>> mr. president, thank you. sit down and don't worry, i'm not going to talk now. you can eat your dinner. i just want to thank you because you honor me by your presence here. we have done a lot of good thin things, and sometimes, as you said, it wasn't always appreciated. but when i think about what you did to modernize progressive governan governance, it really saved progress serve governance not only with this country but all over the world. i don't think we can thank you enou enough. that is the most incredible legacy anybody can ever have and i'm just honored that you are my friend.

thank you. [applause] >> good evening. i first met al from in the d.l.c. nearly a decade ago as a senate staffer working for jean carnahan. the contact was both direct, our staff work closely with theirs on a variety of issues. we attended the excellent d.l.c. policy retreats. but it was also indirect. our missouri police departments called us frequently about the cops program, young poem called about america corps, the earned income tax credit, d.l.c. programs but without ever mentioning the d.l.c.

the political current al created was so strong that it was mainstream and seminal. in a place lick missouri he could provide direction for national leaders like dick gephardt, high profile governors lick mel carnahan, for jean carnahan during her 10 newer in the senate or state legislators like me navigating the rock y waters of a tricky political climate. i know over time he has guided every one of my political heroes including our former president. al has given us through the d.l.c. a consistently invaluable repository of ideas for the laboratory of the 50 states. through the national conversation, the new d.l.c. fellows program, or simply through the d.l. c-webb site he invites us in and sends us out armed with ideas that strengthen our communities, keep or families safe, implement fiscal discipline, educate our children, and spur on economic

development. through the decade i have known him, just one small chapter, i know, i have witnessed the genius of his short and long-term vision, a powerful reminder of the capacity of within person to impact systemic change. with his magnetic intensity, he is constantly seeking and finding new challenges, push being the fronts here a little further. now, of course, the responsibility is ours to meet his challenge, the tremendous challenge of al from's move beyond politics to build and enhance a culture of citizenship and leadership. as a d.l.c. fellow, i have had the opportunity to join 24 other young elected officials from around the country to discuss intensely legislative and policy concepts. but also the obligation of an individual to the community, the responsibility of elected office, values, and ethics. for me that is the gift of al,

not a political label but the high ideals of humanity that he translates in tangible public policy. he is an exceptional human being. there is an old saying that i have always liked. that when it is cold outside there are two ways to warm yourself. you can either put on a fur coat or light a fire. the difference is that when you put on the fur coat it warms only yourself. but when you light a fir e it warms everyone around you. through his political work al lit a fire that has warmed all of us. your leadership has been a tremendous privilege. we are all grateful and we will miss you. [applause]

[applause] >> rachel, operates on the thierry that i'm a man that needs no introduction. [applause] >> my fellow masochis tfts, whye you here? i was sitting with beautiful woman, actually two beautiful women, melissa maxfield from comcast and rachel cockswestockd i got a call saying that david obie had decided to make some moves on the house floor that

upset our republican friends so i had to go there. so i missed dinner. but tom vilsack would not feel nearly as badly if earn he were here with me now. i have to speak after the film, after tom, after bill and after everybody but al from has gone home. al from is here on the theory that i'm going to say some nice things. which is why all of us stayed when somebody is going to speak about us. i have known al from for four decades. he and i started to work on capitol hill together. he for a senator from maryland and me for a senator from maryland. he for senator joe tydings and me for senator daniel brewster. it was an extraordinary experiences for us bothment we were young men who were interested in politics and in policy and in our country's well-being. al from and i went operate ways

for a while. i went to the maryland state senate. al did work in other places. but then in 1981 i had the good fortune to be re-elected to the congress of the united states. one of the members of the congress of the united states was a gentleman from louisiana. his name was gillis long. a member of the rules committee. and he had a young man who worked for him, you guessed it, al frchlt al from, i'm sure, was responsible for my being appointed to a committee in the first days i went to the congress of the united states, the committee on party effectiveness. and it was run by al from. and al from took me under his wing and dick gephardt was a member of the committee on party effectiveness, les aspin, tony cuelho, tim worth was a member. i could go on names that you know. it was an extraordinary group.

i was proud to be added to that rank. a few years went by and one of the things we talked about that too many democrats thought that we democrats had lost touch with them. we were not representing their values or their vision of what this country ought to be and what our party ought to be about. this young man, al from, i had known at that point in time for over a decade. he decided that we would start an organization that would represent the man stream of or party and the main stream thinking in america about how we got from where we were to where we needed to be. al from was an example that ideas make a difference, ideas make an impact. ideas can change a state, a

community, a congress, a country. but you need somebody to spark those ideas, to organize those with ideas, and to marshal those ideas. john kennedy once said that winston churchill marshalled the english language and sent it into battle in world war ii. there much truth it that. to the extent there is truth in that there is also truth that al from took a bunch of us who were very interested, some of whom you have seen here, some of whom were backstage -- chuck robb, sam nunn, dick gephardt -- and i was one of the first people in that organization and al made us put up each $1,000 apiece, which now seems like a small sum but in 1985 seemed like a very large

sum. my campaign account was not nearly as large as, luckily, it is today. and we were very proud of that organization and it was somewhat controversial and has remained controversial because al has kept the organization, through many great leaders like bill clinton, like harold ford -- is harold still here? if harold were speaking he would have stayed, i guarantee you. tell him i said so, will you, please? or just yell at the television when you see him come on. but al from kept the faith an kept the focus. and he made an extraordinary difference in terms of responsibility and community, in terms of opportunity, in terms of education, in terms of commitment to at that time security. the values that americans knew were important to build our current and were necessary to maintain our current and make it even greater.

