ladies and gentlemen, and most especially to the crew and captain to uss america welcome on behalf of our 35 connecticut commodore congratulations together with the chief of navel operations general has been personally involved p with making this ship a reality much he and his wife bonnie want to be here they are packing up because next friday, he turnsz over the job arrest i'm happy to represent him this morning he'd rather be here than packing washington, d.c. in boxes in november 17, '79 major sam you will nick lose who was the

first commandant of the marine corp. he was in piddling and asked congress permission to leave the marines detachment teaspoonsful assigned to a u.s. navy ship under construction that was the american the first america the past 2 hundred and 35 years marines have sailed abroad the navy ships that sail from america and for america today is uss america this great warship behind us this is the platform of the future with her we can respond faster to a crisis around the world with the right force at the right time she can stay on station for longer periods of time she can keep dozens of our advanced aircraft up and flying so why is that all important?

because the unmistakable presence of navel veterans on the coast of a crisis added assurance to our allies and partners they believe we're there to make sure that crisis will not worsen all of us can leave here this morning at the end of the ceremony get in our cars and drive home know one thing for sure this ship, her crew and the marines abroad will keep our nation secure for decades to come and as the uss america carries out her mission our ronltd ours and mine to continue to honor the sons and daughters who wear air such and serve proudly in our military and

thank them for serving and sustaining the loss is may god grant the uss america fair winds and following seas south america if i. >> thank you ladies and gentlemen, the honorable shawn system secretary for the navy research and acquisition (clapping). >> mrs. pace lynn she's a beautiful ship and very fitting general pace secretary sheriff's deputies and secreting magnifying vice and mayor ed lee and citizens of the san francisco and others today today we are all giant fans today we are all ship builders today, we're the sailors and the

marines made welcomed by your great city today, we are america and what a great day today it it began as a bold and magnificent dream defined for all mankind and all time by those words left to us by thomas jerking we hold those truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal it would become as abraham lincoln for told the last best hope of architecture and it would take on the mantel and still remains as franklin roosevelt urged the great arnell of democracy and today today it

is that ronald reagan offers us the shining city upon the hill america the history of that great land is the history of opportunity and promise it is a history of freedom itself and thought it's history thought our history that opportunity that promise, that freedom those have been preserved those have been defended by the young men and women sailors and marines who sail far from our shores who sacrifice and gladly sacrifice so we hear in america may continue to enjoy those freedoms we cherish so deeply

who are those heross standing in ranks before us they come from all walks of life from every corner of the country from the mountainous country side surrounding the hometown of idaho falls as to the quiet long island ham let where our traffic control men kevin first raised his right hand and swore that most slum oath to support and defend the constitution of the united states from madison, wisconsin a thousand miles from the sea yet where it remains true even a thousand miles from the sea we're a maritime nation and where identification textbooks and second cellular calls zooey would begin hair long journey go bringing her to

this place this ship and crew to 'tis lose alabama where nation first class christen board core leaves behind here family and home and two her beloved aspirin son tied to be part of something big very big low tide roll christina from the motor city detroit, michigan to los angeles the master sergeant a second class allen held one thing in common the desire to serve our country so too seaman hence who has made perhaps the longtime journey that began in china in san

francisco's only native son antonio and in all 1 thousand and 2 hundred crew members from all corners of this land they're well caught and trained and dedicated those are our heross this is your america and today today they are well armed you've heard told of the mafrpz of this tons of steel enough pipes to stretch in san francisco to portland armors and ammunition and vehicles and supplies designed to carry into battle the most advanced capital equipment into the world destined to carry one thousand seven hundred marines that will sail into harm's way and two

designed to provide aid to relieve sooufrz and provide hope to those in need it is the envy of all the world and it was designed and built right here in america by, yes heross heross like randy and john wilson and george jones and the many craft man's and supervisors like fred hoff mirror and commander john and others and michael arnold all under theable leadership of captain chris mercer they too are the enjim smith very of the world we are here today understand ours is a freedom when is not a

