Sen. Lisa Murkowski Questions Dr. Condoleezza Rice

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI QUESTIONS DR. CONDOLEEZA RICE

SECRETARY OF STATE NOMINEE ANSWERS QUESTIONS ON NORTH KOREA, ARCTIC REGIONS

Today, during her first full meeting as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Lisa Murkowski questioned Dr. Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's nominee for Secretary of State. In her questions to Dr. Rice, Sen. Murkowski covered regional talks with North Korea, the political role of Arctic nations and how the Administration can improve the lives of women across the globe.

"[Alaska's] proximity [to North Korea] makes us look very carefully at what is happening in North Korea, and what is happening in the nuclear weapons program in particular. What steps will you take to develop relationships with North Korea's future leadership," Senator Murkowski asked. In her answer, Dr. Rice stressed the great impact of regional talks as an effective deterrent to nuclear armament and noted that the United States will continue to provide aid to the people of North Korea as an assurance that a better future is possible. "We have made clear to the North Korea regime that the President of the United States has said and the United States has no intention, to attack North Korea or to invade North Korea, that multi-lateral security assurances would be available to North Korea, if North Korea is prepared to give up its nuclear weapons program verifiably and irreversibly," Dr. Rice said.

Noting, that she may be the lone advocate for this issue on the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Murkowski questioned Dr. Rice on the role of the Arctic Council and how the United States can raise awareness and knowledge of the Arctic regions. Arctic nations stand to benefit from an increase in circumpolar navigation and the world as a whole has an interest in global climate changes that are most evident in the Arctic. Dr. Rice expressed a strong interest in further discussions on how Arctic relations can be improved, and how increased interest in arctic technologies and sciences can benefit the United States.

In her last question to Dr. Rice, Sen. Murkowski asked how the administration is working to improve the lives of women in the Middle East and across the globe. "We've been very outspoken about the need of every society to make sure that women's rights are protected. This is part of the agenda of the broader Middle East initiative. You can not function as a modern society if half of your population is essentially kept out of the political process," Dr. Rice noted such Administration achievements in the area of women's rights as the new constitutional protections of women in Afghanistan.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on the nomination of Dr. Rice to be Secretary of State will continue tomorrow, Wednesday, January 19th.

http://murkowski.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=230700