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TUNIS, Tunisia, 

Mar 17, 2011 — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Tunisia on March 17, 2011 to donate the first of two ambulances to the Tunisian Red Crescent Volunteer Training Center. U.S. Africa Command's Humanitarian Assistance office, along with U.S. Air Forces Africa, funded the $150,000 purchase and retrofitting of the two ambulances and other emergency relief supplies for the Red Crescent.

Following is a transcript of her remarks at the Red Crescent Training Center: (See also: U.S. Secretary of State Clinton Donates DOD-Funded Ambulance to the Tunisian Red Crescent Society.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: -- (In progress) -- impressed the world is by Tunisia's remarkable humanitarian response to the crisis on your border, and that the United States is very proud to be your partner, to help with this center, to help with the ambulance and the training for the Red Crescent.

PARTICIPANT: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we want to be supportive of these efforts (inaudible). We're proud to be your partner, and thank you for the compliments for our ambassador, our Embassy, but this really comes from the American people.

PARTICIPANT: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: I want to see the center, too. But you have handled this unexpected crisis extraordinarily well.

PARTICIPANT: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Inaudible) we have a lot of information to be collected, and we also have models from different countries around the world. But I think the idea of working with the Red (inaudible) is unique. So I'm going to follow up on that. (Laughter.) Yeah, good. (Laughter.) Thank you very much.

QUESTION: (Off-mike.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I'm going to be discussing that with the president, the prime minister, the foreign minister, the new government, and also with other Tunisians who understand that we need a plan for economic development, for jobs; the Tunisian people deserve that. There's going to be a donors' conference that will be held in some months. I'm going to be sending a delegation from the United States. So we want to know what Tunisia wants. We don't want to come in and say here's what the United States believes. We want to hear from Tunisians, and then we want to work on plans, just as I was talking to the doctor â? a plan for health. We want to help do what we can to have a plan for jobs. And I think that is so important. The revolution created so many hopes, and now we have to translate those hopes into results, and that comes through economic reform and political reform.

QUESTION: Thank you.