the gentleman is recognized. mr. klein: madam speaker, i rise today to thank all my colleagues here in the house and especially my constituents back home in south florida. the opportunity to serve in this body has been the privilege and honor of a lifetime. i truly have been honored and

feel honored to have been entrusted with the responsibility of fighting for families, businesses, seniors and veterans in our community every single day. and fight we did. when i came in four years ago we were challenged with a war. we were challenged with a lot of other things. as those years have passed there have been new challenges, the economy and others. together we fought to take on skyrocketing homeowners insurance costs in florida and other places. we wrote a commonsense solution that makes insurance look and work like its supposed to. it wasn't easy but we brought together every single member of florida's delegation, republican and democrat alike, as well as allies from around the country and passed the homeowners defense act in a bipartisan way. and i'm very proud of that. we also fought to deliver on a campaign promise when i first -- in my first race to close . . in our community. our seniors never should make

the choice between food and medicine. and because we shall and bring down the cost of prescription drugs, many in our community will no longer have to. we stand up for our nation's veterans, something that is a prize responsibility that every american shares in. because i believe it is our responsibility to fight for those who have fought for us. we passed the biggest increase in the v.a. history to make sure that our service members have access to everything they need, and we turned local ideas from our palm beach and broward county advisory boards into the law of the land. but it didn't stop there. we took on energy and the recognition that there is a national security threat of an energy policy that continues to support middle east rogue countries. in particular, iran. i helped work with others in writing and passing the toughest sanctions in history because we cannot allow iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. not on our watch and certainly not on our dime. we tackled health care and

equal pay for women. we expended pell grants so every child and every student has a write to go to college and help create a work force that will compete worldwide. we passed an innovative and forward-looking energy plan to end our dependence on foreign oil. but most of all, many of us worked together to do what is best for our community. some might disagree with any one policy, but i think at the end each of us in this chamber knows we have a responsibility to our country, we believe in our country and we try to do the right things. madam speaker, my colleagues and south floridians watching today, i want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for this privilege. choosings public service isn't always easy. there are bad headlines and tough attacks and long weeks away from your family. our families truly make the greatest sacrifice. but it is worth every one of those sacrifices for the opportunity to make our country better for our children and our

grandchildren than it was for us. this is the american dream, and that is what i fought for and many of us fight for every single day at home and here. when i first came to this historic u.s. capitol building, a very wise colleague said to me, and it stuck with me until this very moment, look up at the capitol dome at nighttime. look at it when we're working late you see the light at the top in a beautiful dome. i look up and see that every time we are here in the evening and i see that magnificent dome against the dark sky and i think of the great figures that have passed in time here. most we may never know. whether they were here for two years or 10 years or 20 years and everyone had the same goal, to make this country is a little better place. and my colleague said to me if you look up at that dome and you aren't inspired, it's time to go home. i continue to be inspired.

and he was right. the opportunity to serve our community in that's hallowed halls does inspire me. i hope it continues to inspire every single person and the next generation of leaders who come into this chamber. so i want to thank all of you. thank you for allowing us to be here. thank you for the privilege of serving. and i look forward to being part of our community and >> now, senate majority leader harry reid speaks about 75. majority leader. mr. reid: sorry to barge in here but i've been trying to talk all day. so i appreciate everyone's attention here. it is a short speech, but i've been trying to get over here all day. i first met evan bayh at the

championship for indianapolis. one of the most remarkable speeches i have witnessed was in the capitol rotunda when we were there meeting the new senators. senator evan bayh, it was his first speech that i know he had given in the capitol cplex. he spoke without notes. and it was a speech layin out his philosophy of government. and it was really spellbinding. i can't imagine the talent that he had, and've witnessed since that time. the state of indiana is losing a superb senator in evan bayh. senator bayh announced his retirement this year and is wrapping up his second term where he's been a fighter for the shoe sherr state. that -- for the hoosier state.

soon after earning degrees for indiana university and university of virginia he was elected to the indiana secretary of state, the first of five statewide elections he would win. he served indiana for eight years as governor, led the state to the large budget surplus ever while creating thousands and thousands of jobs. he also created the 21st century scholars program that other states replicated to ensure all hoosiers would receive a quality education. he was later elected to the senate when he put partisan politics aside and fought for the best interest of indnaans, a champion for education and fiscal responsibility. he supported our troops fervently. senator bayh wasn't afraid to call out leaders when he felt an injustice was being done and spoke up often for men and women overseas when necessary. of course being a public servant was nothing new to him. his dad, birch, held the same

senate seat and set a fine example. senator bayh achieved an incredible amount for the people of indiana in his relatively short career and he's not done yet. he will continue to work for the lives of people in indiana and all of america. senator bayh is relinquishing the title of senator, but the role he cherishes more than anything is that of father. his twin teenage boys, beau and nick, are the joy of his life and i'm confident they're very proud of their father. i >> majority in a time of pettiness. com in the time of anger and leadership in a time of uncertainty to the that is what the nation asks of the united states senate and that is what this office demands of each research here. >> search for farewells features -- there will --

farewell speeches. more than 160,000 hours, all on line, all free. it is washington, your way. >> activist phyllis dennis is on booktv. she is a former journalist for the united nations and author of eight books, including calling the shots, before and after an ending the u.s. war in afghanistan. join our 3 our conversation with your phone calls, e-mails and tweets. if that is sunday at noon eastern on booktv. and also find the entire weekend schedule. >> c-span's original documentary on the supreme court has been updated through sunday, you will see grand public places and you'll hear about how the court works from all of the current supreme court justices, including the newest justice,

yelena kagan. the supreme court, home to america's highest court, fearing for the first time in high- definition, sunday at 3:30 p.m. eastern on cnn. case western reserve university hosted this about the recovery of wounded veterans and their reintegration into society. this is one hour and 50 minutes. >> good morning.

as you know, if this is the panel on the causes of conflict. ibid like to introduce our distinguished guests. to my immediate right is michael scharf, professor ofaw. following him is professor paul rboinson, professor at the university of ottawa. after him is lieutenant-colonel john stark from mount summit in vienna and professor of military

science at princeton university and graduate of west point. jeffrey helsing is the dean at the conflict management and peace building at the united states institute of peace. he oversees much of the ov development purda. finally, we have major carlos teixiera. he is in the artillery branch. all of these distinguished guests are going to be talking about the causes of conflict and the possible resolutions to accomplish. my name is jimmy piven.

as someone who studies the history of ideas, i find a confounding how the history of humanity is one soak replete with a violent predatce. toward the end of "hamlet," we see an army marching over a client of verot ground. "what can the purpose of such bloodshed be?" it is attempting to sympathize that history is a madhouse. we have 14,600 recorded wa in human history. how do we explain that? sometimes, we have very simplistic answers, a cliche answers. some shed light. sen dunite -- some do night. these all seem to make sense.

given that history, is it enough to explain our proclivity toward violence? does it explain how soldiers could abandoned babies or force fathers to rape father's? does it explain the belief that what is so evil about the west is that there is a free mixing of they sexes. does it explain the counts of being they talk about in survivor? there seems to be an incredible access.

there is so much to conflict we need to unearth. there are many theories of violence. some see it as the expression of human nature coming out. some talk about the psychological need for enemies and allies. a buddhist philosopher friend of mine talked about the inner that motivate us to attack others. research can talk about humiliation or even the fear of death that can inspire otherwise seemingly ordinary people to harm those deemed different. i am going to open this up to

the group.how do we explain conflc what can we do about it? >> would you like us to go to any particular order? . am happy to jump in greta i came to this issue years ago when i was attorney adviser at the u.s. department of state. i've worked on the legal issues involving the breakup. those led to a terrible ethnic outbursts, religious fighting and genocide. they decided to create a responsible.for those

i remember the day i was in the courtroom watchg as the chief presiding judge, if you had been an american, a former civil rights attorney, and she along with two others where presiding. she looked out at the u.n. and said "i do not understand its." the expert says, "let me try to help you. where are you confused?" she said, "this was a country that had the best level of inter religious marriage of any country in the world, even the united states. the ethnic groups got along so well it was showcased recently in the winter olympics. all of a sudden there is a conflict. people kill each other and they

know pple are killing. they are killing their neighbors. they do it. how could it happen?" the u.n. experts look better and thought she had to explain it in a way the judge from the u.s. will understand. she said, "picture what would happen in the united states if all of the newspapers and all of the radio stations and all of the television stations were all controlled by the government and that the government started to beam the broadcast to the population 24-hours, seven days a week stating that -- let's just say that i the african americans were going to rise up and kill all the white people. and then the government aren't all the white people and peoples of where you giving us guns? and they said comedy african- americans are about to rise up. can you imagine what would

happen in the united states under those circumstances?" the judge who was african- american thought about it and says," i see you. play" -- i see your point." there is a thin line from civilization and barbarism. the govnment he does on the right side of the line and sodas 3 president obama de -- the government stays on the right side of the line. it to be useful to find some kind of an enemy. that is the ingredient for mass ethnic violence. to answer your queion with at least one respect, how does genocide occurred? how does a mass-ethnic-racial violence occurred?

