tomorrow on "washington sournal", chris edwards discusses the future of labor unions. and the pure research -- the pew research survey on changes in american values. >> they are often referred to as the conscience of the congress worked there forng a few years, i cannot think of a better name. >> the general counsel of the congressional black caucus on the role of today's caucus. >> is designed to ensure that members of congress who are african-american come together on issues that are plaguing the community where the confined commonality. they come together to discuss solutions and legislative proposals to advance the causes of people that do not have a

voice. >> more with angela yrrye sunda y on c-span. wassnbc's chris matthews the featured speaker at gerald r. ford years journalism awards. he spoke about his relationship with tip o'neill. and talked about some of the mistakes made by president obama and mitt romney. this is 40 minutes. >> ford president said, "i have a lot of adversaries but no enemies i can remember. one of four political adversaries was tip o'neill, a liberal democrat. despite their political differences, tip o'neill and ford were friends. the gerald r. ford presidential foundation will be honoring that foriendship tonight. tip o'neill was speaker of the

house until 1987. he hired our luncheon speaker to be his press secretary. chris matthews was born in philadelphia and graduated from the college of holy cross. he served in the peace corps from 1968-1970. after coming to washington, chris matthews worked as a u.s. capitol policeman before working for democratic members of congress and as a speechwriter for jimmy carter. he worked for tip o'neill for 6 years during his political battles with ronald reagan. he worked in washington for a san francisco newspaper from 1987-2000. he started his talk show "hardball" in 1997. in 2002, he started the syndicated talk show "the chris matthews show." he is the author of six books. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming chris matthews to the national press

club. [applause] >> it's great to be here for tip and jerry and for their friendship. congratulations, corrinne. scott, you're great. i really -- every time i got on the bus covering campaigns, i watch people with quality newspapers and i would sit around them and they would check a few things occurred on would pick up the newspapers, a beautifully turned out factual peace the next day. i was blown away by the strait reporters. for commentator in it is very easy -- you guys are good.

i tell kid wheres i write a book -- when i write a book, like the book i just rode on jack kennedy. on father's day, they sell 1/5 as many books as at christmas. true. young people it's because times have changed. as a new grandparent, i feel the responsibility to tell people about the past because my parents always did that and they made me feel much older than my age because they told us about couple war. remember that phrase, the war? housing was never as good after efore.r athan b a lot of people said things after the war were different. my secular religion after being

here 41 cities, -- for 41 years. the only thing we do here is make deals, good deals, compromises. it is called legislation. that is what we do. come here from different po ints of view, but we find a way to govern this country. that is what we do. that is what we cover it because it is important. sometimes people come here with another point of view. i think the only points of view is to make government work. i think it takes a couple things for this city to work. one you have to listen to the other side even if they are lamebrain. you have to listen to the tea party. they might have something -- maybe. you have to listen. it's like being married. the guys get all the good girls

listen. two, you have to be willing to negotiate. if he did not negotiate, you do not arrive at an agreed upon direction. if you cannot do that, you have chaos. right now it is something like that. i want to talk about jerry forward and tip o'neill. -- jerry ford and tip o'neill. tip o'neill was one tough guy. it's the toughest job i ever had. so i knew how tough it was. but tip o'neill made one -- had one great quality. he loved it. it's like san francisco if you love san francisco they will love you. the one key ingredient -- tell everyone i love the city and you will be welcome here because loving the city is what unites everybody. what makes you a man or woman of the house is you love the house.

i remember once telling ferrjery brown. why would anybody run for the house? i said the camaraderie. he had no idea what that meant. hanging out with the guys was not his idea of the heaven. hanging out is what it is about. tip o'neill like jerry ford. loved the floor. they liked being were the action was. they liked the cloakroom. the democrats have their cloakroom, chez ramon. boiled hot dogs and tunafish. he loved junkits. it is the best thing in the congress because it is the time for the husband and wise to get together with each other and it creates a wonderful -- for the husbands and wives to get together. when you get mad each other,

your wife would say, but you liked this guy. junket's work. after two weeks together, you will probably be friends. tip liked the food in the house and dining room. he loved the gym. his idea was going to the gym was grabbing a handful of cigars ying, i'm going noveover for a rub. you had to be there. he had a few people bother him greatly. he's a called on the three stooges. gingrich was a member of the three stooges. the other one was bob walker of pennsylvania. it is like high-school -- there is a phone call, mr. walker.

he takes the call in the past the next pay raise. it did not happen that often but it was mirthful. jack murtha did it. "we got it this time, jack.' " his friends were not all democrats. george bush sr was his friends. the house was something that george bush won completely on his own theory he did not get there in there because of the coattails of president reagan. he got elected to the house on his own. he was -- nixon wanted to get elected on his own. own.on it on on your that's why gore tried that. there's pride in that. he liked george bush sr., i do

know what he -- i do not know what he thought about the caucus. he liked bush. he loved conti. they played cards every night. bob michael, they were buddies. the guy he really loved was jerry ford. i heard him talk about him every night. how ford was living the good life in palm springs. dresses for dinner. it was always about status. and i can tell when his real friends were route because he would break into a non-political smile. that santa claus face of his, which you would get whenever his real buddies were around like murtha. rosky would come in, you just had murtha sitting on your lap. it is like a boy's club. the people's house. how proud they were of that occurred off compared to th the

august u.s. senate which tip once said was filled with the idiot sons of the rich. that is when he got irish. he used to cut the lawn at when thein the 1930's, rich people went there and there was no meritocracy back then. one would said, "shear the lawn on your knees." your watch people drinking champagne during prohibition. interesting stuff. i love the stuff. you know, i think that you would sit around and even members of the congress likes tip would save seats, you only had to run

it is the communist ones. he got elected 50 elections in a row. but there were not all close. a great thing about the house compared to the senate is to have to stay in touch because it elections every two years. even if you are in an inner-city district, you have to worry about the young opponent, you have to be home. tip would be in the room and he would be reading "the globe." he loved "the globe." all politics is local. up to keep track of what is going on at home. i have a great respect for people who lead when it is tough, when you are politically incorrect, when it is not you that everybody likes. ronald reagan will be remembered for his consistency -- just like church. respected for being right long before it was coppola. if they do not want people adjusting to what is popular.

they love people that have been consistent. i trust him on that. that is where he has been a long time. it was like the kick tihat. the nuns were coming at tip o'neill. be nice to president reagan. that was tough. it is not popular. liberalism was not in fashion for a number of those years. we did pick up 26 seats in 1982. it's tough to be unpopular. reagan put up with that for years and became popular. tip put up with i t. it was tough. jerry ford did something as president that i did not like -- he pardoned nixon. but when you think about what he did it, was very unpopular, probably cost him the presidency, he had the courage to do what is right. if we had let richard nixon's

problems remain our problems, we would have never gotten out of it. it would have been three years at least a fighting over nixon. instead, he said let's start over again and get the country moving again. i think that was an example of country first -- it's not a bad motto. not you. i was warned when i went up to massachusetts 15 years ago and i looked up at the first pew in st. johns where tipit was nice . they stuck together. tip would have been there for jerry, friend. that is the way it was in politics when i worked in that. i got to love this cycle of the week of the house of representatives. monday was always come back today. tuesday was the general debate, wednesday was amendments,

thursday was always final passage, and when all members would comment, it was just like in mr. smith, they would come in and watch closing debates between people like jerry ford and tip o'neill when they were giving their best and everyone would be there. it was great drama. i remember one thursday night -- they had a hot debate, a reallyot debate on thursday night. one guy had been yelling red- faced at the other guy from the other side of the aisle. they're debating heatedly. as the room began to empty out and everybody went to catch their playing thursday night, it was like an accordion closing, everybody is leaving, this guy walked across dial and said to the democratic member, what are you doing this weekend? it was the guy he was yelling at.

he said say hello to your wife for me. that is what it was like and that's what was like the way jefferson wanted it, the way madison wanted it, and that's the way it was with jerry tip, the old days. i want to thank you for letting me begin my conversation about current events that are not as pleasant. i want young people here and there are some of them here, where are you? i'm a grandfather. it is all true. it really was like that, thank you very much. [applause] >> now for the fun stuff. do you feel that political talk shows like yours is responsible for the growing lack of civility in our discourse? [laughter] >> not at all, it gets off your

chest. i think it can. there is a tendency of people to only watch the road show. i think you want to look around. take a look at fox once in awhile. if you don't like it, take a look at it and make sure you don't like it. i think you're crazy -- the days of walter cronkite are over. that's the way it is will not work again. it is too many points of view. i just finish the cronkite book which is excellent. he had a point of view and we all knew it. he was a liberal the whole time and we all know it. he did not know we were aware of it. he is a great reporter and an honest reporter body had a point of view. those points of view or more transparent. there is more knowledge if you watched television, you cannot tell the difference between fact and opinion, that is rare because almost everybody can. i think al sharpton is known for his points of view.

they know what they're getting when they watch him and i know where i am standing very i think people are smarter. they no opinion. they know facts and i think they want three levels every night did the 1 fax, the news, they wanted around 5:00. but what now. the wants and what it means that i want to know what you think. what my shirt to find out what you think. we fight over facts. i say every fact must come from a quality newspaper. it may come from ap but i don't want to hear it comes from anywhere else. i want facts. we do announcements and we want to be smart on the analysis and with the opinions. i tried to do all three. i find that people tend to vote after they watched me. i cannot imagine being able to follow my show without reading a good newspaper. secondly, i cannot imagine watching a show like mine and not being committed to vote. it forces people to read the paper, if you like it, a widethe lehrer hour, george

stephanopoulos is damn good on sunday. put it together. i don't know anybody gets angry after watching television. many people get confirmed in their views. there is somedittohead thinking. i don't think they are growing. [laughter] [applause] >> how would you rate your show -- left or right? >> i would say we are 40 yards left -- 40 yard line. my voting record is not consistent. i've pretty much advertise how i voted my views on a lot of things -- i thought the iraq

war was a disaster. i am right on that. fiscal policy, i want to see a long-term -- i want to see my daughter work for the debt commission. i think the president should have staked out a position on day one. if he had done that, he would've been better off. he should have gone with the keystone pipeline for jobs. i cannot think of the environmental reasons because nobody has said what it is. he should have sold more health care and explained why it is important to the middle class. we already have a health-care program for poor people called medicare. this is a program to be fair to the middle class and force them to pay their share. he never sold that way because he had to keep the left happy. it was a conservative proposition and never sold

properly. i think it is pretty critical. i think the have put it together. i have been doing this longer than anybody. i have been on live television since 1994 every night six times a week and everybody has figured me out. i think people are smart. you get to know the person after a while. i think. >> what do you make of the changes taking place in the media? what about the decline of traditional newspapers and the role of new media? >> i love newspapers and editors. i don't know where i would have been without them. there is nothing like turning in a take out these friday afternoon and getting the call back that i have two or three questions. where did to get this? was this officials?

it is great. you get the call back that you are free. you are off the weekend. i love to be edited. i tried to edit the people --who wrote this? there is an expletive there. i have an instinct for what may be wrong and get everything but you don't have a corrections page on the internet. i want to know who the editors are. everybody reads upington but editing will be a big part of it. can i just have opinion pieces. fact checking, i worry about it. i always wear -- worry about weekend wire people. young people don't know the history and they will let things get by them and it drives me crazy.

but controversy -- the controversy over a spy. there is some controversy. he was a spy. i like to see adults editors. in social medea, i worry because people come up with something they throw on a blog. what are you not pay attention to blogs? don't read any of them. that would be my view. is that liz over there? i did not count you. you are a real journalist which is different than somebody in their basements asking for pancakes said it brought down the government. first of all, get a job. [laughter] high making enemies now which is part of my life. i like journalists, i love

trade reporters, i am fascinated by the ability every day of a1 reporter is that right for the first page and they are astoundingly good and their editors are great. what goes into these newspapers in the news section is spectacular. the quality of the op-ed pages in the times and the journal -- the times and the post are really good. the screening that goes on the best cases, we have great journalists. i get up in the morning and i read "the washington examiner." it has a lot of little items and it has some right wing people that are good. then i read "the washington post." i read a different ways. i checked a style page. i always read the op-ed page and then i work my way to a section. rights a stop on a page before it --al kamen is

fabulous. i read "the times." you have to get your speed up to read the times. you have to get ready for the times. by an ambitious, go to the journal but my wife reads that. she is in business. if you put that together, you know a lot. if you want to know more, turned on yourxm radio and listen to one of the three news network. i flip around and it is fabulous. i go from cnn and check fox because some of them are ok. s not big onean but - [laughter]

o'reilly is a mixed bag. he is not just a right winger. he is an angry irish guy. iere's something to him that find unnervingly truth sometimes. i like his attitude. people have to put -- i give this speech to everybody -- and there will not be an uncle walter to tell you exactly what is what. the big networks had established liberalism as their base true north. that is what they were, walter cronkite and edward r. murrow. it was a point of view. they laughed at goldwater. cronkite mocked him the way he pronounced his name and it is true. barry goldwater said today -- you know where he stood. the idea that there was objective reality is a mistake.

>> obama promised the public and journalists you have the most open administration in history. as he delivered? >> i don't know what the question is really. >> transparency -- >> i don't know what the relative scorecard is. is that something we could find text do you have a point of view on this? >> i am moderator. i don't have a point of the [laughter] u. when he came to office, he said he would be the most of but -- open and be having press conferences and be open. >> i don't count them. the daily press, ja andy carney journalistsgi andbbs is smart. he beat me at jeopardy a couple of weeks ago. he has a lot of press conferences. people are not dying for more press conferences.

i don't that is a big issue. i think mitt romney is used to a business press. they only seek journalists when they want to see them. i don't think he spends a lot of time answering questions at the rope line. it is not a big issue with me because i am in commentary. reporters have to deal with this by getting up close to them. i don't have the ability to judge that. you might ask schock or someone else here. chuck for some of tear. >> why has compromise become so unacceptable in congress? >> because of the way the voters are behaving. i grew up in a ticket-splitting state and pennsylvania. you would vote for the state representative and senator

because you wanted your kid to get a state scholarship. you would vote for the congressman because you are hoping that your kid would go to the service economy that's where it worked when i origin where i grew up. it was also a purple state where you have almost every election except two of the 20th century were split. if a governor and senator were running that year, it would go both ways. it was like this all the time. bill scranton could be popular and jack kennedy could win the state big. there are no ticket-splitting states left free this year will see less ticket-splitting than ever and people will vote straight. massachusetts could be the exception because scott brown is in the running. he may even be slightly favored. people will generally vote for the president if they vote for

claire mccaskill. i look of the tricky mass t -- rickiness. had the vote for george allen and barack obama? that's a tricky one. the other thing is the way our districts are broken up by neighborhoods which are segregated. as a younger person, the only person you have to fear is the person to your left. er neverr by going to your left as it -- in the black caucus. the tendency is to heads toward the save and of your party's spectrum. if you're a liberal, you are probably 100% rating.

in politics, it is safer to be with your base. these men and women tend to vote with their base. it is the safest mode and you figure you'll fight it out for the independence. a member of congress just got beaten any said there 40 house seats that are up for election but the rest are taken. you can i use -- you cannot lose a general election. california has a new system or the top two vote getters get to run in september. that will not be a big surprise. the voters are -- because we have been apportioned and gerrymandered, you don't have many seats. you have been in places like bucks county. these are selling seats and eric toth. -- these are -- there are 40 seats and they are tough. how many seats are like that? dingle is still here. these guys are here for a long time. massachusetts does not change.

you have these one-party districts and you have this kind of voting or the don't want to risk going to the senate because a young kid will come along and says he sold us out. luger just got bombed, bob bennett got bumped. orin hatch could get bombed in utah. -- could get bumped in utah. it is sad, i think, that you cannot put it together yourself the way reasonable people do. they don't buy the blue plate special. voters love union and they are pro-choice and they go down the list and every single thing, they are against free trade. there are some but they are about 30%. we just go down the line left or right.

i like it when people say on one issue they are not with the party. you hardly ever hear that. then you are marked as some kind of pro-life nut. if our voters become independent, we will have more independent politicians, i think. that's a sobering isn't it? >> what you think the biggest mistakes of the obama and romney campaign have made so far? >> romney has not made many mistakes. he has the strategy of being the last man standing. it does not try to sell his personality. [laughter] it is like roller derby. just not the other guys off the court. you cannot hide from the incoming. it was a relentless negative advertising.

it was done by these super packs like restore our future. he got the nomination through a process of elimination. i have not seen mistakes from him because he has won every contest. they are all endorsing him to various degrees. women are coming back. the republican party has starkly falls in line. they don't fall in love, they fall in line. democrats have to like you. republicans are an organized political party. which is unusual. growing up as a kid in the early 50's i watched the conventions and there was a woman at the head of the convention that asks the delegates to clear the aisle and i never did. that was the democratic convention and at the republican convention when they were asked to clear the aisles, they did. they are obedient.

the democrats look at who's popular. the republican party would not run a guy named barack hussain obama. bush, let's go for a wild guy, bob dole. the republican party insists on you being around a long time having lost a number of times and being beaten up and gone through this horrific cases and when you're through, they run you. they finally ran john mccain. he is the perfect republican. these other guys come out of nowhere. bill clinton? it is unbelievable.

when you lose as a republican, they run in next time. in the democrats you lose, they shoot you. that's why people like al gore have to grow bear to go into a cave somewhere nobody knows where michael dukakis is right now because no one has ever asked. if you lose the democratic party, you are finished. you lose the republican party, come on back. jack kemp is available. let's put on a ticket in 1996. let's bring dold back. 20 years later they brought him back. who wanted that? it is a different culture. the democrats are a hot hand political party. if republicans had run john mccain the first time, it would have been interesting. if nixon had won in 1960 before the end betterment, it might have been different. they wear them out and they get

better by the time they get in there. you have to completely back to everything. on the mitt romney is driven by hard principle. whatever they wanted in a commencement speech, he would give them. he tells the neocons everything they want to hear. he will do the same thing with grover norquist on tax policy. nordquist is allies say the name. donald trump is proof of the pudding. anything he wants to get, it is unbelievable. he is like the golden idol. why? he wants to keep the party together and wants all elements of the party. he said he wants 50.1%. if you want transparency, you'll get it from him.

he tells you how he will win the presidency. he will accept what these guys want and will become independent of them every gets in. that is the trick part. he is a moderate. i think he is a practical guide but how many deals will he strike? the obama mistakes have been pretty obvious. he should have explained health care bill as a moderate republican plan coming out of the heritage plan. it is not socialized medicine. he should never have let that get started. he never should aboard the used stimulus. it is the worst word in politics. it -- it says it is wasting money. stimulus means nothing. it means road building, stop that mean something, not just pain of states and localities by muting their bills. eisenhower build the interstate highway system. all obama * -- has to do says ira rebuild the automobile

system and now i will rebuild the highways. both trends are all over asia and we have amtrak. we should catch up in the world in our public sector. the jobs that have disappeared last four sector have been in the public sector. private-sector job growth has been there but it has been offset by pullbacks and laos in the states and localities across the country. it is ironic that nobody knows that. interest rates are 0 and people are sending them money to germany. invest in infrastructure and put people to work. i'd think he should do it until the republicans to no say. they are saying no to everything he is saying. he said, but something big.

does not think big enough. just like truman did discuss, call the house back into session and posed a problem. we have this many people unemployed, let's put them to work. let's do it. at least then, the public would know what the election is about. that would be and my advice on how he can fix it. [applause] >> we're almost out of time but a couple of housekeeping items to take care of. i got one more for you. i want to remind you on june 9, the press club is having its 15th annual 5 k race. there will be pancakes. tony horton will be here. >> how many miles? >> and 3.1. you don't even have to sign up. i would like to present you with our traditional coffee mug

this will make your coffee taste better when fact checking. my last question for you is what do you think about how you are portrayed on saturday night live? >> darrell issa armond is a genius. he does clinton like he is clinton. it is unbelievable. i went there once and watched and just call laramie. before they start at 11:30, they are actually live, a dourhammond would be prowling around as cheney. he is already in character. he does the best. i like him doing me, too.

