Below is the text of Alberto Gonzales' remarks, as prepared for delivery and provided to Student Life. Mr. Gonzales' speech was delivered on Tuesday night, February 19 at the 560 Building.
Good Evening,
Last Tuesday, I voted in the Virginia primary. During this presidential campaign, we have heard a lot about the desire for change. In truth, every election represents an opportunity for change, a new beginning, the next chapter in the American story. One of the local newspapers in D.C. rightly acknowledged yesterday that talking about change is not new, people talked about change even before there was an America. The paper also correctly recognized that there are limits on the ability of any President to cause change. And yet, we continue to want it. Why? Because it is our nature as Americans to want better. Every time I cast a vote, it is a reflection of hope; a tangible act towards making my dreams come true.
A poor single mom votes to take her sick child to the hospital. An unemployed father votes to get his job back at the factory. A veteran votes to protect his buddies fighting overseas. A college student votes for her future.
Life is about such choices.
Some of the students have chosen to protest. They are saying, I think, that they disagree with something and they want a change. But it is not enough to protest. Many people who complain the loudest do not even vote. What choices are you prepared to make to bring about change?
The vast majority of Americans did not choose to be American citizens. We are American by birth. Perhaps this is why too many of us seem to forget or take for granted from time to time how privileged we are just to be citizens of the United States.
As Attorney General I had the opportunity to visit almost 30 countries . . . observe different cultures, understand different systems of governance. There are many wonders beyond our shores, but if I had to choose one country to claim as my home, I would choose a country that provides all of its people with opportunity; I would choose a country whose people are generous and strong, willing to sacrifice to preserve freedom at home and to defend it abroad. I would choose the United States.
America is the greatest country on the face of the earth because she offers her citizens the greatest choices, the greatest opportunities.
Do we have problems? Yes. Name one country that does not. Do we have poverty? Yes. But name one country who provides more opportunity to even its weakest citizens or who gives more around the world to feed the hungry. Do we suffer from intolerance? Yes. But name a country more welcoming of different cultures and religion. In fact, name one country who has sacrificed more of its sons and daughters to protect others and to preserve freedom around the world. The recent remarks of French President Nicolas Sarkozy before Congress about the heroism of American soldiers who died saving France in World War II inspired me.
He said, "French fathers took their sons to see the vast cemeteries where, under thousands of white crosses so far from home, thousands of young American soldiers lay who had fallen not to defend their own freedom but the freedom of all others, not to defend their own families, their own homeland, but to defend humanity as a whole."
And President Sarkozy went on to say, "I want to tell you that whenever an American soldier falls somewhere in the world, I think of what the American army did for France. I think of them and I am sad, as one is sad to lose a member of one's family."
I felt pride when I heard these words . . . and a twinge of sadness that some Americans do not seem to have the same appreciation for their own country, as President Sarkozy and other leaders around the world.
My mother and father met working in the West Texas fields as young migrant workers. I look back on the days when I was a small boy and played in the field next to the lot where my father and uncles built the small two-bedroom home I grew up in. We had no hot running water, no telephone until I was a sophomore in high school. I remember getting up in the mornings with my father as my mother made him a sack lunch of beans and tortillas for work at a construction site.
A few years ago, my mother visited Washington for the first time. We walked the monuments and the museums like other tourists, but I also took her - this shy little woman who once picked cotton as a migrant worker - into the Oval Office to see the President. It was important for me to do that for her, my gift to her for her guidance and protection, and to show her what I had accomplished because of her sacrifices and those of my father.
At dawn on the last day of her visit, she was up to say goodbye as I left for work - just as she had been there for my father on so many mornings. Only I was not going to a construction site, I was reporting to the White House to advise the most powerful person in the world.
Think of the pride and wonder that must have filled her heart. She never dreamed that I would take her from the cotton fields to the Oval Office . . . that I would create this new and wonderful heritage for my sons.
I owe them a debt I can repay only through service to others. When my sons see me or see a Federico Pena or Carlos Gutierrez serve as a cabinet secretary, they do not just see a poor Hispanic kid who did well, they can look forward in their own life with hope and expectation. I am the son of a Mexican cotton picker and a construction worker who never finished grade school, and I served as the Attorney General of the United States. We truly live in a country where dreams come true. This is why I believe America is worth fighting for, she is worth dying for.