so, i'm here tonight with all of you to honor someone who has made such a difference in our count country. a sit who took had he -- a citizen who took his responsibility extraordinarily important to him. a person who preached perform responsibility but, more importantly, took personal responsibility. personal responsibility to make a difference. al, you have made a difference. you have made difference corporately with it organization. you have made a difference in my life. you have made a difference in the lives of all with whom you have worked. you and your beautiful bride have been friends for a very long period of time and i'm here on behalf of all of us who you have touched and who you have made wiser and more effective in the service a we try to perform for this country, to say thank you. thank you from a grateful jor n

majority leader, a grateful member of congress, but, more importantly, a grateful friend. thank you. pl [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, al from. [applause] >> steny, thank you very much. i still have that first check. i have been going through my old records and i have a copy of it. and it actually cleared. first of all, i want to thank everybody for coming.

i know the hour is late and i'm not going to talk long tonight, if you can believe that. but i'm so overwhelmed and humbled by the tributes. rachel sha rach rachel, thank you. president clinton, haired, bruce. my friend the rabbi. tom vilsack. thank you for the wonderful tributes, and, really, for everybody that is still here and everyone that was in the room tonight. you played such a big part in my life, such a big part in the success of the d.l.c. and in such a big part in the new democrat movement. i'm fond hi aly and eternally grateful to all of you. i tried to get to talk to you as

many and i can tell by who is here who doesn't have to go to work tomorrow, but i have to say a couple of things about some very special people. first, to ginger, my wife, the love of my life and to my daughters -- [applause] >> thank you for your love and your patience all these years. one of the things i have been doing is going through you a the old records and he look at the schedules. and i cannot believe that ginger lived through all of that. thank you for sticking with me for the last 41 years. [applause] >> i have already thanked president clinton, but as i said when he finished, his leadership in modernizing progressive politics in america really saved progressive governments in this country and in the world. and that is such an incredible

legacy and i'm honored to be a small part of that. gillis, who steny mentioned, started the effort to resuscitate the democratic party and house democratic caucus four years before there was a d.l.c. he was my mentor and my friend. and though he died a month before it started, without his leadership, his courage and his vision the d.l.c. would never have gotten off the ground. kathy long is with us. george has been the photographer, janice is here. and i'm sure gillis is smiling on us tonight. [applause] >> without my friend chuck robb i wouldn't be here. he personally promised to pay my salary for a year even in the d.l.c. didn't last that long. and those of you who were around

at the beginning know there was plenty of doubt as to whether it would. that was pretty important to struggling capitol hill staffer with two young daughters and a big mortgage and something i will never forget. thank you, conduct robb. [applause] >> from the very beginning will marshall has provided much of the intellectual capital of the new democratic movement. many of the ideas that define new democrats today are grounded in the work that will has done as policy director of the d.l.c. and president of the progressive policy institute. thank you, will marshall. [applause] >> to the chairs of the d.l.c., dick gephardt, chuck, sam nunn, president clinton, joe

lieberman, ever,bayh, tom vilsack, harold ford jr., thank you for all you have done and for those still here thank you for your perseverance. i appreciate it very much. so many people and so many of you have supported the d.l.c. and p.p.i. over the years. and, believe me, i appreciate it very much. i appreciate every hard-earned dollar you gave us and i thank you one and all. and thanks as well to the hundreds of people who worked or interned for the d.l.c. your service has made an incredible difference and i hope you are proud of it. i'm very proud of what you contributed. and i just want to say a special word about bruce reed and thank him, the next leader of the d.l.c. the d.l.c. could not be in better hands. bruce reed is an idea man's idea man. he possesses a rare blend of

brilliance, humor and humility. to be honest, after his eight years in the white house, i never thought i could lure him back to the d.l.c. he was harder to recruit than bill clinton. but i always believed bruce was the person who lead the d.l.c. into a new era and i couldn't be more delighted that he is doing so. thank you, bruce, for giving the d.l.c. a great future, and you are going to make the d.l.c. an important source of new democrat ideas for president obama. [applause] >> the last 14 years have been a blessing for me and i'm not going to detail every one of them. the d.l.c. has far exceeded any dreams that i could have had for it we hen we began. you have heard plenty of that tonight so i won't talk about that. what i want to say a few words

