Apr 22, 2009 5:04 pm US/Pacific
Clinton Rips Cheney, Reviews First 100 Days
Secretary Of State Stands Her Ground On Family Planning, Rips Cheney On Interrogation Tactics
WASHINGTON (CBS) ―
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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton listens to speakers during a meeting with Mexican indigenous students who were given scholarships to the US, at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City, on March 25, 2009.
Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images
Hillary Clinton returned on Wednesday to her former place of business, Capitol Hill, and offered a sometimes testy review of her first three months as secretary of state.
The former senator from New York looked confident, even feisty, in her new role as Congressional questionee, not questioner. When grilled about her push for family planning and contraception in international aid efforts, Clinton was unapologetic.
"I have spent a lot of my time trying to bring down the rate of abortions and it has been my experience that good family planning and good medical care brings down the rate of abortion," Clinton said. "Keeping women and men in ignorance and denied the access to services actually increases the rate of abortion."
The topics of discussion before the House Foreign Affairs committee ranged from the $900 million in aid pledged to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to Dick Cheney's claim that classified documents prove the Bush administration's interrogation methods on suspected terrorists yielded vital intelligence.
"Well, it won't surprise you that I don't consider him a particularly reliable source of information," Clinton said of the former vice president.
The secretary of state also detailed the Obama administration's plans for keeping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"Yes, we are more than willing to reach out to the Iranians to discuss a range of issues assuming they're willing to reach back as the president said in his inaugural address," Clinton said. "We'll hold out our hand; they have to unclench their fist.
"But we are also laying the ground work for the kind of, I think you said, crippling sanctions that might be necessary in the event that our offers are either rejected or the process is inconclusive or unsuccessful."
Secretary Clinton requested additional funding from the committee in order to bolster her diplomatic efforts across the globe, powered by, in her words, partnership, pragmatism and principle.
She pronounced her first 100 days in office, "pretty good."
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Transition To A New Government 
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