First of All, I Would Like to Greet the President of the United States of America, Mr

Let me start by greeting the President of the United States of America, Mr. Barack Obama, and all the authorities who are here with us today.

Mr. President, please allow me to extend our heartfelt condolences for the loss of American lives in Afghanistan toady, and our deepest gratitude for your continuing sacrifices as the bulwark against terrorism, the champion of democracy and human rights – thank you.

NIAF embodies the best of these American, and the best of Italian, values. And now, a fond and patriotic greeting goes to NIAF President Joseph Del Raso, to our NIAF friends and representatives, to those who came to America to realize their dreams, and to all those who were born here and yet are Italians at heart.

Italians’ integration in their new cultures throughout the world sets an example for all. It shows how attachment to one’s homeland is at times stronger in those who have left than in those who have stayed. Their love of Italy has lasted through the centuries and the generations, yet it has not prevented Italians from becoming fully integrated in their new land and thus from truly becoming Italian-Americans. Mayors, governors, justices, war heroes, artists, sport champions and many others, past and present, can lay claim to Italian roots.

Italian Americans are proud of their roots, their culture and their language, and it is this pride which has led so many of them to spare no efforts to reintroduce Italian in the Advanced Placement Program (AP). And I would therefore like to thank NIAF for its pivotal role in this – without your help, we would not have achieved this goal.

But to return to integration – let me say that this is in Italians’ DNA. Just think of ancient Rome, and of its capacity to assimilate people from other cultures, and to make them feel, make them become, part of its common destiny. And even today, at a time of great migrations and social tensions, everyone can identify with our lifestyle – above all if they want to strike the right balance between the old and the new, between traditions and plans for the future.

We live in difficult times but, however we choose to define them, crisis is our common denominator. I know that it creates insecurity and concerns but I also believe that it is an opportunity we must exploit. We must therefore revise our priorities and rediscover what is important, the simple basics - honesty, strength, love for nature and our environment, love for our family, love for others and love for what we hold sacred.

Surrounded as I am by people of my age, I can already see a change in our priorities. A change which is possible thanks to those young people who believe that radical changes are brought about not by destruction but by construction – be it of social relationships, culture, technology or of the future .

Italy celebrates the 150 th (one hundred and fiftieth) Anniversary of its Unification this year, 2011 (two thousand and eleven). And throughout these celebrations I have set myself a goal: to remind everyone of how young were the people who animated the Risorgimento, our “Resurgence”. Young men and women from all social backgrounds and from all over Italy, armed but with their dreams, challenged - and overcame - an infinitely stronger enemy and created a nation where there was none before: to them we owe our Country.

This is why we must believe in the visionary power of our youth: it is they who can do the most in this challenge for a better future. Overcoming the current crisis will not be easy, but we must believe in ourselves and start, once more, from the basics. In the words of Italy’s patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi:

“Start by doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible”.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, thank you.