Washington, D.C. - I want to thank President Dan Mote, members of the Board of Regents and trustees, deans, faculty, family and friends, and most of all the graduating class. I have the privilege of serving on the Education and Workforce Committee in the United States Congress, and when we discuss higher education in America, I am always proud that my colleagues in the Congress hold the University of Maryland in such high regard. This is a top-notch university and I congratulate everyone who is part of this college family.
I know the students will join me in giving a big round of applause to the parents and other family members. Graduates, I know you think this is a really good day. But your parents are thinking: this is a GREAT day. Just think about it – you graduates get to start paying a mortgage; your parents get to stop paying tuition bills. And I know that some of you parents were really holding their breath after the four year mark passed and you students were still here. I can joke about that. You see, I switched my major three times at college and was on the 5 ½ year plan.
Most of all, congratulations to you, the graduates. You are now standing at the threshold of a world of great opportunities, but also a world of great challenges. Now it has been said that public speaking is the art of diluting a three minute idea with a three hour vocabulary. I can assure you that I am not going to keep you for three hours; but as you embark on your new journey I do want to leave you with three thoughts.
1. invest in yourself and your future;
2. serve your country and seek justice in the world;
3. stay true to your ideals and follow your dreams
Invest in yourself and your future. You may respond with, “My gosh I just spent the last four-plus years investing in my future, now I just want to live my future.” But you can’t rest on your diplomas. We live in an era of unprecedented change and rapidly accelerating globalization. Our futures are now more closely tied to other parts of the world than ever before. Today, in our predominantly knowledge-based economy, the means of production – and jobs – can be sent half way around the world instantaneously with the click of a mouse.
Many used to think of college graduation as the end of our formal education; it must now be viewed as the foundation for a life of continuous learning. Today, people have – on average – 10 jobs by the time they reach the age of 38. So you must learn to be flexible and adaptable. The good news is there are a lot of opportunities and you have a huge head start. According to the Census Bureau, someone with a bachelor’s degree earns nearly $1 million more over the course of his or her lifetime than a high school graduate.
While investing in yourself, you also have a responsibility as citizens of this great democracy to serve your community and help build a strong future for our country. I also urge you to seek justice in the world. As the great leader Mahatma Ghandhi said, “You are the change you seek in this world.” Where we see injustice, we must act. If everyone just waited for the person next to them to act, nothing would change.
Now these things are easier said than done. You’re going to be getting home from a long day at work, feeding the pet; getting your own dinner; paying your bills; taking out the trash; then you’ve got to watch the Terps game. No time leftover to save the country, let alone the world.
I understand the huge demands placed on working men and women. But in this democracy of ours, we have a shared responsibility to help shape our common future. It is, after all, still “We the People.” So let’s start with the basics. Please make sure you exercise your right to vote. My father was in the foreign service. I was born in Karachi, Pakistan and I traveled to many parts of the world where people yearned to have the right to vote and to speak their mind without landing in jail. And it is always difficult to explain to people in those places why so many Americans take their rights for granted.
Now in this past presidential election, we had -- by historical standards -- a large voter turnout. Almost 60% of eligible voters went to the polls – the highest rate since 1968. Still, this is not nearly what it should be. The youth vote – defined as people between ages of 18 and 29 years old -- was higher this past election than any time since 18-year-olds got the right to vote in 1972. But it was still only 51%. That is not good enough. About 20 million eligible youth voters did not show up.
We may have red states and blue states, but the obligation to vote is red, white and blue.
I realize there is sometimes a feeling of separation, of alienation from government. But what happens on Capitol Hill and in the White House has a direct effect on your life – for better or worse. Let me give you one very concrete example that will hit some of you in the pocket book. There is legislation that has been introduced on Capitol Hill that has strong backing by many influential members of Congress that would deny those of you with students loans the ability to lock into a fixed rate on those loans after graduation. Moving from fixed to variable rates will cost the average student an additional $5,500 over the life of the loan. That bill is likely to be considered next year. Just a friendly heads up. So get involved. Democracy is not a spectator sport. Don’t stand on the sidelines.
