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SRB [Samuel R. Berger]- Cornell [May 29; 1999] [1]
Staff Office-Individual:
Speechwriting-Widmer, Edward
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5/27/99 8:30pm
SAMUEL R BERGER
ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS
REMARKS AT CONVOCATION
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
ITHACA, NEW YORK
MAY29, 1999
I. Intro
I am very pleased to be here as your Convocation speaker ... as a Cornell alumnus ... as a sp01:1se
of a Cornell alumna ... but especially as a proud parent of a member of the Class of 1999. I must
say that this is the first time I ever spent $120,000 for the privilege of giving a speech.
It is not easy to sit still on 5!.§;duation day, or wots0, the day before graduation, and listen to a
speaker lecture you on his or her rules of life- rules that always sound perfectly obvious.
You've made it this far, so presumably you've got a good sense of where you're'going. If you're
like most Cornell students I remember, you have waited until the last possible minute to pay your
phone bill, return your library books, say goodbye to your best friends, get a job, and most
urgently, find a place to live other than your parents' house. On this, I know I speak for the
parents here in saying we are behind you 100 percent.
It's hard for me to believe that it was 32 years ago that I sat where you are,.-5H-tb.e da¥-b.efo.t:e
~.
I remember a lot about that day - but I have absolutely no recollection of the
convocation speech. In fact, I can't even remember who the speaker was! So I approach my role
.
.
today with a proper sense of humility, knowing that I am one of the last obstacles left between
you and your diploma.
�2
You should keep a count this weekend how many speakers and others point out that you are the
1
last graduating class of the twentieth century. I will say only this: fifty years (rom now, when
you come back to your reunion, the undergraduates will see you wearing your Class of '99 hats,
and say, "they are really old. Can you believe they actually lived in the 20th century?"
I'd like to talk a little about my time at Cornell, and yours. In some ways, they are very
different, but in other respects they are quite the same. When I was a student here, from 19631967, the 21st century was impossibly far away. Stanley Kubrick's popular film, 2001: A Space
Odyssey (1968),was futuristic science fiction, not contemporary drama. Now 2001 is a just
another year, and the sophomores' graduating class.
II. 1967
I want to start my odyssey today in the opposite direction, going backward in time to reflect a bit
on the complicated path we took to get to the present. It is an odyssey, like Homer's, that starts
and ends in Ithaca. I'd like to talk a little about the Cornell I graduated from 32 years ago.
There's a lot of 60s nostalgia out there today. Ads for the Gap show people dancing the Watusi.
The sequel to "Austin Powers" is about to come out. In fact, the last time I spoke with the
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet, I asked him to explain the title "The
Spy Who Shagged Me," but neither of us had any idea what it meant.
Most of that nostalgia is way off the mark, especially to the extent it reinforces the stereotype of
a baby boom generation obsessed with itself. I think it would be more honest to depict the 60s as
�3
they were- a time of great hopefulness, not just here in the United States but around the world.
I
A time of idealism, when most of us, especially the young, felt that if Americans stood up for
their principles, we could eliminate problems like racism and poverty at home, and build just
peace abroad. Obviously, that was simplistic. But it was anything but self-centered.
Cornell was a very different university when I arrived here in the fall of 1963. John F. Kennedy
was President, and inost of us were deeply inspired by his call t6 serve. The college was
overwhelmingly white and male. The dorms were strictly single-sex, and on the rare occasions
that a female entered the room of a male student, it was required that the door be kept open - a
rule that generated extraordinary creativity.
At the time, the 60s felt very modern and fast-paced, but as we look back, it is astonishing to
realize how much slower our society was. There was a single computer on campus. It occupied
almost all of Rand Hall. It probably had the computing power of a small Nintendo game today.
TV sets were black and white- although black wasn't especially needed, because you never saw
a person of color on TV in any capacity. "Cable" was another word for a telegram, which was
how you sent word to your parents that you needed more money. "The Web" was something
spiders had built in the dark corner of the garage, which your parents asked you to clean out to
justify all the money they sent you.
But it was also a time of enormous ferment and change, stimulated by a war in Vietnam most of
us opposed and a growing realization of the racial injustice most of us felt intolerable. Maybe it
�4
also was just a time to protest. I remember one demonstration over Cornell's plan to raise tuition
to $1700 a year. We lost.
By and large, this energy, expressed in many forms, reflected a desire to make America's reality
consonant with America's rhetoric. Some of these efforts were· productive; others less so. Over
time, here and later,
w~
learned that the problems we were concerned about went deeper than we
thought. The assassinations of the 60s were warnings of the violence we still wrestl~ with as a
nation. Riots in cities across the country urgently revealed that the American Dream was not
available to all Americans. On issue after issue, from foreign policy to domestic concerns, we
learned that the light at the end of the tunnel ... sometimes is just another tunnel.
III. 1999
But those reality checks did not stop us from moving forward. Like all classes, my class kept
going, got married, had kids- some of whom are graduating tomorrow. And in different ways,
we - and you - still face some of the same issues, in new forms. Our circumstances as a country
have changed- immensely for the better. But the same questions are still urgent- maybe all the
more urgent now that the United States has more power and prosperity than any country has ever
known. How do we maintain the impetus to create a more just society? For what purposes
should America be engaged in the world, and how much? How can we harness technology
~ss to advance not only our material needs, but our safety and stability?
in'
�5
Those questions do not have easy answers. They provoke debate and sometimes acrimony. _But
we must face them honestly, and respond to them as best we can. Franklin D. Roosevelt said,
"democracy is an everlasting march." That's another way of saying it's a long haul.
We should start by recognizing that we have traveled an enormous distance to where we are
today. Many people enjoy lamenting how much better things were in the past. That's nonsense.
Just in the last decade, we have seen the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War and the
existential threat of nuclear annihilation. We have achieved m·eaningful progress toward peace
~~ 1 Ly~c-Jr-\ l~r-~
in the Middle East and Northern Ireland. For the first time in human history, more than half the
world's
peopl~
~
~
elect their own governments. Americans are enjoying what may be the strongest
1\
economyi~.
/}
Here, we see a university that is thrivi!lg and l,aying the foundation for more progress to come.
~
Cornell has become an international \:!niversity. There are study abroad programs as far away as
Nepal. Cornell alumni live on every continent. Indeed, the President of Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui, a
Cornell alumnus, nearly wrecked Sino-American relations a few years ago when he spoke here at
his alma mater. I suppose that was an example of the lesson Gloria Stein em offered Cornell
students this spring (April22), when she came here to urge you all to develop just "one new
subversive organizing tactic."
The same changes that have transformed Cornell are working around the world. In the 60s,
"integration" meant bringing people together here at home. Today, a different kind of
integration is changing the world. Powerful economic, technological and social forces are
\
�6
pulling people together. Last year, during the President's China trip, the poster I saw most
\,
·frequently as I walked through the dormitories of Beijing University was Michael Jordan's.
During the Africa trip, we visited a remote village in Uganda, where I saw a young girl wearing
Guess Jeans. A few years ago, I arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan in the middle of the night, turned
on the TV in my hotel room, and heard George Stephanopoulos and Mary Matalin debate on
"Larry King Live" who was the "Anonymous" who wrote Primary Colors. That's not
(
necessarily progress, but it reflects the globalization of our culture.
Everywh~re,
the Internet
provides people with a tether to the rest of the world. With a small mouse-click, the sum of ·
human experience is at our fingertips. I should know, because I invented the mouse one summer
when I was hanging around with the Vice President.
These forces of globcil integration have been driven in no small measure by America's
dynamism, values and leadership. They are triumphs of the imagination, but they also are
engines of prosperity,
demo~racy
and peace. Leaders can still make war on their people, but in
the Information Age it is harder to hide the consequences from the world. Despots can cling to
power, but they cannot deny their people knowledge of other people's freedom. Nations that
want to build a growing economy know that progress
req~ires
openness to the same information
everyone else has.
IV. Kosovo/The Future
But against those forces of integration, there remain powerful counter-forces, including the
resilient power of nationalism, sometimes exploited by unscrupulous leaders to gain and
maintain power; radical fundamentalism of various stripes that feeds on poverty to turn hatred
�7
into violence; and regional ethnic and religious animosities that can risk wider conflicts that
threaten our interests and those of our allies.
We see that today in Kosovo. It is a small province of a small country. But it is a big test of our
values and our vision for the future- your future. It forces us to answer our hardest questions.
Do we have the will to stand up to the same kind of evil that plummeted Europe into darkness
earlier this century? Can we build and sustain a coalition of democracies that is strong enough
and determined enough to defend our interests?
I believe we can answer those questions affimiatively. Our effort in Kosovo is not a fight for
territory or a proxy fight against a great power. It is something different: a struggle to reject
ethnic cleansing and restore dignity to apeople under assault for no reason beside their heritage.
It shows the world that we will not tolerate, on NATO's doorstep, a m,ethodical effort to expel an
entire people.
We're not in Kosovo to tell others how to live their lives. We're there to protect the right of a
people to live- period. And we are far from alone. NATO is 19 democratic nations, comprising
780 million people of every ethnic and religious stripe. Like the coalition that brought peace to
----
Bosnia, which was tom apart by the very same leaders preaching hatred in Kosovo today, NATO
combines countries in Europe that have been at odds for most of the last millennium, including
those with historic sympathies for Serbia.
�8
Let's be clear: ethnic tensions will always exist. They will not be eliminated simply because
more nations have access to the Internet. But we can draw a line in this last war of the 20th
century that will
~h the ~hat Kosovo will foreshadow many more such wars in the
21st. We can act n f to keep a conflict from spreading into a wider war that we- that is, youwould have to confront at far greater cost and risk in the years ahead. Ten years ago, a decade of
Balkan conflict driven by Mr. Milosevic began in Kosovo. Now, that conflict must end in
~hsovo.
