WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Cheers, a standing ovation and a gag gift of protective headgear
greeted Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as she returned to
work on Monday after a monthlong absence caused first by a stomach
virus, then a fall and a concussion and finally a brief hospitalization
for a blot clot near her brain.
A crowd of
about 75 State Department officials greeted Clinton with a standing
ovation as she walked in to the first senior staff meeting she has
convened since early December, according to those present. Deputy
Secretary of State Thomas Nides, noting that life in Washington is often
a "contact sport, sometimes even in your own home" then presented
Clinton with a gift - a regulation white Riddell football helmet
emblazoned with the State Department seal, officials said.
She
was also given a blue football jersey with "Clinton" and the number 112
- the record-breaking number of countries she has visited since
becoming secretary of state - printed on the back. Aides said Clinton
was delighted with the gifts but did not try either of them on and the
meeting turned to matters of national security and diplomacy.
"She
loved it. She thought it was cool. But then being Hillary Clinton, she
wanted to get right to business," State Department spokeswoman Victoria
Nuland told reporters.
At the meeting, Clinton
stressed the need for the State Department to implement a review
board's recommendations for improving the security at high-threat
diplomatic posts, officials said. Clinton said she wanted to see all 29
of the recommendations from the independent Accountability Review Board
in place by the time her successor takes over.
"She's expecting everybody to work hard in that regard," Nuland said.
President
Barack Obama has nominated Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to replace
Clinton, who had long said she would step down after four years.
The
review board, created after the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the
U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, harshly criticized
leadership and management at two State Department bureaus that allowed
the post to be inadequately protected. Four Americans, including U.S.
Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed in the attack.
Clinton
also told her staff on Monday that she would testify before Congress
about the report before she leaves office, officials said. No date for
that testimony has yet been set and Congress is in recess until Jan. 21,
meaning that she may have to stay on as secretary of state for another
week or so after Obama's inauguration on that day. After she testifies,
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee would take up Kerry's nomination.
Clinton
fell ill with a stomach bug after returning from a trip to Europe on
Dec. 7. The illness forced her to cancel a planned visit to North Africa
and the Middle East and left her severely dehydrated. While at home,
she fainted and fell and suffered a concussion that was diagnosed by
doctors on Dec. 20.
During a follow up
examination on Dec. 30, doctors discovered a blood clot in a vein that
runs between the skull and the brain behind her right ear and she was
admitted to New York-Presbyterian Hospital for treatment with blood
thinners. She was released from the hospital Wednesday.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
