Transcripts For CSPAN Edward Kennedy Institute - John Kerry Lifetime Achievement Award 20171125

Thank you very much for being a boston voter. Just so you know, in case youre , the secretary is not only an american, he is a true bostonian and a good neighbor. As secretary of state he took every opportunity to showcase our city with foreign dignitaries. Know him better than most. Not only in washington dc but in washington street. Not only in the middle east but in east boston. Thank you for that. We are growing hightech economy. Today we look back and see how visionary that was. We see this on the south boston waterfront, something that was not only the case. As an activist once said, senator kerry is like is to the environment is what ted williams is to the red sox. I think that says it all. He is still swinging for the fences on that issue. I want to thank you. I was proud to join secretary in beijing in china two years ago for the International Summit the for some of that ever happened with china in the us was in los angeles, second summit was in beijing and a third summit was busting notes here in the city of boston. Something the secretary works very hard on to make sure i think he flew in to make the announcement. I want to thank you for your passion defense of the Congress Agreement this year. Boston stand with that agreement and with you proudly. We will continue to do that. [applause] as i look around this room, we know that Tv Technology is key to our success. We see general election electric and amazon looking at boston massachusetts. Secretary kerry was looking at our city and our vision with smart economic dollar bills. We will Research Grant and of course his long in leadership on foreign policy. Bostonians come from all over the world to see that people come to experience what is happening. We know how important American Leadership and american humanity is in every single corner of this world. For my part i want to say thank you. I want to say thank you for your military service, thank you for your work with our veterans and our veterans. Thank you for going to bat for local companies and small thenesses and securing medical waiver for the Boston Medical Center in 2012. I want to thank you for that. Lastly, i want to thank you for your passion, your passion for open service, you have inspired countless numbers of young people and people in the city and this country and you continue to inspire the next generation. I want to thank you for all your great work. This is like a goodbye to them but i know it is not. For this phase of your life, congratulations and thank you for everything you did. [applause] senator warren hello, im elizabeth warren. [applause] i am here tonight to say thank you, thank you to a lot of people. I will start by saying thank you very much. In their special thank you to patrick and ted. A very special thank you to Vicki Kennedy for all the work you have done. Thank you. President tsai ingwen said the statement is a politician who has been dead 10 or 15 years. Harry truman never met john kerry. A true, respected american statesman in every sense of the word. [applause] you all know about his remarkable career from his service to his recordsetting travel across the globe. In all of that, john never once wavered in his service to his commitment to Public Service. He rose to the chair of Senate Foreign Relations Committee but he remains the same man of principle who testified before the committee 38 years earlier. Always a man of principle. [applause] think about where we are at this who follows anyone the news and many who try not to follow the news, we are deeply worried about the dangers around the growth. Globe. Disruption of the deal that has prevented iran from already developing a nuclear weapon, russian interference in u. S. Elections, the growing power of china, the never ending war in afghanistan and on and on. People are worried and they are right to be worried. This, there about world is a safer, stronger place because of john kerry. [applause] for four years, secretary kerry got at the state department with a steady hand and gained respect for himself and for our country around the world. He made progress on really tough challenges. Congress and the administration should build on the Foundation Secretary kerry created, not squander americas leadership by making the world more dangerous. In just a few minutes, we will be heading to the institutes beautiful model Senate Chamber. Back in january 2013, john escorted me into the Senate Chamber, it was the day of swearing in and it was literally onst time in the floor the floor of the United States senate. That is an exciting day for new senators. Vice president is there to swear everyone in and crack jokes. Friends and family are looking down from the galleries. Just as we got ready to step out, i felt the awesome responsibility of the all those about to take. There, by my side was a man who had first taken that both decades earlier. Faithfully served his country in one bowl or another for more than half a century. He leaned over and he whispered in my ear you will do fine elizabeth. Just be true to your principles. Then he smiled. [applause] washington, i in had to my desk on the floor and like all the desks, the former senators who have used it have etched their names inside the drawer. My desk has three very special inscriptions, john f. Kennedy, ted kennedy and john kerry. When i sit in the senate, i also run my hand across those names and i think about the legacy they built and about the responsibility and the that comes with you state senator being a United States senator. To john, to alex and vanessa, thank you for giving me a chance to be part of the celebration and to john, on behalf of a grateful country, thank you for your service. Thank you. [applause] my name is ed markey. I am the junior senator from the state of massachusetts. I am very proud to have that role. You for bringing us all together to celebrate the legendary life of secretary john kerry. It was Vicki Kennedy and john kerry who birthed and covers me to run four years ago. John kerry knocked on my door after the speaker of the house had kicked my desk out in the hall and he offered me his furniture for my very first congressional race. I am still benefiting from his friendship. Vicki, ted, love you so much, you are the light of his life, a onewoman multitalented force of , youd be so proud of what we have a compass tear together. Congressman patrick kennedy, think you are taking preston canadas mission to the moon. Au all continue to carry torch that makes impossible dreams come true. Thank you to the greatest man in the United States mayor in the United States, marty walsh and to senator elizabeth warren, the best partner you could ever have in the United States senate in the age of donald trump. Susman, jim carrey, the you to all thank these people. To johns extraordinary wife, teresa, his daughters vanessa ann dowds and family, you are his and our national treasures. How wonderful it is to be here at the Institute Two years after its opening. This 21st century edifice is etched into the indelible history of this century city and our nation. This institute rises beyond our imagination, educating each generation about the issues of the day and the vital role of the senate in advancing progress in america and around the world. Teaching kids that there are three branches of government, we are going to put donald trump in a constitutional Remedial Program on that issue. The dream that teddy and bobby shared inspired Public Service. And has given so much to us it taught us to be bold. It was the honor of my life to serve with and learn from ted kennedy in the United States congress for 33 years. It has been an honor to be a friend and servant of john kerry. I know these men for their for theirship