U.S. Department of State
Honorable John Kerry, Secretary of State
The mission of the U.S. Department of State is to shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of the American people and people everywhere. John Kerry has served as Secretary of State since 2013 after serving for 28 years as a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, the last four as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The following is from Secretary Kerry’s June 16, 2014, welcoming remarks at the “Our Ocean” conference delivered at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. As many of you know,…