if everyone would please be seated, we will get started. it is wonderful to see so many of you here tonight. on behalf of all of us at the university of louisville, welcome. i am especially delighted that in our audience we have numbers of our board of trustees, overseers and others from our university family. we are also delighted to have the mayor and his wife here tonight. many members of metro council and our state legislator and of course our fm -- former senator. we are gratified to see some

members of our military unit. it is my great pleasure to also offer the republican leader of the united states, senator mitch mcconnell. he is one of the best friends anybody could ever have been especially if you are the university of louisville. he is the father of parliament -- prestigious dollars program -- scholars program. i hope you can see what a wonderful young people we have at the university. we are proud that his archives and the civic education center is here at the university. senate mitch mcconnell has made strengthening our universities one of his top priorities. he understands that universities serve as engine for economic growth and solving problems of the future. the senator went about strengthening our universities with his trademark focus and tenacity. he is provided unprecedented support for research in

infrastructure project at kentucky's university. u of l has been able to invest in important undertakings like the cardiovascular innovation institute, the center for translational research. he is off to make higher education more affordable. setting aside the label education act is helping thousands of families send their children to college. this law and encourages families to invest in savings plans like the kentucky education savings plan trust and the affordable free paid tuition program. the senator has been one of the most outstanding champions of higher education in the history of the commonwealth. we have been very fortunate to have him as our senator and i have been fortunate to call him my friend. senator mitch mcconnell. [applause] >> good evening.

thank you so much. you guys are doing a fabulous job running this university bter and better every year. i also want to an analysis of performance of dr. gary, thank you for the wonderful job you are doing. [applause] i also want to welcome this evening our many men and women in uniform, especially our friends from fort knox, fort campbell, the bluegrass army depot, the kentucky national guard, the reserve forces from all of our services and all of our heroic veterans. thank you veryatn. [applause] i also want to take a moment to recognize the sacrifice of lieutenant-colonel john loplis

who was killed in kabul, last saturday. he was an air force officer. he leaves behind a wife and two daughters. i know everyone here, including our honor speaker, grieves. we are celebrating a first tonight. this is the first sitting secretary of the events we have had in the 21 year history of this program. it is an honor to have him here. more than 10 years after september 11, america remains a nation facing a changing balance of power. our position of primacy in global affairs must be reconciled with a national debt that exceeds the size of our economy and such -- the president relies on the secretary of defense to provide

civilian leadership of armed forces as they engage with enemies across the world. fortunately for us, the secretary of defense is leon panetta, a man who has never shied from a challenge. he has proved his mettle -- medal often in the most difficult jobs in public service. paramount among his many accomplishments is the one that will go down in the history books and still be steady decades from now when today's mcconnell scholars are running the world. he presided over the hunt for an operation that led to the killing of osama bin laden. [applause] the success of the mission to strike the leader of al qaeda is one history making moment,

albeit one of the brightest in a history making career. leon panetta believes deeply in public service and it is america's good fortune that he is answer the call to serve again and again. secretary panetta served in uniform in the 1960's as an army intelligence officer. lt. panetta received the army commendation medal for his service which helped him better understand some of the sacrifices are men and women in the military make, and understanding that guide him today in his role heading up the department of defense. he represented the central california district in congress for 16 years, served the last four of those as house budget committee chairman. his death of knowledge on budget issues led to his appointment by president clinton -- his depth of knowledge on budget issues led to his appointment are pressing clinton.

