[singing starspangled banner. ] [applause] ladies and gentlemen, please ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our mistress of ceremonies for tonights Ribbon Cutting, cohost of fox 5 new yorks good day new york and a member of the International Spy museums board of directors, miss lori stokes. [applause] ms. Stokes thank you so much. And thank you for coming out on such a miserable day. I was just speaking with milton maltz a few minutes ago, and he said to me, lori, im so sorry about the rain. And i said, they said rain is good luck, so were going to take it like that. And thank you to my friend lafayette who is helping me today, keeping the hair intact. [laughter] [applause] how is everyone feeling tonight . [cheering] ms. Stokes such an exciting evening. Good evening to Everyone Welcome to the Ribbon Cutting of the new International Spy museum as a member of the board of directors, i am really delighted that you have joined us this evening to celebrate this beautiful new space and also an exciting new experience at the heart of the nations capital. Also, this is a moment that my father would have been so proud to to be a part of. You may not know, but my father was representative louis stokes. [applause] he served in the u. S. House of representatives for 30 years. He was a Founding Member of the Advisory Board of the International Spy museum. And also, he would have just loved to have been here to celebrate what were doing here tonight. I have to tell you, it is a privilege for me also to be a member of the spy museum board. Its an honor to serve this evening as your mistress of ceremony. Tonight were joined by those who have not only helped to build the new museum but also many who have spent their lives serving in and in support of the Intelligence Community. These are, as Jonathan Dyer once said, ordinary people who do extraordinary things that can change the course of history. History has taught us that this is true. We may never know their names or their work but the freedom and the safety that we enjoy today is rooted in their courage. Have the pleasure to introduce now has done extraordinary things, and changed the course of Many Organizations history, ours included. Milton maltz founded malrite inc. Unications group in 1956 and served at its chairman and ceo as its chairman and ceo until its sale in 1998. With his beloved wife, mr. And mrs. Maltz have become incredible philanthropists, supporting the cleveland orchestra, the Liber Institute for Brain Development at johns hopkins, the Maltz Jupiter theater, and the u. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and so much more. But his passion project has been the International Spy museum. Using his years of entertainment and experience and his deep interest in history to develop the distinctive project. The museum has achieved international acclaim. Which is sure to grow, given its extraordinary new home. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the founder and the chairman of the International Spy museum, mr. Milton maltz [applause] im singing in the rain just singing in the rain im such a happy fellow [laughter] anyway, what can i say . Weve done our best, havent we . By the way, that was not in my script. [laughter] mr. Maltz as of this date, may 11, 2019, this new museum is now the permanent home of the International Spy museum. It will be a Cultural Resource right here in the nations capital. 40,000 ed and 140,000 square feet, the new spy museum will provide more than double the floor space of the original building. It includes a large classroom for education, a comfortable lecture hall. And, of course, a beautiful theater. A special events space that can seat up to 500 guests with sweeping views of d. C. , including the capitol, the washington monument, the airport, and, of course, the new harbor. All of this from the seventh and eighth floors. Renowned international iconic,ts, created this powerful building with slate columns, folded metal panels, and a pleated glass veil, all to keep out the rain oh, im sorry. Thats not it. [laughter] mr. Maltz anyway, we emphasize the concept of hidden, yet in plain sight. Gallagher and associates is the Museum Exhibition designer. Washingtonbased hicockcole is the architect of record. Clark construction is the general contractor. And each has done an outstanding and professional job. And i wish to thank our own staff. Theyre here tonight. And all departments for your hard work thank you. And timely effort. Thank you and thank you and thank you. [applause] my wife and i are proud of every one of you for caring participation. Our men and women Staff Members were on the scene for each and every exhibit, bringing to life spy artifacts, the foremost in visitors inlacing the shoes of spies, agents, analysts and world leaders, who make life and death decisions. Now, im going to be 90 years old in a couple of months. [applause] mr. Maltz i dont feel 90 [laughter] mr. Maltz but i have so many stories i could tell you, which could be told, but i dont think i want to bore you. So ill reduce the story down to one. Lets enter the time tunnel. Lets go back to 1947, graduation from Hyde Park High School in chicago, illinois. Incidentally, there were a few very interesting kids in my class. One of them was mel tormey. Remember him . He played the drums in high school but then eventually gave them up and began to sing and was known as the velvet fog. Another was steve allen who created the tonight show. He was another one of the kids in my class. And another one was a pilot. To this day, her airplane has not been recovered. Im talking about amelia