WASHINGTON, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Condoleezza Rice, sworn in on Friday as America's 66th secretary of state, pledged to continue President George W. Bush's mission to bring democracy to the countries still run by autocratic rulers.
"You have given us our mission, and we are ready to serve our great country and the cause of freedom for which it stands," said Rice speaking soon after Bush.
Earlier Bush assured the world that in choosing Rice to serve as America's top diplomat he has selected a person who will lead by "character and conviction and wisdom."
Rice responded by pledging to use diplomacy to widen the community of democracy.
"We at the Department of State will conduct a foreign policy that sees the world clearly as it is; but ... we will not accept that today's reality has to be tomorrow's," she said.
She added that the United States would work in partnership with allies and reformers across the globe to promote democracy because expanding freedom was "urgent work that cannot be deferred."
Speaking before Rice, Bush spelled out the goals he expects the new secretary of state to achieve: ending proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, promoting free trade, advancing justice and fundamental human rights, and fighting HIV/AIDS and other diseases.
Bush also emphasized the importance of Sunday's elections in Iraq which, he said, was the first step in a process that would allow Iraqis to write and pass a constitution that enshrines self-government and the rule of law.
In Afghanistan, he said, people had already voted in the first free presidential elections in that nation's 5,000-year history. "The people of Ukraine have made clear their own desire for democracy. The Palestinians have just elected a new president, who has repudiated violence. Freedom is on the march, and the world is better for it," declared Bush.
Responding to his sentiments, Rice said now was the time to "build on those achievements to make the world safer and even more free. We must use American diplomacy to help create a balance of power that favors freedom."
"The time for diplomacy is now," she declared.
Bush promoted Rice to the role of top U.S. diplomat after she served for four years as his national security adviser. The 50-year-old Rice was sworn in by White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card in a short ceremony on Wednesday night at the White House.
Earlier Friday, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Rice's neighbor in Washington, administered the oath to the new secretary of state, with Bush looking on.
Later, Bush joked that "it was neighborly of her" to take part in Rice's ceremony.
Rice hit the ground running. Even before the second swearing-in, she was busy telephoning 15 countries and discussing issues with foreign ministers that she wants to focus on as the secretary of state. She began her first working day at the State Department on Thursday with a pep talk to cheering department employees crowded into a lobby and later chaired meetings on Iraq and the tsunami disaster.
She also spoke to Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, a key U.S. ally in the "war against terror," who is facing a growing discontent at home. In Pakistan, the conversation is seen as an expression of U.S. support for Musharraf.
Later, Rice also announced her plans to visit Europe and the Middle East next week.
"It's great to be here," she said upon entering the State Department building where she was an intern in 1977 in the Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. "There is a lesson in that," Rice joked. "Be good to your interns."
Her trip next week to Europe, preceding one later in February by the president, was widely expected, but not her visit to the Middle East.
Diplomatic observers in Washington recalled that during her confirmation hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, Rice had promised to get personally involved in efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. The visit, the observers said, is her way of conveying to the Senate that she intends to fulfill her pledge.
It will be a brief visit, confined to meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and there will be no diversions to neighboring Arab states.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Rice as U.S. secretary of state to replace Colin Powell with an 85-13 vote. She is the first African-American woman to hold the office. The 13 'no' votes registered by the Democrats were a record for a nominated secretary of state. Henry Kissinger drew seven nays in 1973 and Alexander Haig was opposed by six senators in 1981.
Democrats used Rice's confirmation hearings last week and eight hours of debate in the full Senate to signal their determined opposition to the policies she helped craft. Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., railed against her role in a war he described as a "catastrophic failure, a quagmire."
Both Bush and Rice paid rich tributes to Powell. "All of us admire and appreciate the service of Colin Powell," the president said.
"Colin Powell left big shoes to fill when he left the State Department," Bush added. "Condoleezza Rice is the person to fill them."