[applause] >> thank you for coming today. a reminder that you can find more information about the national press club on our web site. thank you. we are adjourned. [applause] >> commencement speeches by timothy geithner. michelle bachman, dannel malloy, alan west, and lisa jackson. on the news makers, debbie stanbenow and pat roberts talk

about their joint effort to push the farm bill through the senate. the bill would replace the long time program of subsidies to farmers and a program that would pay them with their -- if their income falls below certain levels. newsmakers at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. >> everyone thinks back to vietnam. they think of the history of the b-52. the cold war. there is a different kind of power associated with the b-52 as opposed to other bombers. >> these are two friends who knew each other prior to the civil war. they fought against each other in 1862. here they are at age 100. they are talking about the old days. >> to the east is marked 901.

on the west is 903. they really reflect our reference to the moment of the bomb that was at 9:02. >> look for the history and literate culture of our next up in jefferson city, missouri. >> timothy geithner spoke about the economy and the role of government when he gave the commencement address at john hopkins university school of advanced international studies. he is a 1985 graduate. he spoke to students for [applause] >> thank you, just a cup.

that was so gracious -- gracious and generous. provost minor, faculty, france, graduates of the, class of 2012, think you. it is an honor for me to stand afterith you 27 degreyears receiving my degree. i had great professors. i learned a lot. i missed the pool table. [laughter] i want to offer my compliments to dean einhorn for leaving a strong institution to her capable successor, valley nasser. you are a remarkably diverse class. you come from 39 different countries. you have worked for governments, non-profits, some of the world's leading private companies. many of you spent your time at

sais overseas in china studying chinese, studying hard. or in bologna, italy. [laughter] [applause] you stole my line. [laughter] you graduate from this institution with the world still recovering from the worst financial crisis since the great depression, and into a very tough economy, very tough job market. you chose to get a degree in advanced international studies. your parents and friends are here saying, what were you thinking? [laughter] i know this is hard to explain,

your peers and chose a credential that friends and relatives can wrap their heads around that would allow them to practice law or medicine or engineering or high finance, but you chose a different, a more intricate path. you chose to study international affairs and economics. you did not choose to narrow your world, you chose to make it bigger. you were neither fish nor fowl, neither lawyer nor bankers. post partisan. you take yourself seriously, but not too seriously. the sais epic is driven, but with a quiet and calm intensity. you care more about what you'd do than what you earn.

in a world full of people with more conviction than knowledge, you invested in learning the shades of gray in life, understanding what we do not know, and learning how to navigate in an uncertain world. while it may not feel this way, this is your moment. s in septembersai 1983, right out of college. i was eager and patient to learn the craft of governing. there was it and still is no better place to do that. i love my work here. i managed to graduate, but without a job, and with student loans to repay, and i was about to get married, and i felt a certain sense of responsibility to earn a living after being supported through graduate school by the wonderful woman who became my wife. this all may be somewhat uneasy.

i suspect many of you are in a similar place today. a few months after graduating i got a job working for henry in theer's firm, and summer of 1988, i joined the treasury at the place of hamilton. they're at treasury i had a remarkable experience, the valuable experience, though i did not know how valuable then, of working through it reversed mix of a new crises of mexico, asia, and back to latin america. i came back to treasury in 2009 at up to curly dark moment in american history. the economy then, as you all remember, was still caught in the more rigid in the most dangerous phase of the financial crisis. and i was very worried, we were all very worried about how we were going to get out of it. at my first meeting in the oval

office after i was sworn in, i walked the president and vice- president -- vice president biden through the remaining large, very complicated financial bombs we still has to defuse. i explained whai thought it would take to defuse them, and how damaging the steps would be politically. the weight of the conversation was enough to cause many leaders to shrink from action, but that is not what this president did. president obama did not play politics with the crisis. he did not sit there and commissioned a series of academic studies. he did not sit there paralyzed by the terrible perils of the choices we faced. he did not wait to act in the hopes the crisis would burn itself out. he decided to act and do the hard, tough things early.

it was a tough few months of the beginning. i remember in the early weeks preceding from a friend a letter with a copy of the teddy roosevelt " about the man in the arena. you may know this. it starts like this. it is not the credit accounts, the man who points out of the strong man stumbles, or where the do were of deeds could have done better or where the credit belongs to the man who was actually in the arena whose face is marred by sweat and blood. i thought when i got this letter from my friend of the that was a thoughtful gesture, and then about 10 more people send me that ". [laughter] i thought, well, this cannot be good. they must really be worried

about me. but i was not, or at least i tried not to be too concerned of the loud course of the critics. i did not have the luxury of time to worry about them, and i had an advantage they did not have. i knew then we had a good plan for fighting the financial crisis, and there are many people who understand that now, but there were not many who believed that at this time. there is a scene in the movie of her walker that i think is a powerful metaphor for the choice to face in public life. i tell this story not in any way to acquit the battles we waging economic policy with what the soldiers face and war, but i tell it to convey a lesson about life. for those of you that have not seen the movie, it is about a bomb disposal -- disposal squad

in iraq, and the team leader, sergeant james. in one scene and the team gets called in to diffuse a suspected bomb. they evacuate a huge perimeter around the car sagging under the weight of the explosives within. sergeant james put on this formidable, protective gear, huge loves, helmet, full body armor. it is very hard -- very hot. he opens the trunk and is shocked by the destructive power of the explosives there. in looking at the size of the bomb, he decides to take off all of the protective gear to expose himself so he can diffuse it more easily. the other soldiers dispersed at some distance behind protective barriers a asked him what are you doing? he says in some words, if i do not succeed, it will blow me up

anyway. you are going to find lots of people in public life who worry more about how they appear, then what they accomplish. who fear their risk in any action, let preoccupation with perception and politics get in the way of doing the right thing. what you should take from this story is that if you're going to make a difference, especially in public life, you need to be willing to get close to the flame. you need to be willing to take risk and to feel the heat, to expose yourself to the heat, and you have to keep your focus on the cause you have been called to serve, and the craft of doing that job well. that is what the president did with the fires of the financial crisis were burning. there was no precedent. there was no playbook available to any of us, other than the

graveyard of mistakes from other crises, but we knew we had to act, and we put together a creative plan on building on the brave work of henry paulson, ben bernanke, sheila bair, and the president cited a remarkably effective financial rescue, remarkably effective by any historical comparison, because he was willing to whether the political costs of committing to the best economic strategy. what we experienced in 2008-2009 was a terrible crisis caused by a shark -- crosses -- caused by a shock > what caused the great depression, and we're still living through the aftershocks of the crisis, and we will do so for quite some time. the damage from the financial crisis was greater, because it hit the american economy that had already been suffering from a slow burning mix of other

challenges. the erosion in the quality of public education, the decline in public infrastructure, and alarming rise in policy and living standards for the median worker, the rise in public debt. these challenges are all magnified today by the paralysis and the political system, a paralysis that reflects and amplifies the deep divisions across the country about the role of government. these economic challenges are tough and daunting, but the critical test we face is a political challenge. how to recapture what for most of the history was a defining strength, a political system that was able to marshal the wisdom to be able to do wise and hard things with the long-term view of what determines national economic strength. what has been exceptional about

america is even in a country founded on individual freedom and equally skeptical about government, americans work of vicious and smart and creating public goods like universal public education and building not just a world-class army, but a world-class public infrastructure. in designing not just a system for protecting the ideas of private innovators, but also for pioneering public investments and scientific discovery. in creating not just a system that offer very high financial rewards, but a safe bet for retirees and the poor. in today's political climate, it can seem sometimes we have forgotten the wisdom about this country, but even with all of the challenges, do not be too dark about america. we have successfully navigated the most dangerous phase of

this financial crisis. we're still a very dynamic and resilience nation, stronger in economic terms than any of the other major developed countries. our challenges are more manageable, and a much stronger position today to deal effectively with them. we just need to rediscover the political ability to solve the big problem still ahead of us. i hope each of you will have the chance to spend it some time working for your country as a soldier, as an elected official, as a civil servant. we need more talented people to spend time and public service to help rebuild the confidence of americans and their government. many of you will work outside of government, but still try to shape what governments do. many of you will choose to work in the private sector, and there he will have the chance to

contribute to better public policy outcomes to bring back the tradition of the statesman ceo. he will have the chance to help businesses focus not just on how to reduce the effective tax rate or softened a particular regulation, but how to improve education or increase government investment in scientific research, things all businesses benefit from a need. if you choose to work in public service and have a chance to work on the economic challenges ahead of us, then you will learn a few of the things that matter most in government. do not put politics ahead of economics. polls may tell you what seems popular at the moment. they can show you the political obstacles to change and reform,

but they cannot tell you what is the right thing to do. they are not a reliable guide to economic policy, particularly in the crisis when all things seem terrible to any sensible person. retain a healthy skepticism about the world and a lot of humidity. -- a lot of humility. you should be skeptical about the easy policy option and skeptical of those offering conviction on any issue. do not expect people to behave rationally. know you will often have to act in areas where the fog of uncertainty is thick and heavy. this should humble you, but you cannot let it paralyze you. in government you need to have of view in need to know what you are for, not just what you are against. it is not enough to be able to explain the risks in any option

but be able to decide and choose planned vs. no plan. in economic policy, your job is to try to relax -- tried to relax the political constraints on policy and not resign yourself to live within them, but still, govern with the knowledge of the possible and to be able to choose among the feasible alternatives and not be caught too long in search of the theoretical ideal. when confronting our financial crisis, we were fighting to battles. one to save the economy from collapse, and one to convince the american people we were doing the right thing, the fair and just thing. we won the first of those battles, but we're still fighting the second. at the height of the crisis,

president obama made -- made it difficult and courageous choice. he decided not to alter economic strategy for a more simple and compared it -- popular narrative, that we nationalize the banks or let them all burned. he did not let politics get in the way of doing the right thing, and that made all the difference. so to you, graduates of the class of 2012, you already know you have to be prepared to take some risk and take some heat. you chose the harder pass in graduate school. you chose to learn about power and conflict among nations. about incentives and human behavior, about why nations fail and prosper. about hubris and achievement. this is the study of how to think and how to choose and how

to read, and you chose a place where you could learn the craft of how to advance a cause, a cause of larger than yourself. you chose sais because you understood that the credit belongs to the man in the arena who strives valiantly, who heirs, who come short again and again, because there is no effort without error in shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds. who knows great enthusiasms, agree devotions. who spends himself in a worthy cause. so i look forward to seeing you in the arena, and i wish you the very best. [applause]

>> minnesota representative and former presidential -- republican presidential candidates addressed graduates. she is a graduate of regent university law school. she said as christians they should not shy away from problems in society. her speeches about 20 minutes. thank you. >> good morning, and for

graduation's to everyone here today. -- and congratulations to everyone here today. regent class of 2012, give yourself a hand. this is a day of joy. we rejoice in the marvelous completion that god has brought about in your life. today. just like the creation, god looks at your graduation and says this, too, is very good. thank him for what he has done for you. let us also remember the unsung heroes in each one of your lives, including your families. without them, today would not have been possible. thank them.

give them a kiss, give them a day off. whatever they need, they deserve it. it was 26 years ago when i became an alumni of this law school, and it was 24 years ago where i sat out where all of you are sitting, trying to keep my boys quiet in the seat, as my husband received his diploma from dr. robertson. as i was sitting out there trying to keep our two young boys quiet, i never imagined that i would be running for president of the united states. you just never know. [applause] but i also want to promise you, as you graduate from regent today and become an alumnus, you will never join a more finer club.

the dues were stiff, but the benefits are eternal, and will redound not only to you but the people you serve and minister to in the future. i want to congratulate you on one of the finest investment decisions you have ever made, and i don't just mean your newfound earning potential. your decision to come to regent was an act of sheer obedience. that's what it was for susan, and for me, too, the voice of almighty god. coming to reach into university was an excellent decision, a life-changing decision. my purpose today is to remind you that this day would not have occurred without the prayer and vision and work of countless generations who went before you. there would never have been a regent university, there never would have been this lovely, albeit hot, ceremony today, without the passion of matthew

24:14, "to preach the gospel to all the nations," had not been the chief motivator for all those i share the platform with today. i want to share with you the origin of one of the schools here, the regent law school. the reason this law school is here today is because there is an eye doctor from muskogee, oklahoma. his eye doctor was a businessman. he had been burned one too many times by crooked, greedy lawyers. i don't mean to be redundant when i say that, but the eye doctor was a christian, a leading man. he thought to himself, wouldn't

the country be better off if we had christian lawyers? even in oklahoma, he could not find christian lawyers. he donated money to start the school of law, which you see now, the regent law school. i was in college at that time, and i sensed god called me to law school. that is not unusual. but to a law school based on biblical review, that was a problem. i couldn't find one because there wasn't one in the country. this was back in 1977. then i found out that this school would not open until 1979. the school had no accreditation, no faculty, no books, no application forms. so i waited. eventually i became the very first student -- susan, does this sound familiar? -- the first student on the first class on the first day of the first year of this law school.

our motto that year as a brand new law school was "we know nothing, and we can prove it." [laughter] what we did know how to do was be people of faith and prayer. we studied extremely hard because we were forging a new way to understand the law. we not only learned the black letter laws that all students have to learn in the united states. in tandem, we also learned what the bible had to say about the particular area of law, down to the most minute technicalities. it was the greatest intellectual and spiritual experience of my life. i would not have traded a harvard education for the legal

education i received here at regent. someday you will appreciate that as well. we prayed our way through navigating this new way of studying law. we grew exponentially, and i will tell you why -- we were taught here under the power of the holy spirit. there is no greater professor than the holy spirit. [applause] because, you see, we woke up and entered our classroom, prayed before every classroom meeting. our watchword was this -- we dedicated ourselves to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel. if you look to this direction, the very ministries of cbn and ultimately, regent university, were all born out of that same insatiable desire, to serve the lord. on this very geographical side, the ground upon which you are seated today, to the glory of god, to advance the gospel.

so literally did dr. pat and fellow co-laborers take this charge, they saw by faith everything you see before you now. they birthed it in prayer before any of it came into existent. turn your heads right now, consider every building, every program, every person here today is a result of those prayers and faith in almighty god. see the wealth, see the prosperity, the unparalleled building up that continues today with the building of the divinity school and chapel. you cannot choose a more awe- inspiring visual for the beauty of the world.

there were years when pat and the children ate a lot of soybeans, not because it was cool, but because it was cheap. you know, you are just completing that schedule in your life as well. there were plenty of times when their prayers did not turn out the way they had hoped, either. we understand that, too. but just the way that nehemiah rebuilt the walls in jerusalem, and how quickly the walls were rebuilt, consider how quickly the lord built this world wide ministry and university for his glory, and the advancement of the gospel. you see, it is no fluke that we are privileged to sit and stand here today on this hallowed ground. we, the recipients of unparalleled blessings. it was 405 years ago this week when the very first settlers arrived at the jamestown

settlement. they were famous for starting the settlement, and when they landed, they knelt and prayed, and their prayer was very specific. they dedicated this north american continent to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel. that is our pattern that we are forged from. it was some years later in 1979 when a virginia farmer -- you may know him as george washington -- went to new york city and was sworn in as the first president of this new country. after swearing in at federal hall, now wall street, he traveled down to a church, which is located at ground zero. at that church, george

washington himself prayed and dedicated this nation to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel. 307 years after the first jamestown survivors stood here, coincidently, again, the very same week, cbn dedicated the very first satellite earth station to the worldwi proclamation of the gospel. that may seem like nothing to you now, in a day when we all te world wide proclamation of the gospel. never before in the history in the world, 5000 years of recorded human history as the gospel been heard around the world. it was in direct fulfillment of the pairs of the jamestown settlers four hundred years ago this week. and occurred here on this campus on cbn university.

praise and glory to the almighty god. [applause] in fact, it was the rev. billy graham's who said the words of matthew 24: 14, this gospel shelby preached as a doctor and to all nations. he said those words and will it -- were fulfilled on this campus that day. don't forget this place, don't forget regent, don't forget cbn university. this is an extremely important part of god's history. this is his faithfulness in action. i come to you with a warning on this happy morning. do not forget your first love. do not forget the eternal truths you learned here. because my heart is broken over

the current spiritual condition of america. i ran for president of the united states because of what i saw happening to our great country. i knew the sacrifices and the prayers and all that had gone on to build up this fabulous nation, and i knew we cannot stand idly by and see it torn down. we needed to stand for it and build it up and pray for it. and so i ran. and yes, we do have political problems, and i'm involved in that process, and i actually thought i had a lot of good answers to those political problems. and we have moral problems as well. as believers, we cannot shy away from the political problems, and we should not. there is a move to tell christians to get out of politics. don't listen to it. we have moral problems. christians cannot ignore the moral problems. ultimately, the foundation of

our problems is spiritual, and that is because even in our nation, even in many of our churches, we diminish the god of the universe by embracing a philosophy that says we must all coexist. have you seen the bumper sticker? "jesus is but one of many ways to god." as believers, we should not offend anyone. even in churches, we cannot get too out there. we cannot talk about sin or the need for repentance, because too many churches tell us that if we talk about sin or sin in church, we might offend people. if we offend people, maybe they won't come to jesus christ. but we forget, that is the point. jesus is the rock of offense, he is the stumbling stone of history. [applause]

the law was given, the bible tells us, to show us our sin. let's face it, we're sinners, and without christ, we are eternally separated from god. even many in the church today are reluctant to say that there is a day of judgment coming, but there is, and there is a literal hell, and without christ, that is the future of man. the gospel in the charter right here at jamestown is that the good and loving god has made his way of escape from sin and from hell. as the son of god, jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, something none of us can do on our own. when we believe in his name, we are saved. that is the fulfillment of the gospel, proclaimed by god, we told by the prophets, fulfilled by christ, spread across the

ages to all people, all nations, tongues, and tribes. we here at regent re the recipient of a big division, -- big vision, given and born in the heart of an almighty god himself. as paul told timothy, "faithfully transfer the gospel of jesus christ." we have been interested with the -- entrusted with a big vision, big commission. it is from those who saw into the future. never despise small beginnings. that is the fountain of greatness, that one day we would literally be here, the fulfillment, the incarnate literal fulfillment of their prayers. the world thinks christianity is about being nice and letting other people win.

i'm just saying, that is not my view, i don't think that is god's. we are to be on offense with the gospel of jesus christ, going everywhere into every man's world. christianity is a life that is lived by grace and god. in the political world i have been called into, i cannot escape from the seriousness of the hour that we live in. i do believe these are urgent, perilous times, directly tied to the fact that for too long, our nation has neglected a fidelity to the truth of god's word. loving our neighbor and prayer. we are all called to minister somewhere in some way. you have been called, each one of you, to the arts, business, ministry, politics, the law, all for the advancement of the gospel. together, we are the most beautiful picture of the tapestry of his kingdom, a foreshadowing of eternal life

in the literal kingdom of heaven yet to come. just as hell is a real place, be encouraged, beloved, because heaven is also a real place, and every day i find that the political battles are larger. i get what hell looks like, and d.c. can make the answers very maddening. it is like the old saying, the faster we go, the behinder we get. christians cannot give up on politics. we have a moral problem. sin is ugly. me first, you not at all. sensuality and personal fulfillment. redefining basics like the family. ask any 3-year-old what the family is, and he will be able to tell you, but not the whizbangs in washington, d.c.

now even our moral problems are becoming more complex. that is my message for you here today. number one, your presence at regent and your graduation of the literal fulfillment of generations of urban prayer. be grateful for what others have done for you. second, you hold in your future the ability to bless the world with the lifesaving power of jesus christ. don't miss the ticket to that train. that is joy for your throughout your life. third, you carry the awesome privilege and responsibility of the faithfully living a life all to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel as generations of faithful believers di before you. be grateful for this eternal message, going off for the glory of god and advancement of the gospel. it is the message of regent

university. make that message your own. god bless you all. have a great life. [applause] >> governor daniel malloy was this year as speaker at st. joseph college. the former attorney and mayor of stanford talent -- challenged the graduating class to be agents of change . his speeches just over 10 minutes. >> first and foremost, let me say how proud i am to receive this honor very degree from this institution. i want to assure everyone that i

never dreamed i would receive a degree from a woman's college. [laughter] it is great to now be an alumni of this great institution which is st. joseph's, a soon-to-be university. i have to imagine that when the sisters came together and decided to start a new college, one which began conferring degrees in 1932, they must have understood the challenges they would face. of course in the middle of the great depression, and to survive that and other challenges that have played out over the last 30 years is a testament to the wisdom of the sisters and the founding and the care for this

great institution. i also have to say that i am amazed at the progress of this institution over the last four years. in selecting a new leader, this college shows an outstanding leader to help transform it for the next generation of users. she has done a remarkable work, which i admire greatly, including the establishment of a satellite campuses and opportunities to take courses in faraway places. the decision to move into the university rank. the decisions where we are celebrating the largest graduating class in this institution's history. you are a remarkable women giving remarkable leadership and you deserve great congratulations.