the ingredients were proven on the court date in a couple of years later by a tribunal that sits in tanzanian. they've been proven daily in the cambodian tribunals for. we are learning about it. one of th scary lessons is if we do not have a free press, the government can unleash the worst of humankind. that will lead us down this road. .> i will jump in b this is a bit low. a natural part of human society. people have different interests. the question is why they oose to deal with complex with four nflicts with

force. coectively, it rarely makes sensea. very few wars make profit. even if you aceve your goal, you normally do so at a price. you often do not even have a goal when you start. it is not clear. from a collective rationality of rspective, it does not make sense pro. it can make sense for certain individuals or groups. certain people believe it and some profit from it. the problem is often one of structure . it is about power in the hands of certain people.

to think in a certain way. american sociologists said the problem was that they were embued with "crackpot realism." the only ever talk to themselves so their realism is completely crackpot. unless you think like that, you will not be taken serious. you are not considered a serious person. it is not just george bush proposed . there is a way of thinking with in t establishment. it needs to be broken.

even though something has been collectively stupid, it happened anyway. that is one problem. imagine if the present is controlled by the government. it is, even in a democracy sprea. the night instead -- united states have 100 foreign correspondents. there in london, paris, tokyo, beijing, baghdad, kabul. the way the modern press write stories is a have a government press releases. they read the reuters or pi and a plagiarize it. they have to do in 5 minute time. there are fewer and fewer generalists -- journalists. they basically got a pretty o

-- copy. it is often the same story in the same words. it is easy to manipulate the press even in a democratic country. you can see this in the iraq war. we are not even as immune to that in our society as the but like to imagine. another point whi prevents us from analyzing things rationally, we are not very good at making rational government. we analyze risks that they produc -- risks extremely badly.

you are a million times more likely to be killed in a car crash. car crashes happen every day. we think we can control them. you over react to dangers that are not very dangerous. that is just one. therere a whole bunch of other psychological failings. be like i have an interest in peace that goes hand-in-hand with my colleagues and maybe even beyond. i've been stationed in i rack. i wear a bracelet and my comrade to have died in combat. i feel very strongly that this event and things like this are very healing for the country.

i appreciate the young people who have come here, the veterans, the scholars. it is a great group of americans and international guests it is great to see you all here. thank you for inviting me. i will give you three ways of thinkingbout the causes of conflict that are not mine. i am at heart a soldier. uygur of not far from here. i could probably relate to your lives except that you are up in the '70s and '80s with sports and ronald reagan and cold war patriotism and join the military so i could go to college for free. you may not have had to do that. he may have had scholarships. grabbed in a trailer park. i thought the military was an enticing way to pay for my education. it has continued to educate me. it sent me to a higher for a phd. i have taught was born in history and at princeton. and teaching a history course.

etiquette to provide a historian but i'm also a soldier. there are three ways to get this problem from my perspective. one is very simple. a friend of mine teaches anthropology. he is writing a book right now about the costs of conflict. he looks at human beings as one of many species that engaged in organized conflict or something that looksike war. they get together and wage war on each other. apes do it. what makes humans different? we delerate about it. we have philosophies about it. we vote on it. and then we do it even if it is not the only option. this mayot give youope for humans if we are looking like ants and aids. however, there are examples of

the vikgs. they were very violent people. now you cannot imagine norway and sweeting going to war with each other for t. i think this is interesting. there are two other ways of looking at that i consider more important because people are using them to justify conflict. the clash of cultures is the idea that we are all in our own culture. you do not like war. the culture is threatened by soone else who grew of doing something different with a

different religion or diffent thought process. they are scared of us and 80 them with ebay and coca-cola and the donald. -- invading them with ebay and coca-cola and mcdonald's. we could probably be fighting each other forever. a harvard scholars idea is that world history is the ninth story fit into democracy. over time, there has been a growth. democracies do not fight each other.

even if hugo chavez come up with a lot of nuclear weapons and barack obama went insane embalms everyone, the people who came out of the case of what democracy because it is such a great system. this is a theory. the end of history is that we have reached the pinnacle of human development be. there will always be someone somewhere else who wants to cause conflict because they do not like the results. i tend to like that theory. i think that is what we are seeing with terrorism. people do not like the results of democracies. i'm very patriotic. i believe democracy is the worst system of government in the world except for all the rest. you may have heard that before. the clash of cultures is still

alive. we are a species with the instinct to fight each other. the answers will not satisfied you can give you something to go home and write these three theories down. that is the way that i look at it. thank you. >> i will try to build on a couple of things that i have heard and greater other ideas out there -- if throw a few other ideas out there. the first thing that jumps out at me when i heard the moderator was he entertained two proclivities, to conflict and violence. i would agree with the first but not the second. i do not think there is a human proclivity to violence. i think there is a proclivity to conflict. our challenge is to manage confli in wages that we do not

need to use violence. in fact, most human beings do not resort to vlece. the problem we have is that out of the fear colonel stark talked about, we often engage in violence. the biggest problem has less to do with those two commit violence than those who are enablers of islands or those who are by standards. what is critical is to develop the institutions and process these locally that enable people to deal with their grievances without resorting to violence. that is one of the strengths of deep-rooted democracies.

fourth theyreate institutions, balls, procedures that allow for -- they create institutions, laws, of procedures that allow for this agreement. think about the election process. there are a lot of conflict. it is a conflict of ideas, parties, visions. the key is to develop ways in which you deal with those conflicts in peaceful ways. to promote democracy in society that do not have those institutions and promote elections before people have the confidence that it is not simply a "when or take all" shot at

political power, you are going to have conflict. many of the main that have bee in this room during the previous session. an interesting activity took place. it was an activity to send messages and hopes for peace around the world via the use of flags, a blessing that was articulated four countries. what was interesting about it f there were al 3 00 ther -- t here were three flags that holding them up in some areas are actually conflict inducing. of otherst the flags

also included? what choices are made about nash? -- nationality? who has a right to become a nation or not? what is critical to think about is a that identity is a critical proponent of conflict. we do not see states and soldiers in uniforms fighting most o the conflicts of the world today. i certainly respect the names on colonel stark's bracelet. we are in a world were actually fewoldiers in a relative sense lose their lives in or. 90% of the casualties are

civilians bur. >> that is certainly the case in jordan. >> absolutely. wheen to focus on the impact of violence on people who they themselves are not armed or engaged in violence along the for -- violence. we have seen a world of conflict entrepreneurs, people that benefit from conflict. the ethnic cleansing in bosnia was really the result of those beliefs -- elites you were profiting resources and the distributi of power where and rudi and power and they were instilling fear in people predicted -- in people. if you look at most complex, even in the middle of that kind

of fear, hatred, demonizing the of there, most people are not in ph -- engaged in violence. most people are just scared. they are by standards. they may be enablers. they may help pride public support. they simy believe it cannot them then those people are going to do it to us. one thing that is incumbent upon the international community is to help develop the means of dealing with in equities, an distribution o resources, and inequities of access.

when you think about it, if you are in bosnia, part of the concern was that those other guys were going to gain control for of not just sources such as money or minerals or arms but also who would control education. what about access to health care? what about access to one's livelihood in jobs? if you do not have a system that is equitable, minorities will feel that. they cannot provide for a basic need. one has to lk at the structural causes of conflict that then can be exploited by conflict on 20 wars, a fear mongers -- conflict entrepreneur

worst, fear mongers. i think we need to think much re about a more of lockean view the bill as human beings, we can find ways of managing and reducing the negative consequence of conflict h. too often we look just at the failures. therare successes. one is the crimean war.