Of course, none of us knows exactly what the future will look like. Frankly, the last thing I
thought about at my convocation was where I would be in 32 years. But we should seek to
envision as many of the future's possibilities as we can. What will our world look like thirty-two
years from today?
Let's begin with the certainties. Cornell will be thriving, despite, or perhaps because of the fact
tuition will have risen astronomically. You will be leaders of society. The Hot Truck will still
be serving--. And Senator Strom Thurmond will be 129 years old.
Now, the uncerthinties. Let's consider just a few issues. First, information. The last decade has
witnessed a revolution. The progress will continue, perhaps
exponentially~ere will be more
information than e l Our means of communication are staggering. New inventions will
continue to transfo~ economies. But open access to new forms of communication also creates
the potential for disruption on a massive scale. International terrorist groupfat transcend
�,-------------------------------------------~----------------
9
nations\se the same modem technology we do. Cyber-criminals can try to shut down cities.
W eapi.s of mass destruction can become accessible to the least responsib Ie. Will t t i c i pate
~prepare for the misuse of technology. at the same time we enjoy its benefits?
.
.
]
.
/
.
"
.
.
Second, there will be more economic integration than ever. The global economy will become
even more global. But will that contribute to cohesion or chaos? Here in the United States, we
can clearly see the upside of this integration. The economy has never been stronger. It is a
<'
~
-
miracle that a stockbroker in New York can send bill16iis of dollars around the world instantly
with the push of a button. But we should also remember that almost half of the world's people
live more than a two days walk away from a telephone. They are quite literally "disconnected.
And ultimately, if large parts of the world are left behind in the march of progress, their
bitterness and resentment will fuel conflict and permanent instability. Not only is tha(unjust, it
is profoundly unwise.
Third, the environment. Not too long after I graduated (1969), the Cuyahoga River actually
caught fire in Cleveland. We have made remarkable progress on. the environment since then.
But there is a qualitatively greater challenge we face over the next thirty years ... unmistakable
global warming, caused, in the· view of most scientists, by e~ve emissions of greenho~se
gases, which trap the earth's heat. Last year was the hottest year ever recorded. The year before
that was, too. ·And the year before that. As the tempera~re rises,
we~ increasingly feeli~ the
disruptions of phenomena like El Nino and La Nina, or the brushfires that swept across Indonesia
not long ago. Will we take steps now to address these challenges, admitting that we do not know
A
everything but determined to act on what we do know? Can we help not-yet-developed countries
~~~~·~-.
~~~,~~V'M-o
~~
.
�10
to chart different energy strategies than the currently industrial countries, preserving the
environment without sacrificing their ability to grow their economies and increase the standard
of living of their people? Or will we slide 'into indifference and inactivity, and the beginnings of
ecological disasters that we can only imagine?
Fourth, the power of nations undoubtedlywilllook quite different in thirty years, when you
return for your Cornell reunion. But let me pose just one question that will profoundly affect the
I..,;
quality of your lives and thos.e...ofyour children: Will our former.adversaries in the Cold War,
Russia and China, succeed in the difficult transition from command economies and authoritarian
governments? Will the United States play a useful role in these transitions, or lose the moment?
For fifty years, we confronted the challenge of Russia's strength. Today, we must confront the
risk of a Russia economically and politically weakened by the legacy of communism. We cannot
ignore areas of concern and disagreement- but we must also remember that in eight years, with
no living memory of democracy, the Russian people have built a country more open to the world
and more rooted in democracy than ever before. The Russians will decide their own future -but
we must work with them for the best possible outcome, with realism and patience. This is no
time for complacency.
In a sense, China has the opposite problem- rising prosperity, but not enough democracy.
China's achievement over the last three decad.es is nothing short of remarkable -lifting millions
out of poverty, creating a modern economy where none existed. But to maintain progress, and to
respond to ongoing economic problems, China needs to deepen political reform. It's self-evident
�11
that nations seeking to keep pace in the Information Age are going to have to open not only their
economies, but their societies as well. As we have seen over the last few months, our
relationship is fraught with serious difficulties and acute sensitivities. We have important
differences with China, and we must not hesitate to press them. But how China develops, with a
quarter of the world's people- facing inward or looking outward ~e vverld- will have a
profound effect on
y~v~~f~n.
Ifwe seek to isolate China, we will
essentially be isolating China from all the forces of change that can help the Chinese build a
better future with us.
V. Conclusion
The decisions you make will shape these issues and this new century. And that is a reason for
great confidence in the future. I know what kind of education you received here over the last
four years. The circumstances of your life will shift over and over again. But the intellectual
~·~
.
..
~··--'.~~
·
and moral framework you~~ from your famthes and that M, €l"Ue€n•g.~>-v.eR-gr<€ater
~Cl~~
definition here will last a lifetime. The best education is the one that Cornell taught you to
u
.
aCciilire long after you leave here tomorrow.
I have been on a lot of trips with the President in the last few years, from China to Chile, from
Australia to Mrica. Everywhere we go, young people are redefining their nations. If peace
finally comes to Northern Ireland, the Middle East, or Nigeria- today celebrating its long.:
awaited return to democracy - it will be in large measure because a new generation demands it
and makes it happen.
�12
Last June, the President gave a speech to the students of Beijing University. The President ended
that speech with a quotation from the great Chinese scholar and statesman Hu Shih [hoo sure], a
member ofthe Cornell class of 1914. "The struggle for individual freedom," he said, "is the
struggle for the nation's freedom. The struggle for your own character is the struggle for the
nation's character." In other words, what you do matters, not only for yourself, but for the world
around you.
That is why I hope each of you, in your own way, in your own world, will devote some of your
energy and time to the common good- to public service. By teaching well. By healing people.
By conceiving new ideas that bring people happiness. For each of us is elevated- and in some
way, fulfilled- by what we give to the larger community. That means going b.eyond what is
necessary to do what is needed. It can mean a lawyer doing pro bono work. It can mean a
banker thinking of ways to bring investment to the inner city. It can mean being a good parentand also looking out for the children next door. It can mean braving a career in government, in
democracy's rough and tumble arena- because the quality of its decisions depends upon the
quality of its people.
You have a responsibility to yourself, but you also have a responsibility to others. When I was
about ten years old, my mother took my sister and me to stay with my aunt and uncle in New
York City for the weekend, a world away from the quiet little farming community where we
lived ... where when the fire siren blew at night, we would all worry about which friend's house
was burning. My first night in the big city, I was awakened every ten or fifteen minutes by the
sound of sirens -fire trucks, ambulances, police cars. The next morning I asked my aunt how
�13
she ever slept at night with all these sirens. "Oh, after a while," she said, "you just don't hear
them."
You have lived in a close community here at Cornell. But as you leave, I hope you never leave
the idea of what community has meant to you. I hope you will never stop hearing the sirens.
Let me say a final word. Commencement.is your day. You earned it. And it's a big day for
your parents, too. Only at your own children's graduation will you understand just how full of
love and pride your parents are at this moment. If you remember nothing else I say, I hope you
will steal a quiet moment tomorrow to show them, with or without words; that as old and
decrepit as they are, they really aren't so bad after all. Thank you for letting me share this day
with you. Good luck, Class of '99, and Godspeed.
###
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�05/27/99
THU 20:08 FAX
----.--·,.,....- - - - - - - -
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!41001
Su,tphen, Mona K.
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Widmer, Edward L. (Ted)
Thursday, May 27, 1999 6:05PM
@NSA - Natl Security Advisor
@SPEECH - NSC Speechwrlters
Cornell [UNCLASSIFIED]
New changes inserted. Now 1.5 pages shorter than this morning's version. Walt said last year's speech was 30-35
!J
Ccrnell2!!oc
minutes; this should be about 25, which I think is perfect (Walt agreed).
�05!27/99
THU 20:08 ~~
APNSA
5/27/99 6 pm
SAMUEL R. BERGER
ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS
REMARKS AT CONVOCATION
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
ITHACA, NEW YORK
MAY 29,1999
I. Intra
I am very pleased to be here as your Convocation speaker ... as a Cornell alumnus ... as a spouse
of a CorneH alumna ... but especially as a proud parent of a member of the Class of 1999. lmust
say that this is the first time I ever spent $120,000 for the privilege of giving a speech.
It is not easy to sit still on graduation day, or worse, the day before graduation, and listen to a
I
speaker lecture you on his or her rules of life- rules that always sound perfectly obvious.
You've made it this far, so presumably you've got a good sense ofwhere you're going. Ifyou're
like most Cornell students I remember, you have waited until the last possible minute to pay your
phone bilL return your library books! say goodbye to your best friends, get a job, and most
urgently, flnd a place to live other than your parents' house. On this, I know I speak for the
parents here in saying we are behind you 100 percent.
It's bard for me to believe that it was 32 years ago that I sat where you are, on the day before
speech. In fact, I can't even remember who the speaker was! So I approach my role today with
a proper sense of humility, knowing that I am one of the last obstacles left between you and your
diploma.
l4J 002
�OS/27/99
THU 20:09 FAX
.
