There is more of a connection between the State and the military than one might think, and I have emphasized this since I first came here almost two years ago. My wife warned me when I became Secretary of State that I should not come over here and start acting like a soldier again, and this was the Department of State, not an infantry battalion. But I discovered that yes, you are, you're like an infantry battalion when I came over here to the Department of State, because I found people who were serving, serving their nation just like all of those GIs I had served with over all those years.

I found people in the State Department who are willing to leave comfortable lives here in the United States and go to far-flung posts, where they are often exposed to danger. I found a group of dedicated professionals who are willing to put their lives and the lives of their family members on the line in the service of their nation. I found that increasingly in this post-Cold War world, this new 21st century that we live in, diplomacy, in many respects, and what our diplomats do really reflects the first line of offense and defense as we engage with the world.

And I found in my first few months here that as my colleagues in the Pentagon do their work, they depend on the State Department to get them access into countries where we are now operating that we had never operated before, and we have a great relationship still with our friends in the military.

And so I have encouraged this linkage between not only the State Department and the Defense Department, but the State Department and our veterans� communities, as well. I meet with representatives of the veterans� community. Recently, I met with the head of the new commander of the American Legion and other similar organizations.

Because we're all in this together. And yes, the State Department takes casualties, just like our colleagues in the military. So far this year, we've lost three members of our State Department family, two family members who were killed in Pakistan, and an AID employee who was killed in Jordan just two weeks ago. And we mourn for them, just as we used to mourn for our soldiers and family members who were lost in battle.

That's why it is particularly important for us to have you all here today, because you served your nation and now you're trying very hard and succeeding in serving your nation in a new and different way -- by going into business, by providing services and products to your fellow citizens, and especially services and products that would be of use to the State Department in the pursuit of our efforts and in the work that we do.

And we are committed to make sure that we meet the goals that have been established for us to try to get up to 3 percent. We are nowhere near there. We are under 2 percent at the moment. Now, that's not something I'm proud of. What I am proud of is that of all of the large departments in government, we are number one.

But being number one in this instance is not enough. We're going to do more. We're going to do more by attracting a veteran-owned businesses such as represented here to come to the Department, show us your products, your wares, your services; making it easier for you to interact with our people, easier for you to get the information you want, easier for you to enter into contracts with us; to do everything we can do to facilitate your efforts to work with the Department and to provide us the services we need.

You provide quality services. You provide solid, good products at the right cost for the American taxpayer.

So, once again, we are joined in this together -- veterans and active duty, once again, working together to serve our nation. And so I want to welcome you to this expo this morning, and as a fellow veteran I am honored that you would all come. And I hope that you find this to be a good opportunity to network with other veteran-owned business owners and I hope that you will find this to be a rewarding experience.

And I hope that, in addition to manning your booths and kind of looking around this display area, you kind of look around other parts of the building, as well. And I'm sure that, if appropriate and you have time, Grant Green and Bill Eaton will even arrange a tour for you up on the Diplomatic Rooms of the State Department. If you've never been up there, they're quite beautiful. And I am hereby ordering Colonel Green -- (laughter) -- if he still takes orders -- (laughter) -- and if he doesn't, Spec 4 Eaton -- (laughter) -- to arrange special tours for all of you to go up and see our very, very beautiful Diplomatic Rooms.

So welcome to the Department. I wish I could stay longer. I have a couple of issues that are on the front burner this morning, a UN resolution in Iraq being the uppermost, but I didn't want to miss the opportunity to welcome my fellow veterans to the Department.