[…] Well, good afternoon. It is such a pleasure to welcome Baroness Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union – the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy here to Washington for her first visit in this new position. She is, by no means, a first-time visitor to the United States, having served in a number of capacities both within the United Kingdom and in the EU prior to this.

[…] Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton calls for “good faith negotiations” to be relaunched between Israel and the Palestinians to end their decades-long conflict based on the 1967 borders and mutually agreed land swaps, and says 2010 will be a “year of renewed commitment and increased effort” to reach that goal. In remarks following a meeting with Jordan’s minister of foreign affairs, Nasser Judeh, Clinton said the Obama administration is “absolutely committed” to working with all partners for a two-state solution.

[…] Like many of you, I have seen the transformative power of development. I have seen the passion and commitment of aid workers who devote their careers to this difficult undertaking. I’ve seen American development at work in a village in Indonesia, where new mothers and their infants were receiving nutritional and medical counseling through a family planning program supported by USAID.