Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today submitted the following statement for the record at the Committee hearing on global climate change:

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.  I would like to join my colleagues in welcoming my good friend Vice President Gore this morning, and thank him for the tremendous work he has done over the years.  He has not only raised awareness of the dangers of global climate change; he has transformed the debate and brought it into the public consciousness.  I would also like to recognize our distinguished Chairman’s own work in confronting global climate change, most recently during his trip to Poland in December as the leader of the U.S. delegation to the UN Conference on global warming.

I wanted to share with you my floor statement on President Obama's Decision to Close Guantanamo Bay and other CIA Prisons.

Mr. President, I once again come to the floor to discuss an issue that goes directly to who we are as a country and what we stand for.

Specifically, I want to comment on the executive orders President Obama signed today to close the Guantánamo Bay detention facility within a year, close secret prisons operated by the CIA, and review the procedures for detaining and trying accused terrorists.  In so doing, he sends a long-overdue message not only to the world, but also to the American people here at home, reaffirming our values as Americans and our commitment to the rule of law.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the author of the Restoring the Constitution Act, applauded President Obama’s executive orders to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay within a year, close secret prisons and revise detention and interrogation policies.

“Today, the United States has taken a first step down the long road toward restoring our moral authority, while ensuring our security.  With President Obama’s signatures, we will be more effective in our efforts to prevent, detain, and prosecute those who would harm us.  In addition, today’s orders have reasserted our nation’s commitment and adherence to the rule of law.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, submitted the following statement today for the hearing to confirm Susan Rice as the Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations:

“The United Nations is an imperfect institution, but it is still a remarkable one that serves vital humanitarian needs for the world’s most vulnerable and in many cases forgotten populations.  From the thousands of troops deployed on peacekeeping missions, to providing vital services to millions of refugees, from combating global disease, to feeding the world’s hungry, tens of millions of men, women and children have been given a lifeline by United Nations programs—programs which the United States must continue to support.  Dr. Rice, I look forward to working with you in advancing America’s interests at the United Nations and to reforming and strengthening that institution to better serve us all.” 

I was honored today to be one of the first to receive the Global Action for Children’s Champion Award.  We all get into public service or become deeply enmeshed in policy issues such as global health for the same reason: To make a difference. And is it ever needed.  Every single day, 27,000 children die from preventable diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea and complications during childbirth, many of which result from malnutrition.  Each year, some 4 million newborns die in the first 4 weeks of life. That’s not just a tragedy – it’s a catastrophe.  I hope you will take a minute and listen to my remarks on this issue and I urge you to do all you can to help children across the world.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today delivered the following remarks at the Global Action for Children’s first annual Children’s Champion Award Ceremony.  Dodd was honored for his leadership in passing “The Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008,” and for authoring “The Global Child Survival Act,” which would drastically reduce child and maternal mortality rates abroad. 

This morning I gave my opening statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the nomination hearing of Secretary-Designate of State, Hillary Clinton. I have had the pleasure of working closely with her on a wide range of issues for many years, and I look forward to our continued partnership and to her leadership as Secretary of State. I have no doubt she will do a remarkable job.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today made the following statement at the Foreign Relations Committee hearing to confirm Senator Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State:

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of its Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs, released the following statement today after meeting with the Indian Foreign Secretary, Shivshankar Menon.

“I expressed my shock and sadness about the barbaric attacks in Mumbai to the Indian Foreign Secretary, Shivshankar Menon, and extended my sincere condolences to the people of India and to all those who have lost loved ones.  This tragic attack is a reminder that terrorism does not distinguish race, religion or national origin.  I call upon all nations in the region to work together to root out and dismantle the terrorist networks that continue to cause violence and heartache throughout South Asia, and I reaffirmed to the Foreign Secretary the United States’s commitment to those efforts.”

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of its subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps, and Narcotics Affairs, today issued the following statement after President-Elect Obama announced several nominations for his national security team:

“I applaud President-Elect Obama’s nomination of an experienced national security team.  Hillary Clinton, James Jones, Robert Gates, Janet Napolitano, Eric Holder, and Susan Rice each have a proven record of pragmatic problem-solving and bipartisan cooperation on a host of complex challenges to U.S. national security.