Perhaps I am idealistic. But from where I started, I love America for all that she has done for me. She represents the world's best hope for freedom and safety. When people in other countries need help, still today they usually turn first to the United States.
While I have regrets about certain matters, I disagree with those who say we have lost our way and are becoming like our enemies. Al-Qaeda and other radical Islamic extremists despise freedom; their ideology does not respect laws nor cherish life. While we debate whether we should give unlawful enemy combatants who do not fight according to the laws of war more rights than prisoners of war receive under the Geneva Conventions, our enemies continue to behead prisoners and kill innocent women and children indiscriminately.
While our soldiers work closely with military lawyers to ensure that strategic targeting against enemy military leaders are lawful and minimize civilian casualties, our adversaries target innocent civilians by blowing up subways, hotels, and markets at random. They do not care who they hurt. Destruction of life is their goal. Preservation of life is ours. We are nothing like our enemies. We will never be like them. We may not be perfect, sometimes we stumble, but we always get up.
In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln composed a letter to Eliza P. Gurney in which the President wondered how God could allow the horrors of the Civil War. In his correspondence, our 16th President wrote:
We must believe He permits it (this war) for some purpose of His own, mysterious and unknown to us; and though with our limited understanding we may not be able to comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe, that he who made the world still governs it.
Lincoln's faith would not permit him to doubt that the reality of American sons killing brothers was providential. Many Americans surely had similar questions about God's plan as we watched American Airlines Flight 11, and then United Airlines Flight 175 slam into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001. On that day, an enemy that had declared war on our country subjected America to a brutal and treacherous attack.
In other armed conflicts involving the United States, previous President's have had to decide where to balance the national security of our country and the civil liberties of American citizens.
President George Washington made frequent and effective use of secret intelligence, including the interception of mail from Britain to America during the Revolutionary War. President Lincoln ordered telegraph wiretapping during the Civil War to collect important intelligence. During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson ordered the interception of all cable communications between the United States and Europe. And, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt authorized the interception of all communications traffic into and out of the United States. Some would consider each of these steps controversial today, but all were necessary for the security of our country.
In response to the current terrorism threat, President Bush, like these other wartime Presidents, has taken strong, sometimes difficult actions to protect American lives and preserve the long-term survival of this country.
Some people are uncomfortable with the balance chosen by the Bush Administration between protecting our country and preserving our freedom. They are uneasy with the idea of applying the laws of war to the enemy combatants waging war against this country, especially enemy combatants who are American citizens. Citing the necessity of protecting our reputation in the international community, critics insist that these combatants should receive the benefit of the rules and procedures of our criminal justice system, those tried and true methods that we use to deal with criminals such as car thieves and drug dealers.
Every President takes the same oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. As head of the executive branch and the Commander in Chief of our armed forces - and the only political leader directly accountable to all Americans - the President has a unique personal responsibility to ensure our safety and security. But, I want you to understand, I believe a President must be guided always by the Constitution when discharging this responsibility. Of course, the world changed for you, and me, for all of us on September 11th, but the words of the Constitution did not.
Our intelligence and law enforcement experts are certain the United States cannot win the war on terrorism without winning the war of information. As an example, the September 11th hijackers lived in this country for a period; they communicated with each other and formalized their deadly plot here.
Yet our government could not connect these dots of information. What would you, as President, be prepared to do to gather the information necessary to protect America from the next attack? If I told you terrorists planned to execute a catastrophic strike upon the United States within the next 48 hours, what would you be prepared to do as President to learn the information that would prevent the loss of thousands of lives?
Would you treat the threat as a law enforcement matter and use only the investigative tools of the FBI and local law enforcement; or would you view this as a threat to our national security and activate all the intelligence capabilities of the United States? Would you order the Director of National Intelligence, the National Security Agency, the CIA, and the FBI to stretch their intelligence capabilities and operations to the absolute legal limit?
Or, would you instruct them to stay well within the legal boundaries of previous operations, and hope for the best? What would you do? Would you be guided in any way by the practices and laws of other countries such as Great Britain? China? Saudi Arabia? Would you be sensitive to the possibility of negative international public opinion or influenced by criticism from international organizations? Would you inform the entire Congress about the details of the threat, and ask 535 individuals, each with different beliefs and motivations, to reach a timely consensus solution? Would it matter if the intended target was your hometown, and the lives of the most important people in your life - your family and friends - depended on your decision? Where would you draw the line?
