Clinton: Congressional deadlock hurts U.S. abroad

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says that domestic political squabbles and congressional gridlock undermine U.S. foreign policy and damage the nation's image abroad.

"People don't understand the way our system operates, they just don't get it," Clinton said in response to questions from Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) during a hearing Wednesday on the State Department's budget.

"Their view does color whether the United States is in a position, not just this President but our country, is in a position going forward to demonstrate the kind of unity and strength and effectiveness that I think we have to in this very complex and dangerous world," she said.

Clinton, a member of the Senate for eight years, said there are always going to be legitimate policy differences, and those debates can be an asset internationally – a positive advertisement of American democracy – but that the tactic of delays and "holds" placed on nominations of ambassadors and other foreign-policy personnel have become a problem.

"It became harder and harder to explain to countries, particularly countries of significance, why we had nobody in position for them to interact with," Clinton said in her testimony. She said that more than a year into a new administration, President Obama deserves to have his team in place, despite disagreements over policy.

"I think not only has President Obama been diminished but so has the presidency," Specter said. Obama, Specter said, has "not been able to project the same kind of stature and power that he did a year ago because he's being hamstrung by the Congress and it has an impact on foreign policy which we really ought to do everything we cannot to have partisanship influence."