private sector. we may not have the salary competitiveness of the private market. hopefully, it could be a more family-friendly environment. a lot of our employees have the opportunity for a proximate a day care. they is literally drop off their kids and go see them at lunch time and participate. those kind of strategies can make it a whole lot better to come to work, do your job but also feel confident you're taking care of your family. thank you. >> i'm the director for information security policy, security ark texture and focused operations at the department of homeland security. as a disabled veteran, one of many whose proven their service by passing on higher-paying jobs in the private sector to work for the government i'd like to

note any of you to address this proven resource. >> i'll start with that one. we have a very focused effort to help veterans. of our 230,000 employees, we have 50,000 veterans. and we work on all the veterans groups, go to the job fairs. we have special website postings for veterans. so a great resource, and we're doing everything we can to reach into the veterans community. we have veterans returning now from iraq, afghanistan. we want to give them opportunities as well. so, it's a big, big issue for us. >> is there still veterans preference in civil service exams?

>> yeah. >> anybody? next question? >> hello, griff jenkins from fox news channel. now that some time has passed since the uproar what else have you learned in hindsight about how it happened and how do you plan to find real savings to earn back the public trust? >> i appreciate the question. i think in the couple of weeks since the hearings, in talking to the g.s.a. employees, and i've been doing a series of virtual town hall traveling. i've been using technology -- [laughter] to go visit the regions. in that way also modeling for the employees there are other ways to make those connections and relationships what i've learned is there is as much

anger, disappointment, and frustration with the g.s.a. employees as there is in the american public congress over what took place. it really doesn't represent the value and the beliefs and the commitment of those employees to delivering services. what's happened then is we've been able to spark a conversation among employees with their supervisors, with their inspector general about great ideas how we can save even more money for the american taxpayer. that's our challenge now, take those actions, convert them and help my partners who need it more than ever. >> you mentioned the governments savings agent, i think you said. is there one specific example you know,, you're already looking at now that you can get to work and not deal with everybody in the media, that this is what we're going to do and save money for this? >> he's already not on air planes. [laughter] >> so right now, our three top

priorities are budget, budget, budget. it's really helping solve the budget problems of our agency partners. we're looking at things about how the government travels, how we make our travel reservations. talking to the agencies about those who don't have their fleet managed in a cohesive way. we're trying to find way that we can find strategic sourcing, using the power and the size of the government to get the best possible price. then doubling down on things like sustainability so we can build buildings that reduce the cost of operations. that's the kind of work we found. bunch of momentum around it. the question is how do we discontinue that momentum and frankly speed it up. >> thank you very much. i know you've taken a lot of heat because neither of the secretaries like to weigh in on the job and what he's done. [laughter] >> when we got here this

morning, we all said we feel his pain. but i think the important point is look, we all have been engaged in ways of finding savings. we've been in budget fiscal mode since -- so what happened with the g.s.a. becoming such a great media story, but it's not a great media story how we've saved agencies in other ways, what other agency conferences, which by the way if you're running a may reach across the country. >> secretary, talked about how angry people were at g.s.a. about this. i suspect you're saying the same thing with the secret service? >> yeah. in fact, you know, one of those

things where the issue is was the presidents life at risk? no. what can we do for the immediate disciplinary status, move quickly. we did. now let's look at what happened, how it happened, to make sure it doesn't happen again. but i'll tell you the people who are most upset are the other secret service agents. >> next question? >> jason ryan with abc news. just not going to ask about the secret service but had another question regarding the bomb plot. i'm just wondering what measures t.s.a. and the federal air marshalls will be taking in response to this. and also, in the departments communications with the public, how yesterday your spokesman said that we have no specific credible information regarding an act of terrorist plot against the united states at this time.

and also comments by white house counter terrorism advisor john bran none when clearly there was a device that has been deemed to be a viable i.e.d. that was intercepted by the c.i.a., how the administration can make these assertions that there's no credible plot? >> no, the statement was there was no specific credible plot tied to the anniversary of bin laden's death. that was and is an accurate statement and is accurate when it was made. the key point is that we will be taking all appropriate measures now that the plot has become public to make sure the aviation and the traveling public remain safe. we will be working with airlines. we'll be working with foreign nations. remember, the t.s.a. doesn't do passenger screening in foreign airports, they do that. so there will be and are all appropriate measures being