not the one of the 19th century. the crimean war that did not happen after the breakup of the soviet union in which to nuclear armed country, russia and the ukraine, had a great deal of conflict over the disposition of the crimea partly because there is a majority of ethnic russians in a territory that was under ukrainian sovereignty. there was a lot of effort put into keeping a lid on conflict tensions in crimea and in the mid-1990's. through institutions and diplomacy and working with russian and ukrainian leaders in the crimea. we do not talk much or teach about that in political science or international affairs abortive the country of

o'malley -- affairs. in the country of -- the future was in jeopardy. you have politic arrangements. violence was still percolating. through conflict resolution, it percolated upward. it was embraced by the political process. they have had a peaceful transition of government, changes in power current and --

in power. the techniques are much more prevalent throughout much of society. it was virus that was prevented. i think we have to be wary of being cynical and pessimistic and just say weave a proclivity to violence. that is what we have to focus on. we have to develop strong institutions a piece of building at the local level. >> it is my turn. it is a great honor to be here. thank you to be here with us. i think that he pointed out a lot of good pois about the

low-social aspects, political and economic aspects. i wish to point out some psychological aspects that will not be an answer but will surely be another question that will be pointed o ut. -- out. i think that sigmund freud wrote civilization and culture - -he said something that any man could not kill the beast he had inside himself. there is a piece of na ture that lies behind any social conflict.

in latin, we have another reason. it means man is a wolf to man himself. i think this is yet the very main question. this may be the regional beauty of our civilization. that is why were are a species that thinks. we can transform our ideas and thoughts into evolution and mercy. the social i phenomenons not -- the social phenomena -- there is

in it of emotion and some. if you give invitatio to our uniforms,it reminds us of camouflage. you can see our badges that are signs of our ranks. you see the medals that symbolize things we have done. also, many times ty are a kind of scar in our own skin. we pay a price many times for

that. we can hear this from many veterans here. we do this with fright. we do this because we aboey orders anad want torotect our society and ourselves. conflict will arise on the reflection of these stations that our structure suffers. tensions that we build. i think that there is really an instinct to survice. not to survive as a body but as a culture and economic and

political system. writer remind anoer to you. he wrote an interesting book. he says that during the last century we had something like solid [inaudible] he tells us that the values and culture at that time was much more reasonable for those peopl e than it might be now. it was done. decisions were very easy to do.

world war ii, it is easy to choose a side. you could be with the good guys or the bad guys . afterwards, we have seen periods of great improvement. we were living a cold war. he tells us tha tin o uur century, we lead a kind of liquid modality. our values are not so stable. they are always chaing. we cannot hit them the same way. why does this happen? maybe we have difficuy understanding the order and

diversity. in our society, we have many choices to do. it is easy to remind that in the last century, we did not have too many choices of employment. you would be a doctor, clerk, engineer. nowaday, imagine the diversity of jobs. yet, we are plagued wh unemployment. less century, if you had a car or house, that was almost a lifetime of working. nowadays the wind to change it every time. we must buy new model car we can. we borrow for this.

we are getting stuck in borrowing money. so, behind all this liquid values that are ephemeral, we have a little bit lost. we are just fearing something that the society may be does protect us enough. we have to choose. i think that the violence that lives with us when we feel insecure. we are not so able to calm this beast. on the other hand, i think that this is a very godo momeny for our evolution as a people

and as a nation. it forces us to change these values among ourselves and our tt wements and needs so can understand better each other and be responsibile for our choices. in this summit, i have observed some testimonies that it is possible -- i have seen activities of [unintelligible] it is profound. , just thought we as citizens

we have disccused. violence is on our cities, our lives. we must remember about the v iolence against children adn women. economic violence, we must heal maybe ourselves. society it seeking healing. we must treat ourselves.

in treating our cell, we will treat society. it would be easier. [applause] >> we have about 15 minutes before we open it up to the floor for questions. i would like to ask my distinguished panel a few questions based on what they said. i found it all extremely fascinating and somewhat perplexing. at first, i like to address dr. teixiera. if we have this piece inside us, it behooves us to recognize that it is us and not only the other. yes? us to examine

ourselves. i have to ask this question. what is the nature of this beast? we have it, but what is it? heated debate in -- even alluded to of this. when he says that life is nasty, solitary, brutish, and short -- why is this the case? why are we so. ? -- why are we so brittle? we do not know what happens after we expire. some of you dealt on that. dr. dr. stark talked about our

fears civilization. fear elping mentioned the yea and intimidation -- where did this come from? what inspires the terror and anxiety and hatred? i am reminded of some experiments that friends have done where they subliminally scared people with reminders of their own death. they could motivate people to be sadistic to each other without the person realizing they are ripping sadistic to each other. can you agine? u have short order chess with a pitt twice as much hot sauce

and the food they perceive to be in different ethnic groups. more recently, they did experiments where they gave mortality infections and democratic minded people who publish was insane started to support his ideas because the fear acted on them that way. what is this beast? what is the nature of that bea and the complex humanity? dhaka -- i suspect we are symbolic animals. in this whole discussion, r.i. say to this to my students every year.

it is very controversial. there are those [unintelligible] bottom those are genetically the same as chimpanzees but less violence. perhaps they are not. it depends on you read. this is not just a natul phenomenon. it is a cultural one. it is how masculinity is interpreted.

it encourages people to be good and mergers to give this. it begins as a way of protecting society. honor and sax's are associated this. it -- honor and this are assoated with it. humans are naturally concerned with taxes. -- status. your held as related to your

status -- health is directly related to your status. you can do experimts were you move them around. showing strength is what it is all out. therefore, the problem is that societies, particularly the

elite, feel they must appear to be strong. lbj, someone asked him why we were in vietnam. he told his biographer he had dreams of ople shouting at him, "weak, weakling, cal word." that is in part a natural phenomenon, but it is also a cultural one. culturally, the way to eliminate war is to disassociate our strength and war fighting. i do not know how to do that. democracy seems to promote people who care about war.

a psychologist said that the one thing we all have in common is a desire to explore. capitalism and free markets and wealth create avenues in which you c satisfy this and a desire. -- innate desire. >> what does the rest of the panel have to say about that? >> i think that often at war is caused by the elite and by the leadership. it is interesting how often countries will say they do not have anything against the united states, they just hate president

bush. the thing that distinguishes us from the animal kingdom is that we have symptomsof regret. th is something we are starting to build up so that we have a mechanism to deter and make war less likely. we have seen in the last 20 years the proliferation of a tribunal -- the cambodia it tribunal, the rwanda tribunal. the idea is that the -- that they create a permanent record. if we do not remember the lessons of the past and the

mistakes of the past, we will continue to be making those mistakes in the future. that is a terrible paraphrase, but you get the idea. they avoid collective guilt so that you do not have, for example -- a nazi germany rose up because of a punishment instituted on and germany after world war ii and. -- world war i. there is evidence of growing that there is a reasonable likelihood that people will be prosecuted for these kindsf crime. there is a deterrent. famously, adolf hitler set in 1939 on the eve of the invasion of poland, "we are not sure we want to do that. we are afraid we will be held

accountable." look get world war i. nobody has ever been held accountable for that. "due to remembers the fate of the armenians?" those days are gone. we are in an era where you see inseminate kinds of trials and discussion of criminal liability, you are seeing it in television shows. last week, "the simpsons" had an episode where crusty the clown was hauled before a criminal court. this may be one of the ingredients that fights against the human instinct and the human compulsion to always go to war.

