DEPUTY SECRETARY LANDAU: Thank you. Wow. Thank you for that introduction, and this is actually very emotional for me to be here speaking to all of you. I see some friends out here in the crowd. I see folks, I'm sure, who knew my dad. So, it is true that I do feel like this is a homecoming of sorts for me. I used to run down these hallways on Saturday mornings when my dad would come into work. They haven't changed at all, the same bright floors and the white fluorescent lights. It's a little bit like an out-of-body experience.
It's also a little bit scary for me to realize that I am older than Foreign Service Day, which is celebrating 60 years today, so I guess I'm getting up there, but it's interesting - I guess I grew up a McCoy and now I come back a Hatfield, as a Foreign Service kid and now I'm here as a political appointee. I like to think I try to bridge those two tribes, and I like to think that the differences between those tribes are not irreconcilable.
Frankly, it's very sad to me to see that we're in a day and age when, at a commemorative event like this, tensions rise to the point when people are getting - storming out of the room. That hurts me. I want to try to recognize the value of the Foreign Service, to honor and respect the Foreign Service, because for me the Foreign Service is part of my own origin story. Again, as you know, I come from the Foreign Service. I wouldn't - my family has basically had a place on the map because of the Foreign Service.
My father was an immigrant, as those of you who knew him knew he spoke English with an accent. He wouldn't have found a place in this country had he not been received with open arms by the Foreign Service and promoted by people like Ambassador Bob Woodward, who took a young Foreign Service officer at that time who hadn't gone to college, spoke English with an accent, and recognized this is a person of merit and hard work who really believed in the values of this country, and promoted him.
And so, I feel very, very grateful to the Foreign Service, and I want you to know that I am your friend. And again, I hope we can get through these challenging times with that attitude of mutual respect and openness that all of us are trained to do as diplomats, right? I mean, you recognize sometimes you have differences with other people, and we learn to make our positions understood respectfully, and that the respect is a two-way street, right? And so, I hope we can tone down and cool some of the tempers. I know they run high on both sides.
And again, I respect the views of the professional Foreign Service, and I think - people have strong views about what is going on. I think it's fine to bring those out. And I certainly am committed to listening respectfully to that and hopefully working towards ways that we can work together to improve the Foreign Service and make it more effective. One of the things - it was very interesting for me serving as ambassador to Mexico recently and really bringing my life full circle, having grown up in the Foreign Service and knowing the ways - this was back in the '70s and '80s - and then coming back 30 years later and seeing the Foreign Service again. And I think in a lot of ways the Foreign Service could do a better job in adjusting to the realities of the world. I mean, the world has changed a lot, technology has changed a lot, and I think we need to be asking ourselves serious questions about what is the role of an embassy in the 21st century. Do you need the reporting functions that you might have needed in an earlier day? Now Washington knows - Washington knew what was going on in Mexico, frankly, as quickly as I did, sitting in Mexico City. And so that has implications for what is the function of the men and women who are on the ground in that post. What are you looking to them for?
And I think there are very serious, legitimate questions that we should all be working together to answer. And I very much value the perspective of those of you in this room. I think that you can provide valuable insights into how do we make the Foreign Service more effective. Nobody wants to be writing cables that nobody in Washington winds up reading. I feel like —
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well, that brings up the question why are we alienating our allies. You can't talk about the role of the (inaudible) diplomatic relations —
DEPUTY SECRETARY LANDAU: Ma'am, I respect your point of view, and again, I think there are substantive policy questions. Obviously the President is - is obviously setting the tone of foreign policy for United States. He is the chief executive of our government. Under our constitution, we have an Executive Branch. We are an organ of the Executive Branch. In fact, we're the first organ of the Executive Branch going back to the Washington administration when Thomas Jefferson was the secretary of state, right?
So even though those of you in this building - and my father knew this very well. He did not always agree with the administration in power, and he actually disagreed sometimes, but I didn't know who my father voted for the entire time I was growing up until after he retired. And so, I hope we can come back to a Foreign Service that understands that it is part of the Executive Branch, that people have ways to express their disagreement or their own views within the system, but ultimately - unless it's something that is unlawful - the wisdom of this kind of things is for the political leadership.
