New Frontier Awards and Walter Cronkite Forum Tape 1 Page 1
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NEW FRONTIER AWARDS AND WALTER CRONKITE FORUM TAPE 1 PAGE 1 PAUL KIRK: That was a fitting Boston welcome for our special guests. Good afternoon, welcome to you all. Those who I have not had an opportunity to meet, I’m Paul Kirk. I chair the Board of Directors of the Kennedy Library Foundation. Many of our board members are with us; we’re delighted for that. This is one of a series of special forums that the Kennedy Library and Foundation puts on under the leadership of Deborah Leff, Director of the Kennedy Library, and John Shattuck, Chief Executive Officer of the Library Foundation. We are obviously honored by two very special gentlemen from the news medium whose names are no secret, but their introduction will come momentarily. But with respect to this Forum, first of all, I would like to acknowledge and thank those who make it possible. Our lead sponsor is The Bank of America; we are also very grateful to Boston Capital, The Lowell Institute and the Corcoran Jennison Companies. We have media sponsors as well that help us broadcast and let the larger audience know what happens here, The Boston Globe , boston.com, and WBUR, which broadcasts all of the Kennedy Library Forums on Sunday evenings. And in support of today’s events, I would like to thank the sponsors of our Distinguished Visitors Program: Raytheon Corporation, Boston Capital, and Nixon-Peabody. Before proceeding with the Forum itself, we have a special treat for you and a special treat for those of us affiliated with the Kennedy Library and Foundation, as well as the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Each NEW FRONTIER AWARDS AND WALTER CRONKITE FORUM TAPE 1 PAGE 2 of those institutions exists to perpetuate and promote the ideals and legacy of President Kennedy. The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard created the New Frontier Awards in 2004 to honor young Americans under the age of forty years who are changing their communities for the better and are changing the country by their commitment to public service. The two New Frontier Awards are presented annually to exceptional young Americans. One, whose contributions in elective office and another, whose community service, or advocacy, demonstrate the impact and the value of public service in the spirit of John Kennedy and the idealism to which he hoped young Americans would aspire. The co-chairs of the New Frontier Award are John Shattuck, our CEO, and another distinguished public servant in her own right, the Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard, the former governor of New Hampshire, Jean Shaheen. I also want to acknowledge and welcome Dean David Elwood, Dean of the Kennedy School of Government, the students from the Kennedy School of Government who are here with us as well as the Fellows of the Institute of Politics. And accompanying our awardees, I want to acknowledge and welcome Shirley Madigan, mother of Lisa Madigan. We are delighted that you’re here with us, and Henry Fernandez, the husband of Kiko Martos, and the Martos family who are here. We’re delighted that they’re here as well to congratulate, along with us, Kiko for her good work. NEW FRONTIER AWARDS AND WALTER CRONKITE FORUM TAPE 1 PAGE 3 There is someone else here who bears the Kennedy name and she has done so much in her own right as a human being to espouse and live up to the idealism of her mother and father. And she is the president of the Kennedy Library Foundation and a distinguished member of the board of the Kennedy School of Government’s Institute of Politics. She needs no introduction, but she does deserve a welcome. So please welcome Caroline Kennedy. [applause] CAROLINE KENNEDY: Thank you all for coming. It’s wonderful to be here today and celebrate two extraordinary women, whose commitment to public service is an inspiration to Americans of all ages. The New Frontier Awards would have had special meaning for President Kennedy. He would have been pleased to know that the Institute of Politics and the Kennedy Library, the two most important living memorials to his legacy, are collaborating on these awards, which celebrate idealism, service, and youth. President Kennedy believed that young Americans who devoted themselves to public service were realizing the highest aspirations of the nation. He encouraged students to give their talents and energies back to their communities and to the country. He believed that politics was a noble profession, and he hoped that young people would achieve their own dreams by serving others. And the young people he inspired changed American history and the world. President