And a special thanks to the Joint Service Color Guard for not wiping out one of my $500,000 -- (laughter). Were you like me? I was going like this. (Laughter.) They always bring a special style and dignity to ceremonies such as this. (Laughter.) But we will have to have some more training on chandelier avoidance.

Shortly after I was sworn in as Secretary of State, I held my first town meeting with State Department employees. I said that I didn't see my job as just being the foreign policy advisor to the President, although that certainly is an important part of my job; I also said that it was important for me to be seen within the Department and up on Capitol and around the country as the leader and manager of this wonderful institution, the oldest Department in government.

And as your leader and manager, it is my pleasure and privilege to honor excellence when I find it within the ranks, just as I tried to do for those many years I served as a soldier -- not just to recognize you with good efficiency reports or an occasional bonus, but really for us to stop and pause in the course of our daily lives and recognize excellence so that your excellence will serve as an inspiration and a model to other employees throughout the Department.

Because our ability to successfully perform our mission depends, first and foremost, on the quality of our people, and we see that quality represented here. And I believe to the depth of my heart in what I've over the last several months as your Secretary, but what I've seen over the years that the men and women of the State Department are of the highest quality, and they are our greatest diplomatic asset, whether they're Foreign Service, Civil Service, or Foreign Service Nationals, who by the way, constitute the largest category of Department of State employees. We're all part of one quality family, working together as a family. No component more important than any other component. Like a team, you need every single part to work together as a team and as a family.

And that is why I am especially pleased that this occasion we'll be recognizing seven Foreign Service Nationals as part of that family. And I am particularly pleased that Ambassador Choinhor and Mr. Batcuuri are here from the Embassy of Mongolia to help us congratulate our Foreign Service National awardee from Embassy Ulaanbaatar, who has done both of our countries proud.

All of the individuals we recognize today have distinguished themselves in their work, both by the depth of their commitment and the extent of their expertise. And there is no greater testament to the high esteem in which our honorees are held than the fact that they were nominated for the awards they are going to receive today by their colleagues.

But before I heap more praise on them and before I go further, I want to recognize the real VIPs in this audience, the very important people whose understanding, support, and love made it possible for our honorees to devote so much to their jobs -- so much time, so much energy, so much dedication. Their families were the cause of all of that, the reason for them to be successful.

I want to thank all of the spouses, the kids, the parents, and also those who may not be here present today but are certainly here with us in spirit.

I know that the awardees did not get as much time to spend with you as they might have liked, or you might have liked. I know that there is a mom and a dad and a son and a daughter that wanted to see more of their loved ones, and I think you served and sacrificed and are as much a reason for the awardees' success as they are.

And so I think we should pause at this moment and give a round of applause to all of the family members here who have done so much for us.

(Applause.)

Last week I was getting ready to go up on the Hill, as I am today, and I have this terrible habit of slipping into my original language, infantry, and I used these military metaphors, and I was using one that said, you know, our State Department employees and our embassies around the world are the first line of defense. And one of my assistants corrected me and said, it is the first line of offense; don't ever say first line of defense. We are out there attacking. We are out there taking our values to the world. We are out there showing to the rest of the world what democracy is all about, what freedom is all about. It's a heck of an offense. There are many people who are on our team, the Defense Department, the CIA, so many of the national security agencies. But at the end of the day, it is our diplomatic presence in countries that are the first line of offense in moving those values forward.

Our people are out there on the front line promoting democratic values and tolerance, liberating human talent, helping to build civil societies, encouraging free enterprise, working with our allies and friends to bring stability to worn-torn regimes. And in all of that, the men and women we honor today are leading the way.

In the field, our honorees today have served at the forefront of our efforts to defend human rights, promote the rule of law. Some of them have put their own safety on the line for the sake of others and in the cause of justice. They have served at the forefront of our efforts to strengthen fledgling democracies, expand trade and investment, and promote peace all over the world. They have been America's face to the world. At far-flung outposts, you, our awardees, have been a help to people desperately in need. You have helped your fellow Americans overseas, you have helped people who look to us for inspiration and look to us to help them when they are having difficulty with respect to oppression, with respect to the preservation of human rights.

All of you, our awardees, have served under difficult and sometimes downright dangerous conditions. A number of you have helped establish US installations in the middle of a war zone, in the middle of zones of conflict. You have masterfully managed and skillfully secured your embassies during periods of intense activity or heightened threat.

Others of you have set off alarms in the middle of ceremonies. (Laughter.) It was either a fire, or we're submerging. I'm not sure which one it is. (Laughter.) We're submerging, is that it? Thank you, chief. (Laughter.) This is better than the last speech I gave here about three weeks ago, where someone fainted right in the middle of the speech and hit the floor. (Laughter.)

Others of you have helped to empower the least of God's children or have raised awareness of terrible abuses, such as trafficking in women and children. You have been on the leading edge of efforts to combat the scourges of narcotics trafficking and you have reached out with compassion to communities ravaged by HIV-AIDS. You helped pave the way for highly productive relationships with new governments. Through your reporting and analysis, you provided valuable insights to American policymakers and you have used your gift for languages to pierce barriers of understanding.

On the home front, our honorees have been at the vanguard of the Department's efforts to meet Information Age challenges and to ensure that we are spending precious resources wisely. You have helped us to think through and smooth the transition of the Department as it reconfigures itself for the 21st century, and you have been at the forefront of our efforts to ensure that every employee is treated fairly and with respect and that all have the opportunity to use their talents to the fullest.

Ladies and gentlemen, there are so many ways that our award winners have distinguished themselves by their excellence. But the personal qualities that they have in common are what count the most: a deep dedication to their mission and the ability to inspire others.

I am so enormously proud of all of them here today and enormously proud of their families. I am enormously proud that they have seen fit to serve their nation in this important way. I am enormously proud to be their Secretary, your Secretary. I am enormously proud to have been given the challenge and the opportunity to help empower you to do a better job, to fight for the resources you need to serve the American people even more successfully than you already do.

And so I just want to let you know that this Secretary is proud of you. And beyond that, the President is proud of you, proud of the contributions that you make. And beyond that, the American people are proud of you. They know what you do. They know how you are representing them. The foreign policy we execute and you implement so successfully is the foreign policy of the American people, as manifested and presented by the President of the United States. And we help him execute that foreign policy in the name of the American people. And I hope, above all, that each and every one of you take pride in your accomplishments, be as proud of your accomplishments as we are of you.

Thank you very, very much.

(Applause.)