>> in might clash of cultures, education is really the best hope that's a bullish -- that civilization has. i encourage all of the young people to consider that one of the great things about military life is i have been able to do that. i was i civilian clothes with a bunch of army cadets who were doing an exchange program. i have travelled to the ukraine and evaluated their training system so they could have a chance to join nato, which they have not done. not yet. i did something similar in poland and they did join. doing ose things open your eyes to other cultures in a way that reading or talking about it oes not do. if you have an exchange student visiting you, i would encourage

you to get to know them. as them if you can crash on their floor. even if this -- even if it is a culture that is like ours. i did that with my swedish exchange student. it is not that much different from the united states, but it was enough difference to make me want to see more cultures. i think that is very important to the future of ending conflict. in the end of history example, whn you have the last man, the person left outside of the democratic system has lost their honor. i believe that is very important. you must have a society with a system that generates the economic possibilities, political possibilities, the norm that people had the chance to have dignity and honor. in some civilizations and cultures that are out there, they are very limited compared

to ours. but we should not compare ours. maybe they need something different. they have a limited sense of how you can honorably, with dignity advance your position and your status. some people believe that is very important. the military is not the way -- a war against a culture that has no chance to establish dignity may be counterproductive. their only chance for honor is to win the war. the war will go on forever. that may be what we see in the global war on terror. it is one possibility that we consider. there needs to be other organizations. there are ways to combat conflict. the best ways are probably not military. i recognize that as a soldier. there is nothing more i would white than the department of state go to iraq and afghanistan and and those conflicts in a way that makes those people able to join the community of nations in a way

where they can have dignity and honor. maybe they will not have expansion teams in the nfl and open a mcdonald's on every corner, but se other organization besides the military could probably negotiate that path better. i encourage you to think about that as well. >> that is beautiful. i am reminded about the middle east. humility. element of i am sympathetic to what you are saying. i would like to have a few comments from dr. teixeira. he teachesolicy and arab-

american relations. he works with people in the middle east. i think>> i agree with a lot oft professor scharf said. we are moving towards solutions on the international level that i think we all need to support. the world needs to put more effort into it. i would argue that hatreds are constructed. hatred are used and manipulated. education is one of the crucial tools to underlining the other. there are ways in which one can come out through education --

one can, through education, opened minds to more pluralistic perspectivesn the world. simply because you are different than i am does not mean that you are better than me. how do you get those values? it is difficult. since you mentioned, there is an interesting controversy going on in israel right now. it is related to the use of a textbook -- a textbook i provided support for over the last 10 years. it is a palestinian-israeli textbook created by palestinian and israeli teachers. it is meant to look a history the last century. they initially tried to create a

common narrative. they could not do it. there were so many differences between the palestinian and israeli perspectives. they wrote a textbook that had on the left margin be palestinian narrative and all the right margin the israeli perspective. for the last 10 years they have been trying to get the respective ministries of education to adopt the textbook. the palestinian ministry announced that it was adopting it, but changed its mind because of political pressure. there is a high school in the community closest to gaza. it has been under ongoing rocket attacks from palestinians from

gaza they live with the conflict probably more than anyther is really community on an ongoing basis. a teacher decided to use this book in the classroom. the israeli administered -- the israeli minister of education has now forbidden that. the teacher and principal were and wereo tell th aviv taken to task. one thing that is interesting, the students are asking what they are afraid of. they think they will be brainwashed for adopting the palestinian narrative. it is an us versus th a dynamic.

the person whoonceived and developed this said that from the israeli standpoint, they re not concern about the textbook being adopted. it has somehow become overly sympathetic to the palestinian narrative of history. their concern was that is rarely used wood -- israeli youthould begin to challenge the israeli narrative. history is something to be controlled, constructed, manipulated. we all have narrative is and we all have myths. they are used tdemonize the other, to glorify ourselves.

therefore, to allow the challenge of our own narrative, our own myth weakens us versus them. education is an often times overlooked aspect of how we can't reduce conflict and build up piece. there is one other thing i would also say. there is a scholar at the university of illinois. the i was originally from india. he did a nber of studies on indian-muslim communities in india. he wanted to find out why some of them devolve into ethnic violence while others did not. his conclusion was tt it was not enough simply to have muslim-indian enter action -- playing soccer together or

having dialogue together -- but, in fact, it was necessary for the committees to come together over a common problem they had to solve collectively an collaborative lead. a common problem of building something, reconstructing something, bill -- dealing with environmental issues, etc. where they worked together and solve problems together, they were always going to have in place relationships and mechanisms of working together that help them in almost all cases prevent violence from erupting even though in the larger political arena there may be increased tension that led to rioting. those communities where these patterns existed, that did not happen. when people work wh each

other and their identities are no longer can do-muslim, but their identities bridget their identities as a community, they can come together as a common community. vacancy themselves connect. where people work together as teachers across ethnic lines or if they work together, as has been the case in israel and palestine, environmentalists, hydrologist who have come together with some common solutions to deal with water issues, environmental threats, etc., in which they can work across communities and not be prevented from finding interesting solutions to common problems because of political dynamics.

more and more, we can find ways of creating or breaking down those identities that, in a sense, fuel violence and lead to the exploitation of differences and find ways people can work together and develop patterns of cooperation and collaboration. that can often transcend the narrative, the myth, the hatred exploited by conflict o entrepreneurs. -- conflict of entrepreneurs. >> i would call it fear. the fear we bring inside of us. i think this fear is fed by our

insecurity feelings. i am sure we can control that. we control it by education, by talking, by working together in our communities of people, states, and nations. we can do it if you wish. we must do it beginning with our children. i am reminded of a ceremony that was held here before. that is why the children were here. they are our future. we must invest in them -- we must invest them with these ideas and ideals.

we must remind ourselves that this beast is, of course, a horrible thing. we must control it. again, i believe that education is a very strong attachment to do this. if we -- a very strong instrument to do this. for the forgiveness of the other and for ourselves -- we are human and we make mistakes, but we can't always try to forgive -- we can always try to forgive

and look to be forgiven. >> we are a little bit over time. we could possibly work it into some of the answers. is that all right? i apologize for cutting you off. we only have about half an hour to entertain some questions. i would like to encourage anybody who wants to query the panel to form a civilized line for the microphone. please address them. >> thank you very much for a very interesting discussion.

i wanted to raise two points that i would like to hear your response about. first of all, i worked closely with cleveland peace action. we recently had a speaker i wonder if you have heard about. his name escapis paul chappel. he graduated from west point and has been an active soldier. he makes the point that we can overcome using war as a mechanism for resolving conflicts if we make a change in how we view this like we did with slavery.

for hundreds and thousands of years it was felt that slavery was a natural thing. it took a great change in the world's view to change that. he feels that that can be done. he has a lot of examples of how cooperation and other positive trts built into human society. i wonder if you have heard about his work. the other thing i wanted to raise is that -- i will call it the "elephant in the bidding "-- it has to deal with the national power and resources that often underlies governments and groups making war and conflict.

the other part of that that is very disturbing to me is the u.s. role. in the last 20 years the has en a concerted effort by the neo-cons to change american significantly and successfully to that we should be the world's superpower. we should use military force much more often and aggressively in response to issues around the world and that we should use it preemptively. now there is a sort of american exceptional was some that our values and ways of doing things should prevail. to me and for many of us, this

is a huge cflict that has been going on, whether it is democratic or republican. thank you. >> thank you for that question. five minutes or less. >> how do we change the view of war like slavery? the international community try to do that atirenberg by indicting the germans with a war of aggression charge. -- nirenberg by indicting the germans with a war of aggression charge. we can prosecute people for war crimes and genocide, but not for white teen aggressive war, not for protectin another country when you do not have the right to do so.

the international criminal court, which is the new international criminal court, has been debating whether to add this to the statute. all of the countries in the world gathered. at the end of a two-week session, they decided to ask the international criminal court statute the crime of aggression. we have t make what we tried to do at nirenberg for the future. we have to turn up war into something that is so despise, it is like slavery. there is a movement towards that. we will cross our fingers. >> [inaudible] >> the bush administration opposed the international

criminal court. that changed at the end of the bush administration. they started to embrace the court at that point. there were 32 people from the state department, justice department, and defense department. they're very engaged in these negotiations. instead of picking up their marbles and walking away like they did in 1998, they gave a press statement where they said they could live with what has risen from this. we feel comfortable with this. we see ourselves having a better relationship with the international criminal court going forward. >> i would strongly support criminalizing the waging of aggressive war. i think it is the worst of all war crimes.