taken. >> sounds like it was a parsed statement. >> it was. and it was for a good reason. it was because we needed to protect and are protecting how the plot was unveiled. anybody else? >> good morning. i'm not a reporter -- [laughter] >> bless you. [cheers and applause] >> but i am executive director of the american society for public administration, hopefully you all are aware of us. but one thing our society's interested in is the whole area of intergovernmental cooperation and relations. we feel that particularly with the last challenges we've experienced, the cooperation between the federal government and state and local golve in solving some of the recent problems we've had have really

had positive outcomes. do you think we need to take a new strategic look between public service, between levels of government and really emphasize more the importance of intergovernmental relations in solving some of the series problems that we have today? >> when it comes to transportation, i will tell you this, the only way we are able to do what we do is because we have great partners and governors and mayors and people in the states. in the two years we spent $48 billion that we received from the economic stimulus, we created 65,000 jobs and 15,000 projects. we did it in two years. there have been very, very minimal, negative stories written up. there were no earmarks, no boon doggles, no sweetheart deals. could have never done it without great partners. . in governors, mayors, d.o.t.'s. at d.o.t., there is a tremendous

amount of intergovernmental cooperation that goes on. and it's all done in a professional way. there's no politics involved in it. and it's all done for the right reasons, to put people to work, and to fix up america's infrastructure. implementing high speed rail in three years, we've been able to allocate $10 billion, and almost all of that money is because we've had great partnerships with governors. and, it's extraordinary the kind of intergovernmental cooperation that goes on at the department. >> i would say that's true probably in lots of departments. there are two things going on. some of which i think is fairly unique, having served as a governor and now having watching the relationships that we have with governors and mayors as ray said. one is departments working together across federal agencies

to solve problems. the head start people are actually at the table with early education folks at the schools with the child care people saying all kids should be in a safe, secure surrounding, we need emotional, social health and curriculum on all programs. we need to talk about this together. that really doesn't happen. but you know, the health care bill, for instance, is really a state strategy. run at the state level, put together. and is being developed. i'm, as a former governor, used to a lot of big sticks, a lot of mandates and no money. i think there has been a lot of effort, whether during the recovery act all of us ran programs. the reporters in the room who want to talk about public service, looking at the two years of programs that were run

at the other level to put safety nets, and really no scandals. no boon doggles. billions of dollars that really provided life savers to people in places across this country. so i think that effort was very much underway and still a lot of part of the operation. i think it's a background for public service. >> would you expand a little bit on what secretary said about interagency cooperation? because sometimes that has been the biggest barrier to efficiency and savings.

>> just going back one more stop and talk about intergovernmental relations. i think this panel is an example. we all took some tour of duty through state or local government. and i think state and local governments have so much to offer the federal government in terms of dealing with fiscal constraint, dealing with managing limited resources. and that's frankly one of the things they offer is smart use of interagency cooperation. we are in the intra governmental agency and we have the ability to bring together different services and focus on thosed a minute straysive services that allow them the other agencies to focus on protecting the homeland, delivering transportation. >> but do you see them all operating in a discreet fashion or is there cooperation among them? >> i think the answer is yes, they're both operating in discreet fashion. for their mission they should. we can do more, we should do more to find ways that we can

work more closely together and eliminate duplication. that's the power and promise of the agency i'm with. >> let me just, and maybe janet can pick up on this, i just had a briefing yesterday from the amtrak, the head of the amtrak security. the extraordinary cooperation that goes on between homeland security and amtrak when it comes to safety on trains, is really quite remarkable. and the same is true of airports. we have jurisdiction over air planes and airports. they have jurisdiction over the screening and the safety. there's extraordinary cooperation and coordination that goes on, and look we know it's not going to get the headlines unless something goes wrong. but so many things go right, that's why you don't see that many headlines about. because a lot of stuff goes

right. [laughter] >> i think we should needlepoint that. a lot of stuff goes right. >> i've been through a number of places where federal officials talked about the need to do more with less. what i'm wondering is a two-part question. first, are there specific things agencies are doing. obviously trying to motivate people. but are there sort of specific activities you've been able to do to address that? and in the second part, are we reaching the point, especially of some of the proposals let's say, to reduce the federal work force, become law where that's not going to be possible and agencies are going to have to say look, if you still want us to do y, we're not going to do

