Statement Upon Confirmation as Assistant Secretary

Mr. Chairman, Senators:

It is the highest honor and privilege of my life to be sitting here today, before you, under consideration for the post of Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Before moving to a statement, I would like to say thank you - to the Committee and to its staff for the work you have already done on my account. I would also like to express my deep gratitude to President Bush for nominating me to this post, and Secretary Powell for his support and warm encouragement. I would like to thank those who have always fought unflaggingly for the issues this Bureau covers, among them you, Mr. Chairman, Senator Biden, Senator Dodd, Senator Hatch, Senator Feinstein, and other Members of this committee and chamber. On the House side, I would especially like to thank my former boss, and a committed believer in these programs, Speaker Hastert.

I am humbled by the law enforcement support I have received. I would like to thank – for what they do for America and for their recent support of my nomination – The Fraternal Order of Police, The National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, The National Troopers Coalition, The Major County Sheriff’s Association, The National Narcotics Officers Association, and countless other law enforcement organizations, individual officers, prosecutors and leaders in this field. Without them, America would not be what it is.

I would also like to thank leading members of America’s demand reduction community, without whom all our international efforts would mean nothing. In particular, I would like to thank for their support the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, DARE America, and the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Finally, I would like to thank my family, without whom I would not be here, in particular my wife, Marina …

Mr. Chairman, Senators, you are each experts in this field, from one perspective or another. You have been in this fight for a long time – whether through the issue of drugs, crime, terrorism or the combination. And so it is doubly humbling to appear before you today.

While there are many issues to discuss, my hope is that there will be time for longer discussions. Today, I pledge to you that, if confirmed, I will give you every ounce of my effort. I will be a work horse, building and maintaining strong, bipartisan bridges with Congress. I will pump new energy into bilateral and multilateral initiatives, supporting our allies wherever possible, asking their support wherever appropriate. I will give the men and women of this special Bureau, many of whom are seasoned experts, my ear and the direction I believe I can offer. If given the opportunity to serve, an important measure of my success will be how well you believe I am doing.

While I respect the progress made to date in many functional areas in which INL leads and has effective programs, my pledge to you is that I will bring not only policy leadership, but program accountability to the Bureau. As someone with a professional history tightly focused on oversight, I believe in performance measures. If given the opportunity to serve, I hope that my legacy would include a smooth, transparent, team-focused and accessible Bureau, delivering on promises, exceeding expectations, and tracking and husbanding dollars entrusted to us by the American taxpayer.

INL has, as you are aware, many critical programs. These programs reach virtually every corner of the globe. From what I have already seen, the need for the expertise this Bureau provides is destined to grow. The impact of this Bureau’s efforts – if watched closely and administered well – cannot help but increase. It tackles law enforcement and counter-narcotics programs that are, in the final analysis, neither bilateral nor regional, but global.

From what I have so far absorbed, INL’s programs are expansive. They include the ambitious Andean Counterdrug Initiative (ACI), which aims to dramatically shrink illicit drug production in the Andean region, working to strengthen law enforcement, respect for the rule of law and human rights, and the proliferation of alternative crops. INL’s worldwide efforts, in concert with our allies, also include border security programs in places such as Jamaica, Mexico, and Pakistan; creation of anti-money laundering and terrorist finance regimes in places like the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, the South American Tri-border Region; helping the fight against corruption in places like Nicaragua and the nations of Central Asia; police modernization in Nigeria, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Central Asia; justice sector reform in Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Guatemala; and drug demand reduction programs in Brazil, the Eastern Caribbean, and Russia. With growing success, INL has launched International Law Enforcement Academies (ILEAs) in Thailand, Hungary, Botswana, and the United States -- with new ILEAs under consideration for other regions. The ILEAs bring law enforcement entities together from neighboring states for training and coordination – an effort that seems to be bearing real fruit. One important tenet of these academies is that any professional law enforcement must be based upon respect for human rights and for democratic principles.

In addition, INL plays a crucial role as a multilateral leader, including substantial support for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, as well as the Organization of American States. INL coordinates with other U.S. authorities in negotiating major international agreements on combating corruption and organized crime, spearheading projects in cybercrime, critical infrastructure protection, and intellectual property rights, and leading programs against money laundering, financial crime, alien smuggling, and trafficking in persons. Finally, INL oversees the recruitment, training, and deployment of hundreds of American civilian police officers in post-conflict situations abroad – from Kosovo to East Timor and Sierra Leone. Most recently, it is clear that INL has the potential for playing a more significant role in both the future of a stable Afghanistan, and a well-trained Iraqi civilian police force.

Since I have only begun to grapple with the possibilities, I dare not go further than this summary. I can say, however, that the goal of all these activities is to nourish and shape international cooperation, to set proven norms and standards of behavior for law enforcement, to strengthen those who nobly wage battle in the realm of counternarcotics, and to train and support our friends abroad, enabling them to carry out these activities effectively, honestly and efficiently in the future. The overarching aim is to protect Americans and our own national security.

