VOA标准英语2009年-Clinton Takes Over at State Department, Vows to

（单词翻译）

Former Senator and U.S. First Lady has officially taken up her duties as secretary of state. Clinton told assembled staff members she will depend on the advice of civil servants and work to end an era of divisiveness in Washington.
　
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at the State Department in Washington, DC, 22 Jan. 09

Clinton, confirmed by the Senate and sworn into office late Wednesday, was greeted by hundreds of employees packing the main lobby of the State Department as she began her first day on the job.

The new secretary of state said she will rely on the advice and expertise¹ of the department's more than 20,000 foreign service and civil service employees as they jointly² pursue the work of advancing U.S. national security, interests and values around the world.

Her remarks included no direct criticism of the previous Bush administration, but she also clearly suggested that President Barack Obama's team will be more welcoming of input³ from government workers, and less divisive.

"We want to send a clear and unequivocal message," she said. "This is a team and you are the members of that team. There is not anything that I can get done from the seventh floor, or the President can get done from the Oval Office, unless we make clear we are all on the American team. We are not, any longer, going to tolerate the kind of divisiveness that has paralyzed and undermined our ability to get things done for America."
　
Hillary Rodham Clinton being sworn in as secretary of state in her Senate office by Associate Judge Kathleen Oberly, 21 Jan 2009

Clinton depicted⁴ American foreign policy as having three parts - defense⁵, diplomacy⁶ and development - and said the State Department and the affiliated⁷ U.S. Agency for International Development are responsible for the latter two.

In Senate testimony⁸ before her confirmation⁹, she said she would work to build up the U.S. diplomatic corps¹⁰ as part of an exercise of "smart power" by the United States that leads with diplomacy, rather than the use of military force.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the lone¹¹ cabinet holdover from the Republican Bush administration, is also a prominent advocate of such an approach.

To underscore the emphasis on diplomacy, President Obama and key aides are to visit the State Department later for a closed-door policy meeting with Clinton - to be followed by a presidential pep talk to staff members.