[applause] i would say to the trusties, you had better keep her. i want to thank the students speakers. i have to admit that the first speaker made me nervous about the repeated reference to her age. being 10 years older, i thought i was being let out to pasture. [laughter] thank you for the opportunity to challenge yourself and handling that challenge it so beautifully. your comments about what a degree can mean any change and outlook and relationships was poetic. thank you for showing a little emotion as well. too many of us are afraid to do that. you're sharing that made the day

better for us. to the undergraduate speaker, i wish i was in a hall when you sang "amazing grace" this spring. amazing grace, how great thou art. those words and all of the words of those songs were written by a man who had been engaged in the slave trade. transporting slaves from africa to other countries to be sold in servitude for the rest of their lives. upon understanding within himself the great lack of morality in that decision in that profession, he changed himself. it was a religious-inspired change. it was a politically inspired

change. but ultimately it was a personal decision to take a leadership role in seeing that this world would outlaw forever slavery. i once was blind but now i see. that is the message of that song if you understand it in its context. i have to say to you that you have made some in powering decisions to come to this institution, to study as hard as you have studied, to commit yourselves to lifelong learning by garnering these degrees. but there is a challenge that remains out there for you. it is called the change. you have lived through great change. some of you are graduating four years after re-entering this campus have lived through some of the most difficult times in our nation's history,

economically. you have come through it well. some of view have had to leave school because of the financial challenges these circumstances ihold. i hope they will return to garner the degrees they receive today. changes with us. it is beyond us to control. there is another type of change, that which is driven from within the heart. just as the author of that great song which i referenced a few moments ago sought to change within himself, you must continue the process of seeking change. it is very easy to change at a university or a college because it changes what is being taught and it is all about that. when you leave these con fines,

a change will get harder and harder for you to accept. fight that. fight it. fight being comfortable. fight when people say you cannot make change or changes beyond the institutions you have a sign yourself. understand there are many experiences out there yet to be had. many experiences you can give other people. what i will tell you is or the rest of your life as you have been on this campus, you will live a great life and you will improve the lives of others. being a change agent in our nation and in our state is what we require of all of our citizens, but not all will respond. i had to make change in my life over the last 16 months as i tried to redirect a state that

had sat on its laurels to bond and had not noticed how far behind it was coming. change is hard. we have a lot of fights but ultimately i understood that if we do not change our ways, we will fail to properly educate our young people, we will fail to grow our economy, we will fail to live our lives as well as we could and ultimately what we will fail to do is to care for the next generations of people behind us because we were afraid to make that change. i challenge you to be agents forever. you undergraduates of 21 years of age, understand as you sit here, it is a probability you will live well into your 80's. many of you will reach 100 years

old. this is a special message for all of the graduates. you must seek jobs you find fulfilling. if you fail to find the job, find another one. upon that, find another. life is far too short to continue to do things which you do not find fulfilling. i will warn you that if you decide to live a life that is less fulfilling than the one you are capable of, slowly but surely you will become embittered by that experience. you'll become resistant to change. slowly but surely, the bright ness of this day and this accomplishment will diminish and potentially disappear. you have accepted a remarkable challenge to get your degrees at this institution. you are happy, you are bright,

and you are ready to take on the world. when you reach your 80's ander no day be last brighter than this one. let no opportunity to go unappreciated as you appreciate this degree. i wish i was in your seats. i wish i was receiving my first degree. i wish i could look as long into the future as you are capable of doing. because if i was with you sitting there, i would know that you, my classmates, will make the difference in this state and in this nation. you are all busy and going to be very busy for a long time in your chosen profession, perhaps in raising a family or raising someone else's family. i understand that. here is one last piece of advice -- pursuant to this

institution's history and its founding, do not, do not to seek out ways to repay the debt that she now must recognize. you do not have to pay it to the institution. do do not have to be a member of the faculty. i do want you to donate. i want you to do that. but this is how you pay it back. not only do you go to work ready for change and make that change, but in your own communities, reach out. understand many of you will receive the benefits of mentoring relationships, french, and support. be a coach, serve on a board or commission in your community. find a way to give back because i will tell you what someone who has devoted much of his life to giving back, besides my marriage

to my wife and the raising of our sons, the most satisfying experiences have been when i went beyond myself and beyond my family to make our community a stronger and better place. we must measure ourselves not by our personal success, and i am sure that much personal success will be lived by the individual sitting before me, but we must give back, raise up, make stronger, and if you do that, you will live a great life. god bless you. congratulations. thank you very much. [applause] >> congressman allen west gave the commencement address in northwood university. he spoke about patriotism in his 20 minute address.

[applause] >> thank you for your kind words of introduction. to my dear friends, members of the faculty and staff, the board of trustees and representatives, a cannot thank you enough for inviting me to join new on your -- you on your most important day. it is a privilege to be here because northwood is a school guess what a few in washington understand. -- gets what too few in washington understand. that is of the private sector, which is the engine of the american economy, is only a free market system, like the one northwood prepares, has the ability to advance the cause of humanity. those of us who spend too much time in washington have a

tendency to forget that at the end of the day, all governments can do is transfer wealth from one person to another. it reminds me of a simple joke. the tourist notices two government workers doing something strange in front of a monument. one digs a hole on the other feels it whispered. -- fills it with dirt. the tourist walks over and asks them what are they doing. you do not understand, the first one says, normally there are three of us. i dig the hole, and someone else puts in the tree, and the other fellows in the dirt. -- fills in the dirt. but just because the second guy is not here does not mean we should work. if government were in charge of the sahara desert, it would not be too long before it would be out of sand. government takes well for one --

wealth from one part of the economy and gives it to another part. perhaps you read the french economist to said, he turned that as a legal plunder based upon misconceived philanthropy and benevolence. that is all that government seems capable of doing. it takes private enterprise to create wealth, to move the ball toward a higher quality of life. that is what we are all about the word on to premiership comes -- entreprenurship comes from the french word to undertake. to take a risk. to create an innovate new solutions to age-old problems that make us better off and the world a better place. part of the free-market is risk. true innovators recognize the

means by which they mitigate this risk of renewed when government creates unpredictable risk to, the private sector suffers from the state of uncertainty. what northwood does prepare students to be better prepared for the businesses some of you out there are going to start and create two. putting 23 million underemployed or discouraged american workers back to work. you are the next generation and thank you for allowing me to join you here today. to the parents in the audience, family and friends, congratulations. your sons and daughters are the class of 2012. this class has a lot to be proud of.

to the graduates who were about to walk across the stage, you do not need to be told what accomplishment this is your member of those late nights she spent studying. -- you remember all of those late nights you spent studying. the weekends at the library of some of your friends or perhaps at the beach. working toward a goal to make here today. and tomorrow, you can state, i am a graduate. -- of northwood university. [applause] but that is not all you have to be proud of. you also represent the next generation in business leaders for in florida and all across the world. you know it is honored to be a representative from this state. florida is a state unlike any other.

did we boast cultural diversity, sand and sun. natural wonders like the everglades and innovation like torrey pines and the florida space coast. today our state, our country, and the world games another great resource as each and everyone of you joined the ranks of great americans and other international students that to this university and state has produced. the pride you feel today should not be fleeting. i would encourage you to hold it close and let it animate your every action because this day is about more than just entering a rat race. it is about accepting the challenge to do something meaningful with your life. you would not be here if you did not believe there were big

things to be had. take some pride you feel today. take it with you tomorrow. take it with you for all the subsequent days. in the career you have earned. the person you have earned the right to be. let me tell you one thing, i believe there is nothing that once you set your sights to achieve, you cannot achieve. my story is simple. back 51 years ago, when i was born in atlanta, ga., and not too many people would have believed i would be standing here before you today. my parents believed in the quality of an education because i gave you the equality of opportunity that america for this and that education opens the doors to economic freedom and to individual liberty. as opposed to dependency and a sense of subjugation.

i begin the first black republican member of congress from this state in over 130 years. the chances for me to do that owere not my favorite. -- not in my favor. yet here i am before you, a member of the house of representatives, appointed to the small business committee, and given this privilege to address you here today. [applause] there is an important lesson to be learned in this simple story you see standing before you. it is that the world does a great disservice to its young people when it tells them they have not earned the right to make a difference. but when a sense the problem should be left to those that made them and you should wait your turn. i tell you, graduates, never

feel that you need to wait your turn to be an influence. . . place of evil in our time. they look them in the eye and they eliminated him. for many of those young men were probably no older than some of you sitting right here before us today. that is a testimony to what you can achieve, whatever greatness. because one day you will have the opportunity to do something fantastic and great for this incredible nation that we live in or wherever you reside and call home. which brings me to another

point. taking pride in yourself is good. being proud of your success and your achievements taking pride in your school, your state and all i don't have your work that is important. but i have to also say this. to my fellow american graduates that are sitting out there. first and foremost, show that you are proud to be an american. with all that this country has been through in recent years it would be easy to lose sight of our extraordinary place it is that we call home here. it is the mission of your generation to make sure that that never happens. because whatever difficulties we may face, nothing can take away the thing that makes this nation different and that is the enduring american spirit which we all share. which is the essence of american exceptionalism. the events of september 11, 2001 brought carnage and destruction and ensured that

each and over one of you the class of 2012 would grow up in a different world from what we were born into. for more than a decade the men and women have been at war with the idea that innocent lives were deployed to end our way of life. a lesser people's resolve would have been exhaust add long time ago. yet the spirit that burns inside our souls will long endure because this nation is a nation of victors. it is not a nation of victims. and that means that we will not see our country turned into some socialist egag taryn welfare nanny state that will measure our achievements under some guise of fairness. [cheers and applause] in our history, there have been

stories of many men who have stood against insurmountable odds. jean-paul jones is colonel chamber lynne. the men of the 101st surrounded at bath stone. but i want to share with you a battle during the korean war that took place at a place that the troops became completely surrounded outnumbered to some the situation appeared hopeless before the forces under the commander of the first marine division, the end was far from near. it was said when he was asked do you plan on surrendering? his reply was we then had the enemy where we want them because we can attack in any direction. the men of the frozen chosen never stopped fighting and in the end that saw them through. and on december 11, 1950 they

did what seemed impossible escaping certain defeat from the chinese army at that time. think back to the greatest national tragedy to confront the country before september 11 pearl harbor. think how they felt that the 1941 had turned out to be so completely wrong. their intention was not just to physically immobilize the american forces. they wanted to break our spirit of resistance to take us out of the game before we even started playing. and how could we not the bemoralize bid such a sudden and destructive and unthinkable attack? but we were not demoralized. in fact we were mobilized and they knew that the instant that first bomb was dropped on hawaii it would be the end of

that imperialist empire. and it was even the japanese admiral who stated, i fear that we have awakened a sleeping giant. the american spirit young men and women is one of resilience and the greatest mistake that our enemies have ever made is to underestimate our resolve. and in these times of global economic uncertainty, you all must exude the highest degrees of resolve and commitment the free enterprise principles because we see this global economic crisis spreading from portugal to italy to ireland to greece and to spain. and those are all examples of failed economic policies. therefore, at a time when america is carrying a debt that is heading toward $16 trillion, at a time when our deficits have exceeded $1 trillion apiece, at a time when our

monetary policy is still suited for the realities of the day, at a time when our private sector is groaning under the burden ofr more onerous taxes and regulatory measures, at a time when it seems increasingly like we're headed toward an economically dependent welfare entitlement state, at a time when we hear americans stating that the free market has failed and we have sometimied access of capital for our job creators, i invite you to learn from america's response from pearl harbor to 9/11. never be disheartened no matter how unjust the circumstances you are faced with seems to be. never be dissuaded from actions because you think the odds are totally against you. defying the odds is what defines being an american. you will be an integral part of

the economic restoration of our constitution republic. your education here in northwood will enable you to take this nation to move away from failed keynesian economic policies to true pro growth tax and regulatory and monetary policies. so be proud. be proud of your success today. be proud to represent your country in america or wherever you are from, be proud of this great state, be proud of your school brks proud of the place that you are in this world, be proud for you are members of the class of 2012. but in closing, i have one simple admonition to give to you from an old soldier. some of you may remember the movie saving private ryan and at the end of that movie tom hanks' character uttered two words to private ryan who was

played by matt damon. those two words were, earn this. he had gone through four rigorous years of education or master's degree. earn this. earn this because today as you sit here there is a young man, there's a young woman that is on far distant shores standing as a watchman on the wall to protect your freedoms, to protect your liberties, to protect this great democracy that you live in. earn this. in the words of thomas payne, in december of 1776, these are the times which try men's souls. from the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis shrink from their duties. but to those who stand they shall gain the love and admiration of all american and women. as the young lady sang today,

you live in the land of the free because america shall always be the home of the brave. may god bless you all. [cheers and applause] >> lisa jackson spoke at the commencement ceremony at tule lane university. ms. jackson, a tulane alum commended graduates for their efforts in redefining new orleans after hurricane katrina. administrator jackson is the first university graduate chosen to give the commencement address. this is about 15 minutes.

>> i finally made it. so thank you. good morning and hello class of 2012. staff and alumni, to parents and families, friends, musicians, the supporters, my fellow honorees, on your shoulders i stand.

you will light our future without doubt. laura, well done. congratulations. our ambassador for the city. thank you all. now, it is my honor to be with you this morning. as you heard, or may have heard, i am the first alum of tulane university to be able to address the unified commencement and you just heard that i am a native northerliens so there's really only one thing to say. where you at green wave? [cheers and applause] seriously it makes me very happy to be able to be your commencement speaker and to

congratulate you and all of my fellow graduates of this wonderful university. i'm also glad to see all of you here, impressed that you look so awake. i know some of you made a long process of actually waving good-bye and i'm guessing some of you waved good-bye until a few hours ago if not this very minute. so i do have a public service announcement. i'm going to speak for about 10 minutes here. mothers' is down the street someone will hold your seat get you grits. there's a cure for what's ailing you right now. now, today i actually also have one more opportunity to fill two lifelong dreams. the first of course was to be able to address you the graduating class of my beloved alma mater. but second, there is also something i always wanted to say standing on the flower of the super dome and it's this. hi, mama, i love you.

who dat? now, i just gave my mom a shout out. but we all know this would not have been possible without the families and classmates and professors and mentors and friends over your years. we owe them all much more than a round of applause. give them that. give them something. now, when it comes to tulane and being the administrator of the environmental protection agency i actually could be here in my professional capacity. i could talk about tulane and the fact that you've made environmental studies a priority and that almost every school in the university offers an environmental mage or an environmental focus or the fact that the school has also taken the american college and university president climate commitment to help develop

solutions to climate change. but as important as all those things are, i'm mostly glad to be here because this is my home. i grew up in new orleans. in the ninth ward. it was a wonderful place. my dad was a mailman and he used to take me on his route to visit folks sometimes in the french quarter who were his customers. i start school here seven years after ruby bridges' historic walk. after i graduated from st. mary's domen kn high school, i crossed clay bjorn avenue and headed down broadway to tulane. the first time i came to tulane was indeed for a calculator. today i work in the cabinet of the nation's first african

american president. indeed. i'm the mother of two teen aged sons and they are about to enter their own college years. so i have seen first-hand life's rewards and life's challenges. so i would like to make a couple of observations today. now, i know in a ceremony like this i cannot get by with the real world stuff. no never give up. don't be afraid to fail. but the real reason is because those words don't measure up to what you've accomplished or do a bit of justice to what you already know sitting there. the suggestion was to talk about me. yeah. no, the temptation is very strong, i must admit, to bore you with stories of the tule lane i knew, 1983, almost 30

years ago very, very very different time indeed. although if you pull me aside afterwards i will tell you about the original tyler's beer garden. does anybody remember that? you'll see one day you'll be back here with your kids and you'll bore them about your stories, jazz fest, making a habit of not telling them what you really did in the first quarter. so i will spare you my flashback. it wouldn't be accurate. except for one thing. in my day, choosing tulane was pretty simple. great school, an incredible history and great academic standards. that reputation is why you all know people often refer to harvard as the tulane of the north. [cheers and applause]

tulane is undoubtedly the finest school in the great state of louisiana. [cheers and applause] and of course the city of new orleans is unlike any city in the world. you will never find a place to match the food and the music and the spirit and the culture here. no other place is as much fun and new orleans. i don't think i would be too far off in saying that some of the people that i went to school with factored bourbon street into their admissions process. not a hard choice to make. get a great education, have fun and experience the city. for me 29 years ago, coming to tulane was pretty simple. but for the class of 2012 i know your choice was not so simple. in the 30 years between my college years and yours this city saw some of the hardest times in its long history. i was here in new orleans a few

days before hurricane katrina hit in r5e. i was here to celebrate my mother's birthday august 27. it was fortunate that i was around because i was able to drive her out of the city. my neighborhood was virtually destroyed flooding ruined my mom's home the home i and my family grew up in. in the days after the waters receded, my mother went down to the house. the picture i have in my mind i can't ever erase is the day in the hot sun of july she sat on the sidewalk in her wheel chair as catholic charities came and took every item out of that house. every water logged picture. all of her clothes, every piece of furniture that she had saved so hard with my dad to buy. everything.