if i could put your questions together, the acceptability of war and u.s. exception alyssum, it is not the neo-cons. you have it wrong. about -- it is an acceptable way of doing it. it is deeply entrenched within the entire defense security committee in the united states, france, and other countries. people say iraq was a disaster. almost no one opposes it on those grounds or on moral grounds. he speak to the american

security or the american intelligence people. they are realists. there is something inherently wrong about this. it is not something they accept at all. i would recommend reading books by andrew baker. he gives critiques about this. it is something that is a deeply entrenched within the form policy committee. i do not know how you can change that instead of -- except by protesting and hoping that people will eventually learn. it could take a very long time. where you could build up trust. >> my time at the staff college as the only american student there representing the entire history of the u.s. armed forces -- athe time it was abu

graib -- i did think about the same questions. we approach the problems from very different sides. the germans had learned that having an army would eventually lead to using it in an improper way. using get outside your borders was inherently wrong. the americans thought if you do not have a army that is too readyo defend your country, you end up with pearl harbor, 9/11, or some other situation that is unacceptable. that is not every american's vi of it, but the people who were charged kind of fell into those categories. these products of history, they are hard to change. it would probably take a new dynamic and another situation

where we are united in a different way. my danish friend stood up and surprise me with the comment, "america is looking for security and exceptional was and is not the way to do it. you are making yourself a target." what about giving away your strategy to gain some security? i do not believe those americans who are in charge can't agree on who to give that -- can agree on who to give that to. there are people out there who do not agree with us. should we give it to the chinese? should we give it to the russians? they have their own problems. do we give it to the germans? they have their own problems. they are trying to give it away, too. everyone is trying to give it to someone else and someone has to act. because of our history going

back to the american revolution and manifest destiny, whether it was right or wrong, there is this trend of thinking that america needs to be able to defend itself and that it will not give up sovereignty, hell or high water. this is a trend, not just the most of the elite, but it is a very populist idea. it may not be among the elite educated. it may not be there idea. but it is probably 50% of the people who vote. it needs to be a paradigm shift. something outrageous. godzilla meets to attack the earth. will give up our sovereignty to the un so they can develop a weapon to destroy the alien invaders. this kind of thing. something that bizarre would have to be required. >> i think this question is one that could be addressed at length.

i would like to devote the attentiono it. i want to apologize that we are limited in the amount of time we can spend on these questions. please accept our forgiveness for having to address other people's questions. i think this is very important. thank you. >> if we are able to reach a point where violence is no longer an issue, what do we really accomplished by destroying human nature? [laughter] >> we learn. we must be able to learn from it. ife do these things, it is because we have made a choice.

by ming mistakes, we can learn a lot. think this moment is a moment for learning. i do not believe that we want to reduce any kind of absolute interest. but we can learn from ourselves much that will compose us to do the right choices next time. i think it is a bit of a system. we must be responsible for our choices. we must be educated so that we can make the right choice. we are responsible for that.

>> i am not sure i fully understand the application -- the implication. there is a difference between dealing with violence and conflict. conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. it is how you manage those conflicts that challenge you. if you think about political, economic, or social change in most cases of non-violent ways of achieving change have been more productive and he lasted longer than attempts to do so violently. if you accept that violence this an inherent, a positive part of the human condition, then maybe your question makes

sense, but in my way of thinking, pilots in peace soc -- violents impedes social, political, and economic change. violence can be reduced and eliminated in a way that people can continue to develop and create positivchange. question.ake the next >> you talked about capitalism as a way for men to channel their masculinity into aceving

things. to me, it seems that is still a form of aggression to exploit the lower classes. why do you think that is a less detrimental alternative to war for the united states? >> i think it depends on your attitude towards the competition. on the whole, it works better than other economic systems. i was a student in the soviet union. it stank. it is not a very good system, to be honest. ultimately, the channeling your desire and to building a new company and getting rich is

ultimately -- it does not have to bcatalism. you can channel it into your local sports team. whatever. the more choices you get people anymore avenues in which to end that there naturally competitive instincts, the more people will fulfill that side of their nature. that is my basic point. >> i think a capitalist society generates more of those choices. >> a number of people on the panel seemed to suggest that there are a number of ways to replace violence into very banal activities. it is a sublimation of cruelty. we could talk about the banality of evil and the east to which we

could inflate -- and the ease to which we could inflict -- he makes the case that we have this predilection to discourse our own psychological narrative and to inflate our pilots on them. we need to be excruciatingly aggressive course our own predilections to violence. we need to stop inflicting ourselves on them. at is my two-cents. >> my name is nina. i come from mumbai.

i appreciate the comments about political causes. i wish to bring up the kashmir issue that is going on. i find in my own country the military is egregious. why are the governments of these nation-states not interested in peace? [unintelligible] when hatred is constructed either through education or other systems, i think people in power are required -- can we ever achieve this? the topic of the discussion ends

with challenges to peace. >> i will take a shot at that. we had a conference about a week ago looking back at the irish good friday peace accords that are now 10-years old. that was something nobody thought t two factions could sit down athe peace table and have a sustainable pace. they exhausted themselves over time. there was mediation from the outside from the united states. ultimately, they used a power- sharing equation that seems to not only have worked for them, but is now being exported around the world and injected into other peace negotiations. the idea that if you can come up with a mathematical formula that

can conceal the lack of fear so that they can fill secure and that they have representation through this power-sharing equation, that may be an ingredient for a long peace. that is a model. i do not know whether it would work for kashmir. there are a lot of people around the world right now that are on the brink of war. i want to bring to the attention to the audience what is going o between the north of sudan and south sudan. both armies are armed to the hilt. there will be a referendum on independence. there was an arbitration that decided the south sudan against the oil fields around the border. everything is right for major terrorist violence there. this is a place where the world commity has to do much more to head it off or we will be

remembering sudan as any thing -- as worse than anything we've seen in years, where stem what ns going on in -- worse tha what is going on in darfur. >> kashmir suffers from the fact that there are other agendas involved. in some cases, the conflicts may be exacerbated by the specific neighborhood one is in. what is happening, not just in kashmir, but the pakistani, afghan, and u.s. agenda with respect to that border spills over ander creates -- and

creates a situation. because there are other agendas, they ofntimes get shunted aside. therefore, the international community -- and i would say in terms of the united states -- what we do not see is a very strong global leadership. we do not see a global leadership as a function of cooperion and collaboration among all parties and countries that have the capacity to emphasize the agenda of others. one of the speakers previously talked about the american exceptionally some and america becoming the world's superpower. some would argue that the united states attempts to do so is long

past. it met its waterloo in iraq. it is not because the united states could not show tt it was a military superpower, but it was what came after. the inability of the u.s. and international community to help other robust tools that could have helped create opportunities for peacefulhange or political change. that is what the international community lacks today. even though we may be making incremental progress on international law, the and ability to actually kill lessf around those tools and use them -- coalesce is a real problem.

china is becoming a significant superpower, but not diplomatically, but economically. the united states has a military capaciy, but its economic and diplomatic power is weakening. that is a recipe for a weaker international community, not a stronger international community. look at the ctext in all of these things. northern ireland is an interesting example because the outside powers also came together to help facilitate that process. we do not have that -- when we do not have that in combination with the powers inside the conflict, it is difficult to seek a discernible peace. -- to see a discernible peace. >> if you look at global

statistics on conflict, you see that it i massively lower than it was 20 years ago. it is substantially more peaceful than it was. we are moving there. it will take time, but i am something of an optimist. prosperity spreads and violence will become more and more isolated. >> i agree with what you said. the trends are getting better, believe it or not. >> i think there is a shift to a kind of leadership among naons. i think it will take some time, but we will arrive much more

stable and peaceful. we will learn how to cooperate. each nation can achieve a sustainable peace. if we cannot do so, we will not be prepared for peace. >> things are getting better. i was worried about the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed in iraq. [applause] i appreciate that. >> i am and academic, but i will take all my academic hat. academics are not really humans are they? that is what i he been hearing.

i am an optimist. i think war is inevitable as long as we believe is inevitable. i think you have been talking about the proclivity for violence and conflict. i think humans also have a proclivity for peace. i travel the world promoting the fight in competitions. -- promoting fightin competitions. before the competition's, we meet up with all sorts of people. there is a cultural politeness in the air. within a couple of days, the ultures collapse.

as year you what's the cultures -- you watch the cultures nearly collapsed. that is, to me, very interesting. i think there is another beast within. beast is probably the wrong word, but i think that everybody has humanity inside them. everybody has this love for spirituality and inhumanity of deep down inside of them. rather than try to spress these proclivities, we should support them. that is just my opinion. [applause] >> i wanted to ask a question that goes back to what he was just saying. we did discuss how the humanity has its proclivity to conflict.

i was wondering if we have a proclivity to conflict, but not for violence. you all think that inclination towards violence enters the picture. we have been talking about sigmund freud and other old school psychology. i would like to say, maybe from the perspective of more developmental psychology, identity in crisis proposes that at adolescence the crisis identity forms opportunity for youth to become violent towards other cultures. i was wondering where you all thought tt violence enters the picture and how we can improve that. >> i agree with your speech.

maybe we are seeing aind of shift. we are getting to a very mature society. we have to overcome some theories. maybe we are just trying to grow our way out of these -- out of this identity. i remember a moment when someone said we had a great possibility of choices. with the previous speech, i agree that we were talking all lot about death, but if there is such a thing, it is because

there is life. life must be pleasurable. we must always remember every day thathe eros side of energy must be praised everyday when we wake up, when we meet our friends, wives, and children. any culture will have the right to have displease. they are not different from us. they can seem a little bit different.

