Obama asks Albright to meet delegations at G20 1 hr 22 mins ago
CHICAGO (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama has tapped former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and a former Republican congressman to meet foreign delegations at the global financial summit in Washington this weekend.
Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden said in a statement on Wednesday that Albright and former Republican Rep. Jim Leach would be available for unofficial meetings with foreign delegations.
"This weekend's summit is an important opportunity to hear from the leaders of many of the world's largest economies," said Obama's senior foreign policy adviser, Denis McDonough.
"There is one president at a time in the United States, so the president-elect has asked Secretary Albright and Congressman Leach, an experienced and bipartisan team, to be available (to) meet with and listen to our friends and allies on his behalf," McDonough said in a statement.
Albright served as secretary of state and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Clinton administration. Leach was a congressman from Iowa for 30 years, where he served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chaired the Banking and Financial Services Committee. (Reporting by Deborah Charles; Editing by Doina Chiacu)