she said i'm going to watch it go out. the storm closed this school for the first time since the civil war. college disbersed and didn't come back until the next year. and in two years later, you all made a decision, many of you, to come here. and when you did things were so uncertain. you knew you were coming into an area where there were so many challenges to face. some of you were here already and you grew up here or you were in graduate school so for me and you, we knew what was going on. 30 years ago was the safe decision to come to tulane. i always felt like i made the safe decision. for those of you who were here, the safe decision would have been go somewhere else for school. others of you had the courage and compassion to come here and

help to rebuild immediately after the storm and then for whatever reason you decided to stay for your education. whatever your reasons i know that all of you understood that choosing tulane university would place demands on you that other schools would not. you knew it would challenge you to live up to the model of this place, not for one's self-but for one's own. to be very honest with you, i know how hard a choice it was to come here because i weighed similar decisions myself. after the storm i dreamed of coming back and building a new home for my mother because i'm an envireo nut i thought it should be energy efficient green you know out of the flood plane. i had visions. i thought about coming back and considered what it would be like to spend my next years

living here, helping to bring my kids here to ask my family to relocate. i almost left my job with the state of new orleans. but it was my mother who encouraged me to stay in the field i love so much and continue working in public service. now, a few months later i was made commissioner of the new jersey environmental protection and it wasn't tool after that when the president elect obama called me and asked me to join his cabinet as administrator of the e.p.a. and by the way my mom's house is being rebuilt by wendell pierce who is also a land developer. how about that? and then two years ago when the area was hit by another tragedy, the oil gusher in the gulf, because i didn't come back then i was in a position to help even my very personal connection the president named me to lead federal efforts to

restore this region after the spill and after decades of envarmental abuse. so my choice turned out to be the right one for me. but see, you all made the choice. i didn't. you came here. i ultimately -- i know what it means that you did. i know what it means that you stepped up. and i'm proud to see what you have done with the choice you made. you are part of what the president calls the new tulane, one that is active in rebuilding and reinvigorating new orleans. today, you receive a degree from the first national research institution that includes public service in the requirements for graduation. in the face of disaster -- [cheers and applause] in the face of disaster, you came here to serve. you are a national beaken of

service. this service, your service has now redefined tulane. it will for the rest of its history. you changed your world, you changed this world, you changed this school, you changed this city because you came. of course i can't tell you about 30 years ago because you changed it. it means so much to this school, so much to this city, so much to me. if i can tell you one thing today from this new orleans girl and tulane grad, it's with you and have no doubt that what you've done means a great deal to this country and the difficult time. when people see that this city is able to get on its feet again, when they see that it can emerge stronger and with a sense of accomplishment and community and possibility, they see what it takes to rebuild. when they see the school at the het of new orleans, putting

out a new generation of leaders and innovators and service, shines a light on the road ahead of all of us. so that's why i'm not going to lecture you about the lessons you'll learn in the so-called real world. the truth is, the real world needs a lecture from you. [cheers and applause] so please, please, go out there , give the world your lecture, don't be shy. don't be a jerk about it. we're from the south. say please and thank you. no matter how annoying they may be. but know this. you have the best preparation you can get anywhere. know in your heart that there was no more important thing you could have done than to come here, no better place for you

to have come than here, no better time for you to have been here. no other college, no other city, no other moment in history could have prepared you for your lecture than this one. first, you made to come here is something that says you face challenges and does not run and there's nothing more than we need people in these days than people who are ready to face challenges. you will not be alone. you are members of a family, many. the people who are here around you are the same people who will be with you through the course of your life. they've always been here. your family and your friends and your teachers and your mentors and now your femo graduates. -- fellow graduates. there's nowhere elled rather be than this moment. i'm so happy to celebrate with you today class of 2012 and i

look forward to seeing what you'll accomplish in hearing your stories. i wish you luck, i wish you so much more than luck. thank you very much. congratulations. >>goer bachove, tear down this wall. >> sunday night at 9:00 eastern and pacific, mark the 25th anniversary of president ronald reagan's speech. also this weekend on c-span 3, our series the contenders. 14 key political figures who ran for president and lost but changed political history. >> in his weekly address

president obama talks about job creation, specifically creating and keeping jobs for teachers. then the republican address focusing on the u.s. economy and creating jobs. >> this week i spent some time talking with college students about how we can make higher education to make it more affordable and how proud i was in making that investment in themselves. in today's economy the best indicator for success is a good education. new jobs and new businesses will take root wherever they can find the most highly educated, highly skilled workers. and i want those workers to be american workers. i want those good paying middle class jobs to take root right here. so it should concern everybody that right now all across america tens of thousands of teachers are getting laid off. in pennsylvania alone there are 9,000 fewer educators than just

a year ago. in ohio, the number is close to 7,000. and nationwide over the past 3 years school districts have lost over 250,000 educators. think about what that means for our country when there are fewers teachers in our schools, our students start falling behind, and our economy takes a hit. the point is teachers matter. one study found that a good teacher could increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000. a great teacher can change the course of a child's life. the last thing our country needs is to have fewer teachers in our schools. i know states are going through tough times. i realize that every governor is dealing with limited resources and many face stark choices when it comes to their budgets but that doesn't mean we should just stand by and do nothing. when states struggle it's up to congress to step in and help out. in 2009, and in 2010, we provided aid to states to keep

hundreds of thousands of teachers in the classroom but we need to do more. that's why critical part of the jobs bill that i sent to congress back in september was to help states prevent even more layoffs and rehire even more teachers who had lost their jobs. of course months later we're still waiting on congress to afpblgt when it comes to this recovery we can't fully control everything that happens in other parts of the world but there are plenty of things we can control. there are plenty of steps we can take right now to strengthen our economy. putting teachers back is one of those steps. there's no excuse for inaction. you work hard. your leader should too. especially at this make or break moment for the middle class. i know this is an election year but some things are bigger than an election. some things are bigger than politics. so i hope you'll join me in telling congress to do the right thing, to get to work and to help our teachers back in the classroom. we can't afford to wait any longer.

thanks and have a great weekend. >> hi i'm congressman eric paulson from the great state of minnesota. last week the department of labor gave americans some very bad news. only 69,000 jobs were added in maine. and the unemployment rate is 8.2%. far above the level the obama administration promised it would be by now when the president's stimulus spending bill was enacted. it is clear that getting our economy going again should be job number one for everyone in washington. too many americans are still having a hard time finding jobs, small businesses are struggling to create them, and there's little mystery as to why. the president's policies are standing in the way of a stronger economy. his health care law may be the worst offender driving up costs and making it harder for small businesses to hire workers. it's making things worse in our economy and it needs to be fully revealed. republicans remain focused on

removing government barriers to job creation so we can build a stronger economy for all americans. in the coming weeks, the plan for america's job creators the house will acted on measures to boost domestic energy production and stop the massive tax hike on small businesses scheduled for january 1st. this is on top of the more than 30 jobs bills thou has passed that are stalled in the democratic run senate. one vote passed just this week repealing a massive job killing tax increase on medical device manufacturers that is in the president's health care law. repealing this job crushing tax is a critical step also worthy of the senate's support. and it's a demonstration of why we need to fully repail this health care law. the medical technology industry is

struggling to create them, and there's little mystery as to why. the president's policies are standing in the way of a stronger economy. his health care law may be the worst offender driving up costs and making it harder for small businesses to hire workers. it's making things worse in our economy and it needs to be fully revealed. republicans remain focused on removing government barriers to job creation so we can build a stronger economy for all americans. in the coming weeks, the plan for america's job creators the house will acted on measures to boost domestic energy production and stop the massive tax hike on small businesses scheduled for january 1st. this is on top of the more than 30 jobs bills thou has passed that are stalled in the democratic run senate. one vote passed just this week repealing a massive job killing tax increase on medical device manufacturers that is in the president's health care law. repealing this job crushing tax is a critical step also worthy

of the senate's support. and it's a demonstration of why we need to fully repail this health care law. the medical technology industry is an american success story that accounts for more than 423,000 jobs in our country many of which are in my home state of minnesota. it is made up of america's innovators, entrepreneurs, manufacturers, engineers and doctors who are improving and saving lives. in other words, this unique industry brings the wonders of technology to bear on the toughest challenges. of life. to expand they're moving their operations overseas and they are cutting research and development. worse yet, i've heard from business leaders who say that this new tax is already forcing them to lay off workers and they may even have to shut their doors completely. we cannot afford to lose these or any american jobs. promises that this law would lower health care costs have also fallen well short. hins premiums for the average american family spiked 9% last year triple the increase seen the year before. clearly, we can't go on like this. the health care laws one size fits all approach is unsustainable and unaffordable and soon the supreme court may rule it unconstitutional. republicans are ready to act on patient-centered reforms that protect americans' access to the care they need. families should be able to make their own choices and see their own doctor. those decisions should not be made from washington. the bottom line is this. the president's health care law is driving up health care costs and hurting small businesses. and for the sake of our economy, it must be fully repealed. thank you for listening.

>> thaur often referred to as the conscience of the congress and after now having worked there almost two years i can't think of a better name. it is really the heartbeat of the people. >> executive director and general counsel of the congressional plaque caucus on the role of today's caucus. >> it is designed to ensure that members of congress who are african american can come together on issues that are plaguing the community at large, issues that may be plaguing their districts where they can find commonality. so it's time to discuss

legislative solutions legislative proposals to advance the causes of people that don't have a voice. >> warren buffet was the featured guest at the economic club of washington, d.c. 25th celebration he discusses the debt and deficit problems. his remarks are about 45 minutes.

>> i don't think you need much of an introduction but i think it's fair to say you are the most respected investor in the world. [applause] the most respected businessman in the world. not just because you've made a great deal of money but because you've dobe it with enormous integrity and humility and as people will see tonight with enormous sense of humor. and in addition to being a businessperson that everybody would aspire to be, he has recent years become the, with bill gates and the linda gates the lartsdzest philanthropist in the world. -- the largest. >> i think his networth might be in excess a little higher than mine i would say. about 50 billion more, more or

less and he's committed to give 99% of that away and he's in the process of doing so. so thank you on behalf of the country and everybody else. [cheers and applause] your background is pretty well known but some people may not know that you actually spent much of your years in washington, d.c. urks your father was elected to the congress so you moved here. you went to the junior high school got a lot of cs and ds if i understand. and then you went to wilson high school. finished 16th in your class. but you were -- a class of 17 i might add. but you were working. you were delivering papers in the morning and in the evening and so forth. and my question really to begin is many people grow up in washington love living here and they want to stay here so they aspire to be the head of a lobby

firm or head of a congressional staff. do you ever have any regrets that you mathe never make something of yourself had you stayed here? >> well, i'm still young, david. i may come back. >> ok. >> i went out today the first time i'd been there in r5 years, and i met the principal. i went to wilson also today. but at steel i tried to get my record expunged but i had no luck. >> you told me you lived in spring valley. >> yeah. i lived at 49th street. >> and so today with the camera crew you knocked on the door of the person who was living in your house. what did they say? >> we had a good time. the house seemed to have shrunk but she was a wonderful woman. she was in the house for 30 plus years and we got along very well. then we retraced my paper route. >> so you were already a businessperson. >> well, i thought so. i didn't get a lot of public

recognition and such. >> so you were making money as i understand it you filed your first tax return when you were 14 years old. >> it was for the year i was 13 and i filed it when i was 14. >> ok. and did you think the tax rates were too high then? >> it hurt more in those days i did deduct my bicycle and my watch as business expenses and only because the statute of limitations -- i never used my bicycle for pleasure i never looked at my watch except delivering papers. >> so after you graduated you then went to actually the university of pennsylvania for a year and a half and then you transferred back to the university of nebraska. why did you leave pen? that was a great business school. >> i felt -- i mean, i quit after one year. my father kind of talked me into going to college and then he

talked me going a second year but he said if i went a second year i could drop out. and so then i went back to nebraska. that way i got out of college in three years. and i planned to live in nebraska. >> so when you graduated from the university of nebraska you applied to harvard business school and were rejected. >> that's true. >> has harvard ever announced that they regret that had decision? >> well, i understand the development office ser kind of unhappy. >> so you were rejected by harvard then you met the man graham and was he as great as you thought he was going to be? >> he really was. he only taught one semester one class and he came from wall street and taught this class. that's the reason i went to columbia. and he -- i knew, but it was

inspirational just to be around him. and it made a real difference in my life. >> so when you graduated you wanted to go work for him and his firm and hen then he rejected you for an interesting reason. in those days i understand it there were jewish firms and nonjewish firms and his was a jewish firm and he said because you weren't jewish he didn't hire you. >> that's true. and i wasade to convert. believe me. i think theyfight might have thought it a little phony at the time but it was true that there were very few firms on wall street that would hire jews at that time. and then only employed five or six people. but he told me to the extent that they were able to employ five or six people they really felt that the jews could not get into most jobs in wall street and they were going to employ only jews. but his name was ben graham but his real name was -- >> gernish.

my son is named howard graham named after ben and he's very glad that ben never changed his name. >> so you moved back for a while to nebraska. but then quo he ultimately changed his mind. >> i made a pest of myself. >> what did you aspire to become a very wealthy person? did you want to buy stocks, companies? >> i loved analyzing securities. i just spent hours and hours and hours just -- i kept turning the pages of moody's instead of -- you had no internet. you had two sources of information and we happened to have the access to moody's they were about 8,000 pages about five different manuals and i went through those page by page. and -- >> that must have been exciting. >> it's a little strange. you know. i actually went to amazon a few

years ago and i found an old 1951 moody's now everybody else is going there for playboy mag zip but i'm ordering the old moody's. >> when you were working in new york you were attracted to one of the companies that ben graham was attracted with geico. you came down and knocked on the door and you started talking with them? >> yeah. it was really a lucky day. i was at columbia university library and i looked up ben and who is who in america and it had a bunch of things and it said chairman government employee's insurance company. so i asked the librarian how can i learn more about this? i never took any courses in insurance. he said there's this big manual you can find out about the company and there was one page. so that saturday i got on the first train and i came down to washington and i went to the headquarters of what was then called government employee's insurance. and to my total surprise the

place was locked. people didn't work -- people didn't work on saturday. so i kept pounding on the door and finally a janitor came and i said to the janitor, is there anybody here i can talk to except you? now he didn't seem to get offended to that particular introduction so he said there's a fellow up on the sixth floor and he's the only one here. and he changed my life in a big way. he was a wonderful wonderful man and he talked with me for maybe four hours on that saturday and gave me an education like i had never gotten in school. >> so you liked it so much you bought the whole company. >> one of those things. t it took a few years. >> when you were starting your investment partnership, i think you started around 1956. >> that's correct. >> and as i ubs it, if somebody put $10,000 in in 1956 and it stayed with you and kept stock that they could have gotten when you liquid dated some of the

partnerships that 10,000 would be worth roughly 500 million today? >> that's about right. >> so those people are very grateful to you who did that. >> i've been grateful to them. they were betting on a 25-year-old who looked about 20 and acted about 12. so i -- you know. and actually they were mostly relatives. my father-in-law and sister and my aunt. >> so your investment partnership you started buying companies and buying stocks and one of the companies you bought was sperkshire hathaway and though your company is now very famous its name that was not one of your best investments? >> it was really dumb. >> i mean, it was -- what i call i used to call graham the cigar butts because it would be like walking down the street and finding a cigar butt and there was one puff left in. it dint cost anything, it was

kind of squsting but it didn't cost anything. i thought it was that kind of a company and it wasn't much of a puff, either. so your company is named berkshire hathaway and you sold that company many years ago. did you ever think about changing the name? >> no. >> so originally you were buying stock and you picked stocks but then you started buying whole companies. was that a different skill set and how did you learn to buy and operate these companies? >> why buy a hundred shares of xyz company i look at it as buying the whole company. and so i've always looked at buying stocks as buying businesses. so it really wasn't a different situation. now, i couldn't resell it and i couldn't -- if i owned the stock i couldn't change management which i could if i opened the whole company but it was basically the same approach. i'm a better investor because i'm a business person and i'm a business person because i'm an investor they cross over. >> but today they have how many

different companies that are part of it? >> about 75 and some of those own more companies. >> so 75 companies. you have about -- >> 270,000 employees. >> how do you manage all? you have a very small office. how many people do you have in your office? >> we're now up to 24. we're on one floor. i tell them hire all the people they want but we're not going to leave one floor. so if they want people sitting on their lap, go to it. >> so you sit in your office during the day looking at new ideas for companies? is that how you spend your time? >> i like to read a lot so i read newspapers and i real all kinds of ninl information. and basically, i'm looking for one idea here and do people send you letters over? do any of those ideas ever work? >> occasionally but not very often. but i only need one a year. we're in june incidently, if you want to help me out. >> well, we have a couple companies.

you don't pay high prices. but -- so in your office you have a computer in your office? >> not in my office but other people in the office have them. >> so i know you're not a famous technology person but do you have an ipad or do you do internet? >> i do internet. i love the internet. i mean, the internet is fascinating to me because it's probably affected my life almost as much as say bill gates did. when bill and i appeared together sometimes we use a question of aside from e-mail which one of us is on the computer more. and the answer is me. >> because you play bridge. >> i play bridge on the internet. >> and every night you spend -- >> a couple hours. >> and are you a champion? >> not even close. i just have a good time. it's most interesting game i found. >> and do people know they're playing with you?