Mr. Chairman, these activities are, in my view, at the very center of our Nation’s anticrime and counternarcotics work abroad. The dedication and resourcefulness of those who serve in this Bureau should inspire us all, and it is appropriate to say that many of these people serve boldly in harm’s way – armed chiefly with training, heart and a will to succeed.

Three themes, beyond my focus on renewed accountability, will guide my thinking if I am confirmed. If given the opportunity to serve, I am hopeful that these ideas will gain wing.

First, I am persuaded as I know most of you are – that what we do abroad, in the areas of law enforcement support, counter-narcotics, counter-terrorism, institution building, strengthening the rule of law and deepening respect for human rights serves the causes of both peace and national security. The great American composer-patriot George Cohan rallied the nation with his calls to go “over there.” Today, perhaps more than any other time in our national history we know that what happens “over there,” profoundly affects us “over here.” There is a continuum of activity – that starts there and ends here. If we take the initiative in addressing problems with our allies where they begin, while working on drug demand reduction at home, we can create the enduring environment for which our children and grandchildren shall be the benefactors.

Our effectiveness in assisting other nations, as they strive to understand their own crime and national security threats, drug problems, money laundering, and civilian policing requirements is critical. What we do to generate sustainable cooperation and progress in places like Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, throughout this hemisphere, and globally, not only reflects our own resolve, but will inevitably come home to roost – either in the form of more drugs and crime on our streets, or less. The links in this chain are irrefutable, and I am committed to making them work for us, not against us.

Last year, some 19,000 Americans died unnecessarily at the hands of narcotics. In my view, we have the resources, the commitment, the allies and the pounding need to do better than that. Together with Congress, leading federal agencies such as ONDCP, the Justice Department, DEA, Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and others, and working with State and local governmental and law enforcement leaders, we can save lives. Of this I am sure. I am also of the view that much of the responsibility for progress, certainly for progress abroad, lies … in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

The same continuum of activity applies to other transnational threats, such as international organized crime and terrorism. If we can meet on their soil those who wish to do us harm, and empower others to understand and tackle this threat with us in a sustainable way, we will win …We will be less likely to confront them at home – but more than that: We will begin to seed a different kind of orchard, a place where stability and respect for law is honored and valued. A place where one human life is counted sacred, and where daily activity is not motivated by resentment or vengeance, but by a growing concept of an unfamiliar place that people call the future. A place they want to go, and a place that we, as Americans, can help make more secure for them. This too, in part, is the responsibility of this Bureau.

Vision must go with resources to turn the corner in both the drug war, and our intensifying efforts against international crime and terrorism. The more effectively and constructively we can engage on foreign soil, the less likely we are to see drugs, violence and heartbreak in our own cities and towns.

My second observation has to do with converging threats. In the larger context, drug traffickers, transnational criminals, and terrorists – those who act in a cowardly way to terrorize others – all swim in the same acrid pool. While lines of demarcation are hard to see in the dim light of that world, we know that those who traffic in drugs, often do so also in arms, precursor chemicals, illegal money and persons. We know that if circles were drawn on a piece of paper representing these various sets of criminals, they would substantially overlap. It is my conviction that these circles are converging, or growing tighter in their degree of overlap, and that we are now required to be more committed than ever, as a nation, to breaking the ties that are forcing them toward convergence.

Laying a concrete foundation of sustained cooperation between American and foreign law enforcement will, it seems to me, create the environment for two lasting achievements. It will allow us to address specific threats together, and it will assist others in securing for themselves the promise of development, stability and the rule of law. Again, central to that effort is the work of the INL Bureau.

Third and finally, I wanted to open a small window on myself. Beyond an interest in financial accountability, the international-domestic continuum that leads from places like Colombia’s poppy fields to our cities, and the growing convergence of international bad actors, I feel that leadership depends on the values we hold. More than anything else, these seem to define how much we get done. My values come from a small town in Maine. I have been unusually fortunate and I think service to country is one way of giving back.

Professionally, my background is diverse. For just under five years, I worked as counsel and staff director to a Congressional subcommittee focusing on oversight of the drug war and national security. I have been an educator, litigator, law clerk, and small businessman. Years ago, I spent time in the outback of India working on human rights. I have had the blessing of a great education, training in government, economics and law. Very recently, I was able to serve on active duty as a naval officer after the events of 9-11. That service deepened my appreciation for the threats we all confront.

In short, I am not a treader of well-worn roads. I am not someone who will fall back on old ways or take the easy way out, the road more traveled. I am a believer in innovation and accountability, in new thinking, and more than any policy or program, I am a believer in people. People are what motivate me, and people are why I wish to serve in this job.

Winding the clock back, I grew up in a town of scarcely 500. My home town roots are in a place called Wayne, Maine, now a bustling metropolis of 1,112 people. I still know most of them. Mine is an appreciation for the values that still live in small town America, for the hard earned taxpayer dollar, and for people as people. And that appreciation is at the core of my world view.

So, I am honored to be here … In my youth, I would not have dreamed that I would one day be here, sitting in front of the United States Senate in a conformation hearing…You have my solemn word that, if confirmed, you will get the best I have to offer to the INL Bureau, to the Department of State, to the President, to the Congress and our country. It is, again, an honor to be here. Thank you.