-------
APNSA
~003
2
You should keep a count this weekend how many speakers and others point out that you are the
last graduating class of the twentieth century. I will say only this:· fifty years from now, .when
you come back to your reunion, the undergraduates will see you wearing your Class of '99 hats,
and say, "they are r~ally old. Can you believe they actually lived in the 20th century?"
about my tilDe at Cornell, and yours. In some ways, they are very
different, but in other respects they are q~ite the same. When I was a student here, from 19631967, the 21st century was impossibly far away. Stanley Kubrick's popular film, 2001: A Space
Odyssey (1968),was futuristic science fiction, not contemporary drama. Now 2001 is a just
another year, and the sophomores' graduating class.
II. 1967
r
I want to staJ.t my odyssey today in the opposite direction, going backward in time to reflect a bit
on the complicated path we took to gena the present ·lt is an odyssey, I ike Homer's, that starts
and ends in Ithaca. I'd like to talk a little about the Cornell I graduated from 32 years ago.
There's a lot of 60s nostalgia out there today. Ads for the Gap show people dancing the Watusi.
The sequel to "'Austin Powers" is about to come out. In fact, the last time I sp
~
~the Director of the
Central Intelligence Agency,
e with.Qeaorge
,.-,..,.t.,~
un o explain the title1"The
Spy Who Shagged Me," but neither of us had any idea what it meant.
r .
Most of that nostalgia is way off the mark, especially to the extent it reinforces the stereotype of
a baby boom generation obsessed with itself I think it would be more hon~st to depict the 60s as
�05/27/99
THU 20:09 FAX
APNSA
--.--..i--------- - - - - ---'---·- - - - -
f4l 004
3
they were - a time of great hopefulness, not just here in the United States but around the world.
A time of idealism, when most of us, especially the young, felt that if Americans stood up for
their principles, we could eliminate problems like racism and poverty at home, and build just
peace abroad. Obviously, that was simplistic. But it was anything but self-centered.
Cornell was a very different university when I arrived here in the fall of 1963. John F. Kennedy
was President, and most of us were deeply inspired by his call to serve. The college was
overwhelmingly white and male. The dorms were strictly smgle-sex, and on the rare occasions
that a female entered the room of
am~ ~tudent, it was required that the do~ rule
that generated extraordinary creativityr""@ .........uy taD•
ahi~iog ~~
----
At the time, the 60s felt very modem and fast-paced, but as we look back, it is astonishing to
realize how much slower our society was. There was a single computer on campus. It occupied
almost all of Rand Hall. It probably had the computing power of a small Nintendo game today.
TV sets were black and whjte- although black wasn't especially needed, because you never saw
a person of color on TV in any capacity. "Cable" was another word for a telegram, which was
how you sent word to your parents thai you needed more money. "The Web'' was something
spiders had built in the dark comer ofthe garage, which your parents asked you to clean out to
justify all the money they sent you.
But it was also a time of enormous ferment and change, stimulated by a war in Vietnam most of
us opposed and a growing realization of the racial injustice most of us felt intolerable. Maybe it
�05/27/99
THU 20:09 FAX
. APNSA
i . _ _ . _ _ _, - - - · -
141005
4
also was just a time to protest. I remember one demonstration over Comelrs plan to raise tuition
to $1700 a year. We lost.
By and large, this energy, expressed in many forms, reflected a desire to make America's reality
consonant with America's rhetoric. Some of these efforts were productive; others less so. Over
time, here and later, we learned
that~problems we were concerned about went deeper
than we thought. The assassinations of the 6~s were warnings of the violence we still wrestle
with as a nation. Riots in cities across the country urgently revealed that the American Dream
was not available to all Americans. On issue after issue, from foreign policy to domestic
concerns, we Jeamed that the light at the. end of the tunnel ... sometimes is just another tunnel.
m.
1999
But those reality checks did not stop us from moving forward. Like all classes, my class kept
going, got married, had kids - some of whom are graduating tomorrow. And in different ways,
1,r,., !WJAI/
1ft\ I\'.OU) Jl r AS.
we - and you - are still !C:g~f.the same issue!);;.ur circ.afnstances as a country have
changed - immensely for the better. But the same questions are still urgent- maybe all the more
\Jrgent now that the United States has more power and prosperity than any country has ever
known. How do we maintain the impetus to create a more just society? For what purposes
should America be engaged in the world, and how much? How can we harness technology and
progress to advance not only our material needs, but our safety and stability?
�05/27/99
THU 20:10 FAX
APNSA
-------·--------·-- -- ----·-5
Those questions do not have easy answers. They provoke debate and sometimes acrimony. But
we must face them honestly, and respond to them as best we can. Franklin D. Roosevelt said,
"democracy is an everlasting march." That's another way of saying it's a long haul.
We should start by recognizing that we have traveled an enormous distance to where we are
today. Many people enjoy lamenting how much better things were in the past. That's nonsense.
~1~ast decade, we have seen the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end ofthe Cold War~ the
existential threat of nuclear annihilation. +oday, tbeR ar• Aliil allliiPlear ursapa&i laf.Bitee fit tit~
~-
We have achieved meaningful progress toward peace in the Middle East and
Northern Ireland. For the first time in human history, more than half the world's people elect
/
their own governments. Americans are enjoying what may be the strongest economy in history.
Here,
as. a metoelee&l
progress to come.
le~vel:'e see a university that is thriving and laying the foundation for more
~mell has become an international university. There are study
abroad programs as far away as NepaL Cornell alumni live on every continent. Indeed, the
President of Taiwan, Lee Teng-hlli, a Cornell alummls, nearly wrecked Sino-American relations
a few years ago when he spoke here at his alma mater. I suppose that was an example of the
lesson Gloria Steinem offered Cornell students this spring (April 22), when she came here to
urge yoll all to develop just "one new subversive organizing tactic."
The same changes that have transfonned Cornell are working around the world. In the 60s,
<J
"integration" meant bringing people together here at home. Today, a different kind of
integration is changing the world. Powerful economic, technological and social forces are
14! 006
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6
pulling people together. Last year, during the President's China trip, the poster I saw most
frequently as I walked through the dormitQries ofBeijing University was Michael Jordan's.
During the Africa trip, we visited a remote village in Uganda, where I saw a young girl wearing
Guess Jeans. A few years ago, I arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan in the middle of the night, turned
on the TV in my hotel room, and heard George.Stephanopoulos and Mary Matalin debate on
" Larry v:
."-~ng
614:t'A ~~c.46~
's
(J
L. " who was th e " Anonymous' ' who wrote Primary Colors. l!m ft8t HF8 t
,
1ve
..$'
,
progress, but it reflectlli. the globalization of our culture. Everywhere, the Internet provides
people with a tether to the rest of the world. With a small mouse-click, the sum of human
experience is at our fingertips. I should know, because I invented the mouse one summer when I
was hanging around with the Vice President.
These forces of global integration have been driven in no small measure by America's
dynamism, values and leadership. They are triumphs of the imagination, but they~
engines of prosperity, democracy and peace. Leaders can still make war on their people, but in
the Information Age it is harder to hide the consequences from the world. Despots can cling to
power, but they cannot deny their people knowledge of other people's freedom. Nations that
want to build a growing economy know that progress requires = ; - o the same
information everyone else has.
IV. Kosovo/The Future
But against those forces of integration, there remain powerful counter-forces, including the
resilient power of nationalism, sometimes exploited by unscrupulous leaders to gain and
maintain power; radical fundament~lism of various stripes that feeds on poverty to tum .hatred
�05/27/99
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into violence; and regional ethnic and religious animosities that can risk wider conflicts that
threaten our interests and those of our allies.
'We see that today in Kosovo. It is a small province of a small country. But it is a big test of our
values and our vision for the future- your future. It forces us to answer our hardest questions.
Do we have the will to stand up to the same kind of evil that plummeted Europe into darkness
earlier this century? Can we build and sustain a coalition of democracies that is strong enough
and determined enough to defend our interests?
1 believe we can answer those questions affirmatively. Our effort in Kosovo is not a fight for
territory or a proxy fight against a great power. It is something different: a struggle to reject .
ethnic cleansing and restore dignity to a people under assault for no reason beside their heritage.
It shows the world that we will not tolerate, on NATO's doorstep, a methodical effort to
~~~~t~n~
We're not in Kosovo to tell others how to live theirlives. We're there to protect the right of a
people to live- period. And we are far from alone. NATO is 19 democratic nations, comprising
that have been at odds for most of the last millennium, including those with historic sympathies
for Serbia.
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8
Ja~ k tbiJA.~
~-'{ .
J\j~
.
~thnic tensio't'ill always exist. jfiJI not be eliminatedl-!tul more na':liave access Ill
B~we
centu~iminish
the Internet.
can draw a line in this last war of the 20th
the prospect
t.,o 0
I\
tba~ foreshado}many more such wars in the 21st. We can act now to keep a conflict from
spreading into a wider war that we- that is, you- would have to confront at far greater cost and
risk in the years ahead. Ten years ago, a decade of Balkan conflict driven by Mr. Milosevic
began in Kosovo. Now, that conflict must end in Kosovo.
Of course, none of us knows exactly what the future will look like. Frankly, the last thing I
· thought about at my convocation was where I would be in 32 years. But we should seek to
envision as many of the future's possibilities as we. can. What
~ook like thirty-two
-~
years from today?
Let's begin with the certainties. Cornell will be thriving, despite, or perhaps because of the fact
tuition will have risen astronomically. You wilJ be leaders of society. The Hot Truck will still
be serving --. And Senator Strom Thurmond will be 129 years old.
Now, the uncertainties. Let's consider just a few issues. First, infonnation. The last decade has
witnessed a revolution. The progress will continue, perhaps exponentially. There will be more
infollilation than ever. Our means of communication are staggering. New inventions will
ClCG&44 ~
continue to transform economies. But the 9af!e ft.flfl openness"new forms of communication
aAUl
also creates the potential for disruption on a massive scale. International terrorist groups that
I
I
transcend nations
~us~he same modem technology we do.