and civility and dedication to social justice, for standing up for the American People and for getting things done. That is what john kerrys career in Public Service has been all about and why it is so fitting to celebrate him at the Edward M Kennedy institute. He has spread dreams across towns and nations, building bridges and those are the hallmarks of john kerrys career. This is who he is, diplomacy and fighting for social justice is in john kerrys dna. Fors genetically hardwired our service to this country. He is a master political strategist with the was of thoreau and the energy of a wind turbine in a hurricane. That is john kerrys life story. He has always stood up and answered the call. He has always giventhat is joh. Back, he has always been bold from his navy service and heroism to his later courageous opposition to the vietnam war. This is in his incredible career and as a democratic nominee for president in 2004. How much better with united kerry had if john been president . [applause] his entire life was a Training Ground for the critical position of secretary of state where he built bridges of understanding between people and nations and provided exemplary leadership on some of the most pressing issues of our time. He is both fearless and fair. Whether he is creating coalitions across oceans, as secretary of state or across the aisle as a great United States senator. He is the embodiment of truly doing gods work here on earth. He turned the chairman of the month into his mission. John, blessed are the peacemakers. He was americas peacemaker. We honor you, john. What a great job you did. [applause] john has been a champion of the environment with longstanding leadership in protecting our planet from Climate Change, helping to stop the first earth day in 1970, opposing the keystone pipeline, protecting our oceans and negotiating the paris climate agreement in 2016. In fact, the Paris Agreement would never have happened without his leadership, his work negotiating the 2014 bilateral climate agreement with china was the piece of the puzzle that the twoar that largest economies and sources of pollution were committed to taking action, that agreement with china was the critical component of the publishing the Global Climate change accord in paris, that is john kerry. While this new Administration May try to withdraw, based on s science from the truth is that the climate evolution is underway and that is no turning back, we see it every day because of john kerry, the goals of the Paris Agreement are being met, mayors and governors, ceos, often orders, citizens across america are stepping up and accepting the challenge and moving forward. We have the great Sheldon Whitehouse leading the charge. At a time when we are deeply concerned about north korea expanding and using their nuclear arsenal, we dont need donald trump attempted to decertify the Historic Iran Nuclear nonproliferation agreement that secretary kerry sewed up really early negotiated. Morning at 8 00 a. M. , saturday, the formulations democrats had an emergency phone call, ben cardin tim kaine, cory were strategizing to present this important agreement that john kerry negotiated, it is essential or the piece of the planet that this great man negotiated. John kerry is a master statesman who has used the tools of smart power, education, health and development to help our country and through his service, he has americans gays of all to the constellation of possibilities for ourselves, our nation and our world. If there was a mount rushmore, john kerry would be carved into that stone, his legacy, like his spirit is indomitable. In 2009, as one of his final visionary acts, senator ted kennedy wrote a letter to president obama. He told them what was at stake for the debate of the Affordable Care act worth the fundamental principles of social justice and the character of the United States. We celebrate a man who embodies that character. This institute, a place where hope and history runs, allows teddys words to run. That is why it is so fitting that we honor secretary john kerry with the Lifetime Achievement award as a man whos legendary Public Service has made hope and history rise. Congratulations, john. [applause] ladies and gentlemen. Please welcome the honorable patrick kennedy, the honorable ted kennedy junior, and kurt westwood. [applause] i always wanted to speak on the floor of the senate. I am honored to be here and as they say in the congress, associate myself with the remarks from the two gentlelady and gentleman from out in the voyeur. In the foyer. We could not have a better place to honor you than the floor that is also here to honor my dad who loved you so much. There is that you had for him is something that all of us are so grateful for. Over the time in the senate, you earned so many mentees yourself and some of people that respected the work that you did. I am honored to say thank you for not only being such a good friend of my dads, but for me and the rest of my family. You never hesitated to reach out for any of my family whenever we needed help. I know a couple of those occasions it was on my behalf and i will always be grateful to you personally. I want to thank Jean Mccormick who is really shepherded this institute through the early days of its founding. I know jean is leaving but she will always be a part of this institute because of her formative work and helping and helping us build this institute and establish the relationships that we have established because people love you, jean. This was a warm and welcoming place because you were there to make it. I am so grateful. My dad would be so over the moon and full of gratitude with all that you have done for this institute. Thank you so much. Now i turn it over to senator kennedy. Thank you, patrick. Before we are all here to recognize an amazing friend and american, senator kerry. It is really an honor for those of us in the Kennedy Family to know that you are going to be the very first recipient of the prize named in my fathers name that recognizes an outstanding personal commitment to Public Service and that really fills me with gratitude and thanks to you. To patty jacobs and and lou susman, to jim karam thank you. To you vicki, thank you. My father could not have had a better companion and confidant and partner than you. Thank you for everything you have done. I have the privilege of reading a special message from another Great American who could not be here tonight. Before i do, i want to echo the words of my brother patrick to say thank you, john, for everything you have done for our family. We have heard the accolades in the other room, recognizing your incredible achievement and Public Service, but i can stand here and say thank you for being such an incredible friend to my father. My father had so much admiration for you. Not just for your military service and coming back here and leading the effort here in our country, but watching your career, he thought you were a person of the highest integrity. He thought there were very few people who had your dedication to Public Service. I also want to thank you for the incredible friendship that you had with my dad. You guys were a dynamic duo who loved the state of massachusetts. We will forever be grateful for your service to the state. It is a special message that just came in earlier this evening. It says, i am pleased to to send greetings to everyone participating and edward m. Kennedy institutes celebration of secretary kerry. I wish i could join you in person tonight in boston, but i wanted you to know how grateful i am for your continued dedication to this place that ted left to a new generation. A monument not to himself but to what we the people have the power to do together. For the almost three decades that john represented the commonwealth of