we must educate our sons and daughters about diversity. that will be the key to achieving peace. there will be problems. therwill be developments to solve these problems. our institutions need our support. we must also participate with its as we vote, as we make our choices. >> i think the choice is really important. the idea of the beast inside of us, that is only one

perspective. as professor scharf said, you have humanity in you. the most out to state human -- and altruistic human -- i would encourage everyone, the youth especially, be assured that you can make a difference. it is not that you are just an actor waiting for the newspaper to come out to tell you we are going to war or something terrible has happened. it may be something small that you do. go home and help your little brother with his homework. something that simple. you'll move someone from the beast towards the altruist ideal -- alturistic ideal. you can have an impact.

reading books, and traveling the world -- those things are great, but it is the interaction with other children that will make you a better person and make this kind of thing plausible in the future. it will probably not be my generation and i doubt it will be the u.s. army that solves the problem of the sustainable beast -- the sustainable peace. we can control the oceans with our aircraft carriers, but we cannot stop someone from another country painhating us. there is a pirate loading his boat right now and we cannot get to him fast enough. [applause] >> i think this was an excellent question.

my concern is how do we cultivate this eros that you are talking about especially since what you are saying is that violence can be encoded in the process. that is what you have theorists who are talking about the neurobiology of attachment and held violence can be encoded into the brain. -- and how violence can be encoded into the brain. i hope you can take what they said and apply it toward the development of the psychology we are cultivating. i am sorry to interrupt you. >> i thought i would share one piece of research i found very interesting. a sociologists study of violence patterns in children. over a 20-year period, the

parents had to log every violent action baseball. teen-agers were thought to be the most violent. children are the most but between the ages of -- are the most violent between the ages of two and four. they found that it does bridget -- they found if it does not drop by age 4, it never does. a lot of educational efforts that are going into teenagers and so on, but you have to nip it in the bud by ages three or four. >> we talk about healthier and other emotions can be encoded into the brain. that has some drastic implications if we are talking about violence that is

biologically ingrained. i do not want to preclude the possibility of the cultivation of proclivity. i have to apologize for not being able to take every question. i know people are coming up to ask questions, but our panelists have to run to the airport. we do not want them to miss their planes because of the discussion. my apologies to you. i encourage you to ask your questions to the remaining panelists afterwards. you can communicate by e-mail. i am afraid we have run out of time. again, my apologies. i would like to thank the distinguished panelists from coming from great distances to join us. i think this has been fantastic. thank you for coming. [applause] [applause]

he surely was proud of it. in fact, i have no doubt that right now robert byrd is looking down from the heavens and saying, "57 years, five months, and 26 days." [laughter] [applause] [applause]

♪ i have heard of a land on a far ♪ away plain it is a beautiful home for the

soul it was built by jesus on high and when we get there we never shall die it is a land where we will never grow old i have heard of a land on a far away plain on a far away plain it is a beautiful home

it was built by jesus on high and when we get there we never shall die it is a land where we will never grow old we will never grow old never grow old it is that land where we will never grow old

we will never grow old never grow old in that land where we will never grow old ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we will never grow old

never grow old in that land where we will never grow old we will never grow old

never grow old in that land where we will never grow old ♪ [applause] >> that was beautiful. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to present the 42nd president of the united states,

my dear friend, president bill clinton. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. governor, all of the members of senator byrd's family, mr. president, mr. vice president, madam speaker and all of the house members here, senator reid, senator mcconnell -- thank you senator rockefeller. i would also like to thank all of the people here who at the time of his passing or ever worked for robert byrd to help them succeed for the people of

west virginia. i thank them. [applause] i want to thank the martin luther king male chorus. they gave us a needed break from all of these politicians talking up here. [applause] i want to say first that i come here to speak for two members of my family. hillary wanted to be here today. she paid her respect to senator byrd as he lay in state before making a trip on behalf of our country to central and eastern europe. i am grateful to robert byrd for many things. but one thing that no one has given enough attention to in my opinion today is that while he

always wanted to be the best senator and he always wanted to be the longest serving senator, he wanted every other sector to be the best senator that he or she could be. he helped hillary a lot when she came to represent the people of new york. i am for ever grateful for that. [applause] everybody else has been canonizing senator byrd. i would like to humanize him a little bit. i think it makes them more interesting and it makes his service all the more important. first of all, most people had to go all the way to washington to become awed by, you may even say intimidated, by robert byrd. not me. i had vast experience before i was elected president. the first time i ran for office,

at the opening of a campaign season in arkansas just below the ozark mountains, which once were connected to the appellations, we had this big rally. the year that i started, do you not know, robert byrd was the speaker. i will never forget it. it was a beautiful spring night in april, 1974. he gave one of those speeches. then he got up and played the rowd wentd at the c crazy. that was a whole lot better for politics than playing the saxophone. [laughter] i am completely intimidated. then all the candidates get to speak. we are all limited to four or five minutes. some went over. [laughter]

all of the candidates for governor and state officers -- there were five of us. we were dead last. i drew the short straw. i was dead last among them. by the time i got up to speak, it had been so long since robert byrd spoke he was hungry again. [laughter] i realised in my awe that i could not do that well. i decided the only chance i had to be remembered was to give a shorter speech. i spoke for 80 seconds. i won the primary. i owe that to robert byrd. [applause] when i was elected president, i knew one of the things i needed to do before i took the oath of office was good to the senate and pay my respects to senator

byrd. in 1974 when i first met him, he was already the leading authority on the institutional history of the senate and senate rules for some years. he certainly was at the time i was about to become president. i visited him. i got a copy of this history of the senate and his history of the roman senate. i read them. i am proud to say still on my bo profoundly impressed. robert byrd was not without a sense of humor. for example, what was once ragging him about all the

federal money he was taking to west virginia. i was from arkansas. we were not any better off. everything -- every friend i had in arkansas said, "he is a senator. you are the president appear "i was getting the living daylights beat alameda about once a week. i told them, "if you paved every single inch of west virginia, it will be much harder to mine coal." [laughter] he smiled and said, "the constitution does not prohibit humble servants from delivering whatever they can't to their constituents." -- whenever they can to their constituents." [laughter] [applause] let me say something, seriously.

he knew people who were elected to represent states and regions and political philosophies. they were flesh and blood people. he knew they would never be perfect. he knew they were subject to passion and anger. when you make a decision, it is important when you are mad there is an 80% chance you make a mistake. that is why he thought the rules and the institution and the constitution were so important. he put them before everything. even what he wanted. i will never forget when we were trying to pass health care reform in 1993 and 1994, senator byrd was a passionate supporter of the efforts we were making

just as he was with the efforts president obama is making. we only had 55 of votes. we cannot beat a filibuster. i said, "senator, why do you not let me stick this on the budget. it is the only thing you cannot filibuster." that it violated something called the "byrd rule." i said, "you should defend this because the budget will be bankrupt if we do not continue -- if we do not stop spending so much money on health care." p said, "that argument may have worked when you were a professor, but you know as well as i do is something to leave alone." he would not do it. then in his defense, he turned around and worked his heart out to break the filibuster.

they tried to the very end to get me not to give up the fight. we thought we could find some errant republicans who would make a mistake and vote with us. he made a decision against his own interest, his own conviction. that is one reason i thank god that he could go in his wheelchair in his most significant vote at the end of this service and but for health care reform. vote for health care reform. [applause] i will say this, if he wanted to get along with senator dole -- with senator byrd and you're having one of these constitutional differences, it was better for your long-term health if you lost the battle. [laughter] i won the battle over the line- item veto.

oh, he hated the line-item veto. he hated it with a passion that most people in west virginia reserve of four blood feuds like the hatfields and mccoys. he would have thought the line- item veto had been killing members of the byrd family for 100 years. [laughter] it made his blood boil. you had never been lectured by anybody until robert byrd has lectured you. i regret that every new president and every new member of congress will never have the experience of being dressed- down by senator robert byrd. he was right about that, too. the supreme court ruled for him instead of me. [laughter] [applause] the point i want to make is a

serious one. he did as good a job for you as he could. as far as he was concerned, there was no such thing as too much for west virginia. but the one thing he would not do even for you is violate his sense of what was required to maintain the integrity of the constitution and the integrity of the united states senate so that america could go on when we were wrong as well as right. we could never be dependent on always being right. [applause] let me just say, finally, it is commonplace to say that he was a self-made man, that he is cell -- that he set an example of life-time learning. he got a law degree while

serving in the congress. but he did more learning than that. all you have to do is look around this crowd today and listen to that music to remember. there are a lot of people who wrote these eulogies for senator byrd in the newspapers. i have read a bunch of them. they mentioned that he once had a fleeting association with the ku klux klan. i'll tell you what that means. he was a country boy from the hills of west virginia. he was trying to get elected. he spent the rest of his life making it up. that is what a good person does. there are no perfect people. there are certainly no perfect politicians. [applause] i am glad he got a lot of grief.