Cyber·criminals
,~ to shut
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down cities.
141010
c.&l.~ -..~ -b<l\t .taJ.
~ pmtithoti<m ot:\Jlapons ofmass destroctio')\Will we anticipate and prepare for~~~
the misuse of technology at the same time we enjoy its benefits?
Second, there will be more economic integration than ever. The global economy will become
even more global. But will that contribute to cohesion or chaos? Here in the United States, we
can clearly see the upside of this integration. The economy· has never been stronger. It is a
miracle that a stockbroker .in New York can send billions of dollars around the world instantly
with the push of a button. But we should also remember that ahnost half of the world's people
live more than a two days walk away from a telephone. They are quite literally disconnected.
And ultimately, if large parts of the world are left behind in the march of progress, their
bitterness and resentment will fuel
~nflict and permanent instability.
Not only is that
unjust, it is profoundly unwise.
Third, the environment. Not too long after I graduated (1969), the Cuyahoga River actually ·
caught fire in Cleveland. We have made remarkable progress on the environments ince then.
But there is a qualitatively greater challenge we face over the next thirty years ... unmistakable
global warming, caused, in the view of most scientists, by excessive emissions of greenhouse
'.
gases, which trap the earth's heat. Last year was the hottest year ever recor~ed. The year before
that was, too. And the year before that. As the temperature rises, we are increasingly feeling_ the
disruptions of phenomena like El Nino and La Nina, or the brushfires that swept across Indonesia
not long ago. Will we take steps now to address these challenges, admitting that we do not know
everything but detennined to act on what we do know? Can we help not-yet-developed countries
to chart different energy strategies than the currently industrial countries, preseiVing the
�I
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10
environment without sacrificing their ability to grow their economies and increase the standard
of living of their people? Or will we slide into indifference and inactivity, and the beginnings of
ecological disasters that we can only imagine?
Fourth, the power of nations undoubtedly will look quite different in thirty years, when you
return for your Cornell reunion. But let me pose just one question that will profoundly affect the
quality of your Jives and those of your children: Wi II our fanner adversaries m the Cold War,
Russia and China, succeed in the difficult transition from command economies and authoritarian
governments? Will the United States play a useful role in these transitions, or lose the moment?
For fifty years, we confronted the challenge of Russia's strength. Today, we must confront the
'
risk of a Russia economically and politically weakened by the legacy of communism. We cannot
ignore areas of concern and disagreement- but we must also remember that in eight years, wjth
no living memory of democracy, the Russian people have built a country more open to the world
and more rooted in democracy than ever before. The Russians will decide their own future -but
we must work with them for the best poss~ble outcome, with realism and patience. This is no
time for complacency.
In a sense, China has the opposite problem- rising prosperity, but not enough democracy.
China's achievement over the last three decades is nothing short of remarkable -lifting millions
out of poverty, creating a modem economy where none existed. But to maintain progress, and to
respond to ongoing economic problems, China needs to deepen political reform. It's self-evident
that nations seeking to keep pace in the Information Age are going to have to open not only their
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economies, but their societies as welL As we have seen over the last few months, our
relationship is fraught with serious difficulties and acute sensitiviti
djfferences with China, and we m
not hesitate to press them.
profound effect on your lives and the lives
of your children. If we seek to isolate
essentially be isolating China from all the forces of change that can help the Chinese build a
better future with us.
V. Conclusion
The decisions you make will shape these issues and this new century. And that is a reason for
great oonfidence in the future. I know what kind of education you r~ceived here over the last
four years. The circumstances of your life w.iJl shift over and over again. Bu.t the intellectual
and moral framework you acquired from your families and that have been given greater
definition here will last a lifetime. The best education is the one that Cornell taught you to
acquire long after you leave here tomorrow.
I have been on a lot of trips with the President in the last few years, from China to Chile, from
.
.
Australia to Mrica. Everywhere we go, young people are redefining their nations. If peace
finally comes to Northern Ireland, the Middle East, or Nigeria- today celebrating its longawaited return to democracy -it will be in large measure because a new generation demands it
and makes it happen.
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Last June, the President gave a speech to the students of Beijing University. The President ended
that speech with a quotation from the great Ch.i.nese scholar and statesman Hu Shih (hoo sure], a
member of the Cornell class of J914. "The struggle for individual freedom," he said, "is the
struggle for the nation's freedom. The s~or your own character is the struggle for the
nation's chara<ter."
t.~~ttfu.s. not only for 1: but for the world around you.
~·
~~
That is why I hope each .of you , in your own way, in your own world, will de~ote some of your
energy and time to the common good- to public service. By teaching wel1.IY healing people.
Jy conceiving new ideas that bring people happiness. For each of us is elevated- and in some
way, fulfilled- by what we give to the larger community. That means et on It ee;R~ 1111hs:e we ·
8:£& eK.'l"eoteei
te Ei95e~tt ¥:4\liiB: u~ eaH, euMeEiiRS &XifJii~ileBe- going beyond what is necessary
to do what is needed. It can mean a lawyer doing pro bono work. It can mean a· banker thinking
of ways to bring investment to the inner city. It can mean being a good parent- and also looking
You have a responsibility to yourself, but you also have a responsibility to others. When I was
about ten years old, my mother took my sister and me to stay with my aunt and uncle in New
York City for the weekend, a world away from the
'fll..fte.~g community where we lived ...
where when the fire siren blew at night, we would all worry about :which friend's house was
burning. My ftrst night in the big city, I was awakened every ten or fifteen minutes by the sound
~013
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of sirens - flre trucks, ambulances. police cars. The next morning I asked my aunt how she ever
slept at night with all these sirens. "Oh, after a while," she said, "you just don't hear them."
You have lived in a close community here at Cornell. But as you leave, I hope you never leave
the idea of what communityhas
meant~ you. ia ~~~e~
Commencement is your day. You earned it. And it's a big day for your parents, too. Only at
your own children's graduation will you understand just how full of love and pride your parents
are at this moment. If you remember nothing else I say, I hope you will steal a quiet moment
tomorrow to show them, with or without words, that as old and decrepjt as they are, they really
aren't so bad after all. Thank you for letting me share this day with you. Good luck, Class of·
'99, and Godspeed.
�05/27/99
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.
.Sutphen, Mona K.
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Widmer. Edward L. (Ted)
Thursday, May 27, 1999 3:43PM
@NSA - Natl Security Advisor ·
@SPEECH • NSC Speechwriters
Cornell [UNCLASSIFIED]
Ccrnell2.doe
One more time.
1
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5/27/99 3 pm
SA:MUEL R. BERGER
ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS
REMARKS AT CONVOCATION
CQRNELL UNIVERSITY
ITHACA, NEW YORK
MAY29, 1999
I. Intro
I
am~as your Convocation speaker ... as a Cornell alumnus ... as aspouse of a
Cornell alumna ... but especially as a proud parent of a member of the Class of 1999. I must say
that this is the first time I ever!22!!.t $120,000 for the privilege of giving a speech.
l
It is not easy to sit still on graduation day, or worse, the day before graduation, and listen to a
speaker lecture
y~
~
his or her rules of
life~ rules that always sound perfectly obvious.
You've made it this far, so presumably you've got a good sense of where you're going. If you're
like most Cornell students I remember, you have waited until the last possible minute to pay your
phone bill, return your library books, say goodbye to your best friends, get a job, and most
urgently, find a place to live other than your parents' house. On this, I know I speak for the
parents here in saying we are behind you 100 percent.
If s hard for me to believe that it was 32 years ago that I sat where you are, on the day before
O-...tot-
~ -9.- ~Aa...o ~dlt_ a-6--
graduation. I remember~ about that day- ew;ry+bine ~x~;epXthe convocation speech.
In fact, I can't even remember who the speaker was! So I approach my role today with a proper
sense ofhumHity, knowing that I am one of the last obstacles left between yo·u and your diploma.
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2
-4 wiU Ret ~Bfiliiieate &8wt t9e great lessons of life, I am still Dyittg to figme rhese out for
cA-
~
.myself My goals are mgre HiQdisl' I'd like to talk a little about my time at Cornell, and yours.
In some
ways,~are very different; but in other respects they are quite the same.
graduating class of the twentieth century. I will say only this: fifty years from now, when you
come back to your reunion, the undergraduates will see you wearing your Class of '99 hats, and
say, "they are really old. Can you believe they actually lived in the 20th century?"
When I was a student here, f1om 1963-1967, the 21~1 century was impossibly far away. Stanley
Kubrick's popular film, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), was futuristic science fiction, not
contemporary drama. Now 200 I is a just another year, and the sophomores' graduating class.
II. 1967
9--- wuJr
.
-twJA.'-1
.
~-U)atrrr!!"'',...,,.J.;J'1'!1B.i:IIH'II!i.kR_o start my odysse~ tlle opposite direction, going backward in time to reflect a
bit on the complicated path we took to get to the present. lt is an odyssey, like Homer's, that
starts and ends in Ithaca. I'd like to talk a little about.the Cornell I graduated from 32 years ago.
There's a lot of 60s nostalgia out there today. Ads for the Gap show people dancing the Watusi.
The sequel to "Austin Powers" is about to come out. In fact, the last time I spoke with George
Tenet, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, l asked him to explain the title of"The
Spy Who Shagged Me," but neither of us had any idea what it meant.
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Most of that nostalgia is way off the mark, especially to the extent it reinforces the stereotype of
a baby boom generation obsessed with itself. I think it would be more honest to depict the 60s as
they were- a time of great hopefulness, not just here in the United States but around the world.
