♪ >> antonio will now lead us in singing the national anthem.

♪ >> oh say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming brightroad stripes and stars through the perilous fight ore the ramparts we watch were so gallantly streaming and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave

ore the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ >> please be seated. bernstein,ome tom chairman of the united states holocaust memorial museum. [applause] >> good morning and thank you so much for joining us.

i have seen these flags many times. the never fail to move me. on this day at this moment in time they are particularly meaningful. they remeind is museum stands for and what many of you know firsthand, the fragility of freedom and the courage and sacrifice in necessary to preserve it. today these flags also remind us that we are at a turning point. our best teachers are here today. we know they're not here forever. fortunately, this museum is here forever. [applause] i am so pleased to announce that we give 843 and 130 world veterans with us.

-- 843 holocaust survivors and 130 world war two veterans with us. [applause] we will pay special tribute to them later. now i want to recognize a few other extraordinary guests. as some of you know, last night we presented the eli wiesel award. to a rescue worker. and we are thrilled today that we have a few other rescue workers. not here today but with us in. is the grandson of martha sharp who left her children and went to europe as representative of the american unitarian

association to establish networks to help jews trying to flee. they secured safe passage for hundreds. next -- [applause] next we have a young man in polenta made a possible for -- in poland who made it possible for several jewish women to hide in a small village, even concealing their identity from his own parents. [applause] finally, mark, who with his

father worked in southern france not only providing false identification cards, food, and money that helped hundreds of escape. [applause] these remarkable individuals and all the other 24,000 rescuers will forever be an inspiration to all of us. having all of these eyewitnesses reminds us of the many more who are not here today. please stand for a moment of silence in their memory.

thank you. be seated, please. havee also delighted to with us today many institutional partners from all over the u.s. and europe including three senior officials who will be part of a presentation later this morning on holocaust education in their countries. the german defense minister. [applause] polish minister of culture and national heritage. [applause] and french ambassador at large for human-rights, francois zimerlay. [applause]

it is my pleasure to recognize three individuals who were here 20 years ago at our opening, director sarah bloomfield. [applause] founding chairman and our guiding spirit, elie wiesel and our guest president, bill clinton. [applause] we will hear from them shortly. looking out into this crowd, i feel inspired and hopeful. i am inspired by the many young faces.

some are descendants of survivors or veterans. they are here not because of a family connection but because they recognize the importance of our mission for the future and their role in it. youmuseum's motto is "what do matters." we know from the holocaust that it is the actions of young people who are the change agents in any society that will shape the future. some of my most powerful memories are breaking my three teenage children through the museum and being part of that transformative experience with them. likeall kids, they technology. they realized technological

progress must never be confused with moral progress. here they confront profound truths about human nature from the awful to inspirational. here they are prepared along with millions of other young people for their moral responsibilities in an increasingly uncertain future. to guide the future of our museum, i am pleased to introduce my dear friend, director sara bloomfield. [applause] >> thank you for being here, especially president clinton. we welcome you back. [applause] as we mark this milestone and -- thete the in during

and during continuity of our cause, we are joined again by our visionary leader elie wiesel who is with ago. i'll never forget what he said. standing before thousands, he declared the museum is not an answer. it is a question. with those words, he told the world that the purpose of the museum is not only to reveal the past but to serve as a constant provocation for the future. ever since, this place has challenged leaders and citizens, students and teachers from here and everywhere to look inside themselves, to look beyond themselves and to wrestle with some of the most essential issues of human behavior in modern society. to that overwhelming question,

does memory have the power to change the world 20 years on? resoundingis a "yes." today's new world demands new questions. what will our museum be in the 21st century? how will the holocaust speak across generations? how powerfully will that voice be heard? we believe it history must shape the history yet to be lived. theust never cease to ask hardest question of all, "how happen?" there are many answers. a shameful event took place 70 years ago at the height of the holocaust when representatives of the american and british government met in bermuda to

find a solution to the growing refugee problem. the bermuda conference of april 1943 was not the result of outrage against evil or determination to do good or deep concern for jews. it was a show that yielded nothing but an optimistic press release and a dreary bureaucratic report released a month later. -- eight months later. an american official wrote to the secretary of state "the bermuda conference was an effective. -- was ineffective andwe knew it would be." one headline read "scant hope seen for victims." for those victims a death sentence had been written.