>> i use the name t bone and it's gotten around. i used to put my age as 103. and when i do something bad people say for a guy 103 he's not bad. >> you met over the years bill gates. how did you first meet him? >> july 5, 1991, some of the people here, some knew had a house out near seattle and she called me in the late 80's and said warren i love seattle, do i have enough money to buy a second place? and anybody that calls me to ask does have enough. so she bought this house and she wanted to show it to me so i -- we went out there and visited and then they knew the senior gates so she called up bill senior and mary and said i've got this crew out here could we

drop in and mary said fine. and mary called up bill and said warren buffet is coming down and would you like to come down? he said no. what do i have in common with that guy? he doesn't understand technology. you know, he's hopeless. and mary was very determined and she said you're going to come, bill. so they negotiated a while and finally they got down to where he said elled come down to an hour and 27 minutes or something and he came down and we hit it off and we were still talking 10 hours later and he became good friends. >> but he never convinced you to buy microsovert stocks? >> he tried to get me to use a computer. >> did that work? >> eventually. when i learned i could play bridge on it i got interested. i still don't understand what happens with it. >> i thought he said i've got the -- >> that's what he did. but he was engaged to her. so melinda. >> so as you got to know bill better, did he influence your

views on how to make investments or on fill antspi? >> i wouldn't say too much. we have a group of maybe 50 people with starting together in 1968. the buffet group. >> yeah. and at that -- those meetings we would talk about various subjects and philanthropy was an important subject. so i think it was maybe in 1993 or something like that we had a meeting. i think it was in ireland at that time. and actually brought along the gospel of wealth for everybody to read. we discussed it then. but our thinking sort of evolved together in a way. >> have you ever regretted not getting involved in giving away money earlier in your life? >> my wife prevented that. she liked the idea. >> we both agreed on giving away all the money. once we had everything we wanted and we have everything we want,

you know, the surplus wealth i have has no utility to me it has all kinds of utility to the rest of the world if used properly. she would have liked the idea of giving away more of it earlier and i felt that i was going to be a better compounding machine than most places and that there would be a whole lot more to give away later on. so i told her i'll pile it up and you unpile it. >> now, your father was a very conservative republican congressman. and you were probably a liberal democrat. is that fair? >> well, but i was always very conservative or >> when he was alive and you later moved further to the left and is it fair to say you're a liberal democrat now? >> i'm not a card-carrying democrat. i support some republicans and i have. >> and you've become famous recently in washington for among other thing it is buffet rule which says that people i guess

tax rates should be at least as high as their secretaries. >> in terms of the aggregate of payroll and income taxes. i couldn't get a disease named after me so i had to settle for a tax. >> have any of your friends suggested that you compensate your secretary in capital gains kind of things so she could pay a lower rate? >> she's been suggesting that lately. right. she's always on the phone with some tax adviser now. the thing is you speculate about how much money she makes but the tax rate actually above 106,000 for most people goes down. because the pay roll tax is the most regressive of all and quits at that point. so actually between 106 and 200 in most cases the rate will go down. >> your financial acmen is well known so we now have 15.5 trillion of debt in our federal

government and 1 trillion or so a year agged up. what would you do if you were able to wave a wand and try to fix our debt or deficit problem? >> i can i would do what everybody in this room would do. if you ask everybody here how much the federal government should be raising annually over an aggregate over the next 10 years, the answers would come in somewhere between 18 and a half and 19 and a half% which is close to what's been the situation since world and two. if you ask how much the government should be spending it comes in at 21, 20. and you could have a two percentage point deficit relative to g.d.p. and the debt to g.d.p. will not grow. i mean, in fact it probably will shrink just a touch. so you can have a couple percent deffs sit and i would take the plan, that 90% of the people would come up with to get to

that 1r%. simpson-bowles, a bunch of different things. and no one can agree 100% on every point but i think we do agree on the fact that we probably should be raising 18% and spending 21 or there abouts and that means getting more from taxes and cutting expenditures. and the problem is that the democrats don't want to talk about what expenditures they would cut and the republicans tonight want to talk about increasing revenues. >> would you be in favor of increasing the capital gains tax? >> i would be in favor of that. but we've got to -- we're raising 2.4 trillion. we have to raise probably 3 or 40 billion more than that. and that can be done. i've operated under all kinds of tax rates including 39.6% on capital gains. and the country has grown under all of these. our country works.

but somebody has to step up and say -- it won't come from -- just talking about reform won't solve anything. either the expenditure side or the revenue side. you've got to get specific about it. and like i say, of that, everybody in this room designs a plan i could sign on to 90% of them. and today the economy in the united states is thought to be growing about 2.5%. do you agree with that? do you think there's any chance of a recession? >> i think it's very low unless -- develop spillover here big time. >> but incidently, if the economy grows 2% a year and population grows % a year that means each generation is living 50% better than the generation before and in a century people are living three times as well as they lived at the start. so our rates of gain and the way people live is dramatic. i was born in 19350. there's six times -- 1930.

there's six times the real g.d.p. per capita as i was born. six times in one person's lifetime. we have a system that works. and lit keep working. it may not work at six times for the next eight years but it will work maybe two and a half times or three times. >> are you worried about the euro going away? >> that's the big question. a house divided cannot stand and we've got a system where they're half in and half out. they're in on the common currency and not on common fiscal policy. and that house will fall but that doesn't mean it has to. one of the things that they have to reconcile some of these things that can't be halfway. >> you invest most of your money i guess in the united states. have you increasingly been investing outside in the emerging market ors you're not as comfortable? >> i'm comfortable any place i

understand the business well and to some extent the rules and more i've got the right management. so we will buy a business in any one of 40 countries tomorrow if it's the right kind of business. but most businesses i hear about are in the united states. think of berkshire here. we're on the radar screen here. >> so i understand if somebody from israel sent you a letter and you ultimately bought that company that person was talking about for 4 plus bill. >> we bought 80%. he wanted me to go see it. he told me what a wonderful plant. and i said i don't gowgo to iowa as far as that's concerned. and he said listen, he had never seen a plant like this. and i said i love your business i love you. you know, i'll give you 4 million but i'm not going to go to -- i've got to start crossing oceans or anything like that. so he said well if you buy the business will you come? and i said yes. so we bought the business and then i went to israel and

everything he said and he was very pleased and i said yeah if i had seen this thing i would have paid you more money. that's why. >> so what about chipea? do you go to china? >> we've had -- i was sitting in 2002 or 2003 reading the report set for china and it was fortunate it was in english and i put about 500 million into china the government of china owns about 90% we own 1.3%. so between the two of us we control the company. and we made quite a bit of money. it was a very, very cheap -- one of the huge oil companies in the world. the whole company was selling for 35 billion in the market and that was ridiculous. >> one of your famous is coca-cola. you bought relatively cheaply. >> it's very good. >> now, when you -- >> i don't care whether you drink it. just open the can.

>> now, when you were a young boy, you were addicted i was told to pepsi. how did you switch to coke? >> well, i would like to say i just finally grew up. but when i was a kid pepsi was 12 ounce force a nickle and coke was 6 and a half ounces for a nickle. and if you have any insight into my personal nalt you know which i bought. >> so of the investments you've made over the years, what's your one would you say was the single best investment or one you're really most proud of? >> the one i'm probably the most emotionally attached to is geico because of a bunch of reasons but it goes back to a day in january of 1951 a saturday. and what he did for me changed my life. and he didn't have to do it. i walked in there some 20-year-old kid on a saturday and he spent four hours educating me. and then he became a frepped for

life. and then subsequent people, jack burn and tony, it's just been a wonderful association. whether we made any money or not. but we've done pretty well on the investment. but beyond that it has a special meaning to me. >> there r there investments that you wish you had never done? what's your worst investment? >> i made a lot of terrible deals. and the worst -- it's hard. probably the worst deal is one i make in the future. but the current -- i bought a company -- i did it. we do not have people explaining this stuff to me. i just go out and do them. and we bought a company called dexter shoes and we paid $400 million for it. and which went to zero. but we paid 400 million in stock and the stock we gave up is probably worth maybe 3 or 4 billion today. so whenever berkshire goes down

i feel better about that deal. >> what about the deals you passed? you famously passed on intel when it was getting started. >> i knew him pretty well. we bought the converts when they were private or just because of bob we bought them at the college and now they went to 8 million to 1 billion in about 12 or 14 years. so and intel was on that but you know in the end, i don't worry about things i don't understand. i i think it was tom watson said i'm no genius but i'm smart in spots and i stay around those spots. and there's a lot to that. and knowing your circle of confidence is where that perimeter is is enormously important. and the fact that there are all kinds of things i can't do and there's plenty of companies i can't analyze. i don't have to worry about that. >> of all the companies you bought, maybe the one that bought you the most trouble.

at one point it was almost in effect put into bankruptcy and you had to go and run the company. was that the most difficult experience you had? >> i would say that probably was. i was there c.e.o. for nine months and four days 20 years ago and i think i remember every day of it. >> so today when you have all these managers running the companies do they call you every day and say i've got this problem or how often do you talk to them? if they need to call me they're in trouble. we buy businesses where the managers come with them and there are some managers that i don't talk to once a year and there's one i talk to almost every day. but after the one that i talk to almost every day, i would say the next most highest frequency would be maybe once a week. but they always call me. i don't call them. >> when you want to make an investment you have a board of directors. you ever ask them, i've heard that you will buy a railroad for

20 some billion and not tell your board of directors. >> i tell a few of them. that was an exception. that i told them. no. part of why we're able to make deals is because we can act fast. they know we have the money. they know we'll do the deal. we closed on october 6, 2008 on a 6.5 billion investment in wrigley and in conjunction with mars and they knew we would have the 6.5 billion. people weren't closing on anything. so it's a real advantage to be able to pull the trigger and one -- and if we have to go through lots of presentations and everything, i mean, i've been on 19 corporate boards and you know, every deal works on the power point. and so it's a show and tell thing and i don't really participate in it. >> so recently came out in court

the discussion that the insider trading thing that's going on related to an investment you had made in goldmap. it came out that you had set the deal and you told the investment banker this is the deal and they had to get back to you and you said don't call for a few hours because you're going to dairy queen with your grandchildren is that right? >> that's true. >> you didn't want to be disturbed? >> i knew what i would do and i told them. and if they wanted to do it fine if they didn't fine. we don't really negotiate at berkshire. it's just -- i don't have enough time to spend the rest of my life negotiating. so i tell them what i will do and if it works fine if it doesn't work fine. >> now, famously people wond whore will be your successor and i wonder if tonight you want to give us any insight into that. >> well, i left the directors a wiegeie board and i plan to keep in contact with them. i don't want to disappoint you but you're not on the short

list, david. >> would i be on the long list? so. >> i will say that we've got successors that in most ways are better than i am. >> but you expect that it will be around 30, 40 years? >> it's built forever. and it has a special culture. it has directors who are committed to that as managers. it would -- we have an organization would reject anybody that would threaten to tamper with that culture and i think it is special and it can stay special. but today having achieved all that you have achieved, you've got the admiration of virtually everybody in the world for what you have done. what kind of motivates you to keep going? what are your aspirations over the next 5 years or so? >> i'm having the time of my life. i mean, i get to do every day exactly what i like to do with people who i love and who i know

pretty well. it doesn't get any better than that. i tell the students that come to see me -- and i have 48 universities come out every year. i tell the students take the job you would take if you didn't need a job. and i've got the job. i don't need a job and i've got that job. >> and you're giving away 99% of your wealth. you have three children, seven grandchildren and nine great grand chirp and any of them ever say maybe you could leave some of that to me? >> well, i will leave some of it to them. and one of the things i do is that i don't write a will very often but when i write a will i give it to my children first before i sign it. they all read it. they're the execute yrs. and i want -- executors. i want them to understand exactly what's in it and secondly i want them to agree. and if they don't i want to talk it now and we'll figure out what

makes sense. so every five or six years they read it and sometimes there is something they don't understand in terms of exactly what their duties might be and then in terms of equating i've got one son that likes a farm, i've got a daughter that likes these particular house and i've got various ways of equating that. and in the end, i think they feel very lucky in life. the average person who doesn't have your investment skills and they want to not lose their money would you recommend that they play the stock market, they buy mutual funds? what do you remembered to the average investor? >> well, playing is not a word i would choose. i would recommend that they put a similar sum that maybe they would be earning but say something every month and put it in an index fund. they are not in a position to

make judgments on stocks themselves they're not in the game any more like i can press scribe medicine. the american economy has done wonderfully. if you take the 20th century the dow started at 66 and ended at 11,ho 0 how anybody get a bad result? a lot of people do because they jump in at the wrong time or they think they know this stock versus that stock. but the average person is just consistently buy equities which are the most attractive investment choice around and put it in. and in 0 or 30 years they'll do well. >> you don't subscribe to the market that says you can't beat the stock market? you subscribe to that theory? >> well, if i subscribed to that theory i would still be delivering papers. i think -- i don't think there's any question that certain people who evaluate stocks as

businesses can make intelligent decisions about businesses which will enable them to do very well in the securities market. but i don't think somebody that is listening to a tv channel tell them what to do or somebody jumping around or even some salesperson that's getting paid more money for selling them something and getting to change tomorrow is the key to it. >> now, you gave away or committed to give away the bulk of your money to a foundation set up by other people. why did you choose not to just have the money go to a foundation named after you that presumably you would drol and how did the idea come about? >> well, originally i actually planned to develop -- my first wife went with me and she would give away the money so it would have gone to a foundation that she ran but the idea was get the money spent. but the idea is if you set up the ford foundation or the -- that's being run by other people

just carnegie didn't know who they would be. so they are going to be run by other people if they extend beyond your lifetime. and i get people that i have enormous confidence in the fact that they had a similar judgment about where the money should go. and where i thought they would doing a first class job and then i mean, in the case of bill gates foundation i get people putting up their own money big time, very able people who work full time and aren't charging anything and i've got these foundations run by my children that have done wonderful for them and they each have separate foundation soss that they can follow their own interests and not have to sort of roll who goes for this one and that one and it's worked out perfectly. >> what was bill gates reaction when you said i'm giving you 50 billion? >> i think he said what? no i shouldn't talk about this. i don't remember exactly what he said but i think he was surprised. >> ok.

and did he suggest to put your name on the foundation? >> i don't want my name on anything. you could -- there are all kinds of people who do. but if you can sell it to some other guy why not why depive it to me? >> ok. i understand. so as you go forward now, are there certain things that you would like to accomplish beyond what you've accomplished? are there certain social problems you would like to see being solved or economic problems? or is your goal mostly to keep your company doing well and giving away the money? >> personally sure i would like -- i want berkshire -- that is my painting in life. i've been painting it all my life and i want to keep painting it and have it become more of what it already is. and so that's what i love. anything that works positively for berkshire in terms of agged better businesses, having these wonderful managers run and it makes them be in a position to

give their full potential. and i'll do that as long as i can. i like the idea that basically the fruits of that will be used very intelligent people to improve a lot of a whole bunch of people. >> and how old were you when you realized that you were much better than other people in picking stocks? did you realize that as a young person or did it take much longer than you realized? >> it sounds obnoxious but i thought i was going to be pretty good. i went through this period at wilson where i was really bad but was working out and i had the teachers that i caused some trouble to but they didn't think i knew a lot about stocks. in those days teachers put all their money in at&t. that was the ultimate safe investment. so when i was feeling particularly obnoxious i short

showed it to the teachers. but i -- you couldn't love anything as much as i loved investments and not get fairly good at it. i read every book. this was by the time i was 11 and we moved back here. this was when my dad was in congress. >> there's one company in washington that we didn't mention. that you obviously bought geico and that's one of your most famous investments but you made an investment in the "washington post." what attracted you to the "washington post" and how long have you held that investment? >> when i bought the "washington post" company, it was split. they had about 4.8 million shares outstanding and the stock got down to 16 but thanks to the nixon challenge, the t vrn stations and a few things the stock cascaded down from 37 so when we bought it the whole valuation of the "washington

post" was about $100 million. now, if you would have asked any reporter the businesses were worth they would have come back and said 4 or 500 million. so you were buying a wonderful business run by wonderful people at 20 cents or there abouts on the dollar and now it is almost a classic investment. if you ask any of the people who were selling their stock what the "washington post" company worth they would have said three or four times what it's sell for. they sold it because they thought it was going to go down the next day and they were right for a while. >> it's been 29 years. 39 years. >> so you are an optimist about the future of our country? >> yes. we haven't lost the secret sauce. yeah. go back to that. when i was born in 1930, i was -- i was born on a saturday. saturday was 252 that was the high for the year.

it was going to go down to 42. no connection to this, folks. but if i had seen that, my dad was going to lose his job and he worked in a bank and he had all his money in the bank and no money to pay his morning or anything, that was going to happen within a year, if you see that you would say go back it would be like a woody allen movie. and look what has happened since that time. we went through a terrible war, we're going through a terrible recession. thousands of banks closing six for one. we're not smarter than the people in 1930. we don't work harder than the people. we've just got a system that works. it's been working since 76 and it will keep working. >> any regrets in life? >> not really. no. >> and today you are somebody who is very close to the president of the united states. if he asks you to come in and serve as an advisor would you do

that? >> it won't happen. if he wants to ask me anything i will certainly be -- i would always be glad to help but that would be true of any president under any circumstances. >> and today berkshire hathaway is in a price? >> the businesses owns is worth more than the market preist but that's true of a lot of businesses too. >> what i would like to do is thank you for an extraordinary tour de force of your explanation of things and thank you very much for coming this evening. and i think everybody has had an enjoyable evening. i want to thank on behalf of everybody here and all america for what you've done and for your confidence in america and on behalf of our the club and everybody here, i will give you a few gifts. >> you may get on that short list eventually. [applause]

>> this is a high school jacket we've had made up for you. and we have here a copy of the original map of the district of columbia we would like to give to you as a gift from the club. and i would like to give you as a personal gift a copy of the declaration of independents whe we can talked about this appearance you were at the archives and i think you said you hadn't been there before. >> it was great. >> never been there. and i cornered you and you said you weren't sure what you agreed to and i thank you for honoring your commitment to come. and this is inscreebd to you and it says warren buffet a rare

modern man with the essential traits of our founding fathers great wisdom, courage, and leadership and also great wealth. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. [applause] >> appreciate it. >> ladies and gentlemen, please join the after dinner reception. >> next, the awards dinner. commencement speeches. on "newsmakers" michigan senator debbie snab now, chairwoman and ranking member pat roberts of kansas talk about their joint effort to push the 969 billion farm bill through the senate. the bill would replace the long

time program of subzizz to farmers with crop insurance and a program that would pay farmers if their income falls below certain levels. >> the b-52 everyone thinks back to vietnam. they think of the history, cold war, there's a different kind of power associated with the b-52 as opposed to other long-range bombers. >> these are two friends who fauth against each other at the battle of pea ridge and here they are at age 100 sitting on the porch talking about the old days. >> we have one to the east and to the west and they really reflect or reference the moment of the bomb which was at 9:02.