he became a white house chief of staff and a crucial point in our political history and congress and the president are able to pass needed and meaningful reforms in an era of divided government. after his congressional and white house service, no one could have blamed him if he had enough of public life. but the secretary believes public service is an honored calling. out of government, he and his wife created the institute for public policy based at california state university, monterey. much like the center here, the institute's goal is to instilling in our brightest and the passion -- a passion for public service. we have known each other for many years. i know one thing we have in common is a belief that it is important to find the imaginations of the next

leaders, regardless of how the party -- of the party. he has great respect of both sides of the aisle for his confirmation vote last year to become secretary of defense. the tally was 100-0. every single senator, democrat and republican, were enthusiastic about his selection. he used to be a republican. [laughter] i guess some things, even a former cia director, cannot keep secret. [laughter] regardless of his party and which side of the aisle whoever he is talking to happen to be on, leon panetta has built his career on honesty and by maintaining excellent relations with senior leaders and government of both parties. he can certainly count on the trust and friendship of the senate republican leader. at a time of great challenges to america, our military enjoys the

leadership of a secretary of defense who is singularly well- suited to advise the president and those of us in congress on the best ways to preserve america's role in the world. i am hard-pressed to name another person in government today who believes more in the importance of public service or in the deep gratitude we owe members of our armed forces. ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct pleasure to present to you the 23rd secretary of defense, the honorable leon panetta. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you. i deeply appreciate the kind

introduction and your warm reception and the opportunity to be here in louisville tonight. i am truly honored. this is a great honor to be at the university of louisville and to see such a large crowd gathered for this event. this is a great university. this is a great state. north dakota have a great basketball team. -- and you have a great basketball team. [applause] being here was a large audience makes me wonder how many of you thought that the speaker this evening was somebody named patino and not pantta. -- panetta. you are deftly getting an at- tonight -- defnitely getting an italian tonight and both of

us to believe a sound defense is a key to winning the game. [applause] i would like to thank the provence -- provost and dr. gary for hosting me tonight. i would like to particularly thank my friend senator mitch mcconnell for that kind introduction and for inviting me to come down to visit his all modern -- alma mater and to see this great city and the people of louisville. mitch mcconnell and i got our start working in the united states senate as legislative aides in the 1960's. i was working for a republican at that time and so was he. between the two of us, we have

over 40 years of experience in washington. you have every right to question our sanity. [applause] but not our sense of duty. over the decades of working together, i have developed a great respect for mitch and his leadership and his dedication to public service. we have always enjoyed a strong working relationship and a strong friendship. because whether you are the son of an italian immigrants or not the son of a father who fought in world war ii, we both have been blessed with the opportunity to serve this great nation of ours that we love so much. when i learned that i would be

coming down here to the bluegrass state to give a speech, my thoughts turned to one of senator mitch mcconnell's distinguished predecessors, henry clay. he was an extraordinary public servant. he also had a great way with words. once when a long winded colleague was delivering a particularly lengthy and boring speech on the floor of the congress and everyone, including henry clay, was obviously losing their patience and making that loss of patience very clear, that colleague turned to clay and said, the speak for the present generation but i speak for posterity, for future

generations. yes, replied clay but he seemed determined to continue speaking until your future audience arrives. [laughter] i promise that i will not be speaking for posterity or internally this evening, however i do want to share with you some thoughts. this chance gives me an opportunity to also speak about the future of the nation. service to the country. how public servants help force the strong democracy we have today and how we all have an opportunity and responsibility to help secure and strengthen that security for tomorrow. this great university and the

mcconnell center are making vital contributions to education -- educating the citizen leaders who will help confront the challenges and opportunities that face all of us in the 21st century. i had a chance to meet with those students before coming here. it was a great thrill to have that opportunity. my wife and i established a similar public policy institute at california state university, monterey. the purpose is to try to inspire people to get involved and be part of public service. i deeply appreciate the good work that all of these education centers do to try to give young people a chance, the

opportunity to see what public service is all about. that mission is important because all of us have a tremendous stake in how the nation navigates the considerable challenges that we are facing from the economy to energy, for more -- from war to international diplomacy, deficits, defense. all of you have responsibility as citizens to help the country confront the challenges. it is the responsibility that does not just rest with the president and with the elected leaders of the nation. it rests with all of us and with all of you. for more than two centuries, our democracy has survived because our heritage is built on giving

