Good evening.  I’m quite pleased to be here to honor two giants of U.S. energy and security policy.  I congratulate the Nixon Center on its very fine choices for this year’s honorees, and I’d also like to commend the Center for its important work.  This institution, like the men we are honoring tonight, works in a bipartisan way to bring thoughtful analysis and fresh ideas to the most pressing challenges that our nation faces.  It aims not only to influence policy debates in a theoretical way, but to make practical contributions – offering concrete policy guidance and educating the public on a range of critical topics, including energy and national security issues.  And so, given this backdrop, I’d like to take just a minute to say a few words about our national security as it relates to our progress in Iraq.

 

The situation in Iraq is a topic about which I feel strongly and, quite frankly, about which we could devote this entire evening.  But, let me summarize it this way: I have been to Baghdad.  And, in November, I visited our troops in Kuwait and Qatar.  I have seen our men and women in uniform working tirelessly half-a-world away.  I have spent time with the wounded – many severely so – at Walter Reed hospital.  These are difficult days, and this is tough work – from the President on down.  Many have sacrificed much.  But they have done so on behalf of one simple and fundamental idea: freedom. 

 

In the end, it is the promises of freedom that will beat back the insurgents.  It is freedom that has brought – and will continue to ensure – democracy in Iraq.  And it is freedom that allows the Iraqi people to believe in a more prosperous, more peaceful life for the next generation.  And so, we must persevere, and we will. 

 

I would also add that we will continue to assist the Iraqis in getting their oil industry – an industry critical to the economic prosperity of that nation – functioning to increasing capacity.  The free flow of energy – in Iraq, in this country and around the world – is critical to global economic growth, to innovation, to job creation and to raising standards of living.  Senator Domenici and Secretary Schlesinger understand this and have devoted much of their public careers to ensuring it occurs. 

 

I thank them both for all they have done in this area.  Their contributions to U.S. energy policy – and to our national security – are too many to recite this evening.  In fact, to tick through such a list could never do justice to what they have accomplished.  But, I would like to spend a few moments talking about who they are and what they stand for. 

 

I have had the privilege of getting to know Senator Domenici over the last year or so.  In fact, just outside my office is a photograph of myself, the president and Senator Domenici taken last year at Sandia National Lab. 

 

I am certainly no expert on the machinations of Capitol Hill.  However, by my observations, I think it’s fair to say that it’s easier to follow the herd than to forge your own path.  Jumping on board with the “hot” issues of the daily news cycle seems far too common, and not always productive.  Senator Domenici does not fit that mold.  He is someone who has dedicated himself to the hard work of the Congress – to truly embracing and living the idea of representing the American people.  Widely regarded as one of the most decent people in Congress, he works in a bipartisan way on issues that matter greatly to the everyday life of all Americans.  Nowhere is this more clear than in his efforts to increase this country’s energy independence.

 

Senator Domenici understands the importance of both short-term and longer-term solutions to our energy needs.  It is fair to give him the lion’s share of the credit for the successful passage of the recent energy bill.  He mobilized the Congress and, almost through sheer force of will, got it through to the president’s desk. And, I count him as a strong ally in the effort to ensure that we continue to fund the best energy-related science programs in the world.  He has done much to ensure that our national labs remain without peer anywhere in the world.

 

Senator Domenici also appreciates the role nuclear power can play in the drive for increased energy independence – a subject I expect you will hear more about in the days and weeks to come.  In fact, he has written a book on the subject, which I commend to you if you have not already read it. 

 

In short, the Senator is a paragon of public service. The honor he receives tonight is a wholly appropriate recognition of his many years of hard work, and – we certainly hope – of many more to come.

 

Like Senator Domenici, Secretary James Schlesinger is a true public servant.  I’ve had the privilege of knowing him for about 15 years.  I’ve known him long enough to forgive him for two transgressions (maybe his only two): his Crimson alma mater – which, coming from an MIT man, is saying something – and his dubious choice of the Forrestal Building to house the Energy Department.

 

In all seriousness though, Secretary Schlesinger is a friend and mentor.  I will not soon forget that he was one of the very first people to call and congratulate me when President Bush nominated me to serve as Energy Secretary.  And, in typical fashion, he phoned up my office himself – no assistant placing the call – to say that he just had a few pieces of advice for a friend.  It is advice that I treasure.  As the nation’s first secretary of energy, Jim Schlesinger set the standard by which all of his successors – including me – have been and will be measured.  

 

Secretary Schlesinger’s record of service to his country is a thing to behold.  In government, he was beyond politics – serving both Republican and Democratic presidents, and never afraid to challenge prevailing conventions.  Beginning with the Cold War’s middle years, he established himself as a forceful, articulate advocate of the idea that American must remain strong in the face of her enemies, observing – counter to the fashion of the day – that “deterrence is not a substitute for defense.”

 

Secretary Schlesinger’s life of public service brings to mind such storied names as Stimson, Forrestal, Knox, Dillon and Lovett – wise men who, inside and outside government, selflessly labored to create a post-war world.  He embodies those traits that we could stand to see a little more of in Washington – impeccable character, integrity, steadfastness and, above all, an almost innate allegiance to doing what is necessary to ensure the security of this nation.  He taught us – and continues to teach us – that America must be at once bold in her ideas and steadfast in her ideals.

 

Let me conclude with this: Secretary Schlesinger and Senator Domenici stand for what all of us in public service aspire to: making America better.  And so, on behalf of the United States government and all Americans, I thank you both for your patriotism, your commitment, and for the example you set for us all.