there are many more special days to come. never diminish the importance of today. this is a day you will never forget. when people ask me what my most special day is? i say it is still to come. enjoy today. look forward to the next day. the special day i look forward to more than the? graduated was the pride i had two years ago right here on this campus when my son, our oldest child, graduated from albion. i hope i'm still alive that i will see his grandchildren, from him more one of the other kids graduate from here. there are more special days to come. what comes out of today, on celebrate longer than this two times more dog years. have fun today, but when you are done celebrating, i'm excited about your graduation.

what i am looking forward to saying is that you were joining the team. you have the skills, the background, the experience to join the team, to reinvent the world come and reinvent michigan. thank you so much. [applause] >> senator richard blumenthal told that the university of hartford commencement. he talked about giving back to the community in leading the nation to a better future. this is about 15 minutes. [applause]

>> i cannot imagine a day that has meant more to me and i know that is true of many of you. after that wonderful introduction and a summary of some of my accomplishments, among 100 united states senators in seniority, i am #97. i am glad you're laughing. any data get a chance to speak is a good day for me. -- any day i get a chance to speak, it is a good day. for those of you who think it is messy in washington, i'm always happy to be out of washington, always happy to be in the hartford come always happy to be in the university of hartford, one of the greatest learning institutions in the united states of america. you should be proud, every one

of you. [applause] i am especially proud to accept this honor. degree from my good friend, curtis robinson, who has given relentlessly and tirelessly to the university of hartford and all of connecticut with his efforts on behalf of public health, education, and also to receive this degree from walter harrison, a leader in american education, unmatched in his dedication and his drive to improve the excellence of our learning institutions throughout america. thank you, walter harrison. [applause] now, i want to give a special congratulations to this class and especially to the students

who attended and worked here while holding part or full-time jobs, while caring for their parents or children, students who overcame the odds and are here because they were determined to graduate and give back. before we give you the keys to the car, so to speak, i will ask you to make a promise from entering a compact that generation after generation has done in this country since its very founding. that is to leave the nation a little bit better than you found it. my parents, many of your grandparents, defeated fascism in europe and came back to build an interstate highway system, break down racial and religious barriers, and launch a state program, all of it leaving america better. that is what my generation should do for you.

one of the worries, the risks of my generation, is our fear that perhaps we will not leave this nation better for you, for the first time in our history. we may not lead the nation better than we found it. we have that responsibility. it is a shared responsibility. there is still unfinished business that we have a shared responsibility to accomplish. that is what it means to be a citizen. to engage in that compact to keep that promise. two stories that i think illustrates this point.

one is a man named eduardo saverin who came to this country when he was 13 from brazil where his life was threatened. became not only for the freedom and security but also the opportunity. this country did well by him. he may be known to you as one of the co-founders of facebook. who's stock, as of friday, is in the billions and he is a billionaire 3 times over. we have also learned that he has moved to singapore and he has renounced his american citizenship. this is solely because he will thereby avoid, literally, on millions of dollars, $67 million or more in taxes that he would owe on the billions he

has realized as a result of the ipo last friday of facebook. he helped mark zuckerberg build facebook. one of the great products, the three technologies -- the great technological advancements in this country helped him to do it. the other story is it perhaps the more encouraging one. it is about orlando and graduated from an institution here in connecticut just a short time ago, the coast guard academy.

he is a refugee from haiti. he came here at the age of sex. -- six. after leaving haiti with his mother on the boat that drifted into the sea near the coast of florida where he and his mother were rescued, near starving, desperate for food and water, desperate for teh united states. they were rescued where they were completely desperate to be saved. after he arrived in the united states, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. orlando was raised by the translator that cared for them while his mother was in the hospital. he wanted to go to the coast guard academy said that he could help reorganization that

saved him at sea. then he will begin work on a cutter defending against criminals, narcotics smugglers and others who would do the u.s. harm and he will, in no doubt, encounter refugees like he was adrift at sea. orlando decided to stick around, make a difference, fulfill the promise, give back, make a difference. there are so many people like him than there are like eduardo

saverin, who renounced his citizenship, so he would not be bound by those promises are obligations not just in monetary terms but in the compact of shared responsibility. citizenship means more than just a title, more than just physically being here or sticking around. it means emotionally committing with the passion and perseverance that is demonstrated a day in and day out by many in this audience, on this platform. by people like brittany wallace whom we have honored today. people like curtis robinson. people like catherine black and elizabeth hart who had given to this institution but also to their communities. every renos, as bill gates

father said, there is no such thing as a self-made man. we all stand on the shoulders of others. we all need a hand from time to time. that sense of community, which i can feel in this group right now, is one that makes america great. just ask nicole sousa about self-made people. she knows. every one of you knows you are here because of others. that compact means you give back to others after you. my generation still has some unfinished business and we need to work on it before we can say we have given back. many of you will be graduating

with a huge student debt. the average in this state, $25,000 per student, and many here owe that much or more. that debt inhibits risk taking, entrepreneurship, job creation, innovation, creativity, the kind to build innovations as big as facebook but small as the kinds of suppliers and entrepreneur that we need here and in the state of connecticut to grow jobs. we have asked your generation to occur that that to find a way to alleviate, reduced, and eliminate that that. we need programs that will reduce and eliminate that that -- that debt, and we need people in all of these professions that give back to keep that compact.

i am going to work for a program that reduces and eliminate its debt in this country. [applause] my generation owes an unfulfilled promise to our veterans. we have asked you to fight a war, unprecedented in its length of time. nver have -- never have so few borne the cost so long at such great a cost. when they return, their rate of unemployment is double the

average. there denied their rights to sufficient and adequate health care, jobs, opportunities, counseling, and health care that they need and deserve. we must keep faith with our veterans. we can leave no veteran behind. [applause] that is a pledge we go to every one of the 250,000 veterans regardless of the war, regardless of their age and the 22 million in america. i'm just going to take a point of personal privilege. would all the veterans here today please stand and rise so that we can acknowledge and thank you? [applause] [applause]