she got me through a time i didn't want to stick around. i wanted no part of being in the congress or the senate, i mean it. we reelected a democratic governor to find a replacement for me. but teddy and ethel kennedy would hear none of it. you know, the fact is she did for the country, ethel helped my family find a way forward with principle and purpose. we saw how she picked up bobby's cause and stamped her own mark on our country. marching for civil rights that you heard about today.

and so much more. she once said for anyone to achieve something, you have to show a little courage. you must give it all you've got. it reminded me of my mom. my mom used to say, courage lives in every heart and one day it will be called upon. she meant it. for over 50 years, she give everything she had and we are a better nation and a better world because of ethel kennedy. let me close with this.

this year, i delivered the commencement speech at morehouse college in atlanta. i noted that had we been in church that day, there would be a reflection about the resurrection and redemption. remember, jesus buried on friday and then sunday he rose again. we don't talk nearly enough about that saturday, when his disciples felt all hope was lost. all hope was lost. and our lives, and the lives of our nation, we have those saturdays. thank god your mom, your grandma, your great grandma was there for me, to bear witness to

the day before glory. to see people's pain and not look away. what work is to be done on saturday is to move pain to purpose. how can faith get a person, get a nation through what is coming. my message to all of us here today, to the entire country is look to ethel kennedy's faith, to the kennedy family. presumptuous of me to say this and maybe sound and appropriate, but to the kennedy family, the biden family is here for you. as you have always been for us.

you change the life of my boys. you really did. when i lost my son beau, attorney general of the state of delaware, he volunteered to join the national guard as attorney general, you either have to be state property or federal property. he temporarily gave up his office to go with his unit for a year in iraq. unfortunately, that was in and out of iraq as barack knows and afghanistan 30 sometimes and i got to see him several times, but the bad news was he was about a half-mile away from a burn pit.

100 yards long, 10 feet deep. burning every night from waste to everything. poisoning the air. auntie came home with stage four geo blast oma and he died. your mom was there then too. i apologize. so, from the biden family to the kennedy family, a hymn that is very close to our heart. based on the 91st psalm goes like this. may he raise you up on eagles wings and bear you on the breath of don, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of his hand.

may god bless ethel kennedy. and may she be reunited with the blessed pieces of her soul in heaven. god bless you all and thank you for letting me participate. thank you. [applause] [applause] [applause]

[applause]

about her

italian heritage and the impacts the community has had on her family. ♪ >> distinguished guests, the president of the united states and dr. biden accompanied by alexis tom otieno. ♪ alexis: good evening. -- alexa: good evening. my name is alexa and i am truly honored to introduce the first lady tonight. it's a particular privilege for

me because she like me is so proud of her italian heritage. [crowd cheering] my pride and my heritage grew tremendously last year when i was fortunate enough to participate in the national italian american foundation's voyage of discovery, a two week trip that allowed me to encounter the land of our common italian ancestors. i learned that there is indeed so much to cherish in the italian heritage. the focus on food, family, faith, and friendship. all of that is evident this evening. and i am grateful to the president and dr biden for bringing that italian spirit here into the white house. [crowd cheering] dr. biden, you are a role model for young italian americans like me who see a future where what we can achieve is only limited by what we aspire to. italians have always been great dreamers who show the world what's possible.

you share in that great tradition of vision and innovation. moreover, like our immigrant forefathers, you've inspired people to value the importance of education. i am a product of your example and as such, it is my great pleasure to introduce you to the leaders of the italian american community this evening. please welcome dr. jill biden. [applause] mrs. biden: thank you, alexa. and i'm excited to see your generation forging new connections to our past and shining such a bright light into our future. and i'm also grateful to the national italian american foundation. [applause] john robert, you've helped so many people experience our heritage in italy and preserve

it here in the united states. so, thank you. and welcome to the white house. when i was a little girl, i learned what it means to be italian american in my grandparents' tiny well worn kitchen. and not only because there were ribbons of pasta, homemade pasta and sauce bubbling over on the stove. no, the most important lesson that i learned in their kitchen was that when you're italian american, there's always room for one more chair at the table, enough bread, toast to feed one more guest, enough space in our hearts for another friend to become like family. and even when times are hard,

-- [laughter] mrs. biden: there's there's always enough time to enjoy the pleasures of life together. my grandparents also taught me to never waste an opportunity to invite more people to the table and make a difference together. so i know i had to bring those values of love, abundance and service to the white house as the first italian american first lady. [applause] that's why i've used this platform to give more women a seat at the table in discussions about their own health. [applause] to hear from military families about how we can support them to uplift community college students. and i've had the opportunity to bring so many more people inside the historic walls of the white

house by creating new educational experiences that allow more americans to immerse themselves in this house, the people's house. by using these rooms to celebrate the young people who are changing our world, by honoring the immigrants who helped build this country. and tonight -- [applause] and tonight, gathering with this community, my community to celebrate our culture. so it's been the honor of my life to serve as first lady. and during my time here, i've often thought of my great grandparents leaving everything they knew behind to chase the promise of america. and then when they arrived on ellis island to take their first

strides into a new life. i don't think that they could ever have imagined that a group of hundreds of italian americans coming together in the white house. when our roots run deep, there's no limit to how high we can reach. so tonight, i hope that you feel the power of our ancestors values, beating inside of us as we carry their legacy forward, that you feel home, you feel at home, eat good food and end up with a little something sweet together as a family. now, it's my pleasure to introduce a man who's always felt at home with italian americans. [crowd cheering] in fact, joe first met my family

at a big cookout at my grandparents' house in hamilton, new jersey. so i was pretty nervous, you know about joe coming to meet my family. but as soon as joe pulled up into the driveway and you can picture this, my tiny grandmom bolted out of the house, bounded down the porch steps in her house coat and her apron. and she gave joe this huge hug as if she'd known him his entire life. and before he could even get a plate, joe was greeted, not as a stranger but as family over the years, i've seen the italian american community extend the same joyful love and support to joe. you mean so much to him. so please, welcome. your president, my husband, joe.

