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I take the recognition you have given me not so much for myself, but as an indication of your appreciation for the work of government and the role of public service in our county. That respect for government is something that we, the Jewish people, have an enormously important interest and stake in. Throughout history we -- and all mankind -- have benefited from the rule of law. But when there is a breakdown in the rule of law, we are almost always among those who suffer first. For this reason, your honorary degree means a great deal to me.
I have the privilege of serving as the 70th Secretary of the Treasury. Near my office is a portrait of one of my predecessors -- Henry Morganthau, the 52nd Treasury Secretary.
Fifty-two years ago in January -- at the height of the war and the depths of the Holocaust -- a very junior lawyer in Treasury's legal department discovered that the State Department had conspired to keep news of the systematic killing of Jews from the American people. The General Counsel at Treasury took the evidence to Morganthau, and when Morganthau read it, it was so damning and so upsetting that he became physically ill. Morganthau then walked a nine-page memo with the evidence across the street to the White House and straight to the Oval Office. He sat there while Franklin Roosevelt read it, and then gave Roosevelt a proposal for U.S. involvement in rescuing Jews. Within days, Roosevelt established the War Refugee Board. This is an especially meaningful and enduring example of what public service is and ought to be about.
Just as you have debated politics, ethics, and the meaning of Torah at Morg Lounge and Koch Auditorium, there is a debate in this country that goes to the core of this nation's future and its social fabric. I am speaking about the debate on the role and scope of government.
Over the years I developed a great deal of interest in the public policy. And for the past three and a half years I've had the good fortune of having the deeply rewarding opportunity to use the experiences I've had in the private sector to deal with the issues of the nation. My challenge to you today is that in your own lives -- no matter what career you choose -- you should be involved in helping to re-establish a constructive relationship between our people and our government. That is not entirely popular today. In some quarters, appeals to public service are not popular, rarely heard, and often not well received.
Commencement speeches often deal with advice to graduates or reflections on the past and present. I want to discuss something I believe is of enormous importance to the nation and to you, and that is the debate about government.
The debate about the role and scope of government is as old as the republic itself. But today that debate is dominated by a derogation of government and public service. The constant derogation is taking its toll on the way Americans view their government.
Twenty-five years ago 75 percent of Americans trusted the federal government. Polls today put that trust at under 25 percent. Distrust of government is well above the danger point. And that is a development that should concern all of us.
I am emphatically not saying we shouldn't have this debate. We should. But today, the dominant tone is hostility.
Think of the voices we hear: First, the political and intellectual voices who believe the scope of government and its role in society should be very limited; second, the popular voices on talk radio and elsewhere that disparage the government and the people who serve in Washington; and third, the voices of violence. Those are the voices of some in the militias and elsewhere who are actually threatening federal employees way beyond what the public sees.
The Oklahoma City bombing was the most vivid and violent example of domestic terrorism we've seen, but it is part of a disturbing and growing problem. Last fall I visited Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms office in St. Paul. They'd just made some arrests in a suspected plot to bomb an IRS office, and they'd arrested people suspected of plotting to put lethal toxins in the homes of judicial employees.
A woman told me at an anti-violence event a few months ago that she'd worked a school to help convince youngsters not to use guns but that someone claiming to be from the Michigan Militia threatened her life. Park Rangers and Bureau of Land Management employees are being threatened.
Those of you who use the internet ought to type in the word militia under a search area and read some of this material. There are people out there who will tell you that members of our military and our law enforcement community are, and I quote, enemies of freedom ... anti-constitution ... anti-Bill of Rights ... and therefore anti-American. They call our leaders opportunistic tyrants. They say there's a Shadow Government and believe, and I quote again that during the last several decades the U.S. Constitution has been effectively overthrown, and that is now observed only as a facade to deceive and placate the masses.
The extremism we see not only manifests itself in attacks on the federal government, it is manifesting itself more generally in our society, and let me give you an example. I'm speaking about the church fires that have been occurring at black congregations. You and I fully understand what it means when a house of worship burns. Throughout history, our own people suffered acts of depraved violence that began with the destruction of our Temple of Jerusalem, saw its worst in places like the Warsaw Ghetto, and continues even in America with the hate crimes of today. Let us never forget what it meant 30 years ago to civil rights marchers who were intimidated by those who burned churches and who are still burning churches today.