x? >> we at the d.h.s. really from the beginning formed something called the efficiency review and it was kind of an intradepartmental effort designed to ferret out reredunn redundanty waste, and they've been able to fount cost avoidanses and re-deploy those money into mission. i think one of the questions we have all, one of the difficulties from a management's perspective is the budget because often times we're operating without one. there's no c.e.o. in the country that has to deal with uncertainty. coming right up to the edge of closing down the government, that's not a mo rail builder for the federal work force. that's a difficulty. >> a member of congress that

operates without a budget either. >> our efficiency review efforts, we'll be happy to provide you more detail. it's been employee generated ideas. >> one of the really exciting things i think that's going on, not only as kind of efficiency area and we're all sharing strategies with one another. we get together regularly, i want to know janet has found savings and ray and others. but i think the invasions space is really exciting. we've had an effort underway for really the last three years to figure out new and better ways to deliver services using technology and invasion, and often is at greatly reduced costs. we knew one of the challenges in the health space was around

getting good prenatal care, particularly to vulnerable women in low income neighborhoods. so partnership, a public private partnership with cell phone companies. we've initiated texts for babies. low income women are given a cell phone and get regular text updates about everything from vitamins to prenatal check-ups to care strategies in a very user friendly, easy to access fashion and it's now a couple hundred,000 women. we're seeing results. >> also a huge cost savings. >> a huge cost savings. so reducing low term babies, making sure babies get off to a healthy start. those kind of strategies are low cost or no cost involve the public sector, push strategies out. but really we're thought of by groups of employees who said we should do this, we're using that

now, getting to teenagers on smoking sensation strategies, again texting. kids don't talk to one another. [laughter] >> that can be a good thing. >> absolutely. having raised a few, yes. it can be a good thing. but again, figuring out how to connect that, and we've got 40,000 employees who are involved in innovative strategies and ideas. and we do invasion awards. that's been a very exciting adventure. >> hi. my name is christine west, i'm from the u.s. senate subcommittee on the federal work force and oversight of government management. my question is about reframing the discussion around the

federal work force. as you've heard even today at an event that was meant to celebrate publicer is vents, a lot of the questions are from the media and about headlines. while important we're here to celebrate workers. how do we reframe the question so we talk about headlines in terms of what the federal work force has done to uncover terrorist plots or uncover ways to save tax money. how do we reframe it? >> that sounds a little bit like our initial question. >> yeah, i mean you know, the problem is it's the equivilent of saying 500 planes took off today and landed safely. you know, that's your expectation. so it's the plane that crashes that is the news. >> so should we just throw up our hands and say as long as there's nothing going wrong let's assume the federal

government is functioning great and the minute it doesn't, let's pounce on everyone, let's slash federal benefits and pay? is that what we do? how do we and how do you as leaders make sure the message gets out that all the good things the agency does is because of your people? >> it's one of the reasons for this week, these are the things you try to do. that's what the partnership for public service mission is, both reward people who do good work in the federal government. advertise the fact they do good work in the federal government but also to make the federal government better. >> is there anything i guess as department heads you folks are doing to make sure they are recognized? it is important, i would assume, having only worked in the senate. but i would assume -- >> what do you see in the senate? what do you see the attitude

being on the subcommittee? >> i would honestly like to hear from agency heads. [laughter] >> sometimes it's easier, i find, to get outside of d.c. and shine a bright light on regional office work and on work that's going on. i think that often times the press is cynical inside the beltway, and end up on a gotcha kind of media. so regional press, local press is often delighted to print good stories, follow worth while adventures, deliver service news. so we try to do that a lot. send our leaders out, make sure that we are -- part of it i think shining a light on what's going on and making sure people know the good work that's going

on and at a very minimum. making sure employees know we know. so if it never gets headlines, at least having the internal effort to say you are doing terrific work each and every day, and some of that involves travel, some of that involves going to places. visiting work sights where people are working hard and think nobody knows what i'm doing. nobody really cares about what i'm doing and just having somebody show up and say we do know, we do care, and it's terrific. often i think. >> thank you, >> thank you. >> you bet. >> look at the disclosures that were made were about federal employees who did their job, that work for d.h.s. or other agencies over d.h.s.! that's why what happened in the last few days because we have good people who show up every day to protect our airports, to protect passengers, and all the disclosures were about good work

that took place. the first thing that i remember the president saying about the secret service is 99.9% of the people that he came in contact with at the secret service show up every day, put their life on the line to protect either the first family or other government officials. and you know, i think things are said. i think we've all said them here today. i think the week is about good public service. about people who work hard, there's going to be a hearing on capitol hill today about t.s.a. because a few members of congress are irritated about it, but think of the good work that's gone on for more than 10 years by t.s.a. federal employees well-trained to make sure people don't board trains to hurt one another. and there's a lot of those