earhart. She was at hyde park for a short time. I was the only boy taking a class in acting. Incidentally, this was before television. And i was a kid radio actor. I was chosen to give the graduation talk. And the teacher said, choose something that would be considered patriotic. Your call and your choice, milton. Well, i was always enamored of norman korwin, one of the best writers in those days in radio. He wrote a piece called victory in europe in 1945 and i choose an excerpt titled on a note of triumph. Anyone here remember norman . Anyway, ill read you that one little piece. Peace is never granted outright. It is lent or leased. You can win a war today and lose a peace tomorrow. You can win in the field and lose in the forum. You have to plan as well as pray. You have to give as well as take. Work like a horse and fight like fury. Peace has a mind of its own. Congress took only eight minutes to declare war on germany. In the same session, took only five minutes to declare war on japan. But between this war and the last one, the world took 20 years trying to declare peace. And then could not do it. To win is great. To learn from winning is greater. But to put the Lessons Learned from winning, thats the neatest trick of all. Well, after my teacher read this piece ms. Hardy was her name she asked me to stay after class. Then she told me the news that she had. Norman korwin was a communist and therefore, you just pick another piece. This was the beginning of the mccarthy era. Remember that time . Some of you dont, but many of you might. I told her i didnt believe he was a communist. His scripts were used on cbs and nbc. And frankly, the piece itself does not support communism at all. Am i hearing a sound out there . Anyway, she said to me, thats my opinion, milton and i am asking you to pick something else. I told her you gave me the choice. And this is it. Ms. Hardy began to rant and rave and i told her i was going to bring this matter up to the principal. Mr. Spencer, the assistant principal, talked to me first, on an attempt to persuade me to change my mind. Although he admitted, milton, you happen to be right. I still refused. And he took it to the principal, who also said, milton, youre right. And i cant blame you for being upset, he said. But i need to support my teachers. I felt betrayed. I would not speak at graduation. And i would just sit in the audience with my parents. Theres a Wonderful Group of people out here. Im going to ask you, raise your hands and tell me, what would you do if you were in that position . 17 years old in high school . Anybody want to raise their hand and tell me . [laughter] mr. Maltz well, you wont do that. Well, i did stand pat. And you know what happened . The school mailed me my graduation diploma. I refused to do it, period, end of story. My wife and i have been married for 68 years. Shes sitting right there. Hi, sweetie pie [applause] mr. Maltz it took a lot of courage for her to be married that long to a crazy guy like myself. She tells me that part of your success in building and buying radio and television stations is because you never give up. And you know why . Thats because youre too damn stubborn well, the queen knows best. She knows me only too well. So before i leave the podium, though, i would like to express my sincere thanks to the spy Department Heads who have shown their exceptional leadership. So please stand as i say your name. Amanda brell, Vice President of communications. [applause] mr. Maltz of Development ExecutiveVice President. [applause] mr. Maltz tracy holmes, controller. [applause] mr. Maltz michael truelli, Vice President of operations. [applause] mr. Maltz tim miller, Vice President of technology and facilities. [applause] mr. Maltz karen simmenit, Vice President of retail. [applause] mr. Maltz and finally, anna slafer, Vice President of exhibition. [applause] mr. Maltz but im going to add one name that was not in here. This was a fellow who, almost 19 years ago, applied for a job. He was a cpa. He thought he might like to work for us. And i listened to him. He made his pitch. And i said, james gomez, you have got a job that was 19 years ago. And today, ladies and gentlemen, hes the president of my corporation. [applause] [cheering] mr. Maltz you want to say a few words . Come on up and say a few words. Its raining, so dont make it too long. [laughter] mr. Gomez milt, thank you. Really. You put me on the spot. You put me through too many challenges over the last 10 years, like finding a permanent home for this museum. I just want to say thank you to my family first and foremost, because they had to deal with some really notsogreat times when we had a few meetings that didnt go so well. But look, even this rain is not gonna stop us, right . Your stubbornness certainly will help us get through it all. In any event, i want to thank also the tireless efforts by the professionals, the tradesmen and women and the artists that really put a tremendous amount of effort into this project. Their names [applause] mr. Gomez their names arent going to be posted on a board, but there are hundreds and hundreds of people that made sacrifices 24 hours a day trying to get this museum done in a short amount of time of four years. And milt, lastly, lastly i want to say thank you, to you, for not giving up and being so stubborn, because theres so many times that we could have. And you didnt. So thank you for giving us this opportunity. Mr. Maltz youre welcome. [applause] mr. Maltz well, those are the leaders and represent the heartbeat of this museum. Congratulations to all of you and those whose names we didnt have time