[applause] pres. biden: welcome to the white house. my name is joe biden. i am jill biden's husband. i may be irish, but i'm not stupid. i married dominic jara's granddaughter five years ago. -- granddaughter. five years ago, i want you to know i received the sons of italy man of the year award to the best of my knowledge, i'm the only non italian ever to receive that award. [applause] it was a large crowd when i received that award. it was down by the train station and i said, i moved from an irish catholic neighborhood in scranton to an italian catholic neighborhood in claremont, delaware. i went from a place where you -- like finnegan and murphy and all that down.

if your name didn't end an o or you were real trouble. i was one of the few guys who se name did not end in o. i look out there and look at all my friends, you know, i accepted the word and name it. some of the guys i grew up with next door, sonny durao, whose mom i said joey, it's not sauce. it's gravy. joey. it's gravy. you think i'm kidding. i'm not. no, angelotti di sabatino. puccini birao, channy, cajal, monaco. by the way, after i talked about it, i looked out at that crowd, i was thinking about it, i deserve this damn award that many italian friends, man. i deserve that award. thank you, alexa, for being here and sharing your pride and your family and your heritage. look, and it's great to see so many friends from the national italian american foundation. you know, the sons and daughters of italy and so many other italian american leaders,

organizations from all across the country. you know, i can honestly say i wouldn't be president without you. i wouldn't be president of the italian american community. what she didn't say is we do have something in common. i have a irish catholic background. you guys, a lot of you are catholics, you know. i know you don't admit it as much. this month is about celebrating the extraordinary contributions of a proud, proud heritage of italian americans to urination. and it is kind of endless. for some of our families, your story is america's story. stretches back generations. for others, it just started. the pursuit of the american dream, just for a shot. just a simple shot. you and your ancestors work hard to help build this country and build the middle class people like my college friend, the late

congressman, bill pascrell. there you are. used to kid his dad all the time. i said, you know, bill may be second smallest state in the union, but we own the della river up to the high water mark in new jersey. there was actually a supreme court case about that. well, he represented new jersey and his son represents the house of representatives. bill did it for 27 years. he passed away the summer. he was the grandson of italian immigrants, a giant in the community and a devoted patriot to the nation. you've got good blood, kid, my dad would say. [applause] he was part of a proud, proud heritage of italian american which are every part of american life, entrepreneurs, educators, scientists, chefs, diplomats, doctors, service members, veterans, athletes, actors, artists, and so much more. there's nothing the italian

community is not engaged in and virtually nothing. no community you don't excel in. i also know it wasn't always easy. many of your ancestors face -- faced horrific discrimination. like my ancestors face horrific discrimination. and they first came to our shores. but even in the face of italian americans proved that they had a resilient spirit and a devotion to family and community and unshakeable faith in the promise of a better tomorrow. you know, my dad used to have an expression. he said, joey family is the beginning, the middle and the end. beginning, the middle, and the end. it's a faith that is carried through to today, both at home and abroad. italian americans are central to our nation's deep friendship and strategic partnership with italy. i've worked out a really good relationship with the italians. i better have done that, at home. but all kidding aside with italy, what a magnificent country.

anyway, i won't get started. the bond between our country is found on a shared principle. and shared commitments. including the share and support for the brave people of ukraine to defend themselves against russia's illegal war. [applause] i might add, they have a female leader. [laughter] [applause] i wish sonny to rama was here to hear that. in addition to italy's remarkable stewardship of the presidency of the g7 this year, as well as italy's long standing contributions to transatlantic security through nato, and their strong leadership of the european union. it underscores how important italy's role is in the global stage, not just for america, but for the world. let me close with this. you know, michelangelo famously said he saw an angel in the

marble, and i carved until i set it free. i saw an angel in the marble and i carved until i set it free. to me, that's the essence of what italian americans have done to our country. our entire history. i am being deadly honest. we are all reminded that when jill and i had the honor to host one of the greatest singers of all time, andrea pacelli, here at the white house for christmas, he performed with his son and his daughter. they were a choir of herald angels. incredible. with their god given talent, the bocelli family moved our hearts and peers star souls. i mean this sincerely. they embodied the spirit and beauty of all that connects us as people. a powerful reminder that america's story depends on, not on any one of us, but on all of

us. the story that i see in all of you, working tirelessly to help realize the promise of america. and i mean it, for all americans. not a joke. some of you have the short end of the stick, like my family growing up. this is what the italian american heritage month is all about. it's about celebrating and connecting, feeling, the pride and heritage and community, remembering who the hell we are. we're the united states of america and there's nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together. nothing. [applause] i really mean it. thank you. thank you, thank you, thank you. and i want to tell you, you know -- one of the most famous guys in my family, not being president. i took her to a beautiful little island off of sicily. and she keeps saying, i'm going back. [laughter]

with or without you. [laughter] all kidding aside, thank you. you are an incredible community. [applause] enjoy your day. god bless you all. may god protect our troops. [applause] ♪

we know you can't get all bias out of anything but going in with an open mind especially with gender bias and race bias would be important. the owner of this create a i act said hopefully they will be setting up. gpt 4 was created by scanning all 6 trillion words off of the internet but we know all 6 trillion words are not true or accurate or healthy of course. one of the other important bills comes out of all of the deep fakes, not just political deep fakes like donald trump hugging anthony fauci or joe biden telling people not to vote in new hampshire but the se