Kennedy would have been especially proud, as we are, of the two people we honor today. Born after his time, NEW FRONTIER AWARDS AND WALTER CRONKITE FORUM TAPE 1 PAGE 4 Lisa Madigan and Kiko Martos have shown by their examples the kinds of contributions that each one of us can make. Kiko Martos has shown us that community service and advocacy can have a sustaining impact on the lives of the least privileged members of our society. Attorney General Lisa Madigan, shows us that serving in elective office can be a powerful and effective way to tackle the most challenging public issues we face. Together they show us that politics and community service go hand in hand. Lisa Madigan and Kiko Martos have brought idealism, passion, and hard work to public challenges facing this nation. We need more people like them to guide us through the difficult times ahead; and they are role models and an inspiration for young women, young Americans, and everyone who cares about the future. I am pleased today to present Lisa Madigan with the New Frontier Award for elective public service. This award is also called the Fenn Award in honor of Dan Fenn, who was the Library’s first director. Dan is with us today and maybe he could just stand and be recognized. [applause] Lisa Madigan has demonstrated the impact of elective public office through her innovative work as Attorney General for the state of Illinois. She has won praise for her work on a wide range of difficult issues, whether telemarketing fraud, combating sex crimes and really putting the power of the state on the side of women and children. She is really a role model and NEW FRONTIER AWARDS AND WALTER CRONKITE FORUM TAPE 1 PAGE 5 we’re thrilled to have her here today. We hope she’ll come back many times. Attorney General Lisa Madigan. [applause] LISA MADIGAN: Thank you very much. I wasn’t alive when John F. Kennedy was President. But my parents came of age during his presidency, and his leadership and ideals had a profound impact on them. I know that’s why when I was in fifth grade, my mother suggested that I do my first big research project on John F. Kennedy. So we went down to the Chicago Public Library and spent hours and days going through reels and reels of microfilm, because that’s what they had then. And I learned that it wasn’t just my parents whose lives John F. Kennedy had changed; he had truly changed the world. My first experience with the energy and commitment to change the world came when I had the opportunity to work for U.S. Senator Paul Simon. His office was a hive of activity and everybody in that office was committed to making a difference. They were committed to changing the world and even on days when that wasn’t possible, they were still there trying. Imbued with that spirit, and recognizing that the apartheid regime in South Africa was one of the moral disgraces of my generation, I traveled to South Africa when I graduated from college and spent a year as a volunteer high school teacher at an all-girls Catholic school. Working with young Zulu women at a time when South Africans couldn’t vote, and Nelson Mandela was still in prison, solidified my commitment to helping people by using the law and NEW FRONTIER AWARDS AND WALTER CRONKITE FORUM TAPE 1 PAGE 6 government to pursue social justice and, hopefully, to change the world for the better. Everyday as the Illinois Attorney General, I have new opportunities to fulfill my mission, and I know that we have made a difference in the lives of countless women and children, older people, and recent immigrants (so- called minorities), and working families, and people living with disabilities. And I am blessed to have the love and support of my family, in particular my parents, whose dedication to public service has served as a shining example to me of John F. Kennedy’s ideals. And I wouldn’t have been able to pursue elective office without the support and love of them and my husband. This Award will serve as a constant reminder to me to chart the right course, and I want to thank the John F. Kennedy Library and Foundation and the Harvard Institute of Politics for this distinguished Award. Thank you very much. [applause] CAROLINE KENNEDY: Now it is my honor to present the New Frontier Award to Kiko Martos who, although she is as Paul Kirk would say under 40, has already served in a multitude of public service roles and has been long dedicated to ending the inequalities in our criminal justice system. Through her community and advocacy work in New Haven and before that working against the death penalty, she has improved the lives of countless NEW FRONTIER AWARDS AND WALTER CRONKITE FORUM TAPE 1 PAGE 7 others—especially those in the Hispanic community in New Haven.