Obviously this activity is at the outer edge of extremism and all responsible Americans reject it. But acts against the rule of law, and calls to violence in this context, signal those so inclined that that kind of activity is tolerated in society. It isn't, should not be, and cannot be tolerated.
Clearly, what is completely missing in the public dialogue is balance, and that has serious consequences for the world you will live in.
In many ways, you are entering an era of great change -- arguably globalization and technology are the most significant economic changes since the Industrial Revolution -- and this era is filled with hope and opportunity.
But it is also an age of anxiety, and large numbers of American families are anxious about wage stagnation, economic dislocation, and social and moral issues. Too many Americans experiencing all these uncertainties also believe that the institutions of government they have historically looked to for solutions to their problems, are broken. And then, they are more likely to turn to those who offer harsher rhetoric and more extreme courses of action I've discussed.
I think it is imperative for the future of our country that respect for government and public service be re-established. We must begin talking about the critical role that government plays and the important things that government -- and often only government -- can do.
In that spirit, I'd like to make three points.
First, government matters. There are functions that can be performed in no other way. I will not list them all, but you know what they are -- a strong military, an impartial system of justice, and rules and laws to protect the dignity of people, particularly the powerless, to preserve the shared environment, and to provide for public education, welfare and health.
As I've made clear today, these functions are under broad attack. They make an enormous difference in the lives of Americans. Government does work, and government does make a difference.
To offer an example that's just a few miles from here, the South Bronx is making enormous progress in its transformation from an urban wasteland. Go there. You will see a vast area of attractive new and rehabilitated housing, and the beginnings of businesses returning and jobs being created.
How did it change? Business and communities came together with the help the Community Reinvestment Act, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, and the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. Government, with the private sector, is the catalyst in addressing what may be our most critical domestic policy issue, the problems of the inner city -- a catalytic function no other institution in our society can or will do.
In the same vein, about 25 years ago, then Mayor Lindsay quipped about not being comfortable breathing air he couldn't see. Today, New York City's air is appropriately invisible. Government played the critical role. In the final analysis, only through government -- directly or as a catalyst -- will the environment in which you live your lives and make your homes be adequately protected.
So government matters.
My second point is about the people in government. One of the things that has most struck me is the commitment and quality of so many people with whom I've worked. And that includes many younger people who, like you, have the advantage of an outstanding education and then decided to spend a few years in public service.
Government takes on many of the most difficult issues in our society. The people who I work with have done the legal and financial work on the $20 billion loan guarantee for Mexico. They have fought extraordinarily hard and successfully to keep this country out of default, to protect the President, to help pass an assault weapons ban, to investigate the Oklahoma City bombing, to make it possible for millions of Americans to file their taxes by telephone, and to seize tons and tons of dangerous drugs at our borders -- things that make a difference in the lives of Americans.
These people do this extraordinary work, despite the fact they are called bureaucrats -- and worse -- by talk show hosts and irresponsible public officials, and they never receive the public support or recognition that their hard work deserves.
My third point is that the federal government -- like the business world -- is now deeply involved in improving itself to make government operate more efficiently and effectively, and to be more customer sensitive.
The federal workforce is the smallest in a generation, and as a percentage of the total work force in this nation, at its lowest level in many many decades. Moreover, government is in the process of turning from the kinds of hide-bound institutions many of us imagine to agencies bound and determined to give taxpayers the highest value for their dollars.
I deeply believe that the success of our country requires that faith in our public institutions be restored. And that cannot happen unless there is a far broader -- and yes, far louder -- counterpoint to the voices on talk radio, to the militias, to those who reject the notion of government and the rule of law in this country.
This is your challenge. You must be part of the process of re-establishing respect for the institution of government and those who work in public service.
Being part of a rational public discourse about where this nation is headed is one of the most important things you can do. And to do that, you must reject the cynicism and derogation that argues that society is incapable of improving itself through the institution of government.
And, you must also take responsibility for making government better -- by getting involved in civic and community organizations, by supporting candidates you believe in, by getting involved in the political process, or by serving in government.
Throughout our history, new generations have met the challenges of the times. Today, our country needs to meet the challenges we have just discussed, and you are the new generation. By meeting these challenges, you will honor the democratic principles on which this nation was built and the values you've been taught at Yeshiva.
Thank you and congratulations.