at the same time, far from the bright sunshine of that empty spectacle, some of the victims were desperately trying against all odds. to control their fates. the day it opened was the very day the uprising flared across the warsaw ghetto. the jews kept the germans at bay for over a month. the allies received news that the above jews has sent a radio message to the west. it ended with two simple words, "save us." that is why this museum sits in the most powerful city in the world. blocks why it sits just

from the white house and the state department, from the very institutions that failed to save them. this is why it reaches citizens in all 50 states. whose citizens failed to hold their own government responsible for its inaction. the holocaust is a story of power. the figure of power held by the allies. of power held by the allies and thethe unwillingness of too many people everywhere to speak to take a stand, to use their own power as individuals. oneabuse of power is just of the great questions that elie and our other founders envisioned. for this living memorial. the museum makes sure that the millions we reach each year will not only look back at the

holocaust and ask "what would i have done?" bill will look ahead to dangers unimaginable and ask themselves "what will i do?" we welcome to young women who answered that with impressive zeal. and dedication. followed bysai rebcca. [applause] >> it is my honor to be here today. my great-grandfather died trying to save his community during the holocaust. as jews were being deported, and he led a group of 97 people into the forests of poland hoping they might have a better chance to survive.

of these 97 people with their entire lives ahead of them, generations of talent, only three survived. one was my grandfather. when he survived, it was the american army who nursed him back to health in a displaced persons camp in germany. to this day the american flag is the largest one in their entire neighborhoods. thisd will never tell story. it will never remember the rich and vibrant lives of these individuals. in our country, we built a place of memory. we built in not just for them up for ourselves, for the sake of humanity.

when i walked into the holocaust memorial museum and i look at the thousands of photographs we have any million pages of archives and testimony of of veterans and artifacts the rescue, i hear the voice of family speaking to me as if they are right there next to me. i hear the voices of all of the other families who did not make it saying "you must bear witness and tell our stories." ofeel a deep sense commitment and obligation to carry these into the future. on behalf of those who were not here with us to do it themselves. to the survivors who are here today, i promise you this, your lives will always be remembered

and honored by us. we will never forget you or the beautiful families from which you came. [applause] the very center of democracy of freedom in the world, you have a permanent home in our museum. yourll continue to make voice is heard by future generations as we have with the 35 million visitors who have walked through our doors in the last 20 years. to the veterans who are here, i stand before you with the utmost humility and respect. [applause]

specifically the granddaughter of auschwitz aq1797 as the number states on my grandmother's arm, i thank you for your bravery and service and not just to this country but to an even higher moral cause, to humanity in general. [applause] to ensure these stories like my family is live on it will take many passionate voices. mine will be one. there'll be others. the legacy is an inherited one for me, for rebekah it is a chosen one. she was actively involved in

one of the museum programs for high school students and then as a high school english teacher herself she taught the holocaust to her students. today she's a member of the museum staff, bringing holocaust education to young people throughout the country and world. please welcome rebecca. [applause] >> i like to share a poem i wrote for this location. -- for this occasion. i am not the likely voice of a holocaust survivor. i presume that there are more likely torchbearers in the room. one might assume a black woman may not relate to this history. wrong is wrong. in justice speaks values the

matter what side of the line you are on. weemember as a student learned about the holocaust and what appeared to be one day. i was unable to walk away. i saw how little my textbook had to say. then i learned that an opportunity at this museum to become involved. for 12 years i resolve to speak out against the evils of this world. in speaking for one i can speak for all. i learned that the evils of this world never sleep. i am provide a martin luther king's dream. for 12 years,i committed to this history with my own students. i make sure they get more than just one day. i give them the lesson of a lifetime. i am reminded thatthis story is mine. there is no such thing as a likely voice. i must bear witness that silence can never be my choice. thank you.