massachusetts in the senate, nearly 25 years of which were alongside ted, he was tireless in pursuit of americas progress. In his service as secretary of state, john led our strong principled american diplomacy, rallying other nations to help us combat Climate Change, dismantle Irans Nuclear Weapons Program without firing a shot. John kerry helped make america a more respected place in the world and a stronger place than when it was when he began his journey in Public Service. Im grateful for john faso friendship and all that he is contributed to the life of this country we love. Enjoy this evening because the work goes on and michelle and i will be with you every step of the way. Sincerely, barack obama. [applause] and now a Video Tribute from a great friend to all of us, joe biden. [video clip] welcome to the edward m. Kennedy institute for the United States senate. If you are there, you feel like you are in the senate. It is an incredible facility. How proud teddy and kara would be if they were here. We all miss them. Teddy jr, patrick, you are all a chip off the old block. Dedicated to Public Service and you are dedicated to one another. Vicki, i know you are there tonight as well. You have been wonderful to me and my family you have been wonderful. The work that you and the institute have done to introduce young people to the nobility of Public Service is incredible. Not only i think you but the whole nation think seo. I really wish i could beat thanks you. I really wish i could be there. Because you are honoring a great Public Servant and that sounds almost stale, a really Great American. A great friend of mine and a guide that is still my great friend. John, congratulations. Being the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was one of the highest privileges i ever had of my career. As you can imagine, handing over that gavel was not all that easy. Knowing it i was handing it to john made me feel good. I hardly need to tell you what a courageous, honorable man of integrity john is. When he defended our country as a young naval officer, you all know about that, but in the nearly 50 years since, he has demonstrated more and rare trait. Moral courage. Speaking up for his fellow veterans back home, taking on global corruption, unraveling what would eventually be the iran contra affair. He was one of the early leaders on the environment for the dangers of Climate Change. He is still doing it. We need you. As our secretary of state, john tackled some problems with passion that was second to none. And endurance that used to make the president when you would walk out of the office, john, he would make the president say how in the hell does he do it . From securing the Paris Agreement with persistence and integrity, the middle east peace accords, which you came really close it would have made the world even safer and stronger had we been able to get it done. Congratulations on this great honor. You deserve it and i want to thank you for being a really good and loyal friend and then an incredible partner. In case it was not already clear enough, john, we still need you. I am confident that we are going to be able to continue to count on you because you have not once let this country down. Everyone enjoy it. Enjoy, john. Congratulations. Mrs. Victoria reggie kennedy. [applause] thank you. Thank you, all. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here to support the edward m. Kennedy institute and to celebrate and honor a very special man who continues to devote his life to Public Service. Our dear friend, secretary john kerry. Before i had my word to all of those wonderful words we have heard tonight about john, i hope you will indulge me for just a few minutes to say a few thank yous. Thank you to ambassador lou susman, to patty jacobs what a wonderful job you have done. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. To answer new kin and bank of america two anne fanukin and bank of america, thank you so much. To our host committee, to our table sponsors thank you so much for making tonight to success that it is. I am so forever and deeply grateful for all of you for being here because what we do here inspires young people and you make that possible. Thank you. Thanks to lydia shire and the executive chef alexander scheier for the fabulous meal we had tonight. And to bob gibbs at gourmet. I appreciate all they have done to make this night special. To all of our team at the kennedy institute. Starting with you, jean, our president to has told me she was retiring for how long and i said, no, it is not possible. I am still not quite accepting it except for the fabulous mary grant is sitting next to you. Mary, we are looking forward to you. Thank you for everything, jean. To jim karam and all of the board, to all of the incredible staff, chris mosher, gina for rail gina perill, thank you all so much. As we gather in this replica of the Senate Chamber, im reminded of what my husband told me he won this place to be. He wanted a place that inspires new generations to get back and serve our nation. He hoped that by walking through those doors and feeling the awe and the majesty of this room that new generations would remember the men and women who had served in the United States senate throughout our history. Who had come together to address the great challenges facing our nation. He hoped that by remembering those Public Servants who made such a difference, we would all be inspired to give back and make a difference as well. It is in that spirit that we honor the very first person that we have ever honored at this institute, a Public Servant, a man who has given back and made a difference for his entire adult life. Lets watch this video. [video clip] from his service in the military to returning home and helping to raise the consciousness of a nation, to his service as an assistant district attorney, to his service and state government, to his service in the United States senate, to his Incredible Service as our secretary of state, to his continued service inspiring new generations, john kerrys life has been about service. My dad has been a Public Servant his entire life. The place i am most comfortable speaking is the example he has set for me. Ive seen him take stances on issues that many other people would not but he took the stand. He is a tough, courageous guy. He confronts the obstacle. That is the kind of soldier he was. I am proud of the service that he showed. More important was the courage it took to protest that service. John has demonstrated over and over again his commitment to the United States of america. He was a war here. He fought in vietnam. He served his country with great distinction in the congress. He served as our nations chief diplomat. I really acknowledge him as an outstanding Public Servant. The blessing of working close with him, not only did i could to see his incredible intellect and expertise and command of the issues, but he was a statesman. He did not allow anyone to take him outside of his character. The word determination is something that i have admired about john. He is a very determined guy. When he gets his teeth into something, he does not let go. When i think of john kerry, the word that comes to my mind is persistence. Continues until he got bush is whatever he sets his mind to. That is the thing that may have such a great senator, that is the thing that made him so good as secretary of state. Kerry was aohn good, strong secretary of state. It is a job he had been preparing for his entire life, it is not a surprise. I personally think he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for the iran nuclear deal. The one thing i admired about john is that he wasnt afraid to fail. Cant be ineffective effective secretary of state unless you are want to take on the hard issues and you cant sit back and