Secretary of State Kerry expresses commitment to USAID mission in speech at headquarters

In his first visit to USAID headquarters since assuming the position of Secretary of State, John Kerry on Friday "said he is 'deeply, deeply committed' to USAID's mission of opening up opportunities to people in need" and that "[h]e fully supports their work and will fight for their cause in upcoming budget battles and hot spots around the globe," Devex's "Development Newswire" reports. "President Obama could not have made it more clear in his State of the Union message when he challenged all of us here and said, 'We have an opportunity to end extreme poverty in the next two decades,'" Kerry said, adding, "And I'm confident that with your work and help, and if we get Congress to continue to understand this connection, we will end extreme poverty in the next two decades," according to Devex. "While Kerry has remained relatively quiet lately on development cooperation, he has over the years been a vocal supporter of a robust foreign aid budget, and he has more recently vowed to advance reforms begun under his predecessor, Hillary Clinton, and also continue her focus on global health, food security, governance and gender issues," the news service writes, adding, "He also is expected to elevate climate change at the State Department and beyond" (Morales, 2/15).