to name. A job well done. Im going to do now something as a last comment. Im going to turn to this building. And im going to say simply this. Tamar, you too, my dear, this is our legacy. Thank you very much. [applause] ladies and gentlemen, representing ward six, located in the heart of washington dc, please welcome Councilmember Charles allen. [applause] thank you very much. Lafayette does get a break. So lets give a round of applause to norman. Thank you very much. Im very delighted to be here this evening. Im honored to share the stage with senator warner, general clapper, mayor bowser, mr. Maltz and, of course, the entire leadership of the International Spy museum. I also want to acknowledge that im joined by my colleague, jack evans, who was instrumental in this spy museums history as well. And, of course, our deputy mayor who has been a fantastic partner in all of these efforts. [applause] mr. Allen thank you, brian. For those that may not know, ward 6 is the only ward that is a part of all four quadrants of our city. That makes it a highly diverse and everevolving area. Part of its evolution is the ongoing transformation of the lenfant plaza. It was officially dedicated in 1968. These new activations of the central public space reimagine it for the 21st century. I think it took a very special vision to see how the International Spy museum could be central to such a reimagined public space. But we are lucky that milton and ltz andnd tamar ma the dynamic leadership of the entire museum team had that vision to help make this a reality. Their deep commitment, diligent work over the last few years has brought these impressive new buildings, hidden, yet in plain sight. For that, we want to salute you for the vision that you brought today. Thank you very much. [applause] mr. Allen i do think that we battled with the Zoning Commission a little bit around how far out this could go. I think i want to revisit that, because we maybe could have gotten five or 10 more feet and this could have been pulled off beautifully. [laughter] mr. Allen the district of columbia is a city of museums. But the International Spy museum is rare. It captures the imagination of children and adults alike. Its authenticity in showing the real world implications of intelligence work makes it a one of a kind experience for everyone who is going to walk through these doors. If you love history, this is a museum for you. If you love current affairs, this is the museum for you. If you love gadgets and technology, this is the museum for you. Or if like spy movies like me, you think idris elba would make a fantastic james bond, this museum is for you. You are going to find that reality is often much stranger than fiction. Tomorrow, the doors officially open. Make no mistake. Washington d. C. Is proud to be the home of the International Spy museum. So, again, congratulations to one and all on this remarkable achievement congratulations, everybody [applause] [applause] [laughter] its all right. I got it. Ms. Stokes thank you to Council Member allen for his remarks and, of course, all of us share in the same pride that this Global Museum now rests right here in washington, d. C. As its permanent home in this lovely setting. So as youve seen from our first two video vignettes, we have involved you in this secret mission. What better way to step into the shoes of a spy, right . Stay tuned. It will all be revealed a little later. In the meantime, our next speaker, retired air force Lieutenant General james r. Clapper jr. , has had one of the nations most revered intelligence careers. Although many of general clappers accomplishments remain classified, his leadership is unmatched. As the fourthever director of the national intelligence, general clapper provided the president s daily morning briefings while overseeing 200,000 intelligence employees worldwide and a 52 billion budget. He has served with distinction in the Obama Administration and both bush administrations. Known as president obama said, for his willingness to tell leaders what they need to know, even when its not what they want to hear. General clapper has been awarded the Defense Distinguished Service medal and the air force distinguished Service Medal and the department of defense medal for distinguished public service. Twice. Now an author and a National Security analyst, the International Spy museum proudly welcomes general james r. Clapper jr. [spy music] [laughter] well, i dont have the issue that lori has, you know, with the hair, so. Im really pleased and honored to be able to help open the new International Spy museum. By the way, that term, in this context, perfectly acceptable. Thats a joke. To have such an institution that illuminates the critical work of the Unsung Heroes that work behind the scenes to keep this nation safe and secure is not only appropriate, it is critical. Maybe more so now than any time in our history. The institution represents a major contribution to public understanding of intelligence and is a huge contributor to the transparency that the Intelligence Community needs. Intelligence serves us best when it is unvarnished, untainted and conveyed in the hallowed tradition of truth to power. The museum is presented in that spirit. Its a direct result of the involvement of many former intelligence officials who have been active supporters. But never has it been more important that the public, our citizens, have faith, trust and confidence in our Intelligence Community and its great people. The museum represents a living window into the work of intelligence and makes a major contribution toward public understanding,