about are about some of beliefses and values that -- some of the beliefs that figuid me that i hope the d.l.c. will continue to reflect under bruce's leadership. firsters call me old fashioned but i still believe that substance matters. that values and ideas matter. i believe that in politics, in the end you rise and fall on what you believe in and what you stand for. if you stand for good things, for strong values and high ideals, for ideas that will make this country better, the american people will support you. if you don't, they won't. it is just that simple. that has been the animating principle of the d.l.c. and the foundation of our political success. ideas we have championed that

challeng challenged, from national service to welfare reform, charter schools, community policing, expanding of trade, fiscal responsibility, modernizing government. all of them changed america for the better and the american people rathered us and our party for that. second, i believe in two values that are too often in short supply in this city. loyalty and civility. i learned loyalty by example nearly 40 years ago from my friend the man you just heard, steny hoyer. [applause] >> i was working for senator joe tydings as steny indicated. steny was a young state senator at that time from prince george's county. in the waning days of joe tidings losing campaign we were

in the carroll arms hotel on capitol hill. no tv cameras came but steny was standi standing alone in the back. when i asked him why he was there, he simply said i was with joe tydings at the beginning and i will be with joe tydings at the very end. i have never forgotten that lesson and i hope i never will. my friend joe lieberman was here and i was had hartford the night that he lost his primary because i wanted to be with him because he was my friend and he's given so much to this country and, thank god, he was able to win that election and come back to t the u.s. senate. but i learned that lesson from steny hoyer. those who know me best know that i'm not one to shy away from a fig fight. ginger says i'm downright

combative. lord knows i'm a democrat. i have never voted for a republican in my life and i probably never will. but i'm disgusted with the polarization and incivility that has come to define our politics and i deeply believe that the daunting challenges that president obama faces and america faces today require a transformation transformational post-partisan solutions that one party alone cannot produce. history has shown time after time the transformational reforms most often come with bipartisan support. social security. the g.i. became. the civil rights act. reforms that fundamentally transformed american life all passed congress with huge majorities of members of both parties. my old boss ed muskie taught me about that. he had a rule. we could never introduce a piece

of major legislation without having a republican as the principal co-sponsor. that doesn't mean we can't argue with the other party about whose ideas are best. we certainly can do that and i love to do it. but we also can do it civilly. so, in the end we can resolve our differences and hopefully both support solutions in mat interests. -- national interests. we all do live in the same country. as my friend jack kemp once told me, remember, we are political adversaries, we are not enemies. third, no value or idea we fault for at the d.l.c. was more powerful or more central to my being than our belief in the american dream. and how could it be any different? my father was an immigrant from

eastern europe. my mother was a first generation american whose father came to america as a peddler. we had enough but not a lot. my biggest political thrill as a child was meeting the mayor of south bend when he came to our apartment building to drive a voter to the polls. i celebrated my 50th birthday in the state dining room, at the white house at a party hosted by the president and first lady. i have lived the american dream. [applause] >> that is why i tried so hard from my days in the war on poverty in the 1960's when i met ginger to my time at the d.l.c., to expand the american dream for all americans. i believe that is my

responsibili responsibility. simply put, i believe that every american who works hard and plays by the rules should have the freedom and opportunity to rise as far as his or her god-given talents will allow. and the responsibility to take advantage of that opportunity. and i believe those of us who have been blessed as i have and who are privileged to hold positions of influence have the further responsibility to to dor part to make it so. to me, reconnecting the democratic party with the american dream, with the principles of opportunity and responsibili responsibility, is the most important thing that the d.l.c. has ever done. when i grew up in indiana, if you wanted to get ahead you were a democrat. in the 1970's and 1980's we lost

that. in the new orleans declaration, the seminal document of the d.l.c. and new democrat politics, we brought it back. we declared in clear and simple terms that the promise of america is equal opportunity, that the purpose of the democratic party is to expand opportuni opportunity, not government. and that economic growth in the private sector is the prerequisite for opportunity for all. but with opportunity comes responsibili responsibility. as we further declared in new orleans, we believe that american citizenship entails responsibilities as well as rights. and we mean to ask our citizens to give something back to their communities and their country. i hope that i have done that. and i intend to keep on giving. we evoked a lot of memories tonight. we should enjoy and savor every

one of them. but as we do, let us not forget that our work has just begun. that we still have so much more to do. opportunity and responsibility are the corner stoestones of th politics of the future, not the past. finding new ways to further them is a never-ending challenge, even as we look back we must look ahead. so, let me leave you with this thought. as president clinton has often reminded us, when our memories outweigh our dreams we become old and it is the destiny of america and of new democrats to remain forever young. it is up to all of you to make sure that that is always true. thank you very much and thank you again for coming. [applause] [captions copyright national

cable satellite corp. 2009] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] .

>> this morning we will talk with tony blankley. then, jon-christopher bua, about iran, and u.s. politics. tom davis will discuss the republican party. in a c