>> chris matthews was the featured speaker at the luncheon in washington. he tee scribed his experiences working for house speaker tip o'neal and offered his opinion on some of the mistakes made by president obama and republican presidential candidate mitt romney. this is 40 minutes. >> president ford ones said that i have had a lot of adversaries in my political life but no enemies. one of ford's political adversary was tip o'neal a liberal massachusetts democrat for whom he served for many years in the house of representatives. despite their political

differences they were friends. the ford presidential foundation will be honoring that friendship with an award at its annual dinner tonight. o'neal was speaker of the house from 19 77 until his retirement in 1987. it was the end of his career he hired our luncheon speaker to be his press secretary. chris matthews was born in philadelphia and graduated. he served in the peace corps in africa from 1968 to 1970. after coming to washington matthews worked as a u.s. capital policeman before working for four democrat members of congress and then as a speech writer for president jimmy carter. he worked for o'neal for six years during the speaker's epic legislative and political battles with president ronald reagan. matthews worked in washington for san francisco newspapers from 1987 to 2000. he started his talk show hard ball with chris math ust in 19 97 and in 2002 he started the syndicated political talk show

the chris matthews show. he is the author of six books including hard ball how politics is played. ladies and gentlemen please join me in welcoming chris matthews to the national press club. [applause] >> thank you. it's great to be here. and for tip and for jerry and for their friendship and i want to talk about that today. and by the way, congratulations. i couldn't believe you're a little nervous speaking here and i kept thinking i never get nervous speaking but going to afghanistan would really get to me. and scott you're great. i really, every time i get on the bus covering campaigns and i watch the people with the quality newspapers and i watch them check a few things and then i take up the paper that have turned out a factual piece i was

plone away by the reporters. commentary is really easy you say what you think. but reporting is work. you guys are good. so let's talk about what's going on today and the way it used to be. i always tell kids like the book i just did on jack kennedy. it's still available for father's day. by the way, on father's day they sell one third as many books as christmas. i always tell young people in their 20's it's all true. because times have changed and you have to tell them about the past in a way that your parents and as a new grandparent i must say i feel the responsibility to always tell people about the past because my parents always did that and they made me seem much older than my age because they always talked about the war. remember that phrase the war. before the war, after the war. housing with you never as good after the war as before. but people like the catholics

got in the door after the war so some good things happened and jewish people too. so a lot of things after the war were different. politics is different today and i don't think it's better and my relation for being here, the city without smoke stacks and factories. it only makes one things here is make deals. good deals. compromises called legislation, government. that's what we do here. we keep our points of view but we find a way to govern this country. that's what we do. that's why we're here. that's why we cover it. because it's important how we run this great downtown rifment and i think sometimes people come here with another point of view. i think the only point of view is try to make the government work. and i thing about all the different direction wes come with. but i think it takes a couple thing force this city to work. one you have to list ton the other side even if they're lame brains you've got to listen to them. you've got to listen to the tea

party believe it or not. they might have something maybe. you just have to listen. it's like being married. you know? the guys get all the good girls listen. and two, you have to be willing to negotiate. because if you don't negotiate you'll never make a deal and never arrive at any agreed upon direction for the country. we don't have any direction we just have chaos. like right now. something like that. so i want to talk about jerry ford and tip o'neal. with tip o'neal was one tough guy. i can tell you he was one tough boss. people say did you like that job? i can tell you it's the toughest job i ever had. so i knew how tough it was. it was always tough. but he had one great quality that made him the man of the house he loved it. he loved that place. and that's like san francisco if you go out there and love san francisco they'll love you. i worked for the papers out there. the one key ingredient tell

everybody i love this city and you'll be incredibly welcomed. because loving the city is what unites everybody. what makes you a man or a woman of the house is because you love the house. i remember telling jerry brown said why would anybody run for the house? i said the camaraderie. he had no idea that meant. hanging out with the guys was not his idea of heaven but hanging out with the men and women of the house is what it's about. it's about sharing that community. tip o'neal like jerry ford loved the floor. they were both floor leaders. they liked being out on the floor. they liked being where the action was. they liked the cloakroom. the democrats had the cloakroom. boiled hot dogs and tuna fish but everybody would go there for lunch. he loved codeles. dare i say junkets? they loved them and it's the best thing in the congress because it's a time for the husbands and wives to get together and it creates a wonderful friction remover where

you're able to when you get mad but your wife will say but you like that guy. and it's an amazing thing how it cools things do you know on both sides. they work. it's expensive but two weeks together you're probably going to be friends. i loved it. also he liked the food in the house dining room. he loved it. he loved anything they had in there. he loved the jim. his idea of going to the gym was grabbing a handful of cigars, and saying to his secretary, i'm going over for a rub. you had to be there. but he loved the other members of congress on both sides of the aisle he had a few people that bothered him greatly. he used to call a group the three stooges. they were all trouble makers. gingrich was always one of three stooges.

the other was bob walker from pennsylvania. makic sure they never got a pay raise. one time there's a phone call for you mr. walker? he runs out to take a call and they pass by unanimous consent the pay raise. this is how it worked. it didn't happen that often but it was somewhat merciful. murtsa did it. we got it this time tip. that was murtha coming in the door. he had some really close friends. george bush senior was a close friend and the house is something thatthey both loved te because the house was something that george bush won completely on his own he did not get in there because of coattails of president reagan. he got elected on his own and that means a lot. triedk that's why gore to do it but he did not quite make it. he liked george grossinger a lot. i can probably guess what he thought of dukakis. he really liked bush anti --

and he loved bill conchie, he and bob michael were buddies. he really loved gerald ford. he talked about him all the time. he said he is loving the good life in palm springs. he dresses for dinner now. he doesn't fit in. it was great. it was always about status. i could tell when his real friends or around because it his face would break into a real non-political smile. that would happen one ever israel bodies were around light murtha. rosti would come in and be

jealous. it was like a little boy's club, like a tree house. they were proud of the people's house. compared to the august u.s. senate. tip o'neill said it was filled with the 88 sons of the rich. i loved it when he talks like that. -- he said it was filled with the 88 sons of the rich. he is to cut the lawn at harvard. he is to cut the lawn which years in the 1930's. the over seton -- the overseer would get him to work. i think he would sit around and even members of the congress would save seats. he only ran against a communist widespread he got elected 50 elections in a row. there were not all close. the great thing about the house compared to the senate is you have to stay in touch because

they have elections every two years. you also have to worry about a young opponent in urban areas. tip would read,"the globe." i have a great respect for people who lead when it is tough, when you are politically incorrect, not when it is you everyone light. ronald reagan will be remembered for his consistency end his career that preceded his popularity, just like churchill. your rights respected for being

right long before was popular. they don't want people adjusting every year to what is popular. they love people who are consistent. tip o'neill was like that. when i was with them, those years were brutal. he said be nice to president reagan. that was tough. he was not popular. liberalism was not in fashion but we did pick up 266 seats in 1982. it is tough to get our plans with everybody hated you. tip o'neill wound up getting great popularity but it was tough. jerry ford did something as president that i didn't like. he pardoned nixon. when you think about what he did, it was very unpopular and

cost and the presidency, he had the courage to do what was right. if we let the richard nixon problems remain our problems, we would never have gotten out of it. it would have been three more years at least a fighting over him. instead, he said let's start over. i think that was an example of country first. that is not a bad motto. i was warned when i went to massachusetts and looked in the first pew at st. john's where tip o'neill was christened and was married and buried to see jerry ford in the first pew. it was nice to see that. they stuck together. tip would have been there for jerry, friend.

that is the way it was in politics when i worked in that. i got to love this cycle of the week of the house of representatives. monday was always come back today. tuesday was the general debate, wednesday was amendments, thursday was always final passage, and when all members would comment, it was just like in mr. smith, they would come in and watch closing debates between people like jerry ford and tip o'neill when they were giving their best and everyone would be there. it was great drama. i remember one thursday night -- they had a hot debate, a really hot debate on thursday night. one guy had been yelling red- faced at the other guy from the other side of the aisle. they're debating heatedly. as the room began to empty out

and everybody went to catch their playing thursday night, it was like an accordion closing, everybody is leaving, this guy walked across dial and said to the democratic member, what are you doing this weekend? it was the guy he was yelling at. he said say hello to your wife for me. that is what it was like and that's what was like the way jefferson wanted it, the way madison wanted it, and that's the way it was with jerry tip, the old days. i want to thank you for letting me begin my conversation about current events that are not as pleasant. i want young people here and there are some of them here, where are you? i'm a grandfather. it is all true. it really was like that, thank you very much. [applause]

>> now for the fun stuff. do you feel that political talk shows like yours is responsible for the growing lack of civility in our discourse? [laughter] >> not at all, it gets off your chest. i think it can. there is a tendency of people to only watch the road show. i think you want to look around. take a look at fox once in awhile. if you don't like it, take a look at it and make sure you don't like it. i think you're crazy -- the days of walter cronkite are over. that's the way it is will not work again. it is too many points of view. i just finish the cronkite book which is excellent. he had a point of view and we all knew it. he was a liberal the whole time and we all know it. he did not know we were aware of it. he is a great reporter and an honest reporter body had a point of view. those points of view or more transparent. there is more knowledge if you watched television, you cannot tell the difference between fact and opinion, that is rare

because almost everybody can. i think al sharpton is known for his points of view. they know what they're getting when they watch him and i know where i am standing very i think people are smarter. they no opinion. they know facts and i think they want three levels every night did the 1 fax, the news, they wanted around 5:00. but what now. the wants and what it means that i want to know what you think. what my shirt to find out what you think. we fight over facts. i say every fact must come from a quality newspaper. it may come from ap but i don't want to hear it comes from anywhere else. i want facts. we do announcements and we want to be smart on the analysis and with the opinions. i tried to do all three. i find that people tend to vote after they watched me.

i cannot imagine being able to follow my show without reading a good newspaper. secondly, i cannot imagine watching a show like mine and not being committed to vote. it forces people to read the paper, if you like it, a widethe lehrer hour, george stephanopoulos is damn good on sunday. put it together. i don't know anybody gets angry after watching television. many people get confirmed in their views. there is somedittohead thinking. i don't think they are growing. [laughter] [applause] >> how would you rate your show -- left or right? >> i would say we are 40 yards left -- 40 yard line. my voting record is not consistent.

i've pretty much advertise how i voted my views on a lot of things -- i thought the iraq war was a disaster. i am right on that. fiscal policy, i want to see a long-term -- i want to see my daughter work for the debt commission. i think the president should have staked out a position on day one. if he had done that, he would've been better off. he should have gone with the keystone pipeline for jobs. i cannot think of the environmental reasons because nobody has said what it is. he should have sold more health care and explained why it is

important to the middle class. we already have a health-care program for poor people called medicare. this is a program to be fair to the middle class and force them to pay their share. he never sold that way because he had to keep the left happy. it was a conservative proposition and never sold properly. i think it is pretty critical. i think the have put it together. i have been doing this longer than anybody. i have been on live television since 1994 every night six times a week and everybody has figured me out. i think people are smart. you get to know the person after a while. i think. >> what do you make of the changes taking place in the media? what about the decline of traditional newspapers and the role of new media? >> i love newspapers and editors. i don't know where i would have been without them. there is nothing like turning in a take out these friday afternoon and getting the call

back that i have two or three questions. where did to get this? was this officials? it is great. you get the call back that you are free. you are off the weekend. i love to be edited. i tried to edit the people --who wrote this? there is an expletive there. i have an instinct for what may be wrong and get everything but you don't have a corrections page on the internet. i want to know who the editors are. everybody reads upington but editing will be a big part of it. can i just have opinion pieces.

fact checking, i worry about it. i always wear -- worry about weekend wire people. young people don't know the history and they will let things get by them and it drives me crazy. but controversy -- the controversy over a spy. there is some controversy. he was a spy. i like to see adults editors. in social medea, i worry because people come up with something they throw on a blog. what are you not pay attention to blogs? don't read any of them. that would be my view. is that liz over there? i did not count you. you are a real journalist which is different than somebody in their basements asking for pancakes said it brought down the government. first of all, get a job.

[laughter] high making enemies now which is part of my life. i like journalists, i love trade reporters, i am fascinated by the ability every day of a1 reporter is that right for the first page and they are astoundingly good and their editors are great. what goes into these newspapers in the news section is spectacular. the quality of the op-ed pages in the times and the journal -- the times and the post are

really good. the screening that goes on the best cases, we have great journalists. i get up in the morning and i read "the washington examiner." it has a lot of little items and it has some right wing people that are good. then i read "the washington post." i read a different ways. i checked a style page. i always read the op-ed page and then i work my way to a section. there's a stop on a page right before it --al kamen is fabulous. i read "the times." you have to get your speed up to read the times. you have to get ready for the times. by an ambitious, go to the journal but my wife reads that. she is in business. if you put that together, you know a lot.

if you want to know more, turned on yourxm radio and listen to one of the three news network. i flip around and it is fabulous. i go from cnn and check fox because some of them are ok. s not big onean but - [laughter] o'reilly is a mixed bag. he is not just a right winger. he is an angry irish guy. there's something to him that i find unnervingly truth sometimes. i like his attitude. people have to put -- i give this speech to everybody -- and there will not be an uncle walter to tell you exactly what is what. the big networks had established liberalism as their base true north. that is what they were, walter cronkite and edward r. murrow. it was a point of view. they laughed at goldwater. cronkite mocked him the way he pronounced his name and it is

true. barry goldwater said today -- you know where he stood. the idea that there was objective reality is a mistake. >> obama promised the public and journalists you have the most open administration in history. as he delivered? >> i don't know what the question is really. >> transparency -- >> i don't know what the relative scorecard is. is that something we could find text do you have a point of view on this? >> i am moderator. i don't have a point of the [laughter] u. when he came to office, he said he would be the most of but -- open and be having press conferences and be open. >> i don't count them. the daily press, ja andy carney journalistsgi andbbs is smart. he beat me at jeopardy a couple

of weeks ago. he has a lot of press conferences. people are not dying for more press conferences. i don't that is a big issue. i think mitt romney is used to a business press. they only seek journalists when they want to see them. i don't think he spends a lot of time answering questions at the rope line. it is not a big issue with me because i am in commentary. reporters have to deal with this by getting up close to them. i don't have the ability to judge that. you might ask schock or someone else here. chuck for some of tear. >> why has compromise become so unacceptable in congress? >> because of the way the voters are behaving.

i grew up in a ticket-splitting state and pennsylvania. you would vote for the state representative and senator because you wanted your kid to get a state scholarship. you would vote for the congressman because you are hoping that your kid would go to the service economy that's where it worked when i origin where i grew up. it was also a purple state where you have almost every election except two of the 20th century were split. if a governor and senator were running that year, it would go both ways. it was like this all the time. bill scranton could be popular and jack kennedy could win the state big.

there are no ticket-splitting states left free this year will see less ticket-splitting than ever and people will vote straight. massachusetts could be the exception because scott brown is in the running. he may even be slightly favored. people will generally vote for the president if they vote for claire mccaskill. i look of the tricky mass t -- rickiness. had the vote for george allen and barack obama? that's a tricky one. the other thing is the way our districts are broken up by neighborhoods which are segregated. as a younger person, the only person you have to fear is the person to your left. er neverr by going to your left as it -- in the black caucus. the tendency is to heads toward the save and of your party's spectrum. if you're a liberal, you are probably 100% rating. in politics, it is safer to be

with your base. these men and women tend to vote with their base. it is the safest mode and you figure you'll fight it out for the independence. a member of congress just got beaten any said there 40 house seats that are up for election but the rest are taken. you can i use -- you cannot lose a general election. california has a new system or the top two vote getters get to run in september. that will not be a big surprise. the voters are -- because we have been apportioned and gerrymandered, you don't have many seats.

you have been in places like bucks county. these are selling seats and eric toth. -- these are -- there are 40 seats and they are tough. how many seats are like that? dingle is still here. these guys are here for a long time. massachusetts does not change. you have these one-party districts and you have this kind of voting or the don't want to risk going to the senate because a young kid will come along and says he sold us out. luger just got bombed, bob bennett got bumped. orin hatch could get bombed in utah. it is sad, i think, that you cannot put it together yourself the way reasonable people do. they don't buy the blue plate special. voters love union and they are pro-choice and they go down the list and every single thing,

they are against free trade. there are some but they are about 30%. we just go down the line left or right. i like it when people say on one issue they are not with the party. you hardly ever hear that. then you are marked as some kind of pro-life nut. if our voters become independent, we will have more independent politicians, i think. that's a sobering isn't it? >> what you think the biggest mistakes of the obama and romney campaign have made so far? >> romney has not made many mistakes. he has the strategy of being the last man standing. it does not try to sell his personality.

[laughter] it is like roller derby. just not the other guys off the court. you cannot hide from the incoming. it was a relentless negative advertising. it was done by these super packs like restore our future. he got the nomination through a process of elimination. i have not seen mistakes from him because he has won every contest. they are all endorsing him to various degrees. women are coming back. the republican party has starkly falls in line. they don't fall in love, they

fall in line. democrats have to like you. republicans are an organized political party. which is unusual. growing up as a kid in the early 50's i watched the conventions and there was a woman at the head of the convention that asks the delegates to clear the aisle and i never did. that was the democratic convention and at the republican convention when they were asked to clear the aisles, they did. they are obedient. the democrats look at who's popular. the republican party would not run a guy named barack hussain obama. bush, let's go for a wild guy, bob dole. the republican party insists on you being around a long time having lost a number of times and being beaten up and gone through this horrific cases and when you're through, they run you. they finally ran john mccain. he is the perfect republican. these other guys come out of nowhere. bill clinton? it is unbelievable. when you lose as a republican,

they run in next time. in the democrats you lose, they shoot you. that's why people like al gore have to grow bear to go into a cave somewhere nobody knows where michael dukakis is right now because no one has ever asked. if you lose the democratic party, you are finished. you lose the republican party, come on back. jack kemp is available. let's put on a ticket in 1996. let's bring dold back. 20 years later they brought him back. who wanted that? it is a different culture. the democrats are a hot hand political party. if republicans had run john mccain the first time, it would

have been interesting. if nixon had won in 1960 before the end betterment, it might have been different. they wear them out and they get better by the time they get in there. you have to completely back to everything. on the mitt romney is driven by hard principle. whatever they wanted in a commencement speech, he would give them. he tells the neocons everything they want to hear. he will do the same thing with grover norquist on tax policy. nordquist is allies say the name. donald trump is proof of the pudding.

anything he wants to get, it is unbelievable. he is like the golden idol. why? he wants to keep the party together and wants all elements of the party. he said he wants 50.1%. if you want transparency, you'll get it from him. he tells you how he will win the presidency. he will accept what these guys want and will become independent of them every gets in. that is the trick part. he is a moderate. i think he is a practical guide but how many deals will he strike? the obama mistakes have been pretty obvious. he should have explained health care bill as a moderate republican plan coming out of the heritage plan. it is not socialized medicine. he should never have let that get started. he never should aboard the used stimulus. it is the worst word in politics.

it -- it says it is wasting money. stimulus means nothing. it means road building, stop that mean something, not just pain of states and localities by muting their bills. eisenhower build the interstate highway system. all obama * -- has to do says ira rebuild the automobile system and now i will rebuild the highways. both trends are all over asia and we have amtrak. we should catch up in the world in our public sector. the jobs that have disappeared last four sector have been in the public sector. private-sector job growth has been there but it has been offset by pullbacks and laos in the states and localities across the country.

it is ironic that nobody knows that. interest rates are 0 and people are sending them money to germany. invest in infrastructure and put people to work. i'd think he should do it until the republicans to no say. they are saying no to everything he is saying. he said, but something big. does not think big enough. just like truman did discuss, call the house back into session and posed a problem. we have this many people unemployed, let's put them to work. let's do it. at least then, the public would know what the election is about. that would be and my advice on how he can fix it. [applause] >> we're almost out of time but a couple of housekeeping items to take care of. i got one more for you. i want to remind you on june 9, the press club is having its 15th annual 5 k race. there will be pancakes. tony horton will be here.