~'~~~~~~J
A time of idealism and
j
, when most of us, especially the young, felt that if Americans
stood up for their principles, we cou
e iminate problems like racism and poverty at home, and
build just peace abroad. Obviously, that was simplistic. But it was anything but self-centered.
Comell was a very different university when I arrived here in the fall of 1963. John F. Kennedy
was President, and mostofus were deeply mspired by his call to serve. The college was
overwhelmingly white and male. The dorms were strictly single-sex, and on the rare occasions
vt~AH-A ~cl.~
that a female entered the room of a male student" door......be open- a rule that generated
the
extraordinary creativity among nonnally law-abiding undergraduates.
At the time, the 60s felt very modem and fast-paced, but as we look back, it is astonishing to .
realize how much slower our society was. There was a single computer on campus. It occupied
almost all of Rand HalL It probably had the computing P'?wer of a small Nintendo game today.
TV sets were black and white- although black wasn't especially needed, because you never saw
a person of color on TV in any capacity. "Cable" was another word for a telegram, which was
how you sent word to your parents that you needed more money. ,.The Web" was something
t1tl!t!l---
spiders had built in the dark comer of the garage which your parents asked you to clean out to
justify all the money they sent you.
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But it was also a time of enormous fennent and change, stimulated by a war in Vietnam most of
us opposed and a growing realization of the racial injustice most of us felt intolerable.
a
JAeybe it also was just a time to protest. I remember one demonstration ov~r Cornell's. plan to
raise tuition to $1700 a year. We lost.
By and Jarge, this
ene~~ ~~~erica's reality consonant with America's
J"
rhetoric. Some ofth~e efforts were productive; others less so. Over time, here and later, we
learned that many of the problems we were concerned about went deeper than we thought. The
assassinations of the 60s were warnings of the violence we still wrestle with as a nation. Riots in
cities across the country urgently revealed that the American Dream was not available to all
Americans. On issue after issue rom foreign policy to domestic concerns, we learned that the
Ill 1999
But those reality checks did not stop us from moving forward. Like all classes, my class kept
going, got married, had kids - some of whom are graduating tomorrow. And in different ways,
we- and you -.are still facing some of the same issues. Our circumstances as a country have
changed- immensely for the better. But the same questions are still urgent- maybe all the more
urgent now that the United States has more power and prosperity than any country has ever
ftk_u&,a "'f1:•44-f'"
erica be
known. How do we maintain the impetu,s to create a more just society: ~oulfl
engaged in the world, and how much? How can we harness technology and progress to advance
not only our material needs, but our safety and stability?
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Those questions do not have easy answers. They provoke debate and sometimes acrimony. But
we must face them honestly, and respond to them as best we can. Franklin D. Roosevelt said,
"democracy is an everlasting march." That's another way of saying it's a long hauL
We should start by recognizing that we'have1traveled an enonnous distanc~ to where we are
f:her.e.tie ilQ lUM:;~er =g'Mf'e.A!i tarsutae M th:e United States. We have achieved meaningful
progress toward peace in the Middle East and Northern Ireland. For the first time in human
history, more than half the wodd's people elect their own governments. Americans are enjoying
what may be the strongest economy in our history-
we'v~~owest rates of
~ me
re
1
~
A.J::t:fi Q "-'
unemployment, inflation and crime in a generation. We've seen the highest home ownership ~
cJ..vdth..
ever, including minority home ownership.
~...._L
Here, at a 'more local level, we see a university that is thriving and laying the foundation for more
progress to come. Indeed, Cornell has become an international university. 1There are study
(
abroad programs as far away as NepaL Cornell alumni live on every continent Indeed, the
President of Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui, a Cornell alumnus, near1y wrecked Sino-American relations
a few years ago when he spoke here at his alma mater. I suppose that was an example of the
lesson Gloria Steinem offered Cornell students this spring (April 22), when she came here to
urge you all to develop just "one new subversive organizing tactic."
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The same changes that have transfonned Cornell are working around the world. In the 60s,
"integration" meant bringing people together here at home. Today; a different kind of
integration is changing the world. Powerful economic, technological and social forces are
pulling people together. Last year, during the President's China trip, the poster I saw most
frequently as 1 walked through the dormitories ofBeijing University was Michael Jordan's.
During the Africa trip, we visited a remote village in Uganda, where I saw a young g~l wearing
Guess Jeans. A few years ago, I arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan in the middle of the night, turned
on the TV in my hotel room, and heard George Stephanopoulos and Mary Matalin debate on
"Larry King Live" who was the "Anonymous" who wrote Primary Colors. I'm not sure that's
progress, but it
~the globalizalion of our culture. Everywhej,.,l.;;;lnremet
pro~ther to the rest of the world. With a small mouse-click, the sum of human
experience is at our fingertips. l should know, because l invented the mouse one summer when I
was hanging around with the Vice President.
These forces of global integration have been driven in no small measure by America's
dynamism, values and leadership. They are triumphs of the imagination, but they are also
engines of prosperity, democracy and peace. Leaders can still make war on their people, but in.
the Information Age it is harder to hide the consequences from the world. Despots can cling to
power, but they cannot deny their people knowledge of other people's freedom. Nations that
want to build a growing economy know ihat progress requires open access to the same
·information everyone else has.
IV. Kosovo/The Future
rtJ 007
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But against those forces of integration, there remain powerful counter-forces, including the
resilient power of nationalism, sometimes exploited by unscrupulous leaders to gain and
maintain power; radical fundamentalism of various stripes that feeds on poverty to tum hatred
into violence; and regional ethnic and religious animosities that can risk wider conflicts that
threaten our interests and those of our allies.
We see that today in Kosovo. It is a small province of a small country. But it is a big test of our
values and our vision for the future- your future. It forces us to answer our hardest questions.
Do we have the will to stand up to the same kind of evi I that plummeted Europe into darkness
earlier this century? Can we build and sustain a coalition of democracies that is strong enough
and determined enough to defend our interests?
I believe we can answer those questions affinnatively. Our effort tn Kosovo is not a fight for
territory or a proxy fight against a great power. It is something different: a struggle to reject
ethnic cleansin~ and restore dignity to a people under _assault for no reason beside their heritage.
Tt shows the world that we will not tolerate, on NATO's doorstep, a methodical effort to
eliminate all traces of a population.
We're not in Kosovo to tell others-how to live their lives. We're there to protect the right of a
people to live- period. And we are far from alone. NATO is 19 democratic nations, comprising
~e. and ~q.t~ /\1 rt"~
J
,
780 million people of every ~~ike the &k>alition thafb~ought peace to Bosnia, ·
combines countries in Europe that have been at odds for most of the last millennium, ·
those with historic sympathies for Serbia.
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important Not too long ago, in 1984, this cosmopolitan city hosted the Winte
just a few years ago, it was under assault by the very same lead
under the banner of ethnic purity. 2.5 million peo
were killed. Today, in the same pla
were driven from their homes. 250,000
here shots once rang out, the hubbub is the voices of
cross Bosnia, people your age, from nations as disparate as Malaysia
nd Canada, Russia and Gennany, are working together to help Bosnians
Ethnic tension will always exist It wi1I not be eliminated because more nations have access
to
the Internet But we can draw a line in this last war of the 20th century to diminish the prospect ·
that it will foreshadow many more such wars in the 21 ~t.· We can act now to keep a conflict from
spreading into a wider war that we -that is, you -would have to confront at far greater cost and
risk in the years ahead.
Of course, none of us knows exactly what the future will look like. Frankly, ·the last thing I
thought about at my convocation was where I would be in 32 years. 'k\•as f3f@8alilly mere
~&d.
a&ew,t;.the sisk!F9Hig faetot:Mt-46 Refl Smr 9J Cl e ttheotd of the ¥ankccs ill the stmuiings .
.4.-UJ.---1-e
In fact, I'tn t:hiukin~ 8:B8'Mt ~at a~t Rew. But I think w~ shoul~,.,. \laiftlt 8ftee:8, MIS
envision as many of the future's possibilities as we can. What will our world look like thirty-two
�05/27/99
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9
Let's begin with the certainties. Cornell will be thriving, despite, or perhaps because ofthe fact
tuition will have risen astronomically. You will be leaders of society. The Hot Truck will still
be serving --. And Senator Strom Thunnond will be 129 years old.
Now, the uncertainties. Let's consider just a few issues. First, information. The last decade has
witnessed a revolution. The progress will continue, perhaps exponentially. There will be more
~
s:S-
llrl\.
Clllt.f
information than ever. Our~ d6mmunicatl' it staggering. New inventions will continue
to transform economies. But the ease and openness of new forms of communication also creates
the potential for disruption on a massive scale. International terrorist groups that transcend
nations and use the same modern technology we do. Cybercriminals who try to shut down cities.
A proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Will we anticipate and prepare for the misuse of
technology at the same time we enjoy its benefits?
Second, there will be more economic integration than ever. The global economy will become ·
~
j\contr~bute to cohesion or chaos;
even more global. But will
Here in the United States, we can
clearly see the upside of this integration. The economy has never been stronger. It is a miracle
lc:>~I.CM
~
that a stockbroker in New York can send ~of dollars around the worldJ\ith the ~ush of a
button. But we should also remember that almost half of the world's people live more than a two
days walk away from a telephone. They are quite literally disconnected. And ultimately, if large
parts of the world are left behind in the march of progress, their bitterness and resentment wilJ
fuel greater conflict and permanent instability. Not only is that unjust, it is profoundly unwise.