god-given right it comes with great burden and sacrifice so it is today that 85 thousand sailors and marines are comploimentd providing security on even count and ocean and sea soon to be joined made nor strong by this ship and crew skipper officers and crew who proudly call users the american alleyway also keep in mind that when i sail where you sail america sails and upon america rests the opportunity the promise, the freedom, the hopes of all the world it began as a bold and magnificent dream

godspeed america god bless those united states (clapping.) thank you. >> ladies and gentlemen, admiral hearing harris the commander. (clapping.) >> whew i'm never to fellow a lubricant to the podium i was having a coffee of coffee a distinguished woman came up to me and said i must be captain hall what could i say and yes, ma'am and welcome to the uss america ladies and gentlemen, so distinguished guests and

ladies and gentlemen, sailors and marines of america good morning and what a great navy gay as we gather today in fleet week two days before our great navy celebrates our 2 hundred and 39th birthday for the united states new warship i've also found the citizens in the bay area to be gracious hosts and i'm honored to be here with you today to help celebrate the history of the military serves and american tradition as we commission f this great ship uss america i realize there are so many distinguished guests it would take an hour to name them so i won't with you but i want to acknowledge deserter shoouts and

mayor ed lee and assistant secretary stackingly and some of our industry partners and engineers mr. frederick hoff anywhere you know ladies and gentlemen, america billion dollars great ships the last captain of this ship is not yet born that's an investment and, of course, the ships sponsor ms. tiffany the host and general pace as well; right? sir. >> and m.d. peril brown and admires generalburg and distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen, good friend of mine good morning. i want to thank everyone on the on behalf of the the commissioning of the

ceremony we can't thank you enough it's important work and it matters i want to commend captain bob hall and the entire crew of the ship for the tremendous work and sailing around the america's to arrive here in san francisco to arrive for this great day i have the pleasure of being and i board memory and you're living up to the ships ability in peace or war that's important we live in an undisrespect world where conflict and crisis can and i rise and to the warships a magnificent sailors and marines that man her will be needed now more than ever ladies and gentlemen, i love a microphone and can go on and on by i won't because our guest

speaker a man that speaks with much more el consequence and much more than that effort he'll address that more flu so i have the easy job today, i get to introduce the guest speaker but my challenge it to connecticut convey the nature of the man the secretary of the navy you can read it's bio and i encourage you to do so by wait until he's done speaking so you don't miss anything way back in the 18th century he tied his objection indicator 0 post this was a long time before the car alarms if you didn't want it stolen you t had to sty

it down i bet our wondering where this is going this knot was to complex that gave him leelgd so ignoring gi i didn't compete would become king of all asian no elections just open a knot and it's good to be king so a lot of people tried and failed under g about 5 hundred years later in 333 b.c. long comes overlooking disperse the great and worked it hard but couldn't untie it finally he realized he was going about it the old way and with emphasis so we would he cut the going forward compete so what is cutting the ignoring deny knot have to do with our

guest speaker back in the 1980s secretary magnifying vice had a desire to help his people in mississippi did i hear his home state of mississippi he volunteered and a number of different ways by came up with a bold solution at age 39 he became the youngest mayor he tangled the challenges of growing the state economic open improving education and cutting got r through the obstacles during the 1990s he was is the bayshore of saudi arabia rabbi he dealt with tether attacks so problems he slisz right through and today hesitate cutting through barriers and baloney and

bs in those times of increasing fuel costs and higher e meditations he's leading our nation reel in energy reform that's correct to his vision we're using bio fuel and have energy saving systems like the one that drives uss america and harvesting the wind to generate energy he's solving complex problems as our nation rebalances to the inasia patrick for the challenges in the mideast while our nation's military we meet our obligations around the world hesitate unwilling to do less instead he's fined a way to do more and

more and if there's a modern day it's our acquisition process we have the right leaders at the helm like our admirals their upgrading technology and developing and growing our fleet to meet our global commitments we have 65 ship under contracts so expect to see a lot more ship knicks like this one ladies and gentlemen, to the no dedication our team is good because of our secretaries built to find innovative solutions to difficult problems so ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming a true visionary secretary ray magnifying us