stories, hopefully some of them will come out in this hearing. rather than just trashing an asia that's been flying since 9/11. and not one plane has been brought down! by a terrorist! [cheers and applause] i think we'd all like to have a good track record like that. that's what we're celebrating this week. look, we can all tell these stories and i think we've tried to tell some of them. we will continue to do it because we believe in the people that believe in public service and serving the american people. and doing it in a way that's honorable and with honesty. now, you need to answer her question about the senate. don't be talking away! [laughter] >> i work for senator daniel and

he's a huge proponent of the work force, he's always fought. we're having a hearing to celebrate public service recognition and to focus on human resources. >> congratulations. >> thank you. and thank your senator. >> good morning, my name is cathleen murphy and i work for the national park service so i am a federal employee. actually 30 years working for various fringes. >> congratulations. >> good for you. [cheers and applause] >> i normally wouldn't say that, there are many many places i would no longer say i've had a full career in the federal service based on a lot of what we just heard. my question was to ask you -- >> although the park service is the agency everybody loves. >> well, they do. would be nice if they funded it by the way -- [laughter] >> there is that. >> we know that. >> but we every day face what you're facing today. and my question was to talk about the aging work force and how to find creative ways to let

people retire and still have a credible exit where they can contribute their knowledge to the next generation. but i think i'm going to change that to the press questions and the fact that even at my level which is relatively low, very low, probably five levels away from the director of the park service, we face a lot of these same questions from the public. and we don't know why in the press we don't see these stories every day of what we did right. we spend too much of our limited time on these sound bite issues. but back to my question for you, as we age out of the federal work force, i really do encourage you to look at the part-time retirement options and the fact that people will gracefully leave the park service and every other agency because they like to think it's intact. and all the 30 years of work they've seen remains viable for another generation. do any of you have programs looking at the transition of the work force? >> a very good and interesting question.

>> yeah. we actually have begun looking at that. it affects different components in different ways. but i think kathleen nailed it when she said we're about ready to hit a big bubble, where a lot of people will be eligible for retirement. we don't want to lose all those resources. they have a very strong contribution to continue to make. so yes, we are looking at what are available options. we're working with the office of personnel management on that. what can we do to keep that talent alive, and at the same time keep bringing in new talent that's properly mentored. and properly incorporated into the federal service. >> what about this question of some part time involvement? >> there are some complicating rules, as you know, about what you can do in addition to part time work and still collect pension. but, meeting those rules, we've tried, and we currently have a

number of people who serve are contributing as consultants so we hate to lose talent at any point along the way. and are trying to find various strategies. but as sometimes it is the exiting person, if they want to choose an occupation that would have a conflict possibility, it's very difficult to continue a relationship. it isn't from the agency point of view that we're not trying, but it's really their choice to be in a situation and take that expertise elsewhere. i think all of us are looking at strategies in ways that we don't lose that institutional knowledge, that expertise, we have the ability.

i also think it's well before a person is exiting that the conversation should begin, and what kind of options they have if they want to continue a relationship, and not find out six months later they've made themselves eligible. >> state department does a lot of it. they bring people back in for half a year. >> that's right. >> thank you. >> this next question has to be our last because our -- these are busy people here. >> all of these are busy people. all of them. >> and i would ask after you get your answer for everybody to please stay seated as our guest leave and then you all can enjoy yourself. but go ahead. last question. >> good morning, my name is robert weed. i became a public servant 22 years ago, i work at human resources and at the architect of the capitol currently. any question is about ethics. over the years the idea and the

culture of official business only in the culture and ethics in the government has always been there. i think with the degree of relevance today as we changeover, people retiring, a lot of new comers in the federal government, i would like to know -- >> can you get a little closer to the microphone? >> what i would like to know, what new things, new approaches or new ideas have you thought about regarding ethics training? in addition to the traditional policy and classroom training, what new ideas are you thinking about or looking to implement in your agencies? >> interesting question. >> yeah, it's a great point. the theme of ethics has to run through public service. they go together. one of the things we're doing, nuts and bolts, is there anything more boring than the entry video you have to watch when you come? not much. [laughter] so we're looking at how can we

reshape that and make it interesting and more vell rant and direct so that employees, once they on board aren't immediately hit with this two days of stuff. and then how do we incorporate that into ethics training, public service, how do we incorporate that into how we bring in new employees, train them and mentor them. >> i'm working really hard not to make a secret service joke here. [laughter] >> we've also though, i think the initial training is one thing. but we've created a public integrity council across the department. i think it's more than just the ethics rules, it also deals with how you approach conflicts.