[applause] >> thank you. [applause] lisa and i are here to live the lessons of resilience and compassionhaea holocaust survivors that are here today. >> i will not be here today if it wasn't for the bravery and sacrifice of world war ii veterans who fought so valiantly to liberate europe and a defeat fascism around the world. i invite all of you to join

rebeca antony in pledging that -- and may in pledging to eyewitnesses' that we will carry their stories into the future. as a symbol, the museum has created this for you. pins for you. the significance of these pins is not only to acknowledge what these individuals have been stored, it is also about what we reached and must do for you and our future. president bill clinton will now have the honor of presenting our first 20 the anniversary pin to world war two veteran scottie, aembeof the 84th infantry division that liberated hanover, holland. [applause]

[applause] rebecca will present elie wiesel with his pin. [applause] [applause]

[applause] >> earlier today all of our survivors, veterans, and rescuers received their pins from washington area students. inl the survivors with us the audience please stand to be recognized? [applause] [applause] [applae]

thank you. please be seated. now all of the veterans please stand. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause] thank you. please be seated. on behalf of all of us here today, we pledged to never forget and that we will carry your stories into the future. thank you.

[applause] [applause] [applause] >> please welcome elie wiesel, founding chairman of the united states holocaust memorial museum. [applause] >> president clinton, my fellow survivors, and all of you who were here, in truth having witnessed the solidarity of people who went through the worst of human imagination we have heard voices that are appeals to hope and generosity in our lives. that is the message.

it is important. we believe it. it is an indictment. a terrible indictment of leadership in those years. name very hard for me to names, but i must tell you in all sincerity that in my little town somewhere in the mountains, this name was better known than the names of our own heroes. the name franklin delano roosevelt. why? we were convinced that he was a father figure, a carrier of noble ideals to galvanize generations for democracy.

and let america and its might to war against evil. after the war, researching history sources to realize that even roosevelt had some shortcomings when it came to face, jews. -- to save the jews. we must say that. here we are committed to the painful truth. he was a great man. he did great things for america in the world. but when it came to saving jewish lives he could have done it earlier. my dear friends, you are worthy.

he cannot not say what is inr h. ofre is a certain measure sadness. but also gratitude. what are we learning here? in france there is a building thatthis is dedicated to human rights and human dignity. it is written in stone. passerby's interest here but do -- passer-by enter here, but do not enter displays of desire. in this museum, which is a monu to n sug and courage to overcome suffering, do not enter this place with out fear.

nor without hope. fear of failing for such a long time to save those who are threatened by common enemies. at the same time, later these very nations and leaders did stand-up to the moral obligations to fight evil with all the weapons at our disposal. between these two temptations is what humanity is when it thes to overcome all disappointments in life and only claim to be best, the noblest of the human spirit and dedication to memories and truth. [applause]

what do we say to young people? you are our witnesses. -- you are our witnesses. you will go beyond our lives. you are our hope. onlyver we do now is not for the sake of the past but also for the sake of the future. you are our future. we believe there for that whatever witnesses are trying to say, it the best and saddest, you're the flag bearers. it is your memory that inherits ours. armey believes in yours. -- our memory will live in yours. remember that.

young people,you have not only an idea but an ideal a saving whatever the past has to offer for the future. what have we learned? when we planned this museum, we thought who will we remember, only the jews? i remember we came out with the formulation being in those times, of course,not all victims were jews but all the jews were victims. we came with all ideas of what to do with our memory, but not to separate people. it would be false if we told our story to separate people people or religion from religion.

we believe opening up of the gate of our memory we are bringing people closer together and showing what an individual can do. i think of thosethose who saved the lives, all these christians to saved lives while risking their own, every one of them is a hero. [applause] i also remember it that once we organized here when i was so thisved before extraordinary group led by tom and sarah,

they organized a group for the liberators. you were the first free men and women who saw us inside. we brought liberators from all over the world. i spoke to them. you are now the first to have seen us. you were the first free men and women who have seen us. you be our witnesses. i was going to one to another. tell me what gave you the courage to resist? what gave you the courage to become a hero? all of them answer me, we heroes? they did not think they were heroes at all. if my neighbor was in danger, how could i not offer him a place in my cellar for attic? if a child was running industry, how could i not open the door to save him or hurt? i said to myself, in those times it was enough to be human to

