WASHINGTON – In a break with precedent, the State Department is asking Congress to ante up big bucks – millions – to protect Secretary of State Madeleine Albright after she leaves office.
She’d be the first secretary of state ever to get that kind of protection. Others, like Warren Christopher, now Vice President Al Gore’s point man in Florida, gave it up just weeks after returning to private life.
“She gets threats, but this isn’t just about her. It’s about all future secretaries of state and designees for secretary of state before they take office,” said State Department spokesman Phil Reek.
The proposal would authorize the State Department to provide extra protection for Albright for up to six months.
The Washington Post estimated the cost at millions and said the 25-man detail had sparked some diplomatic-security experts to call it “arrogant” and “appalling.”
A security detail would protect Albright’s Washington home, Aspen ski chalet and chauffeur her in government vehicles on vacations, to big-bucks lecture dates and other events in private life, the report said.
State Department officials contend the U.S. bombing of Serbia during the Kosovo intervention is a prime reason why Albright needs added protection.
But Clinton national security adviser Sandy Berger doesn’t seem to feel threatened. White House spokesman P.J. Crowley said Berger “has no intention of requesting a [security] detail once he leaves his current position.”
But Crowley said Albright is in a different position because “she is the senior diplomat in the U.S. government and extremely visible around the world.”
State Department officials say they are simply seeking authorization for added protection and that Albright hasn’t yet decided if she wants it, or, if so, for how long.
Presidents and first ladies get Secret Service protection after they leave office. Starting with the Clintons, that’s limited to 10 years. Past presidents have had it for life.
In addition to the security advantages, Secret Service and diplomatic security eases a lot of the normal hassles of day-to-day life, like getting from place to place.
The authorization to protect Albright is buried in an omnibus funding bill.