the ethical conduct of employees have to go all the way down. we have employees from every agency and department doing a variety of risk strategies to look at areas where there might have been gaps and focus some additional training, some additional help. we've redone a lot of guidance documents for not only our employees, but the down stream employees. looked at areas in the field that might have had gaps in strategies. i think it's a culture of how you take great care, not only with your own personal conduct and actions, but with taxpayer dollars. how you make sure we are responsible up and down the stream. and how you instill that into folks, not in a gotcha fashion, but that it becomes part of the culture of just doing business. >> when you refer to an entry video, is it something everyone sees? >> yes. >> and it's really awful?

>> yeah. [laughter] >> but that's something we could help with. that really is something the partnership should help with. >> we should hire some 20-year-old's to make a youtube. we shouldn't do it at the professional level. or maybe 14-year-old. [laughter] >> that's a great point actually. in many cases, some of the stuff hasn't evolved where it was 10, 20, 30 years ago. and we've made investments and s be of dollars. we haven't fully leveraged it. we're trying to remind people the importance and significance of ethics. building a clear partnership so people recognize that that is not -- they're actually a partner and they can help us identify fraud waste and abuse. but using technology, finding ways to speak to people the way they're speaking to each other now, i think that's one of the big challenges. >> see, we have an action item

coming out of here. thank you. >> we've tried to catch peoples attention for a long time around mrged preparedness, thinking about it and again had pretty boring and awful strategies. one of the invasions that came out recently was getting ready for a zombie attack. >> i remember that. >> a video that went viral and it is the best training video for families. so we need that kind of thing for an ethics, getting ready for the zombies to come. [laughter] >> since we have abraham lincoln as a zombie now. you all, i know the reason you came is because you feel such strong devotion to the public servants in your agencies and across the government. it's a testament to that you've taken time-out of your very busy schedules to come here and be with them. thank you very, very much for all of them. >> thank you all. [cheers and applause]

>> today, a discussion on cell

phone providers. "washington journal" takes your calls and emails live every morning here on c-span. republic condition presidential nominee mitt romney spoke to the graduating class in lynchburg, virginia. his first appearance at liberty which calls itself the world's largest christian university. in a 20 minute speech to graduates he talks about the importance of faith and family values and making morals and standards a part of their every day lives. he also restated his position that marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman. his remarks are 20 minutes.

>> thank you mark, as of 1954, nonprofits have been prohibits from endorsing candidates. the governor's presence here should not be seen as an endorsement. however, the bible teaches that christians should be good citizens, and i believe that includes the obligation to vote. my father also preached that the christian should vote for the candidate whose positions are most closely aligned with their own, not the candidate who shares his or her faith or theology. we are after all electing a commander in chief, not a pastor or religious leader. and i've got a little crack in

here by about jimmy carter i'm going to skip. [laughter] i would like to invite governor romney and dr. godwin to the podium at this time. in recognition of mitt romney's contribution to our nation and in acknowledgement of his camaraderie and the right to preserve those valleys on which they were founded, by the power vested in me by the board of trustees of liberty university, the dr. of humanities is here by conifered on governor mitt romney. [cheers and applause] now i'm thrilled to mention the next president of the united states, governor mitt romney.

>> thank you so very much. thank you for your friendship. what a great man. thank you for your instruction and support and kindness today. pastor jonathan fallwell. faculties and staff and distinguished guests. parents and friends, graduating seniors from liberty. [cheers and applause] this moment marks a clear ending and a clear beginning. the task set before you four years ago is now completed in full. to the class of 2012, well done

and congratulations. [cheers and applause] i'm told some of you may have taken a little longer than four years to complete your stowedies? one graduate has said that he completed his degree in only two terms. clinton's and bush's. [laughter] in some ways it's fitting that i share this distinction tw the romney campaign comes to a sudden stop when we spot a chick filet. your chicken sandwiches for our comfort food and heaven knows there were a lot of days when we needed a lot of comfort. so thank you and congratulations on your well deserved honor today. [cheers and applause] of course there are some people

here who are even more pleased than the graduates. that would be their parents. [cheers and applause] their years of prayers and devotion and investment have added up to this joyful achievement. and with credit to congressman dick army, the american dream is not owning your own home, it is getting your kids out of the home you own. [laughter] lately i found myself thinking about life in four year stretches. and let's just say that not obvious has achieved as much in these last four years as you have. but that's a theme for another day. but two observations, first even though job opportunities are scarce in this economy, it's not for nothing that you spent this time preparing.