The main idea here is simple; it is that -- in addition to looking out for our own self-interest -- we are all also part of something bigger. We have become a prosperous people because individuals here have the freedom to reach their full God-given potential; but we have become a great nation because we understand that there are some things that can best be achieved when we come together as a community; when out of many, we work as one.
Having lived in this nation and having received the benefit of a college education from this fine college, you have – I believe – an obligation to use your talents to give back to your community and your country. I daresay that all of you – just as everyone else in this society – have benefited in some way from the contributions others have made to the common good.
We have certainly all benefited from the veterans throughout our history who have put their lives on the line to protect our freedoms. We all benefit from the protection of law enforcement officers, firefighters and emergency responders. And we all benefit from the citizens who pay the taxes to support the shared benefits we receive from the community. Those of you who are Marylanders pay lower in-state tuition rates because the people of Maryland – even those who have no children at the University of Maryland – are dedicating some of their hard earned dollars to reduce the cost to you. For those who have student loans or grants, the American taxpayer is helping to pay your way because we as a society have determined that it is in our national interest to help provide individuals with the opportunity to get a good college education.
Please don’t forget that those opportunities, those benefits, require a sacrifice by others. Those taxes are being paid by the janitors who will clean up this arena after we leave. They are paid by the waiters and waitresses at the local restaurants. They are paid by many who never had the opportunity to attend college so that others may have that chance.
So as you move on, help open the doors of opportunities to others in the same way they have been opened to you. There are some who, having climbed the ladder of opportunity provided by others, want to pull that ladder up after them. Please don’t pull the ladder up after you. And remember what Winston Churchill once said: You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give.”
Okay, so you may agree with me that you should be willing to help your community and your country, but seek justice around the world?
Let me make a few points. The United States is the most powerful country in the history of the world. Each year we spend more than $405 billion on defense – more than half the total global military spending. We are also the preeminent economic power in the world. When our economy sneezes, others catch a cold. The actions we take have – for better or worse -- huge consequences for the rest of the world.
We have no choice but to be engaged with the world. Isolationism is not an option. There are many threats in the world that don’t respect international political boundaries and which can only be addressed through international cooperation – such as stopping the spread of deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS and slowing the ever-growing problem of global climate change caused by human activities.
We also learned from the terrible attacks of September 11, 2001 that, despite our uncontested military might and 21st century weaponry, we are still vulnerable to determined terrorists. What we need to fight terrorism is a more flexible, nimble, and better coordinated intelligence gathering capability so we can collect accurate information about gathering threats and respond. That was the reason for passing the recently enacted law that was unanimously recommended by the bi-partisan 9-11 Commission. Where the best defense is having good information, it is also crucial that we have friends and allies who are willing to help gather and share that information. The more friendly eyes and ears we have, the better. Our ability to respond to terrorist or other threats is also greatly strengthened if we have the support of others in the international community. That is why a critical component of our national security must be international cooperation.
In that regard, it is essential that we remember that America’s greatest strength has been the power of its example. We have stood historically as a beacon of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Those ideas, those principles, have been our greatest export. Fear of our military firepower may force our adversaries to hide from us; but only respect can win the cooperation that we will need from friends and allies to enhance our national security. If we lose our credibility, if we lose our moral authority around the world, we weaken our national security and our ability to successfully advance our goals around the world.
The 9/11 Commission also recognized that the wretched conditions in many parts of the world created instability and the potential breeding grounds for terrorism. Let me give you a few facts about the state of the world. I think you will be startled.
1. Today, more than 2.8 billion people – or nearly half of the world’s 6.2 billion people live on less
than $2 a day. 1.3 billion people live on less than $1 per day.
2. The wealth of the three wealthiest individuals in the world now exceeds the combined Gross
Domestic Product of the 48 least developed countries.