become a hero. my good friends, we are trying to honor not to make heroes but to make the visitor a messenger. president clinton 20 years ago here in this place, it was raining. he was soaked. [laughter] both you and i. our shoes were in water. i saw them, yours and mine. i remember then that i came to speak. we had worked on my speech the entire night, literally. then i opened my folder, if ever i was close to a heart attack it was then, it was

soaked. [laughter] i couldn't decipher the words. id i tried to remember what said it would have been a disaster. so i had to improvise a new one. that is when i turned to you, mr. president, and i spoke to you about yugoslavia. i had just come back from there. what we must do in the name of our memory, what we must do to help those people from becoming victims of one another. i remember you promised america will do and then you're kind enough to send me an emissary to yugoslavia. that will not be forgotten by my wife or myself or my friends.

at that moment, you and i became friends. as you note to me, friendship to me is a religion. it is with the less noble without any danger. it's the most beautiful religion, friendship. to have you here now 20 years later is more than a privilege. it is a gift. [applause] it is a gift which any open palm is a gift. a great poet said it, "sometimes an open hand is a

poem." this is this museum here. it becomes a task. it becomes a mission. it is also a gift. pathetic, tragic, but so filled with grandeur that i want you know, young people, that what ever you will do what only elevates you. -- will only elevates you. it should give you a new meaning to your years. iwish she many years of -- wish you many years of discovery and of being a true to your calling and worthy of the moment we are just living. thank you. [applause]

[applause] >> please welcome president bill clinton. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. first i would like to thank sara for her 20 years of stewardship to the museum. thank you.

[applause] thank you tom and the other board members. i would like to say special word who spoke. they did two things. they reminded us that this museum has the power to inspire, motivate, and in power the next generation. empower the next generation. they have now said everything that needs to be said. [laughter] they were terrific. let us give them another hand. [applause] i want to thank our world war ii veteran. canink it is impressive he still fit in his uniform. [applause]

to all the survivors who are here, veterans and those who helped, i thank you very much. i think elie so much for the friendship you have given to hillary any of the last 20 years. that friendship was shown what happened 20 years ago. they talked about how president roosevelt was a great man and did not do enough quick enough. he looked at me and said that i needed to get off my rear end and do something about bosnia. [laughter] sooner was better than later. [applause]

i always thought it was interesting that the world and not take enough note, that the drive with in america and also within europe to stop the slaughter of in bosnia and to later to prevent a genocide in kosovo was a drive led by jews to save the lives of european muslims. [applause] that is very important. i think there are two profound missions for the holocaust museum and all those who do its work and preach its message on this 20th anniversary. the first is to make sure that

as direct memories fade away, that the records and pictures and the stories never die, to make sure that we will always be able to come here to remind that no matter how smart a people are, if you have a head with out a heart you are not human. to remind us of what happened [applause] was so we can be vigilant about stopping it from happening again. we have all of these wonderful monuments here. the lincoln memorial. jefferson's memorial with his own quote saying that when he

thought of slavery he trembled to think that god was just. the roosevelt memorial. the world war ii moral and on and on. the washington monument, a metaphor for the strength of washington and our beginnings. to ourl give something country and to visitors from around the world to come here. but the holocaust memorial will be our conscience. and will be here as our conscience. and forever. [applause] is one other thing that i think his record important -- -- that is very important. arguably, the most important

scientific development in the last 20 years, since we were last year, those of us who were here 20 years ago, was the sequencing of the human genome in 2000. which has now led to unbelievable developments in saving lives and we have only scratched the surface. giamatti, since i am not a scientist, that was the most important thing because many as citing things have been havhappening. our great telescopes have just in -- identified two more platts are outside our solar system millions of light years away that seemed to be enough like us that they could support life. i suppose if we found as sometime between now and the end of this ceremony that we are not in the universe alone, i would

have to revise my assessment. [laughter] these two things, the exploration of outer space and the exploration of the innermost, my new part of our of ourysical -- minute existence have reinforced what happened here for 20 years and will continue to happen here. we have learned a lot about our bodies. we now know, for young women, the two genetic variances that put the most at risk of breast cancer said that if that is identified, you can have a dramatic increase in survival rates and even prevention rate. inst. jude's hospital memphis, they found a genetic variants between children who had superficially, the exact