jerry fallwell senior long ago observed that you don't determine a man's greatness and tale lent by wels, as the world does, but rather by what it takes to discourage him. america needs your talent and skill. if we take the right course, i am convinced we're going to see a resurgence in the american economy that will surprise the world, and that will open new doors of opportunity for those who are prepared as you are. of course, -- [applause] what the next four years might hold for me is yet to be determined. but i will say that things are looking up, and i take your kind hospitality today as a sign of good things to come. [cheers and applause] i want you to know that i consider it a great life honor to be able to be here to address you today.

your generosity of spirit humbles me. the welcoming spirit of liberty is a tribute to the gracious christian example of your founder. in his 73 years of life, dr. fallwell left a big mark. for nearly five decades he shared that walk with his good wife macil. it's wonderful to see her today. the calling jerry answered was not an easy one. today we remember him as a courageous and big-hearted administrator of the gospel who never hated an adversary. jerry deserves the tribute he would have treasured most, as a cheerful, confident champion for christ. i'll always remember his cheerful good humor and self lessness several years ago as mark was describing in our home, anna and i were posing with a picture of him. we wanted him to be in the center. he insisted that an be in the

middle and he and i be on the sides. he explained by .ing to me and then to himself, he said christ died between two thieves. [laughter] maybe the most confident step jerry ever took was to open the door of the schools 41 years ago. he believed that liberty might become one of the most respected christian universities anywhere on the earth, and so it is today. he believed when the first graduating class consisted of only 13 students that year after year young christians would be drawn to the school in great numbers. and here you are. you leave liberty with conviction and confidence as your armor. you know what you believe, you know who you are, and you know whom you will serve. not all colleges instill that kind of confidence. but it will be among the most prized qualities from your education here. moral certainty, clear

standards, and a commitment to spiritual eye ideals will set you apart in a world that is searching for meaning. that said, your values will not always be the object of public admiration. in fact, the more you live by your beliefs, the more you will endure the sensorship of the world. it is not the religion of complacent, or the timid. it develops great souls by wesley, john paul ii and billy graham. each showed in their own way the relentless and powerful influence of the message of jesus christ. may that be your guide as well. you enter a world with civilizations and economies that are far from equal. already vard university his torn

devoted his life long to understand why some civilizations rise and others falter. his conclusion was this -- culture makes all the difference. not natural resources, not geography, but what people believe and what people value. central to america's rise to global leadership is our tradition with its vision of the goodness and possibilities of every human life. the american culture promotes person responsibility. the dignity of work, the value of education, the merit of service. devotion to a purpose greater than self. and that the foundation, the pre iminnocence of family, the power of these values, this culture, is evidenced by a recent brookings institution study that governor rick santorum brought

to my attention. for those who graduate from high school, get a job, and marry before they have their first child, the probablity they will be poor is 2%. but if those things are absent, 76% will be poor! culture. what you believe, what you value, how you live, matters. now as fundamental as these principles are, they may become topic of democratic debate from time to time so it is today with the enduring institution of marriage, marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman. [cheers and applause]

the protection of religious freedom has also become a debate. strikes me as odd that the free exercise of religious faith is sometimes treated as a problem. something america is stuck with instead of being blessed with. perhaps religious conscience upsets the designs of those who feel that the highest wisdom and authority comes from government. but from the beginning, this nation has trusted in god, not man. [cheers and applause] religious liberty is the first freedom in our contribution. and whether the cause is justice for the persecuted, compassion for the needy and the sick, or

mercy for the child waiting to be born, there is no greater force for good in the nation than christian con shines in action. religious freedom opens a door for americans that are closed to many others around the world. but whether we walk through that door, and what we do with our lives after we do is up to us. someone once observed the great drama of christianity is not a crowd shot, following the movements of collectives or even nations. the drama is always personal, individual, unfolding in ones own life. we're not alone in sensing this. men and women of every faith and good people with none at all sincerely strive to do right and lead a purpose driven life. and the way of lessons learned by hitting the mark and by falling short, i can tell you