say i am not going to take that on because it may not succeed, john took on all the difficult issues a lot of the colors he served with, he developed friendships, there is only a handful you to build very special friendships with. I think everyone can describe a friendship they had like that. His diehard optimism is something that we can make this world a better place, that we can help people have better lives. It has really altered my personal career choice. John for all you have done for this commonwealth and this nation, ive been so proud to call you my senator, to call you my secretary of state and i am so happy to call you my friend. Mrs. Kennedy one more minute. One more minute. [applause] mrs. Kennedy one more minute. Yes, john is my friend, and he was teddys friend, too. And though teddys voice is missing in that video, we feel his presence in our hearts and in our memories tonight. During the president ial campaign of 2004, i had the Great Fortune of traveling around the country and witnessing firsthand the sheer joy of the ted and john show. I saw two men who were much more than colleagues. They were dear and close friends. They shared a bond, an unbreakable bond of friendship, forged by love and respect. I will never forget teddys poignant description of meeting young vietnam veteran john kerry on the mall in d. C. In 1971. Teddy vividly described how one of them was tall, and thin, and handsome, with dark hair, and then my husband paused and said, that was me. I dont know who laughed harder, teddy or john. And then i had the privilege of hearing the joy and, dare i say, pride in teddys voice as he went on to describe johns qualities as a leader and a man of courage and conviction. Perhaps the best way i can pay tribute to john kerry tonight is in ted kennedys own words about him. He said, i have known john kerry as a soldier, as a peacemaker, as senator, and as friend. He understands that americas strength comes from the power of our ideas. He knows that a true leader inspires hope and vanquishes fear. He is someone committed to heal, to build, to hope, and to dream again. Tonight, john kerry is the first recipient of the edward m. Kennedy institute Lifetime Achievement award. There could be no one more deserving. John, im thrilled and honored to present this award to you now. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome him now, my friend, our friend, john kerry. [applause] [cheers and applause] sec. Kerry i dont want to do to that what teddy did to mya. [laughter] sec. Kerry i, uh, honestly dont know where to begin. Except with the most profoundly touched and personal thank you to you, vicki, to the whole family, the Kennedy Family, to the board, to the institute and all that it means, but to all of you who have come here tonight. I mean, i dont really process that you are talking about me, to be honest with you. Its sort of there is a disconnect, in a way, but everybodys words tonight were just the kindest and most heartfelt and most profoundly touching, personal honoring of a lifetime of effort, to try to be true to principles, and to try to live up to the highest standards of Public Service. And this state has set that standard, so i am deeply, deeply honored and grateful. I will overlook the fact that i had to rise from Mitch Mcconnells seat tonight. [laughter] [applause] sec. Kerry but i know its all right, because elizabeth and eddie are over there, too. [laughter] sec. Kerry so, you know, this is an extraordinary edifice. Before i Start Talking about it, i just want to say a few single out a few folks, if i may. I would like to ask you know, all of us in Public Service are where we are because, yes, we want to serve and we want to somehow make a difference and contribute, but it doesnt just work that way. People have to join up. Theres a lot of hard work, as all of you know. And i want to ask, first, all those of you here who worked with me in the senate or in the campaign, if i could ask you to stand up, and i would like everybody here to say thank you to you, first. Would you do that, please . [applause] sec. Kerry now, if i may, i would like to also because we were a family. We really were a team. We had our moments where one staff or another had a different view about how we ought to do something, and even teddy and i had a difference on one issue or another, but in the 26 years that we were by the way, we were the secondlongest living, uh, seniorjunior act in washington. [laughter] sec. Kerry and we were second to Strom Thurmond and chris hollings. [laughter] sec. Kerry so, we looked at that in a very special way, i want you to know. And teddy and i both, you know, we kept saying, god, look at strom. Theres hope. [laughter] sec. Kerry but it was really a special relationship. And indeed, vicki is absolutely correct. As we barnstormed through iowa and through new hampshire, we d get into this routine which was just plain fun. It really was fun. And teddy would inevitably get up there and go on about, to paraphrase vicki, hed say you know, we have this great senator with us today. Hes strong, hes tall, hes vigorous, hes charismatic. But enough about me. [laughter] sec. Kerry and then we would go back and forth. We both worked out a way to make it work. And people loved it. They loved teddy. My god, they loved teddy in iowa, ive got to tell you. They loved him everywhere he went. He would stir them up and get everybody rowsed and energized. I have no doubt about it that Teddy Kennedy and vicki, you two were an enormous part of that great victory in iowa, which was a lot of fun. I want to ask that family, that staff, all those of you, a whole bunch of folks everybody who worked for Teddy Kennedy, please stand up. I want everybody to be able to say thank you to them. Every. Body. Barbara, paul senator paul kirk. Absolutely. [applause] sec. Kerry great, great group. Great, great group. I tell you, i learned an enormous amount from teddy. When you saw that last picture up there, there was an inscription on it, which i have on my desk to this day. I made extra copies of it so its around me different places. But teddy gave it to me. This was right after we had walked out of the Senate Chamber at the swearingin, and we were going over to the reception. Teddy sent it to me. He wrote on it, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. [laughter] secretary kerry and i think he once wrote, we can always have paris, but there was a different meaning. [laughter] secretary kerry anyway, at his services, i told you the wonderful story about how they were in Indian Country and they went for a great blessing, the feather blessing. And in the middle of the ceremony, vanessa is standing there very rigid and teddy is standing there very rigid and the chief is moving around. And teddy leans down to vanessa and says, i think we just got married. [laughter] secretary kerry so, we had fun. The bottom line is, folks, teddy knew how to have fun. He took life he took things seriously, but never so seriously that he forgot the human side of all of this. And i learned a lot from that. I really did learn a lot. Vicki, thank you for your stunning stewardship of this institute and the dream that i know teddy had about it. I remember sitting down with both of you and talking about his vision of it. You and the board and all of you have delivered in the most magnificent way. You should be very proud. I know teddy would be elated with the way in which this institute is going to inspire young people to come and to serve. We also have here tonight a group of ambassadors that i was privileged to work with. You all know who they are. They are great friends of massachusetts. They have contributed to our lives in so many different ways, but i want to recognize them very quickly if i can. The ambassadors, including to st. James, spain, cuba, my brotherinlaw