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email Remarks to the Congressional Youth Leadership Council's
Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs
Maura Harty
Remarks to the Congressional Youth Leadership Council’s
Global Young Leaders Conference
Loy Henderson Auditorium, HST
July 5, 2005
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
I am very happy to be here today and have this opportunity to speak to a group of young leaders about the department of state and tell you a little bit about the work that I am involved in as a foreign service officer, and as the head of an organization called the bureau of consular affairs. I note that the talk is referred to as “diplomacy at the highest levels.” Obviously, there are far bigger people than me in the organization, but as an assistant secretary, an ambassador, and close aide to several secretaries of state, I feel that I’ve been up close to some big issues and some extraordinary public servants. And whether you are American or a foreign guest, I hope one of the major things you take out of this experience is the desire to be of service to your own nation in some significant way.
I have been a member of the U.S Foreign service for almost 24 years now and, short of being a multi-millionaire; there is nothing I would rather do for a living.
When I made the decision to join the department of state right out of college, I could hardly have known what my life in the Foreign Service would bring. It has included things like visiting American citizens in foreign jails in the middle of the night; landing in a war zone during combat; searching for missing American citizens; going to war-torn Somalia when we still had an embassy there to practice an evacuation; opening our embassy in Lithuania after a u.s. absence from that country of 40 years; and helping a fledgling democracy in south America find its way to a strengthened respect for its institutions of government and its constitution. But I have also had the privilege of serving as a consular officer here in Washington, as well as in Mexico, Colombia, and sprain.
Consular officers, people who do what I do, have been serving the United States and protecting the welfare of American citizens since 1778. Who was the president at that time? There wouldn’t be a president of the United States for another 11 years. A lot has changed and the world seems a lot smaller than it was in the 1780s when our fledgling nation faced international issues like protecting our citizens against barbary pirates and we made our way around the world in great sailing ships. But from the earliest days of our nation’s existence, the mission of consular officers has been essentially the same: to protect the lives and interests of American citizens overseas, and to defend the united states by making sure that the only people who receive u.s. passports or u.s. visas are those who are entitled to receive them.
Today, the bureau I run, the bureau of consular affairs, is a huge, sprawling enterprise of almost 8,000 people, scattered around the world in places as familiar to some as London and as remote as Ouagadougou. In many ways we are like a multinational corporation: we do our work at over 200 branch offices, namely our embassies and consulates, in 65 different languages, and we take in over $1.3 billion dollars in revenue – too bad we don’t get to keep all of it.
Consular officers provide services to American citizens overseas that follow the circle of life: from certifying the birth of new American citizens abroad, to arranging to bring home the remains of an American who has died. We deal with issues that people care about in a very personal way: citizenship, marriage, adoption, international child abduction, illness, destitution, evacuation in a crisis, – to name a few. We offer support in times of trouble or tragedy, natural disaster, and political unrest. We help family members deal with the death of a loved one overseas. Often, when we are called upon for assistance, an American citizen is suffering through some of the worst moments of his or her life – a death in the family, a missing or abducted child – and desperately needs, not just a helping hand, but a kind and understanding word.
Sometimes, our work must be done under difficult and even dangerous conditions. In fact, we often head into tough spots just as others are leaving – as we did when the horrific tsunami struck in the Indian Ocean last December. None of us will forget the images of the devastation, the victims, and the anguish of the survivors they have touched and saddened all of us. Consular officers – in a very visible way – demonstrated our central commitment to providing assistance to American citizens. We staffed a task force 24/7 and received over 35,000 calls from people who were concerned about a loved one who might have been in one of the affected areas. As of today we have been able to account for all but two of the over 15,000 cases that we opened as a result of these calls. How did we do it? Our officers and local employees were on the ground in each one of the devastated regions, working with local officials and going door to door, from hotel to hotel, hospital to hospital, even morgue to morgue, to locate American citizens and help those in need. One of our officers was on vacation in Thailand and, after he was able to get his family to safety, he stayed on to help. When I asked him how he made this decision he said,
“ … I figured that this was the most important thing for me to do.”
This is what consular officers do: we help American citizens and their families, sometimes at the hardest moments of their lives.
We also have a role in the protection of U.S. borders and the facilitation of international travel. How many of you have a passport? If you are an American citizen, you obtained it through the bureau of consular affairs, since we have the responsibility for determining who is entitled to receive a U.S. passport. I think it is one of the most valuable documents on the planet, not only because it gains American citizens access to this country, but also because it serves as an unquestionable credential to obtain the services we provide to American citizens all over the world. Last year we issued close to 9 million passports and we are on track to issue more than 10 million this year.