-- he got a degree. the degree he got in human nature and human wisdom, the understanding he got by serving you in serving in the senate, that the people in the hills of west virginia in their patriotism, they provided a disproportionate number of the soldiers who fought for our independence from england. they have provided a disproportionate number of soldiers in every single solitary conflict since that time. whether they agreed or disagreed with the policy. [applause] [applause] the family feeling, the klan loyalty, the fanatic independence, the desire for a hand up, not a handout, the willingness to fight when put

into a corner -- that has often got the people from whom senator byrd and i sprang up in trouble because we did not keep learning and growing and understanding that all of the african americans who have been left out, let down, and live to go to church and see their children signed up for the military when they are needed, they are just like we are. all of the irish catholics and the scotch irish. everybody that came to our shores. everybody who has ever been let down and left out and ignored and abused -- we are all alike. that is the real education robert byrd got and he lit it every day of his life in the united states senate to make

america a better, stronger place. [applause] not long after, may be right before senator byrd lost irma, i said in a fleeting world of attention deficit disorder, some people really do love each other till death do they part. i have been thinking about that today, thinking that maybe we ought to amend the marriage vows and say that "till death do us part, until death do bring us back together." [applause]

i admired senator byrd. i like him. i was grateful to him. i loved our arguments and i love our common causes. but most -- , -- but most of all, i love that he had the wisdom to believe that america was more important than any one individual, any one of president, any one senator. he has left us a precious gift. he fought a good fight. he kept the faith. the has finished his course, but not ours. if we really would honor him today and every day, we must remember his lessons and live by them. thank you. [applause]

[applause] >> the next person i had the honor to present is the man to has served with our beloved senator byrd for 36 years in the senate, almost more than any other senator. join me in giving a west virginia welcome to the vice president of the united states, joe biden. [applause] >> bishop, reverend clergy, the rd family -- it is

clear the esteem your father was held in. you have known that your whole life. to my fellow members of the senate, but was telling the president that when i got elected last time, i had the great honor of running with the president. president. i was elected vice president and united states senator in the same day for my seventh term. in -- i got sworn in for the seventh term because we thought we may need a vote there in the first couple of weeks. every time i sat with the leader, i never called senator byrd center, i call him a leader. when i sat with the leader, i can see that look on his face. he said, "joe, are you making the right decision giving up the senate to be vice president?"

where we were going in to honor your father, someone tell me if i had stayed i would be number two. i am still number two. [laughter] ladies and gentlemen, mr. president, yesterday i had the opportunity to pay my respects to leader byrd as he lay in reposed in the senate chamber. i went back again today. the last time that happened was 50 years ago. the last time that chamber in revere served as a resting place for anyone was 50 years ago. although i and my colleagues behind the revered the senate,

robert c. byrd elevated the senate. other great men and their families were chosen to lay in state in the rotunda, but robert byrd and his family chose to lay in state in the senate chamber. to me this is completely emperor -- this is completely appropriate. the senate chamber was robert c. byrd's cathedral. the senate chamber was his cathedral at west virginia was is heaven -- was his heaven. there is not a lot of hyperbole in that. every person in the senate brings something special about them. i will never forget having privately criticized the

senator when i was there the first year. i was sitting with the previous leader. he was an incredible die. the tilt -- he was an incredible guy. i tell them about a particular senator railing against something i thought was particularly important. he went on to tell me that every member of the senate represented something in the eyes of their state that was special and represented a piece of their state. if there was ever a senator who was the embodiment of his state, if there was ever a senator to, in fact, reflected in his state, it was robert c. byrd. the fact of the matter is, the

sweet sound of the federal, dinners in the spring, county fairs in the summer, the beauty of the laurels in the mountain, the rush of the rapids to the valley -- these things not only describe west virginia, but from itoutsider's point of view, seems to me they defined a way of life. it is more than just a state. robert c. byrd was the most fierce defender of not only the state, but the way of life. i think the most fierce defender that state has ever known in its history. robert byrd did use the phrase,

"when i die, west virginia will be written on my heart." i used to kid him. i tell them there was a roman catholic named joyce to said that first. it was james joyce to said, "when i die, dublin will be written on my heart." west virginia was not only written on his heart, he wore it on his sleeve. he took such pride in his state. he took such pride in all of you. he asked me one of the two races he had. i was the youngest guy and i demonstrated that i could not keep up with robert c. byrd. that happened to be true. we went to dinner. we went to dinner. robert c. byrd did something

that never happened before at any of the debtors i have never spoken at. he said, "we are honored to have senator joe biden here tonight and i would like to introduce you to west virginia." the next -- he spent the next 10 minutes talking about everyone in the audience by name, where the work from, what they had done, how they had fought through difficulty, and then he said, "here is joe." [laughter] i thought it was pretty impressive. robert c. byrd asked me to speak, but he knew the privilege was mine, not the people to whom i was speaking. he was devoted to all of you

like two senators in the 36 plus years i was there that i have ever known. he was fiercely devoted as you have all heard to his principles. principles. he always spoke to power. standing up to the people he was proudly part of. we haven't heard it many times today and it bears repeating. i always wear a flag pin. i was afraid to be looking out today, because every time i wore the flag pin on the floor he would grab me, take my pen, and put on a constitution then. that is the pen i am wearing. look boss. i am wearing the pants. -- i am wearing the pin.

-- i am wearing the pin. robert byrd said many things, but the said one can speak as long as one speech will allow one to stand, the liberty of the american people will be secured. 11 presidents knew robert c. byrd. he served during currently with them, not under them. [applause] 11 presidents could attest to the fact that he always showed respect, but never deference. he stood in awe of none. he had an incredible, prodigious memory that i will not take the time to regale you about. i remember sitting with the

queen of england at a formal dinner. he recited the entire land age of the -- lineage of the tudors and every year they search. i tell her what it would fall all of her head. she learned about relatives she probably forgot she had. robert c. byrd was a parliamentary library keeper. to me, and many people here today like bill bradley and jim sasser who long left the senate for greener pastures and, i hope, better remuneration -- we can get about that to -- for a lot of us, he was a friend.

he was a mentor. nick and i were talking a little bit earlier. i commuted every day 250 miles a day. robert c. byrd was a stickler about vote. i would call nick on his car phone and say, "i can see the dome. hold the vote." nick said, "senator, how far away can you see the dome." he would be the one to go to the senator asked him to hold the vote for two minutes. as long as i behave, he would hold the vote. the was set a vote for 7:00 and i would walk up to him and say i needed 7 minutes on the chamber. i always stood out in the well.

i would say, "mr. leader, i know we have an hour. is there any possibility of senate for 10 till 7:00? he would say, "no." that is because i misbehaved once. i voted with george missile -- george mitchell on a matter. that was a big mistake. [laughter] the literally to the roll call sheet with every center's name and how they vote. he took the roll call sheet, had it framed, had my name circled in red, and literally had its crude to the ornate door frame in his office. every single senator coming to

see him what what al and see biden circle in red and know they had better not vote against robert c. byrd ever. [laughter] [applause] you think i am joking, i am not joking. i tried to run for president. he said he did not want any senators running for president. he said i would never come back to vote when he needed me. i would drop whatever i was doing and i would come. i kept the commitment. that got me back in his good graces again. graces again. the point is, this is a man who knew exactly what he was doing. after i was elected in 1972 as a 29-year-old kid, i was number 100 out of 100 in senate seniority.

leader byrd offered his office to me so i could have a place to interview staff members. it was in his office that i received a call telling me that -- about an accident that took the life of my wife and my daughter. when they were buried, we held a memorial service a couple of days later in delaware. it was a bone chilling day of rain. people cannot get into the church. i never knew it initially, but robert c. byrd drove up unannounced with nick to that church.