and Longtime College friend, who served as ambassador to italy, and, finally, and you all know her really well, Caroline Kennedy schlossberg, who did a brilliant job in japan. We are so happy you are all here. Thank you very, very much. [applause] secretary kerry i also want to thank the mayor. I did vote for him the other day. And our former colleague. Thank you for your friendship and all the work we did together in a short time. [applause] secretary kerry i also want to single out a very special friend of mine. We have gotten to know each other really well. Weve been sailing together. Weve had a lot of fun in washington. His wife was just with me in malta, where i attended the ocean conference, which i started as secretary of state. We held them in washington and one in chile, up until now, but im proud to tell you that what we began as the First International effort on oceans is now continued this year by the europeans in malta, next year by the indonesians in bali, the year after by the norwegians in norway, and the year after that, we just learned tonight, that the Pacific Island state, and the year after that, the russians are now seeking to do it. Oceans is on the map globally and we can be very proud of that. [applause] secretary kerry eddie and elizabeth, thank you for your brilliant continued service in the best traditions of teddy and of massachusetts. I just cant thank you enough for your overthetop comments , both of you, tonight, but i will take them both. I loved it. Thank you so much. Everybody here loves what you are doing. Thank you. [applause] secretary kerry i want to thank my family, needless to say, who everybody here knows politics. You all know politics really well. Vicki is surrounded by family here. Teddy junior, i know your dad is so proud of what you are doing. It is only just beginning. We all know that. Patrick, you are putting a difficult issue on the map. You are so dedicated to it. A different path, but we are so honored by that. [applause] secretary kerry and joe and matt, the dynamic team, nothing but great challenges ahead, and you are doing a brilliant job down there. I loved what you said about health care. I couldnt agree more about the sermon on the mount being the guideline to so many of us who were raised with that ethic and youre carrying it on in the best tradition, so thank you for that. In terms of my family, im very blessed because you cant do this without the support of family. I think all of you know that. Its hard. I can remember doing homework from the pay phone with alexandra or calling vanessa to find out about college or boyfriend or whatever the challenge of the moment was. [laughter] secretary kerry she is hiding. She is cringing. Her husband is sitting beside her, too. But they are doing such brilliant work, vanessa and brian. Brian is a neurosurgeon doing brilliant work. Vanessa is a physician focusing so much more on building Global Health Care Capacity in countries, five of them in africa, with some 20 countries knocking on the door and trying to get in. And im proud of both of them and what they do. [applause] secretary kerry and proud of my daughter, alexandra, who is not able to be here. She has gone out to california. She is involved in the Film Industry and has never met harvey weinstein, so dont worry about that. [laughter] secretary kerry but she is out there doing business with two of my grandchildren and im very blessed with them and with julian. And finally, but not finally, not last that all, because she captured the hearts of people all around the country, i have so many people i still go out with, when i go somewhere in the nation, who talk to me about my wife and about how she affected them with her independence, with her courage, with her willingness to stand up and tell it like it is. And you all got to know her pretty darn well. But she makes so many contributions in so many ways. She is leaving here late tonight to go back to pittsburgh, head up what their foundation is doing with 6000 people coming for a threeday conference on the environment. She doesnt quit either. Teresa heinzkerry. [applause] secretary kerry one last thing, forgive me if i start down the road, i know im in serious trouble. But one of the groups that just you talk about loyalty and you talk about flag and country and your willingness to stand up and be counted. Ive never had a group of friends as strong and as there for you, as loyal as the firefighters of the United States. [applause] secretary kerry stand up. Thanks, friend. God bless you. [applause] secretary kerry i want you to look around here. Its really strange to stand here in the well of the United States senate. We wouldnt speak from the well. You would if you were involved in an impeachment process. [laughter] [applause] secretary kerry but we are not at this moment. And, uh, but its a privilege to be able to speak to you, and i just have to keep thinking, hoping this door doesnt open and ted cruz doesnt rush out. [laughter] secretary kerry but this is an amazing place that vicki and the institute have created. And i want you to know that this replica of the United States senate is so accurate that you can close your eyes and actually hear the republican senators whispering about donald trump. [laughter] secretary kerry try that. Try that. And they know exactly what im talking about. A whole lot of kids have been able to come in here and been able to act out what its like to be a United States senator. Its so realistic, folks, that 15 times this year, they failed to repeal obamacare. [laughter] [applause] secretary kerry in fact, three of them announced that they are not going to run for reelection. And one of them called the white house an adult day care center. [applause] secretary kerry in deference to my colleagues who are serving, i will not carry this further. But [laughter] secretary kerry but its real when i tell you that this chamber brings back a lot of memories. I started out number 99, way up over there. Jay rockefeller was to my left. Mitch mcconnell was in our class. He is the only remaining member from the class that i came in with in 1985. And slowly, i worked my way over. Teddy was sitting right up there in the empty seat thats in the middle there, right beside jerry. And i know i speak for everybody here when i say that im sure each of us have shared a moment of deja vu, where there was a nostalgia that made us think that, somehow, we had heard a great, big laughter, that booming voice that represented the lion of the United States senate. We missed him from day one of late august, 2009, but i think never has he been missed more than in these last 10 months when more than ever we have reason to ask, what would teddy have done . Now, many say that, in their entire lives, theyve never seen a moment like this in our country. This is a dangerous time. Its a really dangerous time. Its a dangerous time because of the things we are not deciding, the things that arent being done. Its a dangerous time because of the things that other people are doing or that Mother Nature is doing because of other things we have done over a period of time. But it is a dangerous time. There is nothing normal about this moment. But a number of us here are old enough to have seen a movie somewhat like this. Maybe even a time or two. Watching ken burns brilliant series on vietnam on pbs these last weeks, i was reminded exactly what teddy did when we faced a moment not unlike this one, when it seemed like the country was coming apart. After the navy, as you know, i came home to a country at war with itself. It was a time of division and people were attacked for speaking their mind. I felt compelled to speak out against the war, because those men on my crew, both boats, came back here, sharing a belief that we were blessed enough that every day was extra. We