Hillary Clinton worked to make diplomats safe: Column As a former undersecretary of State, I know her true record.

Wendy Sherman | USA TODAY

Just a few short weeks ago, after four intense years, I stepped down as undersecretary of State for political affairs, responsible for the day-to-day work of all regional bureaus and international organizations. Thanks to then-Secretary Hillary Clinton's leadership, and continued by now Secretary John Kerry, I began every day looking at intelligence and getting information from every region to see which diplomats, which locally employed staff and which U.S. citizens might be at physical risk, and what we needed to do about it. Every day, every ambassador also looks at risk, and thanks to Secretary Clinton's initiative, works to implement every single recommendation of the non-partisan Accountability Review Board convened after the tragic death of our colleagues in Benghazi, Libya.

Sadly, I was at Andrews Air Force Base to honor the fallen Americans after the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, and then again after Benghazi. What we learned in 1998 and again in 2012 is that the world changes; that we cannot know, particularly in an age of threats from terrorists, what new challenge will come at us. But what Secretary Clinton did to meet this challenge, and Secretary Madeleine Albright before her, is what matters.

Because of Secretary Clinton's leadership, our diplomats are more prepared and the Defense Department has more assets to help with evacuations. We have expanded and enhanced training for diplomatic security, particularly for high-risk, high-threat posts. We've created more diplomatic security positions and secured more support from Marine guards. We adopted the Vital Presence Validation Process to assess appropriate staffing levels at high-threat posts.

Because of Secretary Clinton, and, of course, President Obama, our highest priority is security, for our diplomats and for our nation. As secretary of State, Hillary Clinton also took critical action to make our world safer, fundamental to making our diplomats and our country safer. She guided the State Department to repair relations around the globe and brokered major agreements that made our world safer, such as the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. She led the effort to impose the toughest sanctions in U.S. history on Iran, fought to expand Internet freedom and continually promoted the betterment of women and girls.

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Quite frankly, my former colleagues, who labor every day, now under Secretary Kerry's leadership to ensure our safety, are often dispirited by the polarization and dysfunction of our political system. Congress has now spent 17 months and $4.5 million of taxpayer money in a secret, partisan congressional investigation that has not made one single recommendation. It would be more productive for Congress to increase the overall State Department budget so we could harden more embassies, have more programs for countering violent extremism and build even stronger efforts to thwart terrorists. Indeed, we are heartened that Secretary Clinton has insisted that she testify publicly, not only to answer the committee's questions but also to continue her effective advocacy for security for all of us.

Members of our diplomatic corps risk their lives everyday all around the world in an effort to broker peaceful solutions to perilous conflicts. Even simple acts, such as a young woman diplomat's delivery of books to ensure girls' education in Afghanistan, can end in horrific tragedy. When airlines announce before a flight that servicemembers can board first, I want them to include diplomats who also provide such service. Secretary Clinton honors the memory of all of our fallen as she testifies, yet again, to do whatever she can to hold tragedy back. It's time that Congress also honor their legacy and truly focus on strengthening our expeditionary diplomacy, rather than going on seemingly fruitless fishing expeditions.

My former colleagues deserve no less.

Ambassador Wendy Sherman is a former under secretary of State for political affairs, the fourth-ranking official in the Department of State.

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