he stood outside for the better part of an hour in a driving rainstorm with the temperature was below 32. my brother saw him and asked them to come in. he said, "no." he did not want to displace anyone. the state for the service. he never intended to be noticed. he never intended to be noticed. does my deceased wife is to say, "a real measure of generosity is would you do it if no one knew you never discussed it." robert c. byrd did that. i was appreciative, but i quite frankly did not understand. a couple of years later i was in his office. behind his desk was a big cast in bronze.

it was his grandson's boot. all of a sudden, it became crystal clear to me who this guy was. i had known him, but i understood what he was about. for him, it was all about family. it was not just his wife, it was not just his daughters, grandchildren, great- grandchildren -- all of them are in our prayers today. i bet if he were here, he could look out and name you. he could tell you what your father or mother did 4:00 a.m., what your grandmother or grandfather did for him -- he could tell you what your father or mother did it for him, what

your grandmother or grandfather did for him. he was adopted in and it's an awful. he grew up in a home without electricity or water. the had an incredible determination, one i do not thing any of my colleagues have witnessed. but you know, this man was a -- was not just as president clinton pointed out that at age 47 he got a law degree. i don't know if you note, you probably do, mr. president, he got that degree without having a college degree. at age 77 he went to marshall university and completed his work, getting his college degree. to him, in my view -- [applause] i think he felt there was something wrong with the fact

that he got the law degree without graduating. he did not need the he did not need the undergraduate degree, -- he traveled a hard path. he devoted his life to making that path a little easier for those who followed him. he could taste and feel the suffering of the people in this state. he tasted it. that is why it was a deeply ingrained in him. it was not just a moral obligation. he remembered. the unapologetically stole all the money from other states they get possibly get. get possibly get. two campaigns ago the head the

fbi moved down to west virginia. the national press was beating him up. he was getting ripped in a press conference about that. he used to grab you by the arm. they said, "joe, i hope they keep throwing the into the briar patch." you west virginians zero a lot of people in delaware for a lot of money we should have gotten that you got. i just want you to know that. [laughter] [applause] by the way, if you doubt me, you can drive across the robert c. byrd drive, the robert c. byrd a library, the robert c. byrd appellation highway, the robber seabird federal building in charleston, on and on and on. it is more than the name we will not forget, it is his courage.

he died like he lived. he died like he lived his life. he never stopped trying. how many people would have hung on as long as he did? how many people would have had the ability to get out of that hospital bed, get in that wheelchair, and come in to vote? he never stopped thinking about his people and the things he cared about. speaking several weeks ago -- this week, actually -- when robert byrd said, "like jefferson and adams, i am inspired to continue serving the land i love to the very best of my ability with -- for the whole of light years appear "he served the land he loved. he served the people he loved.

the serbs -- it was in his blood. because of that service, you have gained greatly. with his loss, you are the first to fill that -- you are the first to will feel that loss. when i learned of his death, i was on an errand for the president in cleveland. i said, "to paraphrase the poet, we shall not see his like again." had he been there, he would have said, "joe, that is shakespeare. the actual "is i shall never look upon his like again." mr. leader, we would shall not look upon your like again. i am not going to ask god to

bless you because he already has. may god bless your family, may god bless this state and this country, and may god bless our troops. thank you. [applause] [applause] >> it is truly an honor for west virginia to host the special dignitaries who came today. on behalf of these great people in this wonderful state, i want to thank each and everyone of you. it shows how many lives senator byrd has touched. over two months ago, the man i am going to introduce to you came to pay tribute to our fallen miners. we appreciate that so much. we appreciate that so much. ladies and gentlemen, it is

really my honor and al to present you the president of the united states. [applause] [applause] thank you. thank you. to senator byrd's entire family including those adorable great- granddaughter's that i had the chance to meet, michele and i

offer you our deepest sympathies. , -- nator byrd's france senator byrd's friends, including the speaker of the house, majority leader, republican leader, president clinton, vice president biden, and all the previous speakers, senator rockefeller for the outstanding work he has done for the state of west virginia, to this larger family, the people of west virginia, i want you all to know that all of america shares your loss. may we all find comfort in the verses of scripture that reminds me of our dear friend. the time of my departure has come.

i have fought the good fight. i have finished the race. i have kept the faith. you have heard that passage from several speakers. several speakers. it embodies somebody who knew how to run a good and a long race. somebody who knew how to keep the faith with his state, with his family, which this country, and with his constitution. years from now, what i can think of the man we memorialize today, i will remember him as he was when i came to washington. white hair full like a mane, his gait steady with a cane, determined to make the most of every last breath.

the distinguished gentleman from west virginia could be found at his desk until the very end doing the people's business. he had a hit at the appellations in his voice -- a hint of the appalacians in his voice. he was a senate icon. he was a party leader. he was an elder statesman. he was my friend. that is hell i will remember him. to that -- that is how i will remember him. born cornelius calvin -- his mother lost her life in 1918.

from the at and all who raised him amid west virginia's coal camps, he gave not only his byrd name, but a reverence for god almighty, a love for learning. there he met irma, his sweetheart for over 70 years by whose side he will now rest for eternity. but able to afford college, he did play could to get in finding work as a gas station attendant, a produce salesman, a meat culvert -- a meat cutter, a welder in the shipyards during world war ii. returning home to west virginia after the war, he ran for the state house using his fiddle

case as a briefcase. before long that he ran for congress. he served in the house before jumping over to the senate where he was elected nine times and held almost every leadership role imaginable and proved is capable of swaying others as standing alone. he marked a load of milestones along the way. he was the longest serving member of congress. nearly 19,000 votes cast, not a single one at the polls. he has a record that speaks of the bond he had with you, the people of this state. chance fled to washington, his heart remain here in west virginia in the place that shaped him and the people he loved. his heart belonged to you. his heart belonged to you. making life better here was his

only agenda. giving new hope, he said, was his greatest achievement. hope in the form of new jobs and industries. "i in the form of benefits and unit -- "in the form of new job -- "in the form of benefits. this early rival and a late friend ted kennedy used to joke about campaigning in west virginia. when his bus broke down, he got a whole of the highway patrol and they ask where he was. he said he was all robert byrd highway. dispatch said, "which one?" [laughter] it is a life that immeasurably

improved the lives of west virginians. of course, robert byrd was a deeply religious man. he understood that our lives are marked by sense as well as virtues, failures as well as successes, weakness as well as string -- weakness as well as strength. he did something he regretted. he did something he regretted. he said there were things he regretted in his youth. you may know that. i said, "none of us are absent some regrets, senator." that is why we enjoy and seek

the grace of god. as i reflect on his 92 years, it seems to me that his life has been full of justice. like the constitution he kept in his pocket, like the nation itself, robert byrd was the quintessential american. he had the capacity to change. the capacity to learn. the capacity to listen. the capacity to be made more perfect. over is nearly six decades in our capital, he came to be seen as the very embodiment of the senate. chronicling its history in four volumes that he gave to me as he gave to president clinton.

i also read it. i was scared he was going to quiz me. [laughter] but as i soon discovered, his passion for the senate's past, his mastery of his most arcane procedures -- it was not an obsession with the trivial or the obscure. it reflected a propelling noble impulse, a recognition of a basic truth about this country that we are not a nation of men, we are a nation of laws. our way of life rest on our democratic institutions. precisely because we are falco -- fallible, it is up to each of us to safeguard these institutions and pass on our

republic more perfect than before. considering the vast learning of this senator, the speeches strengthened with the likes of cicero and shakespeare, it seems fitting to close with what his favorite passages in literature, a passage from "moby dick." >> there is a catskill eagle in some souls that can dive down into gorges and sort out of them and become invisible. even if he forever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains. even in his lowest swoop, the melting eagle is a higher than any other bird on the plane.

robert byrd was a mountain eagle and his lowest swoop was still higher than the other birds of on the plane. may god bless robert c. byrd. may he be welcomed by the righteous judge and make his spirit remain a catskill eagle eye above the heavens. thank you. [applause] >> maturity at a time of pettiness and leadership at a time of uncertainty, that is what the nation as of the united states senate. that is what the public demands of each to serve here. >> search for fair will speeches and hear from retiring senators

at the c-span video library with every stamp program 19 cents 87. all on line, all free. it is washington your way. >> >> , columbia university host a national leadership meeting for the "no labels" organization. it brings together americans of all political affiliations and immobilizes citizens against hyper-partisanship. the group plans to expand into all 435 congressional districts in 2011. in this session, speakers include newark, new jersey mayor corey brooks. one hour. r general david walker. this is one hour. >> >>