�05/2i/99
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Third, the environment. Not too long after I graduated (1969), the Cuyahoga River actually
caught fire in Cleveland. We have made remarkable progress on the environment since then.
But there is a qualitatively greater challenge we face over the next thirty years ... unmistakable
. global wanning, caused, in the view of most scientists, by excessive emissions of greenhouse
gases; which trap the earth's heat. Last year was the hottest year ever recorded. The year before
that was, too. And the year before that. As the temperature rises, we.are increasingly feeling the
disruptions of phenomena like El Nino and La Nina, or the brushfrres that swept across lndones1a
not long ago. Will we take steps now to address these challenges, admitting that we do not know
overythingt;;;:etermined to act on what we do know?
Can~ not-yet-
developed countries to chart different energy strategies than the currently industrial countries,
preserving the environment without sacrificing their ability to grow their economies and increase
the standard ofliving of their people? Or will we slide into indifference and inacti.vity,-and the
beginnings of ecological disasters that we can only imagine?
Fourth, the power of nations undoubtedly will look quite different in thirty years, when you
return for your Cornell reunion. But let me pose just one question that wiH profoundly affect the
quality of your lives and those of your children: Will our former adversaries in the Cold War,
Russia and China, succeed in the difficult transition from command economies and authoritarian
governments? Will the United States play a useful role in these transitions, or lose the moment?
For fifty years, we confronted the challenge of Russia's strength. Today, we must confront the
risk of a Russia economically and politically weakened by the legacy of communism. We cannot
ignore areas of concern and disagreement- but we must also remember that in eight years, with
�05/27/99
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. "
11
no living memory of democracy, the Russian people have built a country more open to the world
and more rooted in democracy than ever before. The Russians will decide their own future- but
we must work with them for the best possible outcome, with realism and patience. This is no
time for complacency.
In a sense, China has the opposite problem- rising prosperity, but not enough democracy.
China's achievement over the last three decades is nothing short of remarkable -lifting millions
.
I
out of poverty, creating a modern economy where none existed. But to maintain progress, and to
~
I
respond to ongoing economic problems, China needs to deepen ittl political reform. As we have[bJ,i ~
,..d/ ~
seen over the last few months, our relationship is fraught with serious difficulties and acute
.
~~r
.
sensitivities. We have important differences w1th China, and we must not hesitate to press them. ~
But how China develops, with a quarter of the world's people, facing inward or looking outward
to the world, will have a profound effect on your lives and the lives of your children. Tfwe seek
to isolate China, we will essentially be isolating China from all the forces of change that can help
the Chinese build a better future with us.
V. Conclusion.
T
·,
The decisions you make will shape these issues and this new century.
(kJ.~M:~
(}. , }uQJ.f14A; J..~ f1ri ,,J't l!nJd.~
M
I).Aot..
~ ~~ .
~
---A_I }{now wliat lfnd o:vCfUCatiori y&r received here over t.ije last four years. The
circumstances of your life will shift over and over again. But the intellectual and moral
framework you have acquired from your families and that have been given greater definition
here will last a lifetime. The best education is the one that Cornell taught you to acquire long
after you leave here tomorrow.
-----------~-------
----
�05/27/99
.THU
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I have been on a lot of trips with the President in the last few years, from China to Chile, from
Australia to Africa. Everywhere we go, young people are redefining their nations. If peace
fmally comes to Northern Ireland, the Middle East, or Nigeria- today celebrating its longawaited return to democracy- it will be in large measure because a new generation demands it
and makes it happen.
Last year, the President gave a speech to the students of Beijing University. The President ended
that speech with a quotation from the great Chinese scholar and statesman Hu Shih [hoo sure], a
member of the Cornell class of 1914. "The struggle for individual freedom," he said, "is the
struggle for the nation's freedom. The struggle for your own character is the struggle for the
nation's character."
1'
;ff-
What you do matters, not only for you, but for the world around you. That is why I hope each of
common good- to public service. By teaching well, by healing people, by conceiving new ideas
that bring peopie happiness. For each of us i~ elevated- and in some way, fulfilled
by what we
give to the larger community. That means not only doing what we are expected to do, but when
we can, exceeding expectations -going beyond what is necessary to do what is needed. It can
mean a lawyer doing pro bono work. It can mean a banker thinking of ways to bring investment
an braving a career in government, in democracy's rough and tumble
�05/27/99
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You have a responsi~ility to yourself, but you also have a responsibillty to others. I remember
when I was about ten years old, my mother took my sister and me to stay with my aunt and uncle
in New York City for the weekend, a world away from the quiet farming community where we
lived ... where when the fire siren blew at night, we would an worry about which friend's house
was burning. My first night in the big city, I was awakened every ten or fifteen minutes by the
sound of sirens- fire trucks, ambulances, police cars. The next morning I asked by aunt how she
ever slept at night with all these sirens.· "Oh, after a while," she said, "you just don't hear them."
~ l.p.c,
"
'*'>\A..
You have lived in a close community here at CorneH. But as you leave, never leave tpe ideaof
.
.
what community has meant to you. My hopei~ that yea "Wilo1 never stop hearing the sirens.
=
Let me end on a @note. Commencement is your day. You earned it. And it's a big day
for your parents, to . Only at your own children's graduation will you understand JUSt how full
of love and pride yo · parents are at this moment. lf you remember nothing else 1 say, I hope
you will steal a quiet moment tomorrow to show them, with or without words, that as old and
decrepit as they are,
ey really aren't so bad after alL Thank you for letting me share this day
with you. Good luc , Class of '99, and Godspeed.
###
---------·---- ---
�05/26/99
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,: \ .
Sutphen, Mona K.
From:
Sent: .
To:
Cc:
Subject:
Widmsr, Edward L (Ted) .
Wednesday, May 26, 1999 5:51PM
@NSA - Natl Security Advisor
@SPEECH • NSC Speechwriters
Cornell [UNCLASSIFIED)
Cornl>ll_.dac
For SRB. New changes.
.
1
�05/26/99
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5/26/99 5 pm
SAMUEL R. BERGER
ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR NATIONAL SECURITY AFFAIRS
REMARKS AT CONVOCATION
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
ITHACA,.NEW YORK
MAY29,l999
L Intra
I am happy to be here as your Convocation speaker ... as a Cornell alumnus ... ·as a spouse of a
Cornell alumna ... but especially as a proud parent of a member of the Class of 1999. I must say
that this is the first time I ever spent $120,000 for the privilege of giving a speech.
It is not easy to sit still on graduation day, or worse, the day before graduation, and listen t6 a
speaker lecture you to follow his or her rules of life- rules that always sound perfectly obvious.
You've made it this far, so presumably you've got a good sense of where you're going. If you're
like most Cornell students I remember, you have waited until the last possible minute to pay your
I
phone biJI, return your library books, say goodbye to your best friends, get a job, and most
urgently, find a place to live other than your parents' house. On this, I know I speak for the
parents here in saying we are behind you 100 percent.
It's hard for me to believe that it was 32 years ago that I sat where you are, on the day before
graduation. I remember the day vividly- except I can't remember a single thing said by the
convocation speaker. In
fac~ ~her who the speaker was!
So I approach my role
today with a proper sense of humility, knowing that I am one of the last obstacles betwee1_:£!_
~d your diploma.
·
.
�05/26/99
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2
l wHI-.gi>·o aloog
n~oooli J'
I
ot pontificate about the great lessons of life;
figur~~t for myself. My goals are more modest I'd like to talk a little
about ~y time at Cornell, and yours. /:telt:;;e"Y~tft~el~ ~) ·
I am still trying to
f..~~ ~~1;:~ 'f:t.i~R~:u.a::;~!lie y.... olientl
Ji4 alse )ike-40 ma\r.i a l~ttle BlBteey' t6H~. I' a liiE&tB ee tfte hiSt ~HlflllfH-iBB: sp88:ker iB: 1999 :H:6t
cdidA't ga;• tftf!t: lt is tn!etih:at yom joume, il!te the ftlture
~ill
coincide widt the new centmy nnw
-hegimring. But you wtlt=a'lso C<Dlj some of the 2Q.theentaty with yett;u
your Class of '99 hats, and say, "they are really old.
20th century?"
When I was a student here, from 1963-1967, the 21st century was impossibly far away. Stanley
Kubrick's popular film of 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey ,was futuristic science fiction, not
contemporary drama. Now 2001 is a just another year, and the sophomore's graduating class.
II. 1967
Today, I'd like to start my odyssey in the opposite direction, going backward in time to reflect a
bit on the complicated path we took to get to the present. It is an odyssey, like Homer's, that
starts arid ends in Ithaca. I'd like to talk a little about the Cornell I graduated from 32 years ago.
�r
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I
3
There's a lot of 60s nostalgia out there today. Ads for the Gap show people dancing the Watusi.
The sequel to "Austin Powers" is about to come out. In fact, the last time I spoke with George
Tenet, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, I asked him to expJain the title of''The
Spy Who Shagged Me," but nejther of us had any idea what it meant.
Most of that nostalgia is way off the mark, especially to the extent it reinforces the stereotype of
a baby boom generation obsessed with itself. I think it would be more honest to depict the 60s as
they were - a time of great hopefulness, not just here in the United States but around the world.
~~~:J£il7Ajl;j~L
of us, especially the young, felt that if Americans stood up for their principl~s, we could
·~
eliminate problems Jike racism and poverty at home, and build~ peace abroad. Obviously,
that was simplistic. But it was anything but self-centered.