Admittedly, I have proposed an extreme hypothetical; unfortunately, it is a realistic one. Students, in time you will come to appreciate fully that it takes courage to do the job of President, to stand on your oath and your beliefs even if it alienates a portion of the public, the media, international friends, and political allies. Some of what you believe to be true has been, and will continue to be, developed in the laboratory of a college campus. Institutions of higher learning provide a model setting for the discussion and expression of ideas. But life is not a classroom. It is messier, more complicated. There are no do-over's if you get it wrong, no make-up exams if you are missing in action. The choices are often complicated; sometimes there are no yes or no answers, no black or white.
These decisions have real consequences - lives are at stake. Many Americans support and praise the President for having the courage to make tough decision to protect our country. Others have condemned and convicted him without a trial. That, of course, is your right as citizens.
However, the vitriolic exchanges and the level of partisanship that infects seemingly all that occurs in Washington make some wonder if public service is still worth the sacrifice. Some of my colleagues tell me that they no longer want anything to do with public life; it is no longer worth the price for them and their families.
That is regrettable.
Our nation was founded by patriots who were willing to serve; to fight if necessary. Throughout our history, ordinary men and women have stepped up during the most extraordinary hours of need. President Theodore Roosevelt said it best in 1913 about service,
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly . . . who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.
I have had those moments President Roosevelt spoke about . . .
After high school graduation, I enlisted in the Air Force to "spend myself" in a worthy cause. When I left a lucrative law partnership to serve the State of Texas, I "strove valiantly in the arena" again. And during my service with the President protecting our nation, my face was "marred by dust, sweat, and blood." Actually, a little more than I would have liked . . .
When you are called to service; when it is your turn to sacrifice, will you be one of those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat?
Sure, public service can be difficult. Critics and opponents will try to define and redefine you. Too often, the descriptions and the reporting are malicious and wrong, such as the ridiculous allegation of my indictment in Germany.
There is a difference in what you actually do in the arena and what others say you do. When you serve, you have to expect that people will try to define you in a way that promotes their purposes, but they cannot take something that is not true and make it so, no matter how often they say it.
I believe you also have to accept the fact that in the pursuit of great cause's mistakes will happen. No one has all the answers. I have yet to meet the perfect government official or employee - in the executive, judicial, or the legislative branches. I am no exception. And I have accepted full responsibility for the mistakes that are mine. I believe most of the American people do not expect perfection; they expect competency, honesty, and good faith. So, you identify the mistakes, learn from them, correct them if you can, and move forward.
Additionally, public servants must accept that even when they do the right thing - for the right reasons - someone will undoubtedly still second-guess or question them. The criticism may be legitimate or it may be very unfair; either way, you have to deal with it. In response to the relentless criticism leveled his way during his term in office, President Lincoln said,
If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.
As a government official - as in life generally - all you can do is act in good faith, do your best, and tell the truth. If you worry about criticism then you end up paralyzed and do nothing.
Finally, while this past year has been challenging, I have learned that faith and family are constant and will sustain you through any difficulty.
With these lessons in mind, I would urge you all to serve our great nation in some capacity at some point in your careers because I believe God has given each of you unique talents. And I believe one enjoys true satisfaction when you are using those gifts on behalf of others.
Working in the White House is one of the greatest experiences any American could have. People from all over the world travel to Washington for a look at the 18-acre compound, which is a symbol - like the American flag - of American power and beauty.
Like most Americans, I can chronicle my life by White House events I watched on television. I have yet to meet an American who is not in awe when they step into the White House for the first time.
Imagine you, walking into the Oval Office, and briefing the President on a potential nominee to the Supreme Court. Or, sitting in the Situation Room as the President gives the order to send our brave young men and women into harm's way. Or standing in the President's private office in the White House residence as the President executes a document you helped prepare . . . a paper historians will study. Those experiences more than satisfied the hopes I had as a young man to do something with my life that would make a positive difference.
