Hillary Clinton Shares Stage With Joe Biden in One of First Public Events Since Leaving State
April 3, 2013
By Sarah Parnass ABC News -WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton stepped out of the shadows Tuesday evening at an award ceremony held to recognize leaders from around the world who worked to improve the plight of women and featuring such guests as Nicholas Kristof and Vice President Joe Biden.
The event, Vital Voices’ Global Leadership Awards, was the former secretary of state’s second public appearances since she left her post at the end of January.
Clinton founded the original Vital Voices Democracy Initiative as first lady in 1997 with then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and has attended 11 of 12 such award ceremonies — every year except 2012 when she was traveling.
She reflected on her time as first lady, fighting for women’s rights with former Chief of Staff Melanne Verveer by her side against problems that are far from over. She said today a map of the world shows “too many countries where women still face violence and abuse, too many political systems that treat women like second class or even worse.
“But that’s not all the map shows. It’s not what Melanne and I see,” Clinton said. “When we look at the map we do see progress, because we know people who are making that progress against the most extraordinary odds every day, everywhere. We see the opportunities that are there to be seized. We see, we hear those vital voices.”
Though some have speculated the high-profile Democrat could go head-to-head with Biden in a future primary election, Clinton said she was “delighted” that the vice president could be at the ceremony this year.
“Vice President Biden and I have worked together on so many important issues,” she said. “One that is particularly close to his heart is the fight against domestic violence, and I know what a personal victory it was for him to see the Violence Against Women Act reauthorized last month.”
Biden presented an award to the event’s only male honorees, three brothers who run an NGO standing up for victims of human trafficking in India.