>> how many miles? >> and 3.1. you don't even have to sign up. i would like to present you with our traditional coffee mug because the islamic her coffee tastes better when your facts checking. my last question for you is what do you think about how you are portrayed on saturday night live? >> darrell issa armond is a genius. he does clinton like he is clinton. it is unbelievable. i went there once and watched and just call laramie. before they start at 11:30, they are actually live, a dourhammond would be prowling around as cheney. he is already in character. he does the best. i like him doing me, too.

thank you for organizing today's event. confined more information on our web site. thank you. we are adjourned it. >> next, commencement speeches by tim geithner, michelle bachman, danielle malloy, alan west, and lee said jackson.

tomorrow, from the cato institute chris edwards and. john -- johansson discuss the labor unions. washington journal at 7:00 eastern on c-span. >> they are refer to as the conscious of the congress. i cannot think of a better name. >> general counsel of the black caucus, on the role of today pose a caucus. >> to ensure members of congress that are african-american can come together on issues plaguing the community at large,, we will come together to discuss legislative solutions and proposals to advance the causes

of people who do not have a voice. >> timothy geithner spoke about the economy and the role of government at john hopkins school of advanced international studies. he is a 1985 graduate. he spoke to students for about 20 minutes. [applause] >> thank you, just a cup. that was so gracious -- gracious and generous. provost minor, faculty, friends, graduates of the class of 2012, think you. it is an honor for me to stand here with you 27 years after receiving my degree.

i had great professors. i learned a lot. i missed the pool table. [laughter] i want to offer my compliments to dean einhorn for leaving a strong institution to her capable successor, valley nasser. you are a remarkably diverse class. you come from 39 different countries. you have worked for governments, non-profits, some of the world's leading private companies. many of you spent your time at sais overseas in china studying chinese, studying hard. or in bologna, italy. [laughter] [applause]

you stole my line. [laughter] you graduate from this institution with the world still recovering from the worst financial crisis since the great depression, and into a very tough economy, very tough job market. you chose to get a degree in advanced international studies. your parents and friends are here saying, what were you thinking? [laughter] i know this is hard to explain, your peers and chose a credential that friends and relatives can wrap their heads around that would allow them to practice law or medicine or engineering or high finance, but you chose a different, a more intricate path. you chose to study international affairs and economics. you did not choose to narrow

your world, you chose to make it bigger. you were neither fish nor fowl, neither lawyer nor bankers. post partisan. you take yourself seriously, but not too seriously. the sais epic is driven, but with a quiet and calm intensity. you care more about what you'd do than what you earn. in a world full of people with more conviction than knowledge, you invested in learning the shades of gray in life, understanding what we do not know, and learning how to navigate in an uncertain world. while it may not feel this way, this is your moment. now i came to sais in september

1983, right out of college. i was eager and patient to learn the craft of governing. there was it and still is no better place to do that. i love my work here. i managed to graduate, but without a job, and with student loans to repay, and i was about to get married, and i felt a certain sense of responsibility to earn a living after being supported through graduate school by the wonderful woman who became my wife. this all may be somewhat uneasy. i suspect many of you are in a similar place today. a few months after graduating i got a job working for henry kissinger's firm, and in the summer of 1988, i joined the treasury at the place of hamilton. they're at treasury i had a

remarkable experience, the valuable experience, though i did not know how valuable then, of working through it reversed mix of a new crises of mexico, asia, and back to latin america. i came back to treasury in 2009 at up to curly dark moment in american history. the economy then, as you all remember, was still caught in the more rigid in the most dangerous phase of the financial crisis. and i was very worried, we were all very worried about how we were going to get out of it. at my first meeting in the oval office after i was sworn in, i walked the president and vice- president -- vice president biden through the remaining large, very complicated financial bombs we still has to defuse. i explained what i thought it would take to defuse them, and how damaging the steps would be politically.

the weight of the conversation was enough to cause many leaders to shrink from action, but that is not what this president did. president obama did not play politics with the crisis. he did not sit there and commissioned a series of academic studies. he did not sit there paralyzed by the terrible perils of the choices we faced. he did not wait to act in the hopes the crisis would burn itself out. he decided to act and do the hard, tough things early. it was a tough few months of the beginning. i remember in the early weeks preceding from a friend a letter with a copy of the teddy roosevelt " about the man in the arena. you may know this. it starts like this.

it is not the credit accounts, the man who points out of the strong man stumbles, or where the do were of deeds could have done better or where the credit belongs to the man who was actually in the arena whose face is marred by sweat and blood. i thought when i got this letter from my friend of the that was a thoughtful gesture, and then about 10 more people send me that ". [laughter] i thought, well, this cannot be good. they must really be worried about me. but i was not, or at least i tried not to be too concerned of the loud course of the critics. i did not have the luxury of time to worry about them, and i had an advantage they did not have. i knew then we had a good plan for fighting the financial crisis, and there are many

people who understand that now, but there were not many who believed that at this time. there is a scene in the movie of her walker that i think is a powerful metaphor for the choice to face in public life. i tell this story not in any way to acquit the battles we waging economic policy with what the soldiers face and war, but i tell it to convey a lesson about life. for those of you that have not seen the movie, it is about a bomb disposal -- disposal squad in iraq, and the team leader, sergeant james. in one scene and the team gets called in to diffuse a suspected bomb. they evacuate a huge perimeter around the car sagging under

the weight of the explosives within. sergeant james put on this formidable, protective gear, huge loves, helmet, full body armor. it is very hard -- very hot. he opens the trunk and is shocked by the destructive power of the explosives there. in looking at the size of the bomb, he decides to take off all of the protective gear to expose himself so he can diffuse it more easily. the other soldiers dispersed at some distance behind protective barriers and asked him what are you doing? he says in some words, if i do not succeed, it will blow me up anyway. you are going to find lots of people in public life who worry more about how they appear, then what they accomplish. who fear their risk in any action, let preoccupation with perception and politics get in the way of doing the right thing.

what you should take from this story is that if you're going to make a difference, especially in public life, you need to be willing to get close to the flame. you need to be willing to take risk and to feel the heat, to expose yourself to the heat, and you have to keep your focus on the cause you have been called to serve, and the craft of doing that job well. that is what the president did with the fires of the financial crisis were burning. there was no precedent. there was no playbook available to any of us, other than the graveyard of mistakes from other crises, but we knew we had to act, and we put together a creative plan on building on the brave work of henry paulson, ben bernanke, sheila bair, and the president cited a

remarkably effective financial rescue, remarkably effective by any historical comparison, because he was willing to whether the political costs of committing to the best economic strategy. what we experienced in 2008- 2009 was a terrible crisis caused by a shark -- crosses -- caused by a shock > what caused the great depression, and we're still living through the aftershocks of the crisis, and we will do so for quite some time. the damage from the financial crisis was greater, because it hit the american economy that had already been suffering from a slow burning mix of other challenges. the erosion in the quality of public education, the decline in public infrastructure, and alarming rise in policy and living standards for the median worker, the rise in public debt.

these challenges are all magnified today by the paralysis and the political system, a paralysis that reflects and amplifies the deep divisions across the country about the role of government. these economic challenges are tough and daunting, but the critical test we face is a political challenge. how to recapture what for most of the history was a defining strength, a political system that was able to marshal the wisdom to be able to do wise and hard things with the long-

term view of what determines national economic strength. what has been exceptional about america is even in a country founded on individual freedom and equally skeptical about government, americans work of vicious and smart and creating public goods like universal public education and building not just a world-class army, but a world-class public infrastructure. in designing not just a system for protecting the ideas of private innovators, but also for pioneering public investments and scientific discovery. in creating not just a system that offer very high financial rewards, but a safe bet for retirees and the poor. in today's political climate, it can seem sometimes we have forgotten the wisdom about this country, but even with all of the challenges, do not be too dark about america. we have successfully navigated the most dangerous phase of this financial crisis. we're still a very dynamic and resilience nation, stronger in economic terms than any of the other major developed countries. our challenges are more

manageable, and a much stronger position today to deal effectively with them. we just need to rediscover the political ability to solve the big problem still ahead of us. i hope each of you will have the chance to spend it some time working for your country as a soldier, as an elected official, as a civil servant. we need more talented people to spend time and public service to help rebuild the confidence of americans and their government. many of you will work outside of government, but still try to shape what governments do.

many of you will choose to work in the private sector, and there he will have the chance to contribute to better public policy outcomes to bring back the tradition of the statesman ceo. he will have the chance to help businesses focus not just on how to reduce the effective tax rate or softened a particular regulation, but how to improve education or increase government investment in scientific research, things all businesses benefit from a need. if you choose to work in public service and have a chance to work on the economic challenges ahead of us, then you will learn a few of the things that matter most in government. do not put politics ahead of economics. polls may tell you what seems popular at the moment. they can show you the political obstacles to change and reform, but they cannot tell you what is the right thing to do. they are not a reliable guide

to economic policy, particularly in the crisis when all things seem terrible to any sensible person. retain a healthy skepticism about the world and a lot of humidity. -- a lot of humility. you should be skeptical about the easy policy option and skeptical of those offering conviction on any issue. do not expect people to behave rationally. know you will often have to act in areas where the fog of uncertainty is thick and heavy. this should humble you, but you cannot let it paralyze you. in government you need to have of view in need to know what you are for, not just what you are against. it is not enough to be able to explain the risks in any option but be able to decide and choose planned vs. no plan. in economic policy, your job is to try to relax -- tried to relax the political constraints on policy and not resign yourself to live within them,

but still, govern with the knowledge of the possible and to be able to choose among the feasible alternatives and not be caught too long in search of the theoretical ideal. when confronting our financial crisis, we were fighting to battles. one to save the economy from collapse, and one to convince the american people we were doing the right thing, the fair and just thing. we won the first of those battles, but we're still fighting the second. at the height of the crisis, president obama made -- made it difficult and courageous choice. he decided not to alter economic strategy for a more simple and compared it -- popular narrative, that we nationalize the banks or let them all burned.

he did not let politics get in the way of doing the right thing, and that made all the difference. so to you, graduates of the class of 2012, you already know you have to be prepared to take some risk and take some heat. you chose the harder pass in graduate school. you chose to learn about power and conflict among nations. about incentives and human behavior, about why nations fail and prosper.

about hubris and achievement. this is the study of how to think and how to choose and how to read, and you chose a place where you could learn the craft of how to advance a cause, a cause of larger than yourself. you chose sais because you understood that the credit

belongs to the man in the arena who strives valiantly, who heirs, who come short again and again, because there is no effort without error in shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds. who knows great enthusiasms, agree devotions. who spends himself in a worthy cause. so i look forward to seeing you in the arena, and i wish you the very best. [applause] >> minnesota representative and former presidential -- >> she is a graduate of the law school. they should not shy away from political problems in society. her speeches about 20 minutes. good morning and to bridge a license to everyone here today. recent class of 2012. give yourself a hand. this is a day for joy.

we rejoice in the wonderful marvelous completion that god has brought about in your life and as an alumnus myself another wonderful feeling you have today. just like creation of looked at their graduation and said, this, too, is very good. to not anyone tell the sacrifice and accomplishment are over righted. thank him for what he has done for you. let us also remember the unsung heroes and each one of your lives including their families. without them today would not have been possible. thank them. give them a kiss or a day off, what ever they need a disservice. i know it was 26 years ago when i became an alumni of this law school and it was 24 years ago when i sat out where all of you

are sitting trying to keep our two young boys quiet as my husband received his diploma as we listen to the commencement speech jurors. i will assure you a set was sitting out there trying to keep our boys quiet i never imagined that one day i would be running for president of the united states. you never know. i also want to promise you as a graduate today, and you become an alumnus, you will never join a more final club. i recognize the dues for a little stiff. the benefits will be eternal and they go down not only to you but the people you serve and touch and minister to in the future. congratulations on one of the finest investment decisions you

have ever made. i do not mean your new found earning potential. your decision was an act of sheer obedience, just like it was for susan. that is what it is for me, too. i believe that for you coming to regent university was an excellent decision of life changing decisions. my purpose here is to remind you that this day would not have occurred with of the prayer and vision and work of callous generations that one before you. there would never have been a regent university. and there never would have been this ceremony today had it the burning passion of matthew 24:13 doing all for the glory of god to preach to the kingdom of all of vote the world had not been

the chief motivator for those who i shared this with today. i want to share with the origin of one of the schools here. the building to your left. it began in the 1970's. the reason why this is here today is there is an eye doctor. he was from oklahoma. he was a businessman. he had been burned one too many times by kirk lawyers. crooked greedy lawyers. i do not mean to be redundant when i say that. the eye doctor was a christian, a believing man. he thought, what the country not be better off if we could have christian lawyers. even ineven in oklahoma, he cout find christian lawyers. he donated money to start the school of law, which you see now, the regent law school. i was in college at that time, and i sensed god called me to

law school. that is not unusual. but to a law school based on biblical review, that was a problem. i couldn't find one because there wasn't one in the country. this was back in 1977. then i found out that this school would not open until 1979. the school had no accreditation, no faculty, no books, no application forms. so i waited. eventually i became the very first student -- susan, does this sound familiar? -- the first student on the first class on the first day of the first year of this law school. our motto that year as a brand new law school was "we know nothing, and we can prove it." [laughter] what we did know how to do was be people of faith and prayer.

we studied extremely hard because we were forging a new way to understand the law. we not only learned the black letter laws that all students have to learn in the united states. in tandem, we also learned what the bible had to say about the particular area of law, down to the most minute technicalities. it was the greatest intellectual and spiritual experience of my life. i would not have traded a harvard education for the legal education i received here at regent. someday you will appreciate that as well. we prayed our way through navigating this new way of studying law. we grew exponentially, and i will tell you why -- we were taught here under the power of the holy spirit. there is no greater professor than the holy spirit. [applause]

because, you see, we woke up and entered our classroom, prayed before every classroom meeting. our watchword was this -- we dedicated ourselves to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel. if you look to this direction, the very ministries of cbn and ultimately, regent university, were all born out of that same insatiable desire, to serve the lord. on this very geographical side, the ground upon which you are seated today, to the glory of god, tadvance the gospel. so literally did dr. pat and fellow co-laborers take this charge, they saw by faith everything you see before you now. they birthed it in prayer before any of it came into existent. turn your heads right now,

consider every building, every program, every person here today is a result of those prayers and faith in almighty god. see the wealth, see the prosperity, the unparalleled building up that continues today with the building of the divinity school and chapel. you cannot choose a more awe- inspiring visual for the beauty of the world. there were years when pat and the children ate a lot of soybeans, not because it was cool, but because it was cheap. you know, you are just completing that schedule in your life as well. there were plenty of times when their prayers did not turn out

the way they had hoped, either. we understand that, too. but just the way that nehemiah rebuilt the walls in jerusalem, and how quickly the walls were rebuilt, consider how quickly the lord built this world wide ministry and university for his glory, and the advancement of the gospel. you see, it is no fluke that we are privileged to sit and stand here today on this hallowed ground. we, the recipients of unparalleled blessings. it was 405 years ago this week when the very first settlers arrived at the jamestown settlement. they were famous for starting the settlement, and when they landed, they knelt and prayed, and their prayer was very specific. they dedicated this north

american continent to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel. that is our pattern that we are forged from. it was some years later in 1979 when a virginia farmer -- you may know him as george washinon -- went to new york city and was sworn in as the first president of this new country. after swearing in at federal hall, now wall street, he traveled down to a church, which is located at ground zero. at that church, george washington himself prayed and dedicated this nation to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel. 370 years after the first survivors stood here, at the same week, the very first satellite earth station to the world wide proclamation of the gospel.

never before in the history in the world, 5000 years of recorded human history as the gospel been heard around the world. it was in direct fulfillment of the pairs of the jamestown settlers four hundred years ago this week. and occurred here on this campus on cbn university. praise and glory to the almighty god. [applause] in fact, it was the rev. billy graham's who said the words of matthew 24: 14, this gospel shelby preached as a doctor and to all nations.

-- shall be preaches to all nations. he said those words and they were fulfilled on this campus that day. don't forget this place, don't forget regent, don't forget cbn university. this is an extremely important part of god's history. this is his faithfulness in action. i come to you with a warning on this happy morning. do not forget your first love. do not forget the eternal truths you learned here. because my heart is broken over the current spiritual condition of america. i ran for president of the united states because of what i saw happening to our great country. i knew the sacrifices and the

prayers and all that had gone on to build up this fabulous nation, and i knew we cannot stand idly by and see it torn down. we needed to stand for it and build it up and pray for it. and so i ran. and yes, we do have political problems, and i'm involved in that process, and i actually thought i had a lot of good answers to those political problems. and we have moral problems as well. as believers, we cannot shy away from the political problems, and we should not. there is a move to tell christians to get out of politics. don't listen to it. we have moral problems. christians cannot ignore the moral problems. ultimately, the foundation of our problems is spiritual, and that is because even in our nation, even in many of our churches, we diminish the god of the universe by embracing a philosophy that says we must all coexist. have you seen the bumper

sticker? "jesus is but one of many ways to god." as believers, we should not offend anyone. even in churches, we cannot get too out there. we cannot talk about sin or the need for repentance, because too many churches tell us that if we talk about sin or sin in church, we might offend people. if we offend people, maybe they won't come to jesus christ. but we forget, that is the point. jesus is the rock of offense, he is the stumbling stone of history. [applause] the law was given, the bible tells us, to show us our sin. let's face it, we're sinners, and without christ, we are eternally separated from god. even many in the church today are reluctant to say that there

is a day of judgment coming, but there is, and there is a literal hell, and without christ, that is the future of man. the gospel in the charter right here at jamestown is that the good and loving god has made his way of escape from sin and from hell. as the son of god, jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, something none of us can do on our own. when we believe in his name, we are saved. that is the fulfillment of the gospel, proclaimed by god, we told by the prophets, fulfilled by christ, spread across the ages to all people, all nations, tongues, and tribes. we here at regent re the recipient of a big vision, given and born in the heart of an almighty god himself. as paul told timothy, "faithfully transfer the gospel

of jesus christ." we have been entrusted with a big vision, big commission. it is from those who saw into the future. never despise small beginnings. that is the fountain of greatness, that one day we would literally be here, the fulfillment, the incarnate literal fulfillment of their prayers. the world thinks christianity is about being nice and letting other people win. i'm just saying, that is not my view, i don't think that is god's. we are to be on offense with the gospel of jesus christ, going everywhere into every man's world. christianity is a life that is lived by grace and god.

in the political world i have been called into, i cannot escape from the seriousness of the hour that we live in. i do believe these are urgent, perilous times, directly tied to the fact that for too long, our nation has neglected a fidelity to the truth of god's word. loving our neighbor and prayer. we are all called to minister somewhere in some way. you have been called, each one of you, to the arts, business, ministry, politics, the law, all for the advancement of the gospel. together, we are the most beautiful picture of the tapestry of his kingdom, a foreshadowing of eternal life in the literal kingdom of heaven yet to come. just as hell is a real place, be encouraged, beloved, because heaven is also a real place, and every day i find that the political battles are larger. i get what hell looks like, and

d.c. can make the answers very maddening. it is like the old saying, the faster we go, the behinder we get. christians cannot give up on politics. we have a moral problem. sin is ugly. it's me first, you not at all. sensuality and personal fulfillment. redefining basics like the family. ask any 3-year-old what the family is, and he will be able to tell you, but not the whizbangs in washington, d.c. now even our moral problems are becoming more complex. that is my message for you here today. number one, your presence at regent and your graduation of the literal fulfillment of generations of urban prayer.

be grateful for what others have done for you. second, you hold in your future the ability to bless the world with the lifesaving power of jesus christ. don't miss the ticket to that train. that is joy for your throughout your life. third, you carry the awesome privilege and responsibility of the faithfully living a life all to the glory of god and the advancement of the gospel as generations of faithful believers di before you. be grateful for this eternal message, going off for the glory of god and advancement of the gospel. it is the message of regent university. make that message your own. god bless you all. have a great life. [applause]

>> governor daniel malloy was this year as speaker at st. joseph college. the former attorney and mayor of stanford challenged the graduating class to be agents of change. his speeches just over 10 minutes. his speeches just over 10 minutes. >> first and foremost, let m say how proud i am to receive this honor very degree from this institution. i want to assure everyone that i never dreamed i would receive a degree from a woman's college. [laughter] it is great to now be an alumni of this great institution which

is st. joseph's, a soon-to-be university. i have to imagine that when the sisters came together and decided to start a new college, one which began conferring degrees in 1932, they must have understood the challenges they would face. of course in the middle of the great depression, and to survive that and other challenges that have played out over the last 30 years is a testament to the wisdom of the sisters and the founding and the care for this great institution. i also have to say that i am amazed at the progress of this institution over the last four years. in selecting a new leader, this college shows an outstanding

leader to help transform it for the next generation of users. she has done a remarkable work, which i admire greatly, including the establishment of a satellite campuses and opportunities to take courses in faraway places. the decision tmove into the university rank. the decisions where we are celebrating the largest graduating class in this institution's history. you are a remarkable women giving remarkable leadership and you deserve great congratulations. [applause] i would say to the truies, you hadetter keep her. i want to thank the students speakers. i have to admit that the first

speaker made me nervous about the repeated reference to her age. being 10 years older, i thought i was being let out to pasture. [laughter] thank you for the opportunity to challenge youelf and handling that challenge it so beautifully. your comments about what a degree can mean any change and outlook and relationships was poetic. thank you for showing a little emotion as well. too many of us are raid to do that. you're sharing that made the day better for us. to the undergraduate speaker, i sh i was in a hall when you sang "amazing grace" this spring.

