Washington, DC – Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee that will consider the nomination of Robert Gates, today made the following statement in Buffalo, NY in response to the news of the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld:

“The president made the right decision today, I wish he had made it earlier but now we have a new beginning, a new face at the Pentagon who doesn't carry the baggage that Secretary Rumsfeld carried. On Monday when the Army Times, the Marine Corps Times, the Navy Times, the Air Force Times all came out with the same editorial asking for Donald Rumsfeld's resignation, that was it, nobody could doubt what I and others have been saying, that we needed new leadership at the Pentagon if we were going to deal with the difficult situation in Iraq, our deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, and the threats we face around the world.”