Cornell was a very different university when I arrived here ffo9fB 8
&BtttH ·tl"f'Stllte
te:x::::
fall
of 1963. John F. Kennedy was President, and most of us were deeply inspired by his call to
serve. The college was overwhelmingly whlte and male. The dorms were strictly single-sex,
.
and on the rare occasions that a female entered the room of a male student, the door had to be
•M~twA
open- a rule that generated ~~y law-abidiog undergraduates.
At the time, the 60s felt very modem and fast-paced, but as we look back, it is astonishing to
realize how much slower our society was. There was a single computer on c_ampus. It occupied
almost all of Rand HalL It probably had the computing power of a small Nintendo game today.
�i
_---....:.05/~6/99
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4
9ftl~
a titi:rd ofAme[ ieB!tlie'li!lelwtds had mo1e r.tmr one 'f¥ set [today that figme is three
.
11/ A.VlS
I
.
'l;narters] ~J~eet aH eftft.ej'\ere black and white- although black wasn't especially needed,
because you never saw a person of color on TV in any capacity. "Cable" was another word for a
telegram, which was how you sent word to your parents that you needed more money. uThe
Web" was
somethi~pidi~~merofr which your parents asked you
garage
~·
-·~
to clean out to justify all the money they s~you.
W.\1~
But it was also a time of enormous fennent and change, stimulated by a wqmost of us opposed
6.~CW\.
,,
and ~growing ~?g of f. racial injustice most of us felt intolerable. But maybe it also
.
.
. L.~
was just a time to protest. I
remembt~atioi'e_~e•.._~
:-=fan to raise tuition to
S?fe/...,
$1700 a year. We lost.
By and large,
to make .A.riler as rea tty consonant with America,s rhetoric_
Some of these efforts were productive; others
I
Jl."., so. Over 4loe )'""'~:::-oM~..)
tAl yemjwat.a.f~, we learned that many of the problems we were concerned about went deeper
than we thought The assassinations of the 60s were warnings of the violence
~till
wrestle with as a nation. Riots in cities across the country urgently revealed that the American
Dream was not available to all Americans. On issue after issue, from foreign policy. to domestic
that~ek~¢i~i~~e"£ ::;~ d~a~~ld
~tm=~tN~ ·
issues, we learned
m.
1999
�_
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5
But those reality checks did not stop us from moviog fotward. Like all classes, my class kept
going, got married, had kids -some of whom are graduating tomorrow. Arid in different ways,
t4.-d U4.d
'
.
we - and you- are still facing some of the same~ different cloth~ :&:stwea.2ur
114a.ce~tt"l.\
circumstanc~ave fhanged-
·
immensely for the better.
-'"IMJ.A.~~n~ 41lt.-<~~J>
Bu~ aaiHRillfvr;b~tiG.Bs fi&wli!;k,
t,v.~
· maybe all the more urgent now that the United States has more power and prosperity than any .
.
·
,
·
·
.
. How can we harness technology and.
progress to advance not only our material needs, but our safety and stability?
~~
'
'
Those questions do not have easy answers. They provoke debate and sometimes acr·
~~
ony.~ ~
t.i,
~ ;;:.......,. ~d respond to ~em as best we can. Franklin D. Roes velt said,~
~.c
'
"democracy is an everlasting march." ~another way of saying it's a-long haul.
'
' the
.I( we de pQi yet k.aGlH iJ!l
.J
1t,rw
/l&u.e4.-!
~lt~~-tz~~~~~'
2P'W:'MS,;:oeSt UlQ~
e have tfave'red arf enormous distance
to where we are today. Many people enjoy lamenting how much better things were in the past.
That's nonsense. In the last decade, we have seen the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the end of ' Cold War. Today, there ore no nuclear weapons targeted at the United States. We have acbi
~
meaningful probrress toward peace in the Middle East and Northern Ireland. For the first tim in~1_ _
.
human history, more than half the world's people elect their own governments.
~~
-
.
.
\!: .
i;" IM.OS.T,;~
(~~ ~ IW~
country has ever known. How do w~r~OctO~· OIR ~,. iA.,;;.M, thi:
·
.1
~~~
~~
.
~' at a;;;ore local level, we see a uil!V~thriving and laying the foundation for
;::"~G::::~.::r
'-
�05/26/99
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6
~~(aJsoJoor be<:ome an international univmity.. There J:':.dy abroad programs as far
away as Nepal. Cornell alumni live on every continent. Indeed, the President of Taiwan, Lee
Teng-hui, a Cornell alumnus, nearly wrecked Sino-American relations a few years ago when he
spoke here at his alma mater_ I suppose that was an example of the lesson Gloria Steinem
offered Cornell students this spring (April 22), when she came here tO urge you all to develop
just "one new subversive organizing tactic."
!..,
The same changes that have transformed Cornell are working around the world. In the 60s,
"integration" meant bringing our people together 8
se iizl j &llahere at home. Today, a
different kind of integration is transforming the world. Powerful economic, technological and
social forces are pulling the peoples of the world together. Last year, during the President's ·vjsit
to China, the poster Tsaw most frequently as I walked through the donnitories of Beijing
University was Michael Jordan's. During the President's trip to Africa, we visited a remote
village in Uganda, where I
saw~aring Guess Jeans. A few year11 ago, I remember
arriving in Islamabad, Pakistan in the middle of the night, turning on the TV in my hotel room,
}
and hearing George Stephanopoulos and Mary Matar
. ebate
~
"'f')...L
,,~
~h~wrote Primary Co~
01\..
Larry King Live I'm not sure that's~, but it demonstrated the globalization of our
l_
fW'"~I'U\...
.
.,
~
·
�05/26/99
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7·
culture. Everywhere we go, the Internet provides a. tether to the rest of the world: With a small
mouse-click, the sum of human experience is at our fmgertips.IJ should know, because I
~
.
invented the mouse one
lJ
summe~l was hanging around with the Vice Preside~
Thes~~~~t:f~•'wy have been driven in
ure by
~~~ .
America' 9' les:d:::::!ii p, dynam ism &W value~ They are trl~~phs of the imagination, but they are
1
also~clo111ic prosperity, political reform and peace. Leaders can still make war on
their people, but in the Information Age it is harder to hide the consequences from the world.
'
Despots can cling to power, but they cannot deny their people knowledge of other people's
freedom. Nations that want to build a growing economy know that
~ss
requires open access to th.e same information·everyone else has.
IV_ Kosovo/The Future
But against those forces of integration, there remain powerful counter-forces, including the
resilient power of nationalism, sometimes exploited by unscrupulous leaders to gain and
maintain power; radical fundamentalism o~ipes that feeds on poverty to tum hatred
into violence; and regional ethnic and religious animosities that can risk wider conflicts that
threaten our interests.
We see that today in Kosovo. It is a small province of a small country. But it is ~big test of our
values and our vision for the future- your future. It forces us to answer our hardest questions.
~tJM.Q. ~ rl..
.
Do we have tbe wi II to stand up to tbl\"il that ~mmeted Europe into darkness earlier
�05/26/99 · WED 20:0.8 FAX
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8
M¢tQi,w
this century? Can we
bu~ coalition of democracies that is ,'trong enough and determined
enough to defend our interests?
I believe we can answer those questions affirmatively. Our effort in Kosovo
~ :m etbh8 sew
ttBsar ~g SHn. This -is not a fight for territory or a proxy fight against a great power. It is exactly
.
A~ a~:ject ethnic cleansing and restore dignity to a people under assault for
,...J'
~
no reason beside ~e~r heritage. 4-shows the world that we w_ill not tolerate, on.N~TO's
doorstep,
.!'!>S"~~-k>
the~grnnmgs of genae~
q
.
~h.<. ~ J-u efl,{M.. ~ d.).p
. frc-~ db "' ~
~ Jl~e're not in Kosovo to tell others how to live their lives. We're there to protect the right of a
b~~ple to live'__ period. And we are far from alone. NATO is 19 democratic nations, comprising
(l\(it"
lf
780 million people of every heritage. Like the coalition that brought peace to Bosnia, it
combines countries in Europe that have been at odds for most of the last millenniu~ It-is .
Sti~~EH~eQ \;ly jl::lst aGQlolt @:uery
•el.lB«y iB Seutheastem };'Yf9JMI, including those with historic
sympathies for Serbia.
If any of you ever go to Sarajevo, the capital o
. Not too long ago, in
u will see why this is so important.
1984i!~=it::.hot:~
W~. But just a few
years ago, it was under assaJlt ~ Me<Q!ho< Pf"l!tllttol hatred and
J_.~~,w~Wf>at....JluON~~I'r~.
.
f91<dl, ~~s of li
1
•1.41\U. ~·(Ad ~
I\ conversation in the cafes.
~
~
ethnic ~rily. Today, in the same plazas where shots o ce rang out, ryrev11Mr the ubbub 8lf
Across Bosnia, people
and Egypt, Argentina and Canada, Russia and
b_.
~
ur age, from nations as disparate as Malaysia
-4-cJ:io ~·tt..u
ermany, are working together~uild that
k
�05/26/99
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~010
APNSA
'hy S,'B:ielli JetttleFS. Ethnic tension will always exist It will not be eliminated because
.
.
L\4.u) D.. ~ IN\ ~ 'fAA"t
more nattons have access to the Internet. But we can HMUR talfe aeft6s. r.vB.er-e we e&B, "tt.tld while
w~ I"{~ ?oD1J!
"h -~ 1\.e..
d- ~ ~ IIJlLJ -
tn_.
,
~ ~T
.
two years separate my graduation m 1967 from my
W.
( fiere IS a
(J)e ,_ 15 • (r
.
ughter's today. What will our world look
like thirty~ two years from today?
.
.
.