lived by that motto. It liberates you. It really does. It frees you up to say what you think. We used to have a saying over there. If we got into trouble or we were doing something kind of stretching the rules a little bit, we would say, what can they do to us . Send us to vietnam . We were liberated there. Let me tell you something, we have been even more liberated since we returned. I felt compelled then to speak out against war. Id lost some very good friends sawaw this really viscerally what ken burns showed over the course of those 18 hours. I thank the bank of america for having the courage to help bring that to america. I felt compelled [applause] secretary kerry but despite how legitimate i felt in making the comments that i made at the time and drawing the conclusions that i drew, i still was, nonetheless a little taken aback by the personal nature of Richard Nixons assault on me and others. And i have to tell you something. This is a total aside. I was angry when i came back. I was even angrier after i read Neil Sheehans brilliant book bright shining lie, but i have to tell you i was even angrier the other day when i read about the treason of a president of the United States who engaged in the conduct that prolonged a war for the purpose of his election when he was a mere candidate and interfered with what Lyndon Johnson and the people were trying to do in a legitimate peace process. That is one of the most egregious abuses of power we have ever seen in our country, and it should motivate people to do whatever they can now to hold this government accountable, because the American People have a right to expect that. [applause] secretary kerry so, in april, 1971, i was among thousands of veterans, a few of them are here, some with long hair and beards, and most in fatigues. Some singing protest songs. Some waving the american flag. Some who felt alienated from the very country that they went to defend. All of us encamped on the mall in washington, trying to make our government finally listen to the men that they had sent off to fight and die in southeast asia. The Nixon White House was threatening to arrest all of us, and we were under surveillance. We were literally having debates and discussions amongst ourselves about whether we would stay on the mall or whether that was the best way to try to reach america. Because we were, after all, trying to build support, not push people away. How do we get through to america was a question we debated. Some even wondered whether we should go somewhere else, but we didnt. We took a democratic oath, every democratic vote, every soldier there voted, and they all voted to stay on that mall and reach the country by making it clear that we had earned the right to protest. And i will never forget [applause] senator kerry i will never forget how senators and congressmen who had opposed the war in speeches werent too sure who these guys really were or whether they wanted to affiliate with them. They didnt dare come down to the mall and have our backs at first. But, no surprise to anybody in this chamber tonight, among the first to show up was senator ted kennedy. He spent hours just listening to us, showing his complete solidarity with us. He visited again at night, no cameras, nobody around. He came down and sat in a tent, shared a little wine with a few guys, talked, listened. It was the best debrief you could have had on the war in vietnam. And soon, other senators followed him. And then the way was clear for us to testify before the senate and tell the country what was happening in vietnam. But it was ted who was the first to break the ice and make it clear veterans had a right to speak. If Richard Nixon tried to remove us, they would have had to tackle some senators, too. What would teddy do today . Hed do exactly what he did then. He would stand firm on principle, not just in defense of a position, but in defense of an institution called the United States senate, which was designed by the framers of our constitution to meet the toughest of times, and it has. Not by standing still, not by acquiescing, but by standing up to those who would damage our country. And if there were ever a moment for the senate to be the senate again, this is it. In this last year, our discourse, if it could even be called that, in the supposedly greatest democracy on the face of the planet, our discourse rose to a new level of the mean and the outrageous, the coarse and the ugly. The public dialogue has become no dialogue at all, just some shouting match alienating citizens across the board, right, left, center, all of whom yearn for something better. We seem trapped in a kind of political pinball machine where, as a country, we careen from flipper to flipper, bouncing off insults and , where down is up and up is down and white is black and black is white, and nothing means anything more to anybody and words just dont carry the truth that they used to. Well, a democracy relies on free speech, yes, it does, but you know as well as i do, it relies even more on that speech being truthful. How many times have we been reminded that it is the truth that sets us free . In speeches and in the scriptures. It is the truth that affirms the beyond any doubt there is no such thing as alternative facts, folks, and it is the truth that this is not a normal time. It is not normal to feed your country a daily dose of your own reality that, each day, is proven false, whether its a crowd size with a photo that proves dispositively or whether its the burden of the Paris Agreement, which is, in fact, no burden at all. It is not normal to demonize immigrants who have built our country and defended our freedom. Even as American Cities are underwater from extreme storms and large parts of our countryside are ravaged by fires due to drought, its not normal to rip up the work of 169 nations over 26 years to save our planet from Climate Change, which isnt just real. Its proving to be more and more deadly. Last year at election time, november 8, 2016, i was on an airplane flying down to yes, when i got the results, i thought about staying down there. I did not. Because asntarctica secretary, i was told by the scientists i visited in norway in greenland, you have to go to antarctica if you really want to understand what is happening with Climate Change area so after seeing greenland which sits on rock and therefore all the ice does not despise water today, everything that milk is increasing displacement. Every single day, 86 Million Metric Tons of ice is falling off into the ocean. It is floating out to melt. 86 Million Metric Tons is enough water every day to take care of all of Greater New York city for an entire year. Every day. Raising, the mayor is rose because on sunny days, high tides come over. Seawall and on a a sunny day, high tide will come over the top. Why this is matter . The oceans which we are focusing on actually produce 51 of the oxygen we breathe. Life itself depends on this. Itself isouse effect , theome scientific thing greenhouse effect is the reason we have a mean temperature of 57 Degrees Higher on this planet. We cant live without the greenhouse effect, that is how we know it works. 