something back to the nation. that is at the heart of what public service is all about. i am a big believer in the responsibility of public service. that goes back to what this country meant not only for me but for my family. as i said, i am the son of italian immigrants who like millions of others, came to this country with few skills and little money in their pocket and very little english language ability. but they understood the dream and that is america. i would ask my father why would you travel those thousands of miles to a strange country? they came from a poor area of

italy but they at least have the comfort of family. why would you pick up, leave your family and travel all that distance? i never forgot his response. he said because your mother and i believed that we could give our children a better life. that is the american dream. to give our children that better life. and it is the fundamental bond that we all share. every sunday at dinner as a boy, we had a tradition in my family. my parents would tell my brother and myself that we had a duty to give something back to this country which gave them so much. with that advice came a set of ballets -- hard work -- values.

hard work and honesty. qualities essential to life and citizenship. as a young boy, i was taught the importance of hard work. my parents ran a restaurant in monterey. my earliest recollections work washing glasses in the back of that restaurant. they believed that child labor was a requirement. [laughter] then they bought a farm and my father planted walnuts. i remember moving irrigation pipes, working with a hoe alongside my father. as the trees matured, my father would go around and knock down the walnuts. my brother and i would be under the trees, picking up the walnuts. when i was elected to congress,

my father said i was well- trained to go to washington because i had been dodging knots all my life. -- nuts all my life. [laughter] it was good training. along with the inspiration of my parents and 2 years of service in the army, and at that time a young president who said that we should ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country, all of that inspired me to serve. in many ways, kennedy inspired a whole generation. the nation benefited from that, from the impact of a generation that got involved in civil rights and education, work in the peace corps, and got

involved in issues of war and peace. that torch of service and sacrifice has now passed to a new generation. this nation, once again, has benefited from that. it has been a decade of turmoil these last 10 years. of war and crisis. like every such decade in our history, there have been those who are willing to step forward, to give something back to their country. no group has given more than the mena nd women in the united states military -- than the men and women in the united states military. [applause]

the sacrifice that they have made, and that their families and loved ones have made, are true symbols of what public service is all about. stepping forward to serve the country at a time of war takes uncommon courage and uncommon bravery. and millions have done so in the 10 years since our country was attacked on september 11. that includes many here in local -- in louisville. tonight, we are honored to be joined by soldiers from nearby fort knox and by members of the kentucky national guard. this audience includes, as i understand, nearly 800 military veterans now enrolled at the university of louisville.

we are also joined by the newest members of the -- of the military program, cadets from the rotc. they will have the opportunity to join more than 300 louisville rotc graduates who have served in the military. i am also a product of an rotc program at the university of santa clara. that is what led to my serving two years in the army. i really appreciate the benefits of that program in helping young people be able to enter our military. to the cadets i want to say that in volunteering to make this commitment, you have distinguished yourselves in a profound and honorable way.

you have chosen the path of service. i would urge all of you here, even those for whom military service is not an option or a desire, to consider how you can give back to your country that has given us so much. remember that you have a responsibility and an opportunity to contribute and make a difference. i have always said that the test in life is whether somebody made a difference. for those who are serving or planning to serve in uniform, please note that the country is inspired and strengthened by your example. every day, every day that i have

served in the office of secretary of defense, and before that as director of the cia, i have been privileged to see this new generation proving once again the strength, and the resilience of the american spirit and the unflagging commitment of our citizens to be willing to fight and yes, to sacrifice, for the american dream. thanks to their service and sacrifice, our country has, in many ways, reached a strategic turning point after 10 years of war. i believe an historic opportunity to help secure the american dream of a better future for our children. because of their service, because of their sacrifice, we were able to bring the iraq war

to an honorable conclusion and give them the ability to govern and secured themselves. it will not be easy. they will have an opportunity to establish a democracy in a key part of the world. in addition, because of their service and sacrifices, i was able to go to iraq when we cased the colors. it was a ceremony in which we pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives to allow a iraq to be governed by the iraqi people. last night, at the white house, we honor those who served in the rack. rack.