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November 22, 2008
Duties of the Secretary of State
There are some things that will be frightening to have her in charge of, and there are some perks in the duties that she will take full advantage of.
DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
FACT SHEET
Bureau of Public Affairs
Washington, DC
January 22, 2001
Under the Constitution, the President of the United States determines U.S. foreign policy. The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser. The Secretary carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department and the Foreign Service of the United States.
Created in 1789 by the Congress as the successor to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of State is the senior executive Department of the U.S. Government. The Secretary of State’s duties relating to foreign affairs have not changed significantly since then, but they have become far more complex as international commitments multiplied. These duties—the activities and responsibilities of the State Department—include the following:
* Serves as the President’s principal adviser on U.S. foreign policy;
* Conducts negotiations relating to U.S. foreign affairs;
* Grants and issues passports to American citizens and exequaturs to foreign consuls in the United States;
* Advises the President on the appointment of U.S. ambassadors, ministers, consuls, and other diplomatic representatives;
* Advises the President regarding the acceptance, recall, and dismissal of the representatives of foreign governments;
* Personally participates in or directs U.S. representatives to international conferences, organizations, and agencies;
* Negotiates, interprets, and terminates treaties and agreements;
* Ensures the protection of the U.S. Government to American citizens, property, and interests in foreign countries;
* Supervises the administration of U.S. immigration laws abroad;
* Provides information to American citizens regarding the political, economic, social, cultural, and humanitarian conditions in foreign countries;
* Informs the Congress and American citizens on the conduct of U.S. foreign relations;
* Promotes beneficial economic intercourse between the United States and other countries;
* Administers the Department of State;
* Supervises the Foreign Service of the United States.
In addition, the Secretary of State retains domestic responsibilities that Congress entrusted to the State Department in 1789. These include the custody of the Great Seal of the United States, the preparation of certain presidential proclamations, the publication of treaties and international acts as well as the official record of the foreign relations of the United States, and the custody of certain original treaties and international agreements. The Secretary also serves as the channel of communication between the Federal Government and the States on the extradition of fugitives to or from foreign countries.
Wild Thing's comment.........
I had never actually read what all the duties are, besides the obvious ones. I thought I would share it with all of you as well.
Posted by Wild Thing at November 22, 2008 05:50 AM
Comments
Notice the woman in the lower left, it's Senator Clair McCaskill from Missouri. Clair is a professional campaigner at taxpayer expense. She was elected State Auditor in Missouri. For the three years she was auditor, she campaigned one year for governor (lost) and 1 year for the senate. She's been in the senate two years now and spent one year of it campaigning for Obama. Out of the past five years in office, she spent three of it campaigning for something.
Posted by: BobF at November 22, 2008 08:42 AM
Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State and Obama as President this is a recipe for disaster. The blind leading the blind. The Laurel and Hardy of politics.
Posted by: Mark at November 22, 2008 08:55 AM
Oh and another thing, Hillary stated that they were dodging sniper fire, in Bosnia. Must be awfully slow moving bullets. This group doesn't have a clue.
Posted by: Mark at November 22, 2008 09:01 AM
If you think back on former Secretaries of State, most I wouldn't classify as career politicians. No more so than is necessary to survive the shark-tank of D.C. Hillary is a kill-if-you-have-to kind of politician. This won't be good. Couple that with Rahm as Chief of Staff and BHO is already starting off with the quicksand at his lower lip. Carl Rove had some good insight into the Rahm Emmanuel pick a couple of nights ago on Fox. In so many words, the Chief of Staff needs to shelve his or her opinions to make sure the President gets input from all sides of an issue. Rahm Emmanuel doesn't fit the mold.
Posted by: jim warren at November 22, 2008 03:20 PM
My Death Star II Crew had the following Secretary of State predictions: Madeleine Albright, Janet Reno, Oprah Winfrey, Madonna (Not the Virgin Mary one), Helen Thomas, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Wolf-Wolf Blitzer, Bill Mahr, and Rev. Jeremiah Wright?
Posted by: darthcrUSAderworldtour07 at November 22, 2008 04:42 PM
BobF, thanks for the info. about Senator Clair McCaskill . She is horrible, she said something a week or two ago that oh wait I remember now what it was.
She was on a political talk show on TV and Mitt Romney was on too. He was to be on right after her segment. When she was done, they cut to a commecial and Senator Clair McCaskill handed the microphone to pin on his suit and she said to him...." I spit on it before I gave it to you."
She is totally disgusting.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 22, 2008 06:25 PM
Mark, yessss that is just what they are....."Laurel and Hardy of politics." and dangerous.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 22, 2008 06:29 PM
Mark, hahahahahahaa good one. Maybe she lives in slow motion and the sniper bullets were moving verrrryyyyyy slowly toward her.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 22, 2008 06:33 PM
Jim thank you so much for sharing about that.I agree,...."the Chief of Staff needs to shelve his or her opinions to make sure the President gets input from all sides of an issue. Rahm Emmanuel doesn't fit the mold."
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 22, 2008 06:36 PM
Darth, haha they all can go live in another country and I would never miss a single one of them.
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 22, 2008 06:38 PM
Chrissie, she was elected by Kansas City and St. Louis, not Missouri. Election night in 2006, when I went to bed, she was loosing big but St. Louis and Kansas City hadn't reported in yet. When I woke up the next morning, she had won the election. Those two cities are Democrat strongholds and are always late in reporting their vote tallies.
Posted by: BobF at November 23, 2008 10:06 AM