1!~
Let's begin with the certainties. Cornell will be thriving, despite, or perhaps because of the fact~~
tuilion will have risen astrononiically. You will be lead""' of so~i ety. The Hot Truck will still -lj~ /
be serving--. And Senator Strom Thurmond will be 129 years old.
Now, the uncertainties. Let's consider just a few issues.
First, information. The last decade has witnessed a revolution. The progress will continue,
perhaps exponentially. There will be more information than ever The question is will there be ~
more knowledge? Our ability to communicate is staggering. New inventions will contillne to
transfo~~onorni§ But the ease and openness of new forms of communication also creates
.
•
D:_ ..
~ ~ r
~~ ~ ~. '*- ~pt'
Q:,
?T
_;
Uz:~
�05/26/99
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10
?•
the potential for
~·
·~~
m@n. Cybe
o ism
th~~ down cities. International
nf'
Du;u
~~~=a;'::f~~g':::--(!::;i~f!/,.~/:'-ra~:t'f
unsafeguarded nuclear materi~ A proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Will_
~teelu~"#k..~~~ ~ 1lu.. b.db <el"* ~
·~
V/5
~ Ilk ~ ~ ~
1/11(..
/ILIA~
'
~Mil ~ ~4!-b.:k.
~~14¥ ~thl;e~B~ll~~h..'~$
.
an evert\ ut
··t~o;::,
'11
Second, t.h ere w1 be inor(J eccinom1c mte!fatlon
WI
Here in the United States, we can clearly see the upside of this integration. The
~~y has ·
never been stronger. lt!SB,"'i is a miracle that a stockbroker in New York can send trillions of
dollars around the world with the push of a button. But we should also remember that almost
Third, the environment Vk ltave eem&:fM since tlte eayj}.,t too long after I graduated,
~
.;;~at the_
.
I
bJt~,~.h~tJ/tq~ ~nt,'1u_~.·
Cuyahoga Ri;er.~~ugh{fire in Cleveland. But there is a qualitatively gr~aterthallenge we fac.e
"
over the next thirty years ... tmmistakable" global warming, caused, in the view of most scientists,
by excessive emissions of greenhouse gases, which trap the earth's heat. Last year was the
hottest year ever recorded. The year before that was, too. And the year before that. As the
temperature rises, we are increasingly feeling the disruptions of phenomena like El Nino and La
Nina, or the brushfrres that swept across Indonesia not long ago. Will we take steps now to
address these challenges, admitting that we do not know everything, but determined to act on
/
~
4-;._
.•
~
•
�05/26/99
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11
what we do know? Can we find a way for not-yet-developed countries to chart different energy
strategies than the currently industrial countries, preserving the environment without sacrificing
their ability to grow their economies and increase the standard of living of their people? Or will
we slide into indifference and inactivity, and the beginnings of ecological disasters
~ ~~I>OHIM>ilt
t}~
Fourth, the power of nations undoubtedly will look quite different thirty years from now, when
you return to CorneH for a reunion. But let me pose just one question that will profoundly affect
~~~"~ .nkAc.-~~7
1
·
tliwosi~ lastiag., muwJ.iy be11eticiad: Felaaeaehit:Js baoee 9.8 slw:8e ia~Ms.
For fifty years, we confronted the challenge of Russia's strength. Today. we must confront the
risk of a
Russi~7;}co~:,~ Bldby ito iAability "'""'
--..1
te m~rosperi+y ~91Be er eeB:tt:Gl tlie Sew efits mea~, we&JJQa& aaQ. teefill9~ &e£oss
Wft i~·of concern and disagreement- but we must also remember
it> e..re..
that in eight years, with no living memory of democracy, the Russian people have built a countty
more open to the world and more rooted in
tt!:t~~mtitotions ofEatope than ever .
before. The Russians will decide their own future --but we must work with them for the best
possible outcome, with realism and patience. This is no time for complacency.
�05/2B/99
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China's achievement ver the last three decades is nothing s rt of remarkable out of poverty, creating a modem economy where none ex· ted. But to maintain progress,
C111\liwu----
respond to ongoing econ mic problems, China needs to eepen its political reformr lt.ttod,!! we
~h-4
'
-
have seen over the last fe months, our relationship is · fraught by imme7{ difficulties and
acute sensitivities.
"i~
hesitate to press t em.
..:!!."have importa:'! diffi ences with China, and we
1"W~Jto
.
• ·
mus~
~~ ~·rpo•efiol Oftg&g""'""'· ~-~~us nalieftltl sc:etlRty J...;o"''....,....,.
~~~~~r·Y~~-.s
1
"rei~ r~OA tbot wil ploy a !JU!OI role jQ All:t:-. whellior WO want it to w:.,not
[note!- Tienanmen Sq. nearly ten yeats ago to the elay mtmticm7}
V. Conclusion.
The decisions you make will shape these issues and this new century. To be hones~, I am
confident. ·I know what kind of education you received here over the last four years. The
circumstances of your life will shift over and over again. But the intellectual and moral
framework you have acquired from your families and that have
been given g[-eater definition
here will last a lifetime. The best education is the one that Cornell taught you to acquire long
after you leave here tomorrow.
l have been on a lot of trips with the President in the last few years, from Chlna to Chile, from
Australia to Africa. Everywhere we go, young people are redefining their nations. If peace
fmally comes to Northern Ireland, the Middle East, or Nigeria- today celebrating its long-
�05/26/99
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13
awaited retum to democracy -it will be in
~easui-e. because a new gon01ation demands it
and makes it happen.
Last year, the President gave a speech to the students of Beijing University. The President ended
that speech with a quotation from the great Chinese scholar and statesman Hu Shih [hoo sure], a
member of the Cornell class of 1914. "The struggle for individual freedom," he said, "is the
struggle for the nation's freedom. The struggle for your own character is the struggle for the
nation's character."
Wl"lJ.L ~ Yfw.
~you
time to the
f"_ . s . - - - - n .
,....___ _
<11- \\)kt ~ dJJ ~!/ ~ ~
, in your own way, in your own world, will devote some of your energy and
co~~!" ~lie service .. By teaching well, by healing people, by
conceiving new ideas that bring people happiness. For each of us is elevated and in some way,
·•.~~~ h t'4 ~.
.
fulfilled ~by WIJ.iieVer co~ion we make WVJ\community. That means not only d~ing
what we are expected to do, but when we can, exceeding expectations ~ going beyond what is
necessary to do what is needed.
It can mean a lawyer doing pro bono work. It can mean a banker thinking of ways to bring
investment to the inner city. It can mean braving a career in government, in democracy's rough
aren~"""""" JI'O" ho¥e BoO!! !He ~- 61' gee& l...,. Olld pnlieieo to sbape poople' •
li¥o!: It can mean being a~d parent- and als; ~out for the children next door.
and tum bIe
~~
You have a responsibility to yourself, but you also have a responsibility to others. I remember
when I was about ten years old, my mother took my sister and me to stay with my aunt and uncle
OHrv~J
�05/26/99
'
l4J 015
APNSA
WED 20:11 FAX
.
'
14
in New York City for the weekend, a world away from the quiet farming community where we
lived ... where when the fire siren blew at.night, we would all worry about which friend's house
was burning. My ftrst night in the big city, I was awakened every ten or fifteen minutes by the
sound of sirens- fire trucks, ambulances, police cars. The next morning I asked by aunt how she
ever slept at night with all these sirens. "Oh, after a while," she said, "you just don't hear them."
~QA
.
You have lived in a close community here at CorneR ¥ell ...,leaving it
~
!lew,~ ~ou
never leave the idea of what ~nunity has meant to you. My hope~t you will
never stop heanng the sirens.
(!)
'fa...~ b.e
Let me end on a ersona note. Commencement is your dat~~ day for your p
too.
only at your own children's graduation will you understand just h
::::::;
.
yo r parents are at this moment. If you remember nothing els
tomorrow to show the
decrepit as they ar , they really aren't so bad after all. Th~k you for letting me share this day
with you. Good lu k, Class of'99, and Godspeed.
[1111WiR~'IWt~~rl/ ~·~
###
I
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Speechwriting Office - Edward Widmer
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
National Security Council
Speechwriting Office
Edward Widmer
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Edward Widmer served as President Clinton’s chief foreign policy speechwriter from 1997-2000. As an NSC speechwriter Widmer worked on remarks for a wide variety of topics dealing with countries such as China, Korea, Argentina, Ghana, Canada, the Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Russia, and Venezuela. Widmer wrote speeches concerning the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), sanctions, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the United Nations, Islam, and the European Union.</p>
<p>This collection consists of speech drafts, memoranda, handwritten notes, newspaper articles, publications, schedules, reports, and papers. Many of the speech drafts are marked up with extensive critical comments and suggested revisions. Widmer’s handwritten notes can be found on scraps of paper, napkins, and the back of other records.</p>
<p>This collection was made available through a <a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/freedom-of-information-act-requests">Freedom of Information Act</a> request.</p>
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1997-2000
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36419" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/id/7585793" target="_blank">National Archives Collection Description</a>
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0471-F
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Format
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Adobe Acrobat Document
Extent
The size or duration of the resource.
250 folders in 14 boxes
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Paper
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
SRB [Samuel R. Berger] - Cornell [May 29, 1999] [1]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
National Security Council
Speechwriting Office
Edward (Ted) Widmer
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0471-F
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
Box 2
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/2006/2006-0471-F.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/id/7585793" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
Adobe Acrobat Document
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
Medium
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Reproduction-Reference
Date Created
Date of creation of the resource.
10/16/2014
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
42-t-7585793-2006471f-002-015-2014
7585793