169 nations came together and signed this agreement and without any evidence, without realitynce, without any to his accusation that there is a burden put on america, there is no burden at all because the way we get everybody to agree is that each country designed its own plan and no country put in a plan that they werent able to achieve including United States of america. One of the great lies to the American People of the last few months is the basis of the withdrawal from the paris. Pastate in theof america renewable portfolio laws. Them, eight of them have voluntary ones but they all agreed to continue to do that. That means those 38 states 80 of the population of the United States of america. Down from a have pulled out of the Paris Agreement but i have news for donald trump. That 80 with more than 90 mayors and 38 states are committed to staying in the Paris Agreement and we will achieve those and more. [applause] it is also not normal to attack reporters for doing their jobs in the nation that imported invented free press. It is not normal to turn your back on diplomacy that united the world against the Nuclear Threat when your own cabinet, in the world say it is working. Preventing a Nuclear Arms Race in the middle east, i have news for you, this deal has shattered because he shows it to congress with malevolent intent in congress and it is focused on taking away the deal by the back door, passing such extreme measures that iran cant stay in it, it falls apart under its own weight, guess what, turkey will have a bomb, saudi arabia will have a bomb and iran will start moving toward the richmond again. Enrichment again. That youhe rationale are better off going back to where we work when we know what the world was like when we were where we were. We know what happens with no deal, 12,000 kilograms, they were two months away from a breakup. They had a plutonium reactor ready to commission which would have produced the plutonium weapons grade material. That is what it is like without the deal. How in gods name is this country safer without this agreement . Override normal to your own cabinet, your own military advisers and everybody else and throw this in some cowardly fashion to the congress and ask political people to mess it up even further. That congress will stand up and do what is right. If that is the president s part of the deal, we all understand why he declared bankruptcy six times. Think about it, there is no art to that deal. If you are iran, the Supreme Leader and nobody knows those interviews is that it than a few of us who negotiated this over time, the Supreme Leader was extraordinary suspect of even doing with the United States. Because we pleaded that this was good for iraq and we had given the sanctions and he finally gave it the blessing but he says i dont trust United States. Can you imagine what happens now in his mind to not listen to themselves, now we have a reason that we know what we have to have a bomb which is precisely what kim jongun is saying in north korea. This step by the president makes it harder, also to negotiate with her career because it reinforces in north korea for lack of american credibility and the lack of americas willingness to keep a deal. It does not work. [applause] there is nothing normal about there is something cruel, cynical about stripping away health care from the neediest americans without any plan to replace what they has or provide for those who dont have anything. Zealcally, in his myopic to attack all things obama, President Trump is actually raising the cost for many of the very people voted for him. What he is doing is not only not normal but it is a cruel attack on the fundamental values of the United States of america. There is nothing normal about what is happening, nothing president ial about it either. The prison of the United States, jack kennedy banned the testing of Nuclear Weapons so that never again with the will come so close to mutual the structure. Today, in service of a campaign bands notonald trump the testing of nuclear arms but focuses on the travel of muslims. This it isid part of the secretary of state struggle. Is arguing that we should have 10 times the number of Nuclear Weapons that we had today, the president says he is strong, he, the president is from is because is strong because he wants this. Medical professionals say he is compensating and heres the bitter irony or the socalled leadership. On paris, we know that we are going to keep it so in the end donald trump temple out but we actually wind up staying in. But we actually wind up staying in. In iran, he criticizes it, talks about getting out, winds of turning around and thrown into it is even more irresponsible because he leaves up to the vagaries of politics and whatever movement might gain a foothold rather than whatever strategy ought to be in is about asd that dangerous as a guess when youre dealing with Nuclear Weapons. I say this and i think you know years ofs, after four being secretary of state, i messed things to be partisan or political. I know that the institutions that our founders created to keep america strong and together have always worked best in times like this when america needed them the most. Work now likeo never before. I will share with you something that teddy taught us which is important for where we go with this. He learned in a journey of both triumph and tragedy. Which, he managed to find a path that was so clear where he always showed up to fight and did his duty in the fight that needed fighting. They taught us, a lot of us how much better and stronger our country could be if we could come together. If we could come together with a special purpose, a National Purpose that was absent absent today. It is a focus that is deprived of oxygen. The reason is we are trying to disprove the crazy proposition. We are living in an age when far more is at stake, it is hard to emphasize that enough. We arent even scratching the surface of what needs to be done on dell our nation and this planet. That is what i find artist in to do it right now. There is a struggle for the future. There are 2 billion kids between the ages of 15 and 24 today. About 4 million of them will go to school at any time. When i was with a foreign minister in an african country, but a 40 muslim minority, i asked him how do you manage that minority . What are you thinking about the longterm . Described how extremists grab these kids and proselytize them theyay them a stipend and dont need any stipend and they go out and become recruiters. Have a 35ose guys year plan. We dont even have a fiveyear plan. That sends has stayed with me every day since the day i heard it and everything that i thought about as we put together a coalition to fight isis as we redefined the battle against extremism. Their kids were 15 years old or younger. We inherit the downside of that, that is part of the reason we are in afghanistan, a war that should end. We are there for a counterterrorism platform. This is, get his stuff, nobody knows that better than joe and elizabeth and people are bustling with this on a daily basis. We are engaged in a struggle for the future and the challenges that issue that we are facing. We checked a world free from its slumber and wrestle with what is really coming at us. To care do we have about the group of people that make up the potential pool of extremism, terrorism and some of the world, we have a problem here at home where a lot of people are so angry because they are separated from the process, they dont believe in governance, they are angry. We have to establish the credibility to do both. The last big project i can figure in america where we were building something and dreaming, it was the big dig, terry brown is trying to build a highspeed rail system out in california. Most people dont even know about it, it should be something we are doing as a national project. Much of the world are seeing this. 91 or 92 countries i dont know the number. I will to you that the world is riding a wave of technological transformation on the scale of the Industrial Revolution only it is happening at a digital place pace. In country after country, ideas are moving faster, people are moving faster. The marketplace is moving faster. Billing thing that isnt coming is theaster and faster government playing a constructive role in trying to help the private sector to do what needs to be done. The government is critical could critical to doing it. The private sector will breakthrough