There were state dinners, weekends at Camp David and rides on Air Force One. I have watched my two youngest sons play with the President's dogs in the Rose Garden and enjoyed Fourth of July fireworks over the Washington Monument from the Truman balcony. And I was there to meet the President on the South Lawn as he returned to the White House on September 11th, 2001. What incredible memories.
My responsibilities as the 80th Attorney General of the United States brought me a different kind of satisfaction.
Historically, the Attorney General has shouldered the responsibility of ensuring the American dream is available to future generations of our children. The Justice Department has won significant victories over the past half century to vindicate the rights of all Americans to equal justice under the law. Through these efforts, we now live in a country where my mother - who once had to enter through the back door of small town restaurants in West Texas - could walk with me through the front door of the White House to visit with the President. And, so for someone who has lived the dream it is a special privilege for me to have been the Attorney General.
As the nation's former chief law enforcement officer, I am most proud of our work with parents and educators to help protect young boys and girls from the threat of sexual predators. I know we also made a positive difference developing strategies with mayors and county officials to make our neighborhoods safer from gangs and guns.
I am proud our investigators and prosecutors pursued public corruption cases based solely on the evidence; not whether the target is a Republican or Democrat. And I believe our efforts to better coordinate and communicate with federal, state and local law enforcement has made our country safer from terrorism.
As Attorney General, I worked hard with my counterparts in other countries to share intelligence, coordinate investigations, and otherwise ensure the safety of our respective citizens. The level of foreign cooperation, communication, and coordination has never been stronger. Among the highlights of my tenure was traveling to Iraq three times and meeting with the Iraqi leadership as they pursue their dream of a new democratic state.
During these trips, I also met with Justice Department employees working to help draft a new Iraqi constitution and establish a criminal justice system. And of course, I visited with our soldiers who risk their lives every day to promote freedom and democracy.
I am proud of this record and would do it all over again, without hesitation.
When asked how I believe history will judge my tenure in the White House and at the Justice Department, I say that such matters are out of my control. Life is not about yesterday, with so much work to do for our country I intend to look forward. It will take many years for the entire story to be told. Initial assessments of other administrations have been wrong.
We know the first drafts of history's manuscripts are often inaccurate or incomplete, and eventually discarded. At a special memorial observance in 1863 for the fallen soldiers at Gettysburg, the featured speaker was Edward Everett, a statesman from Massachusetts. Everett, a famous orator, spoke for an hour and fifty-seven minutes. President Lincoln was the other speaker. His speech was only two hundred and seventy-seven words; probably delivered in less than three minutes. Lincoln was ridiculed and reviled in the press during his presidency. Not surprisingly, the newspapers praised Everett's remarks at Gettysburg and criticized Lincoln. History, of course, has revised the initials judgments of President Lincoln's performance and of what is now known as the Gettysburg Address.
I take comfort in the fact that I have always worked hard, as my father did, stayed true to my values by doing my best, told the truth, and having stepped into the arena - (pause) - I have served my country.
In closing, I want to tell you students that all of my hopes and dreams are in my children, just as I am sure your parent's dreams are in you. The choices that you make in the next 5 - 10 - 20 years will have a profound impact on my life and the lives of my sons. Will America continue to enjoy prosperity? Will we continue to be the beacon of hope around the world? Will we continue to respect and defend our freedoms as our founders intended?
Without a doubt in my mind, the answer is yes, because America's greatness lays in its people . . . the individual contributions of millions of Americans over the course of 200 years. Americans will always step up and continue those selfless acts of service. The question you must ask yourself is how are you going to contribute?
Whenever I walked into the Oval Office to brief the President, I thought of the awesome responsibility that the President must shoulder - and the corresponding duty on all of us who serve him. But the responsibility of protecting this country and of securing the rights embodied in our Constitution does not belong alone to those in government.
Yes, government officials and employees have a direct hand in exercising power under our Constitution. But American citizens - including college students - play also an important role in protecting and defending the Constitution's precious precepts. The vigilance and work of American citizens in this endeavor is arguably no less patriotic than the actions of our soldiers on the battlefield - both are in defense of our freedoms . . . and both should be celebrated and respected.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to share some of my thoughts. I pray that God continues to watch over you and your families; may He continue to guide your choices, and may He continue to bless the United States of America.