3. The world 225 richest people have a combined wealth equal to the combined annual income of the
world’s poorest 2.5 billion people;
4. 42 million are living with HIV/AIDs in the world, including 3 million children;
5. There is a genocide going on in the Darfur region of Sudan;
6. Americans represent less than 5% of the world’s population, but we consume more than 25% of the
world oil and total energy;
7. According to UNICEF’s just released State of the World’s Children Report – 10.6 million children
under the age of five die every year. Most of them die from hunger related causes. That figure is
equal to the total number of children under the age of five living today in France, Germany, Greece
and Italy combined. At that rate all the children now under five in the United States would be dead in
two years.
Those are sobering facts about the state of our world today. Today the amount the U.S. spends on humanitarian and development assistance around the world is about 2% of what we spend on defense and homeland security. I will leave it to you to make any judgments as to whether or not we should do more to help others in the world. But I do agree with Uncle Ben, Spiderman’s uncle, who observed that “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Let me turn now to my final request. That whatever you do in life, you stand up and be true to yourself and your ideals. This sounds a little hokey, but it can be one of the hardest things to do. It can be very difficult in today’s mass media culture to avoid the herd mentality. People often rush to jump on the latest bandwagon, join the newest fad; or flock to the same TV shows. In the political world, it can be especially difficult to swim against the tide of popular opinion. But conventional wisdom is often not wise. It’s fine to take a poll to find out what people think; but don’t take a poll to find out the truth.
The key is not to be afraid to ask the hard questions. You must not be afraid to question authority.
Let me tell you the little story about the Admiral of a battleship at sea during a night of foggy, foul weather. The Admiral spotted a light through the fog that was bearing down on his ship from the starboard bow. He told his signalman “Signal that ship that we are on a collision course. Advise them to change course 20 degrees.” Back came a signal: “Advise you to change course 20 degrees.” The Admiral ordered a signal back: “I am an Admiral. Change course 20 degrees.” “I am a seaman second class,” came the reply. “You had better change your course 20 degrees.” By that time the Admiral was furious. He spat out a signal “I am a battleship, change course immediately.” Back came the flashing light, “I am a lighthouse.”
Just because someone is in a position of authority doesn’t mean that he or she has a monopoly on truth or knows the right course of action to take. So I don’t care whether it is a professor -- I can say that now that you are graduating-- a Member of Congress, or President of the United States –don’t assume they know better. The only person you “just salute and say yes to” is Mom. Mom does always know best.
Be especially wary of people who question the patriotism of those who ask questions about whether America is living up to its values and principles. Beware of the demagogues. Those of us who want America to be the best that it can be should ask the hard questions about who we are as a nation and what we are doing. It has been rightly said that questioning someone’s patriotism is the “last refuge of scoundrels.” In the 1950s Senator Joseph McCarthy destroyed the lives of many people by questioning their loyalty to our country. Members of the Congress let him go on with his witch hunts until one person -- an Army lawyer by the name of Joseph Welch -- had the guts to stand up to him and ask “Have you no decency, sir?” In the last few elections, some people have run despicable ads suggesting that some candidates were giving aid and comfort to Osama bin Laden. The American people should ask those who ran the ads, “Have you no decency?”
We should be interested in finding the truth. I don’t care whether you’re a liberal questioning conservative orthodoxy or a conservative questioning liberal orthodoxy. Group think is dangerous. Don’t forget -- the lemmings may stick together, but in the end they fall off the cliff together.
This is not a call to be disrespectful. There is no point in being contrary just for the sake of it. But do as Henry David Thoreau advised: follow the beat of your own drummer; stay true to your inner compass. That’s the best way not to get lost in the long run of life.
Thank you again for asking me to join you for this special occasion. I hope I have given you a few things to think about. Let me close with a call to action from Eleanor Roosevelt, who said “The world needs dreamers and the world needs doers. But most of all the world needs dreamers who do.” I know you all have big dreams. I hope you will go out and act on them. Be both dreamers and doers.
Thank you, good luck, and always remember -- Fear the Turtle.