this much for sure -- all that you have heard here about trusting in good and in his purpose for each of us makes for more than a good sermon. makes for a good life. so many things compete for our attention and devotion. that doesn't stop as you get older by the way. we're all prone at various times to treat the trivial things as all important. the all important things is trivial. and the little by little, lose sight of the one thing that endures forever. no person i've met, not even the most righteous or pure of heart, when the business of life is normal. and sometimes the smallest glimpse can reawaken our hearts. they bring them back to ourselves, and belter still to something far greater than ourselves. what we have, what we wish we had, biggses fulfilled,

ambitions disappointed. investments won, investments lost. elections won, elections lost. these things may occupy our attention. but they do not define us. each of them is -- our relationship with our maker however depends on none of that. it's entirely in our control. for he is always at the door, and knocks for us. our worldly success cannot be guaranteed. but our ability to achieve spiritual success is entirely up to us. thanks to the grace of god. [cheers and applause] the best advice i know to give is to give those worldly things your best, but never your all.

reserve the ultimate hope for the only one who is grant it. many preachers advise the same, but few as themmablely as dr. martin luther king, jr. as a young man he said with most of my life ahead of me, i decided early to give my life to something eternal and absolute. not to these little gods that are here today and gone tomorrow. but to god who is the same yesterday, today and forever. [cheers and applause] in this life, the commitments that come closest to forever are those of family. my dad, george romney, was a c.e.o., a governor and a member of presidents cabinet. my wife ann asked him once, dad,

what was your greatest accomplishment? without a moments pause he answered, raising our four kids. ann and i feel the same way about our family. i've never once regretted missing a business opportunity so that i could be with my children and grandchildren. among the things in life that can be put off, being there when it matters most isn't one of them. as c.s. lewis said, the home is the ultimate career, all other careers exist for one purpose and that is to support the ultimate career. promotions often mark the high points in a career, i hope i haven't seen the last one of those. but sometimes the high points come in unexpected ways. i was asked to help rescue the 2002 winter olympic games in salt lake city. i'm embarrassed now to recall that when it was first presented

to me, i dismissed it out of hand. i was busy, i was doing well, and by the way my lack of athletic prowess didn't make the olympics a logical step for me. in fact after i accepted the position, my oldest son called and said dad, ie spoken to the brothers. we saw the paper this morning. we want you to know there's not a circumstances that we would have conceived of that would have put you on the front page of the sports section. [laughter] the olympics were not a logical choice. but that was one of the best and most fulfilling choices of my life. opportunities for you to serve in meaningful ways may come at inconvenient times, but that will make them all the more precious. people of different faiths, like yours and mine, sometimes wonder where we can meet in common purpose when there are so many differences in creed and theology. surely the answer is we can meet

in service, in shared moral convictions about our nation stemming from a common world view. the best case for this is always the example of christian men and women working and witnessing to carry god's love into every life. people like the late chuck coleson. not long ago chuck recounted a story from his days just after leaving prison. he was assured by people of influence, even with his prison record a man with his connections and experience could still live very comfortably. they would make some calls, get chuck situated, set him up wups again as an important man. his choice at that crossroads would make him instead a great man. the call to service is one of the fundamental elements of our national character and culture. it is motivated every great movement of con shines that this

hopeful fair-minded country has ever seen. sometimes as dr. victor frankle observed, it's not a matter of what we're asking for life, but rather what life is asking of us. how often the answer to our own problems is to help others with theirs. in all of these things, family, faith, work, service, the choices we make as americans, in other places are not even choices at all. for so many on this earth, life is filled with orders, not options. right down to where they live, the work they do and how many children the state will allow them to have. all the more reason to be grateful, this and every day, that we live in the united states where the talent god gave us may be used in freedom. thank god for this country. [cheers and applause]

and so at this great christian institution you've all learned a thing or two about these gifts and the good purposes they can serve. their yours to have and yours to share. sometimes your liberty education will set you apart, and always it will help direct your path. and as you now leave, and make for new places near and far, i hope for each one of you that your path will be long, and life will be kind. the ideals that brought you here, the wisdom you gained here, and the friends you found here, may these blessings be with you always whereever you go. thank you to you all, god bless you and god bless the united states of america. [cheers and applause]

>> this morning on c-span -- in 45 minutes on "washington journal," a discussion about cell phone providers allowing the use of c.p.s. information of law officials without warrants. former u.s. rse