Adam Ereli Secretary Quotations

The secretary and the State Department believe that questions of the committee should be answered. Secretary Powell is answering requests for information, the way that we do, the way that any American citizen does.

The secretary did not misspeak. The secretary knows exactly what he was talking about. And there should be, I think, no question in our mind of casting doubt or walking it back.

That's not true. There are no plans for a trip at this point with Assistant Secretary Shannon to Venezuela.

Our dealings with Venezuela and our contacts with Venezuela are mostly through our embassy. There was a Venezuelan official here a couple of weeks ago, met with Assistant Secretary Shannon and other State Department officials, but there's been no recent contact from Assistant Secretary Shannon to the government or plans for a visit.

In this regard, Secretary Annan has been playing an important and, I think, proper role.