(clapping.) thank you harry harris for the most unanimously good introductions i've ever had i only wish two people were here my mom and dad my fabricate would have been proud and my moma mother would have acknowledged every word of it (laughter) mr. mayor this great city and captain of the ice american to our distinguished platform guests i want to take a moment of personal privilege to recognition secretary and mrs. george schultz and former head of protocol of san francisco

(clapping) and maybe most importantly marine george shuttering and also that 80 want to recognize more people one is the former deputy of defense mr. carterer thank you for being here today (clapping) and my family my wife lynn our daughters annie and kate today is my birthday (clapping) and i want to thank you all for coming to celebrate with me my only question is what do we do next year to top this? i couldn't be more honored more

pleased to be here with the magnificent sponsor of this magnificent ship lynn pace coverage man rogers and with the people of san francisco with the ship builders of the uss america and the ship builders of uss america with all of you this city this area has been great friends long time supporters of our navy and marine corp we have a long end story history and to lynn pace we have so few opportunity to recognize the deep contributions our military families make so thank you for

all you've done with our husband general pete pace over a very long career that we labored to more decades of service as our sponsor of america now lynn pace lynn may i have vice is here to pick up tips because she's the sponsor of the next big the triple e and (clapping) and pete pace i'm here to pick up tips on how to be a supportive spouse in those ceremonies you e the united states navy and united states

marine corp are so closely joined with this great nation our founder in shined the relationship in the constitution our decision requires congress to provide and maintain a navy then as now our navy and our marine corp uniquely provide presence around the world we - their joined by tens of thousands of our sailors in the worlds oceans they're there far from home far from families standing to watch doing everything gnat operations special operations living the humanitarian assistance and their performing magnificently

if you ever become concerned about america do talk to a young sailor or marine you'll not be concerned anymore (clapping) something i'm reminded of that was reinforced in me everyday i serve as secretary is that although our technology gives us an edge the heart of our navy and marine corp and accident thing that gives us the greatest advantage is the skills and also faithful united states sailors the united states marines today as i look around in this crowding crowd you'll see did veterans that have served our

nation in far places from the veteran of world war ii greatest generation to our current great generation they join us here to honor this ship and all she stands for you'll also see sailors and marines in uniform today, you'll see them today but most of the time you don't see them when their doing their job their usual a long, long way from home today uss america joins our team it is fitting and proper that when the sailors and marines are home when they're with us when they're here to remember them and to thank them to thank them for giving us that preponderance to thank them for the sacrifice

they've and their families make everyday day and to thank them for keeping us safe everyday of the year now, now it's time to commission this great new ship to carry the name of our nation and to represent our values so the ship can defend this nation as their predecessors have done for 2 hundred and 39 years we as the marine corp motto says semi if i also faithful and courageous thank you. (clapping.)

thank you, mr. secretary i would be honored, sir if you have the ship in commission >> will the guests please rise ships company attend hut the president of the united states i hereby place the united states ship america in commission may god bless and guide this warship and all who shall sail in her (clapping). >> thank you, mr. secretary executive officer place the ships - >> ladies and gentlemen, e ladies and gentlemen, i direct your attention to the ships

hosting for the ships pen ants. >> ii, sir (drum roll). (clapping.) will the guests please be seated captain the colors and pen ants are flying over the united states ship america. >> i'll read my orders from the personnel expand to robert hall junior subject first order of the 20 february 2014 were directed by the senior and detached from the present duty to report to the duty as commanding officer on xhebs of the uss america report for duty

as the commanding officer and the ship is in commission and i'm in command. (clapping.) executive officer sets the first watch. >> ii captain officer of the deck set the watch. >> ii, sir officer of the deck is the commanding officers direct representative for the safe operation of the ship and crew is an symptom we're pleased to have rear admiral the last commanding officer of the u.s. america he will pass the long jimbo bob duty to our first officer t