Interview Transcript: Condoleezza Rice

SEGMENT #2

Dr. RICE: I think there's a reason for that, Maria, and of course, it has to do with the great military power of the United States, the great economic power of the United States, an economy that is the envy of every economy in the world.  But it also has to do with the American example.  People look to America and they see a place that is multiethnic in character, where you can be a German-American from a couple of--a century ago, or you can be Mexican-American, you can be African-American and you're still American.  And that multiethnic character of America is very attractive to people.  They also see a place where you get ahead, not because of where you came from, because--but because of where you want to go.  And an educational system that is open and where people achieve on merit.  There is much that attracts the world to America.  Even if they don't like American policies, this is the place that people want to send their kids to school, this is the place that people still want to come and find their futures.  America's still a very, very powerful symbol and a very important place of leadership for the world.

BARTIROMO: And yet some people say protectionism continues to seep in.  The Dubai Ports deal could not go through, Unocal was unable to get acquired by CNOOC, there is difficulty in obtaining visa.  How can we change that perception?

Dr. RICE: Well, it is absolutely the case that we have to defend what has made us great, and that is to be a place that is open to people from around the world.  We've worked very hard here at the State Department, for instance, to improve the ability for students to get visas to the United States.

There's no doubt that after September 11th, there was a downturn in the number of foreign students coming to the United States.  It was harder to get here if you were a business traveler.  We still have work to do but I think we're making improvements, working with the tourism industry, working with business, to try to make sure that people who are trying to come to the United States can come to the United States.  We need to fight protectionism with everything that we have because when there's a level playing field and when you have open markets and when free trade is flourishing, American workers, American farmers, Americans are going to benefit.  When the international economy is growing as a whole, I will put my bets on American industry, American workers, American farmers, to get more than their fair share of that open market.  But if we become protectionist and we become closed, then we are going to really undermine our own economic strength.

It's true that we have to do more to help prepare Americans for the jobs that are available.  I've been, myself, very concerned about education, both at the primary and secondary levels, and keeping our universities open to the widest variety of people.  I'm concerned about math-science education in the United States.  Too few engineers being trained here.  I come, Maria, you know, now from the Silicon Valley, a place that one in every 10 patents in the country has come out of--in the world has come out of.  We have to make sure that we are keeping and strengthening our great advantages.  But if we close ourselves off, we're all going to suffer.

BARTIROMO: And Europe is becoming more formidable.  You've got China and India strengthening, we've got new leadership throughout Europe.  Tell me how the new political face of Europe will impact American business.

Dr. RICE: Well, the political face of Europe is one that has said very clearly that it wants cooperation and friendship with the United States.  I was just in France and met with President Sarkozy.  He made very clear that he believes in Franco-American cooperation.  We have excellent relations with Chancellor Merkel in Germany, and of course, we ill have great relations with Great Britain.  Those countries that are the strongest countries in Europe, together with our friends in--that have just come to Europe, Poland, the Czech Republic, the countries of East Central Europe, I think, make for a very favorable environment politically for the United States, because there we have very good partners who share our values, who are helping us to carry some of the burdens of international concerns, international problems.  And I feel very good about our future with Europe.

BARTIROMO: Let me ask you a question on immigration.  Lawyers are planning a class action suit right now over the State Department's offer of visas to highly skilled immigrants last month, even though the Department of Citizenship said there were no more visas available.  What happened?

Dr. RICE: Well, this was a case in which for--at a certain point in time, we'd not filled the entire quota for these special immigrant visas.  And made an announcement of that.  But when they were filled, we had to cut it off at that point.  There's a ceiling that's set every year and when that ceiling was reached, then we couldn't issue the visas any longer.  But we're prepared to talk to people about what happened here.  If there were problems in communication then those should be looked at.  But it's pretty simple.  We operate under a particular ceiling, and when that ceiling is filled, then we have to--we have to live within it.

BARTIROMO: And unfortunately, aren't these the exact type of people, very highly skilled, some physicians, that America wants to attract?

Dr. RICE: Well, it goes back to the point that I--that I made.  A lot of people want to come to the United States.  People will skills want to come to the United States.  I'm a very big believer in having those people come to the United States, because the truth of the matter is, we don't, ourselves, produce enough of that skilled labor.  We need to work on the educational front to make sure that we are producing us the numbers of engineers and the numbers of software people and the numbers of physicians that we need.

CONTINUED : Segment 3

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