amazing grace, how great thou art. those words and all of the words of those songs were written by a man who had been engaged in the slave trade. transporting slaves from africa to other countries to be sold in servitude for the rest of their lives. upon understanding within himself the great lack of rality in that decision in that profession, he changed himself. it was a religious-inspired change. it was a politically inspired change. but ultimately it was a personal decision to take a leadership role in seeing that this world would outlaw forever slavery. i once was blind but now i see.

that is the message of that song if you understand it in its context. i have to say to you that you have made some in powering decisions to come to this institution, to study as hard as you have studied, to commit yourselves to lifelong learning by garnering these degrees. but there is a challenge that remains out there for you. it is called the change. you have lived through great change. some of you are graduating four years after re-entering this campus have lived through some of the most difficult times in our nation's history, economically. you have come through it well. some of view have had to leave school because of the financial challenges these circumstances ihold.

i hope they will return to garner the degrees they receive today. changes with us. it is beyond us to control. there is another type of change, that which is dren from within the heart. just athe author of that great song which i referenced a few moments ago sought to change within himself, you must continue the process of seeking change. it is very easy to change at a university or a college because it changes what is being taught and it is all about that. when you leave these con fines, a change will get harder and harder for you to accept. fight that. fight it. fight being comfortable. fight when people say you cannot make change or changes beyond

the institutions y have a sign yourself. understand there are many experiences out there yet to be had. many experiences you can give other people. wh i will tell you is or the rest of your life as you have been on this campus, you will live a great life and you will improve the livesf others. being a change agent in our nation and in our state is what we require of all of our citizens, but not all will respond. i had to make change in my life over the last 16 months as i tried to redirect a state that had sat on its laurels to bond and had not noticed how far behind it was coming. change is hard. we have a lot of fights but ultimately i understood that if

we do not change our ways, we will fail to properly educate our young people, we will fail to grow our economy, we will fail to live our lives as well as we could and ultimately what we will fail to do is to care for the next generations of people behind us because we were afraid to make that change. i challenge you to be agents forever. you undergraduates of 21 years of age, understand as you sit here, it is a probability you will live well into your 80's. many of you will reach 100 years old. this is a special message for all of the graduates. you must seek jobs you find fulfilling. if you fail to find the job, find another one. upon that, find another. life is far to short to

continue to do things which you do not find fulfilling. i will warn you that if you decide to live a life that is less fulfilling than the one you are capable of, slowly but surely you will become embittered by that experience. you'll bece resistant to change. slowly but surely, the bright ness of this day and this accomplishment will diminish and potentially disappear. you have accepted a remarkable challenge to get your degrees at this institution. you are happy, you are bright, and you are ready to take on the world. when you reach your 80's anr no day be last brighter than this one. let no opportunity to go unappreciated as you appreciate

this degree. i wish i was in your seats. i wish i was receiving my first degree. i wish i could look as long into the future as you are capable of doing. because if i was with you sitting there, i would know that you, my classmates, will make the difference in this state and in this nation. you are all busy and going to be very busy for a long time in your chosen profession, perhaps in raising a family or raising someone else's family. i understand that. here is one last piece of advice -- pursuant to this institution's history and its founding, doot, do not to seek out ways to repay the debt that she now must recognize.

you do not have to pay it to the institution. do do not have to be a member of the faculty. i do want you to donate. i want you to dthat. but this is how you pay it back. not only do you go to work ready for change and make that change, but in your own communities, reach out. understand many of you will receive the benefits of mentoring relationships, french, and support. be a coach, serve on a board or commission in your community. find a way to give back because i will tell you what someone who has devoted much of his life to giving back, besides my marriage to my wife and the raising of our sons, the most satisfying experiences have been when i went beyond myself and beyond my family to make our comnity a stronger and better place. we must measure ourselves not by

r personal success, and i am sure that much personal success will be lived by the individual tting before me, but we must give back, raise up, make stronger, and if you do that, you will live a great life. god bless you. congratulations. thank you very muc >> congressman allen west gave the commencement address in northwood university. he spoke about patriotism in his 20 minute address. [applause] minute address. [applause] >> thank you for your kind words of introduction. to my dear frids, members of the faculty and staff, the board of trustees and representatives, a cannot thank

you enough for inviting me to join new on your -- you on your most important day. it is a privilege to be here because northwood is a school guess what a few in washington understand. -- gets what too few in washington understand. that is of the private sector, which is the engine of the american economy, is only a free market system, like the one northwood prepares, has the ability to advance the cause of humanity. those us who spend too much time in washington have a tendency to forget that at the end of the day, all governments can do is transfer wealth fro one person to another. it reminds me of a simple joke. the tourist notices two government workers doing

something strange in front of a monument. one digs a hole on the other feels it whispered. -- fills it with dirt. the tourist walks over and asks em what are they doing. you do not understand, the first one says, normal there are three of us. i dig the hole, and someone else puts in the tree, and the other fellows in the dirt. -- fills in the dirt. but just because the second guy is not here does not mean we should work. if government were in charge of the sahara desert, it would no be too long before it would be out of sand. government takes well for one -- wealth from one part of the economy and gives it to another part. perhaps you read the french economist to said, he turned that as a legal plunder based upon misconceived philanthropy and benevolence.

that is all that government seems capable of doing. it takes private enterprise to create wealth, to move the ball toward a higher quality of life. that is what we are all about the word on to premiership comes -- entreprenurship comes from the french word to undertake. to take a risk. to create an innovate new solutions to age-old problems that make us better off and the world a better place. part of the free-market is risk. true innovators recognize the means by which they mitigate this ris of renewed when government creates unpredictable risk to, the private sector suffers from the state of uncertainty. what northwood does prepare students to be better prepared

for the businesses some of you out there are going to start and create two. putting 23 million underemployed or discouraged american workers back to work. you are the next generation and you are the next generation of juppe creators. i want to thank you for allowing me to join you here today. for the parents in the audience and family and friends, i say congratulations. your sons and daughters have earned the rights to become members of the class of 2012. this class has a lot to be proud of perry to the graduates about to walk across this stage, you do not need to be told what accomplishment this is. you remember the night c-span

studying. the weekend that the library while some of your friends or at the beach. the years spent working towards a single goal to make it here today. tomorrow you can probably stay i am a graduate of north would university. [cheers and applause] that is not all you have to be proud of. you also represent the next generations of business leaders or here in florida and all across the world. you know it is truly an honor to be a representative from this great state. florida is a state unlike any other. vibrant cities like fort lauderdale, boca raton, and west palm beach, natural wonders like the everglades and innovations

like torrey pines and the florida state coast. today our state, our country and the world gains in other great resource and each and everyone of you. if he joined the ranks of great americans and other international students that this university and the state has produced and the pride you feel today should not be something fleeting. i would encourage you to hold a close and let you animate your every action. this day is more than entering a rat race. is about accepting the challenge is to do something meaningful with their life. you would not be here if you did not believe there were big things to be had in each and every one of your future is. take the bridey feel today. he with the tomorrow. ticket with the for all the subsequent days you feel. take pride in the person you

have earned the right to be. let me tell you one thing. i believe there is nothing that wants to set your sights to achieve, you cannot achieve. back 51 years ago when i was born in atlanta, georgia, not too many people would have believed it will be standing here before you today. my parents believed in me, quality of education. that did the quality of an opportunity of america of ford's. that opens the doors for economic freedom and to liberty. as opposed to a dependency and a sense of collective subjugation. when i was elected i became the first black republican member of congress on the state in over 130 years. the chances for me to do that

were not in my favor. here i am before you, a member of the house of representatives, appointed to the small business committee and given this great privilege and honor to address to hear today. [cheers and applause] there is an important lesson to be learned in this story before you. the world does a disservice to its young people when it tells them they have not yet earned the right to make a difference. when it says the problems we are facing should be left to those who made them and he should let your turn. i tell thee, graduates. never fear that you need to wait your torn to make an impact and be an influence in this world a new communities or where ever you return. if you ever need a reminder of

the ability to do great things right here and right now, i served 22 years in the military. you think about the young men and navy seals who stood down evil and our time, they looked them in the eye and they eliminated them. the many of those young men were probably no older than some of you sitting right here before us today. that is a testimony to what you can achieve. one day you will have the opportunity to do something fantastic and great for this nation we live in. or where ever you reside and call home. that brings me to another point. the taking pride in yourself as good. being proud of your achievement. taking pride in your work. as an important. i have to say this.

first and foremost, show you are proud to be an american. with all this country has been through it would be easy to lose sight of how extraordinary a place that is that we call home here. it is a mission of your generation to make sure that never happens. whatever difficulties we may face, nothing good can take away the things that makes this nation different and that is the enduring american spirit we all share, which is the essence of american exceptional as some. creep be even said 2001 brought carnage in ensure the costs of 2012 would grow up in a different world, a different one you were born into. for more than a decade younger men and women have been at war with the idea that innocent lives are ponds and a ploy to

end our way of life and freedom is a lost concept. a lesser people pause to resolve would have been exhausted a long time ago. the spirit that burns inside our souls will indoor because this nation is a nation of the taurus. it is not a nation of victims. that means we will not see our country turned into some socialist egalitarian welfare nanny state that will measure our achievement under a guise of fairness. [applause] there has been stories of many men who have stood against insurmountable odds. john paul jones, the man of the 101st surrounded bass stone. i want to share with you a

battle that took place at a place called the trojan reservoir. the that it states and the un troops became surrounded and outnumbered. to some the situation became hopeless before forces, commander of the first marine division, the and was far from there. it was said when he was asked, d you plan on surrendering, his reply was, we have the enemy where we want them because we can attack in any direction. the men of the frozen chosen never stopped fighting and in the and the fire saw them through. on december 11, 1950 they did what seemed impossible. the state did the feed from the chinese army at that time. think to the greatest travesty to confront the united states since 1911.

the bombing of pearl harbor. think about how surprised the response was from which they decided to attack us on in 1941 had it turned out to be completely wrong. their intention was not to and mobilize american forces, they wanted to break our spirit of assistance. to take us out of the game before we started playing. how could we not be demoralized but a sudden and unthinkable attack? we were not demoralized? we will mobilize the and they knew that the instant that first bomb was dropped on hawaii it would be the end of the imperialists empire. it was even the japanese admiral that said, i fear we have awakened a sleeping giant. the american spirit is one of resilience.

the greatest mistake that our enemies have ever made is to underestimate our respond -- to resolve the. in these times, you must all exude the highest degrees of resolve and that commitment to free enterprise principles. we see the economic crisis spreading from portugal to italy to ireland to greece and it to spain. those are all examples of failed economic policies. therefore at a time when america is carrying a debt that is heading towards 16 trillion dollars. at a time when our deficit has exceeded one trillion dollars. at a time our monetary policy is suited to the realities of the day. a time our private sector is growing under the burden of more onerous tax, at a time it seems increasingly likely are heading

toward an economically dependent welfare entitlement state. at a time we hear americans stating the free market has failed and we have stymied access of capital toward job creators, i invite you to learn from american response to pearl harbor to 9/11, a response, never be disheartened. no matter how unjust circumstances to face with seen to be. never be dissuaded from action because you saw the odds against the, defying the odds is what defines being an american. you will be an integral part of the economic restoration of our constitutional republic. your education here at north would will enable you to take this nation, to move away from hailed keynesian policies to

growth and monetary policies. be proud of it. be proud of your success today. be proud to represent your country, and america. be proud of your school. be proud of the place you are a in this world. the crowd where you are members in the class of 2012. i have one simple admonition to give tea from an old soldier. some of the may remember the movie saving private ryan. at the end of the movie tom hanks character uttered two boards to private ryan who was played by matt damon. those were "unearned this." you have got through for rigorous years of education or master's degree. aron this.

as you sit here there is a young man or young woman on far distant shores standing as a watchman on the wall to protect your freedoms, to protect your liberties and protect a great democracy live in. hern this. in the words of thomas paine and december 1776. these are the times that try men's souls, when the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will end this crisis to shrink from their duty. but to those who stand, they shall be love and admiration of all men and women. as a young lady sang to date, you live in the land of the free because america, shall always be the home of the brave. may god bless you all and thank you. [applause]

>> lisa jackson spoke at tulane university. she commended graduates in redefining new orleans after hurricane katrina. she is the first graduate spoken to give a commencement address. this is 15 minutes. [cheers and applause] >> i finally made it here. good morning to lay in. hello class of 2012.

to the chairman and the board of trustees, the faculty and administrators, staff and alumni, the parents, family, friends and musicians and supporters, my fellow, ruby bridges -- peter is brilliant. [applause] peters the brilliance has already led the path that will lead our feature. wall dongle, congratulations. [cheers and applause] troy, our ambassador for the

city. thank you all. now, it is my honor to be with it this morning. as you heard, i am the first alarm of tulane university to be able to address the unified commencement. you just heard i am a native new or lenny in. there is really only one thing to say. where you at, green wave? [cheers and applause] seriously, it makes me very happy to be able to be your commencement speaker and to congratulate you and all of my fellow graduates of this wonderful university. i am also glad to see all of you here, impressed you look so great. i know some of you made a long process of actually waving

goodbye. i am guessing some of the way goodbye until a few hours ago. i do have a public service amounts men. i will speak for 10 minutes here. today i have one more opportunity, two lifelong dreams. the first is to be able to address the, the graduating class of by all matter, tulane. the second is something i have always wanted to say standing on the floor of the superdome. hi, a mother. i love thee. who that? he [cheers and applause] i just gave my mother a shout out. we all know this about the possible without the families

and classmates and friends over your years. we owed them more than a round of applause. give them something. [cheers and applause] when it comes to to lane and being the administrator, i actually see here my professional capacity. i could talk about tulane and the fact to have made said is a priority. almost every school in the university offers an environmental nature or focus. or the fact this school has taken the american college and university president climate commitment to develop solutions to climate change. as important as all those things are, i am glad to be here because this is my home. i grew up in new orleans in the ward. it was a wonderful place.

my dad was a mailman and he would take me on his route stiff is that folks, sometimes in the french quarter who were his customers. i started school here seven years after ruby bridges historic walk. after i graduated from st. mary's in dominican high school i crossed claiborne avenue and headed down broadway to tulane. the first time i came. it today at work in the cabinet of the first african-american president. indeed it. [cheers and applause] i am the mother of two teenage sons and they are about to enter their first college years. i have seen life's rewards and

challenges. i would like to make a couple of observations today. i know i can i get by with the usual stuff. no follow your dreams. note do not be afraid to fail or ever give up. the real reason is because those words did not measure up to what you have accomplished or do justice to what you already know sitting there. the presidents suggestion was to talk about the. i will not bore you with stories of the tooling and i knew in 1983, almost 30 years ago. very, very different times indeed it. if you pull me aside afterwards several tell you about the beer garden -- anybody remember that?

you will see. one day he will be back here and you will bore them about your stories. making a habit of not telling them what you really did. i will spare you my flashback. it would not be accurate except for one thing. choosing to lane was pretty simple. a great school, an incredible history and it fantastic academic standards. that reputation is why you all know people often refer to harvard as the two lane of the north. tulane is the finest school and the great state of louisiana. of course, a the city of new orleans is unlike any city in the world.

you will never find a place that matches the food, spirits, and a culture here. no other places as fun as new orleans. i would not be too far off and saying some of the people i want to school with a bourbon street into their admissions process. you come here and get a grip education, have fun, and experience the city. for me, 29 years ago, coming into to line was pretty simple. i know your choice was not so simple. in the 30 years between my college years and yours, this city saw some of the hardest times of its history. i was here a few days before hurricane katrina hit in 2005. i was here to celebrate my mother policy but the august 27. it was fortunate i was around because i was able to drive her out of the city.

my neighborhood was virtually destroyed, flooding rule and my mother's home. the home we grew up in. from the days after the waters receded, my mother went down to the house. the picture i have in my mind, i cannot ever in the race in the day of a hot sun in july she said on the sidewalk in her wheelchair as they took every item out of the house. every waterlog the picture. all of her clothes, every piece of furniture. everything. she said, i saw ago and that will sit here and see it go out. a close the school for the first time since the civil war. students dispersed to college country -- campuses all across

the country did not come back until the next year. two years later, he made a decision. things were so uncertain. he knew you were coming to where there were so many challenges to face. some of you grew up here and were in full graduate school. for me and you, we knew what was going on. 30 years ago it was a sick decision to come to tooling. i thought i made a save decision. the safe decision would have been to go somewhere else to go to school. others had become a passion to come here and help to rebuild after the storm. for what ever reason you decided to stay for your education. i know all of you understood choosing tulane would place demands on you that other

schools would not. he knew it would challenge you to live up to the model of this place now for oneself but for one's own. to be very honored, i know how hard a choice it was to come here because a with a similar decision myself. after the storm i dreamed of coming back and building a new home for my mother because i am an environment --environut. i thought about coming back and consider what it would be like spending my next year is here helping to bring my kids here and ask my family to relocate. i almost left my job but it was my mother who encouraged me to stay in the field i loved it so much and continue working in

public service. a few months later i was made the commissioner of the new jersey department of protection that was not after that when the president-elect obama asked me to join his candid it as administrator of the epa. my mom's house is being rebuilt -- how about that? a few years ago when the area was hit by in of the tragedy, the oil pressure in the south. i was in a position to help given my personal connections to the president, it made me lead efforts to restore this region after decades of environmental abuse. my choice turned out to be the right one for me. you all made a choice, i did

not. you came here. i know what it means that you did. i know what it means that you stepped up. i am crowd to see what you have done with the choice he made. when that is active in rebuilding and reinvigorating new orleans. today you received a degree from the first national resources and to have public in the requirements for graduation. in the face of disaster you came here to serve. you are a national beacon of service. this service -- your service has redefined tulane and will for the rest of its history. t changed your world, this

world, this school, this city because you came. i cannot tell you about 30 years ago because he changed it. it means some months to this:some of us to this city and so much to me. if i can tell you one thing from this girl and new orleans grad, thank you. have no doubt what you have done means a great deal to this country and a difficult time. when people see this city is able to get on its feet again and they can emerge stronger with a sense of community and possibility, they see what it takes to rebuild. when they see the school at the heart of new orleans turning out a new generation of leaders and innovators and servants, it shines a light on the road ahead of all of us. that is why i will not lecture you about the lessons you will learn and the so-called real

world. the truth is, the real world needs a lecture from me. [cheers and applause] go out there and give the world you're a lecture. did not be shy. the nut be a jerk about it. we are from the south. say please and thank you, no matter how and knowing they may be. know this. you have the best preparation you can get. anywhere. know in your heart there was no more important thing you could have then began to come here, no better place for you to come then here. no better time than for you to be here. no other college. no other city. no other moment in history could have prepared you for your