with the nomination of Strobe Talbott to serve as Deputy Secretary of…”

“I want to make a few brief remarks in connection with the nomination of Strobe Talbott to serve as Deputy Secretary of State. This is an important position which requires the incumbent to step in for the Secretary of State in his absence and participate in broad-ranging policy decisions at the Department. At the same time, the occupant of this Office must have the capability to run a huge and complex bureaucracy which stretches around the globe. During consideration of the Talbott nomination, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, some questions were raised about Mr. Talbott's views on the Middle East and, in particular, whether he might harbor ill will toward the State of Israel or be insensitive to her security needs and the potential threats she faces in the region. These questions were raised because of several articles Mr. Talbott wrote about the region during his tenure as a journalist at Time magazine. These articles are disturbing and provocative and contain views with which I strongly disagree.”