Ultimately, we can't all - the President was duly elected by the American people. So - but again - look, I think these are valuable questions. And particularly now - let me just say a word about some of the reorganization plans. I mean, back in the day, this was the organization chart of the Department of State. This is 1966, right? Obviously, it was a different time, but this was still the height of the Cold War. This is the organization chart for Washington that is the current one, right?
So, I think - again, those of us who have followed the Foreign Service understand that it has ossified over time and become sclerotic with a proliferation of different boxes on this organizations chart that made the clearance process very difficult, that just made coordination very difficult even within the building. I don't think we're going back to this, but I do think there are ways to streamline and improve this so that it works better and is more effective and actually means that Foreign Service officers can have a meaningful voice in actually being relevant in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy. (Applause.)
That means a lot to me to get at least one little bit of applause. Like I appreciate that, because I mean, at least we're talking to each other and - again, I hope we can find this kind of common ground that - the current system is not optimal, and I hope we don't find a situation where the professional Foreign Service kind of digs in its heels and says we are going to defend the status quo at all costs and everything that is any change is - is bad, bad, bad. I don't think that's in the interest of the Foreign Service. I think there are some things that those of you who have seen it out there realize, yes, this could be changed for the better. And I certainly am all ears in looking for other perspectives. I don't - I have the humility to understand that I didn't spend my career doing this, but I - and I respect the views of those of you who are there.
But I want a - again, a place where the men and women who are out there, if you're going to a meeting in a foreign country, the leader, that you have views - like let's have a system where these get reported up and valuable information gets reported, that Foreign Service officers get recognized for their contributions. I think now it just seems like we're kind of on hamster wheels, where people are doing things, and it doesn't actually lead to anything. So, let's try to figure out a way - and I am reaching out my hand in friendship and cooperation. It's really up to, I think, the Foreign Service more generally to decide whether they want to accept that hand.
And I just can tell you, as a human being, I am very interested in the views of the Foreign Service. Again, I have enormous respect for the Foreign Service. I wouldn't be here but for the Foreign Service. So I guess this is just a way of saying that I look forward to continued discussion with each of you. I thank each of you for what you have done for our country. And I hope we can build a relationship of mutual respect and hopefully friendship because we —
AUDIENCE MEMBER: What about USAID (inaudible) mutual respect? (Inaudible) nonsense.
DEPUTY SECRETARY LANDAU: Well, again, the President has decided - USAID - when I was growing up - USAID started in the 1960s, 1961 to be exact, as an instrument to advance U.S. national policy interests at the height of the Cold War. And the policies were very much aligned. The view was that some countries are so severely underdeveloped that they were ripe for communism and takeovers by elements that are hostile to the U.S. So, when I was growing up in Paraguay in the mid-70s, more than half our mission was USAID. Most of my friends at the American School of Asunción had parents working for USAID. I believe in that development mission. Listen - you may not want to listen. That's fine.
Again, I can't - I'm just giving you my perspective. You asked a question; I'm trying to give you a respectful answer. And so, the problem is, I think, USAID got separated from the State Department in terms of alignment with U.S. interests, and some of the - particularly in the last few years, the mission - what USAID was funding is far from the international development, the kind of things they were funding back in the '70s - basic development initiatives. They started to get into all kinds of things that deviated from the mission. Now, the idea is that USAID is within the State Department.
So, the point is, USAID - anything we're doing for promoting - using our soft power around the world, promoting these projects should be coordinated with foreign policy. I would think as the State Department we would recognize the value of having that. We can all describe - we can discuss individual programs, but I think the idea of having USAID as part of the State Department I don't think should be all that controversial. Again - so anyway, that's my answer on USAID. Look, let's talk about these things. Again, I value that. I am here today to - again, to try to extend a respectful hand. If you don't want to accept it, that's your prerogative. It's a free country. But again, this is Foreign Service Day. I am here to celebrate the Foreign Service, to express my personal gratitude to the Foreign Service, and express my personal desire to work with each and every one of you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