U.s. visas are also valuable documents. They can either allow foreign guests to visit our country for a variety of reasons, including tourism, business, or study, or be the first step toward living here permanently. Some of you might have needed U.S. visas to attend this conference. That’s our job as well. We have the responsibility for adjudicating visa applications in a manner that protects U.S. borders while continuing to ensure that the U.S. remains a welcoming nation to legitimate visitors.
We describe our efforts to enhance U.S. border security while encouraging legitimate travel as having both “secure borders and open doors.” and when we make this country more secure for American citizens, we make it more secure for everyone.
You might have detected a theme in some of the things I have already said. That theme is international engagement. The reason we dedicate considerable effort to serving American citizens overseas is that they make so many trips abroad – some 60 million last year. I believe equally strongly that we must encourage people to continue to visit the U.S. – it is central to our national security and part of what makes the United States the open, welcoming nation that it has always been. In fact, last year we welcomed approximately 42 million foreign visitors – whether here for tourism, work or study – and they spent $93.7 billion on travel and tourism in the U.S. Beyond the dollar signs, the good will that we engender among foreign visitors who visit the u.s., attend our schools, do business with us and experience some of the cultural, economic and tourist opportunities that this country has to offer, is priceless.
I believe that foreign students like those of you participating in this fantastic conference must come, and we must welcome you into our homes, into our hearts and on our college campuses so that you see America with your own eyes. As you will likely experience during this conference, there is absolutely no substitute for personal experience and I hope that more and more international students and visitors seize the opportunity to learn about this country by seeing America, traveling around America, studying in America, and meeting the real people who make this nation the welcoming one that it is.
I am not alone in this belief, and I am in very good company. Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice voiced her commitment to maintaining both the security and openness of the U.S. in this way. She said,
“Our interaction with the rest of the world must be a conversation, not a monologue, and America must remain open to visitors and workers and students from around the world. We do not and will not compromise our security standards, yet if our public diplomacy efforts are to succeed,
We cannot close ourselves off from the rest of the world.”
I also believe that Americans should get out there in the world and experience other nations, other cultures, first hand. This is the other, equally important element of our commitment to openness. It is not only the openness of our borders, but also the openness of our minds that will foster international engagement. So I would urge the American students in this group to consider studying abroad for some part of your undergraduate experience. It will broaden your perspective and enrich your academic experiences immeasurably.
If you are attending this conference from overseas, I hope that when you return home you will talk about your experience with your family, your friends, your teachers and neighbors. I hope that you encourage the people you know to see with their own eyes what you will have seen. And I hope that you will come back and see us, knowing that you will be as welcome in the future as you are today.
If you are an American student, in addition to studying abroad at some point, please know that I am a shameless recruiter for the Foreign Service and for the bureau of consular affairs. I hope you might consider a career at the state department one day.
But my plea that you consider a career in public service is not limited to the Americans here today. What I really want to do is plant a few seeds among all of you that will eventually grow into careers in public service – for your own nations as well as in the international arena.
You know, an organization in the U.S. released a study not too long ago in which it said that young people weren’t too interested in going into public service any longer. When asked why, a common answer was that, “no one ever asked us.” I am asking. I am asking that, if you are a young American, you join the ranks in service to our nation. To our distinguished young guests from abroad, I would urge that you consider the same honorable path in your home country. That service can take many forms—and many forms are valid. I simply seek to suggest that you strive to be a part of something bigger than yourself. That you seek an opportunity both to be good and to do good.
It is a great honor to be of genuine service to your fellow citizens and your country. I believe that all of us in public service should be dedicated to something greater than ourselves. It is our duty to exercise leadership, and to serve with integrity, honesty and decency.
I believe that good leadership is founded on the simple principles of common sense and hard work. Leaders maintain the highest ethical standards. We do what is right. We have integrity. Leaders must confront, not avoid, tough problems. We must have a personal commitment to our people and our mission. I hope that you all can find a mission that excites a passion for leadership and excellence in each of you.
President john f. Kennedy said this better than I could by far, but if I could take a small liberty with a quote from his first state of the union address, I think his message would apply to all of us in this room, no matter what country we call home. President Kennedy said, “let public service be a proud and lively career and let everyone who works in any area of … government, in any branch, at any level, be able to say with pride and honor in future years: I served … in that hour of our nation’s need.”
It is up to each one of you to determine how you can best apply your talents. You are already off to such an impressive start. You can touch people’s lives through public service and by doing so, you can live lives of purpose and consequence.
Now I would be happy to answer your questions.