same kind of breast cancer -- i mean brain cancer said that the madison which cured one but was killing the variant group would -- when cut in half would save them, too. all these things are going on but for all of us here today, the most important finding of the human genome research is a simple one. age related difference you can see in this room and across the globe, every single of, is contained in one half 1% of our genetic makeup. period99.5% of the same men and women, black and white and brown, european and asians, tall and short [applause] and that half a percent,

are things that really matter. percent, that half a albert einstein got the biggest brain we have made. it he changed the world. somewhere in that half a percent, beethoven became a great composer. somewhere in that half a percent, great athletic achievements were generated. spends tooe of us much time on that half a percent. most of us spent 99.5% of our time thinking about half a percent of us that is different from everybody else. to thekes us vulnerable fever and sickness that the nazis gave to the germans to think that all lead matters is the difference and anything you do to identify those who are the other is acceptable.

in pursuit of power. and money and influence. is very alive all across the world today. pick a target, as long as it is not you, it is ok. that beautifuld pakistani girl to get shot just because she wanted to go to school. it threatened a group whose power rests in no small measure on its ability to control women's lives. how that little girl got raped and murdered in delhi nobody wanted to do anything about it because she was less human. that is why a young woman in

afghanistan the other day jump becausefather's house her arranged marriage to a man meant that he was going to force her to drop out of school when she wanted to become a doctor and she was first in her class because he thought she would be harmed by the outside influences and if she did not go to school, she would never leave the house. you see this the virus taking different forms, still all over the world. it is alive and well today. the thing that led people for centuries to slaughtered jews, to contain jews, to drive jews out of their homelands wherever they were living -- it was all rooted in the idea that the only thing that matters is our differences. jews a handy target. people resented them for their industriousness, their fate, all the things you well know and

there were never so many of them as there were somebody else. to beat up one people when we know the outcome is certain. today, on the 20th anniversary, i ask you to re-commit to replace the direct memories of those who are still with us, thank god, with the records of this museum so that no one can never forget these stories and these lessons. how theu to think about historic slaughter and suffering of the holocaust reflexed a human disease that takes different forms. the idea that our differences are more important than our common humanity. cause ofll the major heartbreak around the world as we sought in boston at the marathon.

and it is still the biggest threat to to our children and grandchildren reaping the full promise of an interdependent world. you know the truth. you have an shrined it here. you must continue to work to give it to to all humankind. thank you and god bless you. [applause] [applause] [applause] >> please stand for the flag recessional. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ >> this concludes our program. please remain in your seats until our speaker is leave the stage. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> the white house will announce today a new jobs initiative for veterans and military spouses. president obama joins the first lady, the vice president joe biden and jill biden @ will reveal plans that will include the training and hiring of bets by the private sector at 11:15 a.m. on cspan 3.

behind us, in this curved wall, is the decision point bitter. as a place where class come together and go in and study decisions that george made on the financial crisis, on the surge in iraq, hurricane katrina, afghanistan, and get the information that he was given at the time and then be prodded by the press. not reinforced his decision but it shows people what he is faced with. the information that he had at the time and why he chose what he did that shows people if they would have done that as president. it also gives people an idea of what it is like to be president and to have those sorts of serious decisions.

in fact, nearly every big problem comes to the desk of the president of the united states. >> joined former first lady laura bush for a tour of the new george w. bush library/museum at wednesday, 8:00 p.m. on c-span. >> this morning on c-span, "washington journal." at10:30, bill clinton speaks his all monitor, a georgetown university, about the influences on his career and later at 1:40 p.m., bloomberg host a forum on deficits and the economy. up in 45 minutes, a discussion on affordable care tax subsidies. we will talk about the gop agenda in congress including

the budget and health care. at 9:15, the fact of sequestration cut on food safety. in washington today president obama, who will be joined by vice president biden, will announce new employment opportunities for veterans. live coverage today on c-span3 of around 1150 eastern time. released today found that prepaid funding is at the lowest level in a decade. state ofor called it a " emergency." what is the quality of education in your community?