WEBVTT

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- Good afternoon all.

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I received a call today from

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the President of the United States

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a little after noon time from Air Force One

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and I've also spoken to White House Chief of Staff, Kelly.

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To insure we have clarity as to the days ahead,

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what is most important is to insure an orderly

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and smooth transition during a time

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that the country continues to face significant policy

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and national security challenges.

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As such, effective at the end of the day,

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I'm delegating all responsibilities of

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the office of the secretary

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to deputy Secretary of State, Sullivan.

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My commission as Secretary of State

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will terminate at midnight, March the 31st.

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Between now and then, I will address a few

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administrative matters related to my departure

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and work towards a smooth and orderly transition

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for Secretary of State designate, Mike Pompeo.

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I'm encouraging my policy planning team and

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under secretaries and assistant secretaries,

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those confirmed, as well as those in acting positions,

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to remain at their post and continue our mission

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at the State Department and working

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with the inter agency process.

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I will be meeting members of my front office team and

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policy planning later today to thank them for their service.

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Though they have been extraordinarily dedicated

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to our mission which includes promoting values

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that I view as being very important

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to the safety and security of our State Department personnel

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accountability, which means treating each other

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with honesty and integrity and respect for one another.

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Most recently, in particular, to address challenges

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of sexual harassment within the department.

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I want to speak now to my State Department colleagues

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and to our inter agency colleagues and partners

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at DOD and the Joint Chief of Staffs, most particularly.

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To my foreign service officers and civil service colleagues,

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we all took the same oath of office,

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whether you're a career employee or political appointee,

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we are all bound by that common commitment

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to support and defend the Constitution,

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to bear true faith and allegiance to the same,

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that you faithfully discharge the duties of our office.

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As a State Department, we are bound together by that oath.

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We remain steadfast here in Washington and

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in posts across the world, many of whom are in

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dangerous situations without their families.

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The world needs selfless leaders like these,

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ready to work with long standing allies,

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new emerging partners and allies, who now,

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many are struggling as democracies and in some cases,

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are dealing with human tragedy, crisis of natural disasters,

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literally crawling themselves out of those circumstances.

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These are experiences that no lecture hall

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in an academic environment or a think tank can teach you,

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only by people going to the front lines to serve

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can they develop this kind of talent.

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To the men and women in uniform,

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I'm told for the first time in most people's memory,

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the Department of State, the Department of Defense,

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have a close working relationship

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where we all agree that US leadership starts with diplomacy.

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The men and women in uniform at the Department of Defense

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under the leadership of secretary Maddis and General Dunford

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protect us as Americans in our way of life, daily,

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at home and abroad.

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As an all volunteer military,

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they do it for love of country,

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they do it for you, and they do it for me.

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There for no other reason.

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As Americans, we are all eternally grateful to each of them

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and we honor their sacrifices.

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The rewarding part of having leadership

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and partnerships in place is that

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you can actually get some things done

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and I want to give recognition to the State Department

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and our partners for a few of their accomplishments

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under this administration.

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First, working with allies, we exceeded the expectations

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of almost everyone with the DPRK Maximum Pressure campaign.

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With the announcement on my very first trip

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as Secretary of State to the region that the

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Arrow Strategic Patience was over and we

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commenced the steps to dramatically increase,

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not just the scope, but the effectiveness of the sanctions.

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The department undertook a global campaign

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to bring partners and allies on board

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in every country around the world,

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with every embassy and mission raising this

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to the highest levels and at every meeting I've had

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throughout the year this has been on the agenda to discuss.

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The adoption of the South Asia strategy,

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with the conditions based military plan,

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is the tool to compel the Taliban to reconciliation

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and peace talks with the Afghan government.

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Finally, equipped our military planners

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with a strategy which they can execute

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as opposed to a succession of 16 one year strategies.

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This clear military commitment attracted the support

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of allies broadly and equipped our diplomats

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with a whole new level of certainty

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around how to prepare for the peace talks and

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achieve the final objectives.

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In other areas where progress has been made,

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much work remains.

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In Syria, we did achieve important cease fires

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and stabilizations which we know

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has saved thousands of lives.

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There's more to be done in Syria

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particularly with respect to achieving the peace

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as well as stabilizing Iraq and

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seeing a healthy government installed,

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but more broadly in the entire global campaign,

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to defeat ISIS.

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Nothing is possible without allies and partners though.

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Much work remains to establish a clear view of the

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nature of our future relationship with China.

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How shall we deal with one another over the next 50 years

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and insure a period of prosperity for all of our peoples,

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free of conflict between two very powerful nations?

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And much work remains to respond to the troubling

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behavior and actions on the part of the Russian government.

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Russia must assess carefully as to how its actions

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are in the best interest of the Russian people

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and of the world more broadly.

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Continuing on their current trajectory

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is likely to lead to greater isolation on their part,

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a situation which is not in anyone's interest.

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So my colleagues in the State Department and

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the inner agency, much remains to be done

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to achieve our mission on behalf of the American people

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with allies and with partners.

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I close by thanking all for the privilege of serving

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beside you for the last 14 months.

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Importantly, to the 300 plus million Americans,

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thank you for your devotion to a free and open society,

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to acts of kindness towards one another,

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to honesty and the quiet hard work that you do everyday

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to support this government with your tax dollars.

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All of us, we know, want to leave this place

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as a better place for the next generation.

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I'll now return to private life as a private citizen,

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as a proud American, proud of the opportunity I've had

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to serve my country.

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God bless all of you.

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God bless the American people.

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God bless America.

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(reporters voicing questions)

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- [Woman] Mr Secretary, can you say what the future

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of Iran will be?