because that is where the capital is and it takes capital to do what we need to do. During this tectonic shift in the workplace, too many people have been left behind, there is a billy story in the New York Times talking about a woman out in indiana who struggled, lost her job at a ball bearing factory and what happened is deprivation played out, millions of americans know right now that we can do better than we are right now. Our history has proven that we can do better time and time again. After sputnik, president kennedy some of the nation to that kind of challenge and he said we have to reset audacious goal before the decade is out of work landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. The United States made that happen and there were no partisan divisions that blocked the doing of that. Back then, democrat and republicans have deep issues that they had a even deeper commitment to stand together for the strength of the success of our country. For them, american exceptionalism which is so important, how many of you dont to get a little tired of seeing politicians run around talking about how exceptional we are all the time . I would hear from people in other countries all the time. You guys love to be your own drum. Have you passed a budget . Building . Ou it is a question we should be asking ourselves. I believe in american exceptionalism but we are not exceptional because we run around eating her chest and say we are. We are exceptional because we do exceptional things. That is the difference. [applause] youll close by santa all of that that is what we have to get back to, this is so obvious, it is not copyrighted complicated to figure out. The decisions we make or failed new energyht now on sources, education, infrastructure, technology, research, all of which that will produce the jobs of the future and our deficits and entitlements without doubt, these are the things that are going to decide whether or not we continue to lead the world. Or, whether or not the world just gives up on us and moves further into a different place and we are left to follow in the wake of others, less prosperous in our romance, again and again as secretary of state, i was privileged to see how critical American Leadership is. Led theed States Coalition against iso. The refugeeffort on crisis and every single year we put more american money into the crisis than any other country. Arrive on theto cusp of seeing the new generation of children born in africa aids free for the first time. We lead the effort. [applause] you remember how it was predicted that 4 Million People would die from people in west africa in the span of four months before christmas ever years ago . We led the effort to stop ebola in its tracks and prevent that knowing people from dying over four months and a mere fraction died because we went over there and build a capacity and made the difference. I could go on and on giving examples of where we are indispensable. With ateddy was ominous sense of urgency right now. We have to break out of this paralyzed politics which divided us into this patchwork of narrow and driven the concept of National Good far from the National Dialogue altogether. Issue and during consensus that didnt exist has been frayed. Donald trumps silence is complicity. In the 21st entry where choices and consequences come at us so much faster, the price of inaction is not that we stand inaction isrice of that we will stay behind and to the best possibilities of the more o others were who are more displayed and focused. If teddy were here, he would insist that every single one of us face up to these new challenges. But het as individuals could call on us to do it with a National Purpose. He would know that we could do it only if we restore a larger sense of responsibility and replace the cacophony of twitter and alternative fact with a genuine discretion of what is best discussion of what is best for our country. Politics is tough. Everyone in the chamber knows that. Teddy knew that. We can beat it hard on the Playing Field but it is better to be in the majority then the minority. It is not hard to come to that conclusion. Some of the most fiercely independent, plain talking and direct and determined partisans that ive ever known in the senate have also been the ones who tackle the toughest issues. Finding Common Ground with people they disagreed on with everything else. That is the difference today. The ideology is not unhealthy. The biggest breakthroughs in american politics were not broken by the mushy middle but by splitting the difference but by people who had a Pretty Healthy sense of ideology. Wereennedy and orrin hatch a powerful team because they did not agree on that much and they spent a lot of time fighting each other. The senate leaned in and listened on the occasions when this ultimate odd couple down things that they were willing to fight for together. Sometimes, as john kennedy once said, the party asks too much, sometimes the president can also ed too much and if they do both parties have a duty to stand up and reclaim the independents of an institution and the independent of a country. That is what teddy would be doing. He would be fighting on principle against those that would omit move america backwards. Always working at the same time to find that bipartisan content is waiting to lift our country. That is the spirit of this institute. That is the United States senate that i love and remember and the true spirit of the institution that this institute itself is to defend. That definedthan his entire approach, fight for the things you believe in but always tried to fight the Common Ground and nothing less than that should define our country right now. That is the real american exceptionalism if you want to know the truth and together with senators and congressmen weighing in as lions all, i hope that we will hear a broad that again unite us to do the exceptional things that keep america exceptional for generations to come. I am so privileged to have received this award and be part of this extraordinary institution, to be part of this family, i loved teddy and your love story and all you did to harness teds unbelievable sense of direction and purpose and everybody here i know feels privileged by the fact that we are part of the journey and teddy would be the first to tell us tonight that that journey is not finished. Thank you all very much. Tonight on cspan, david brooks and historian ronald white discuss character and the presidency. Comparing past administration to the trump white house, david brooks talks about dwight eisenhower. The way you build character is you identify your course in and you fight it. Andll have some weakness for one of my characters, for dwight eisenhower, it was his temper. I pointed to go trickortreating and his mama not let him and he got so mad he punched the tree in his front yard and he rubbed on the skin off. His mom sent him to his room and let him cry for an hour and then came up to fix his wounds. When he wrote his memoirs six years later, the most and port and composition of his life was that it taught him he had a if you want to be a leader, he had to congress and spent the next 60 years working on his own weakness. Brooks and robert white discuss character and the presidency. Comparing past administrations to the trump white house, tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Now, a discussion on the state of the u. S. Military from the washington journal, this is about 30 minutes. We are joined by default dakota wood. About the strength of the u. S. Military and the findings of the foundations 2018 index of military strength. Thank you for joining us. Guest great to be with you. Host what is the index of military strength and how you come up with this . What data is used . Guest it is essentially a report card