1 1 2 3 WOMEN IN MOTION BANQUET 4 5 CELEBRATING 20 YEARS AT THE AIR FORCE ACADEMY 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 SPEECH GIVEN BY 13 14 THE HONORABLE JANET RENO, ATTORNEY GENERAL 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 September 1, 1996 22 23 Sheraton Colorado Springs Hotel 24 2886 South Circle Drive 25 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80906 2 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 MS. RENO: Thank you, Sheila Widnall. And it 3 is my real honor to serve with you and thank you, 4 General Stein. 5 As I told you yesterday, you hear and see 6 about something and you hear so much. And when you 7 finally see it or feel it, you're disappointed. 8 Yesterday you took me to the chapel, to the honor 9 court, and drove me around the Air Force Academy. And 10 I've never seen anything as magnificent and moving in 11 a very long time. And it far exceeds what I thought 12 it would be and I thought it would be very special. 13 And then you make sure that I had a chance to 14 soar. And Cadet Shannon Carrey enabled me to have a 15 beautiful experience and she was a wonderful teacher. 16 And I wanted to soar most of my adult life and it 17 couldn't match what it turned out to be. I thank you, 18 Cadet Carrey, and all who made yesterday such a special 19 day for me at the Academy. 20 It is an extraordinary honor for me to be 21 here today to celebrate with you 20 years of women at 22 the Air Force Academy. I congratulate the class of 23 1980 and the almost 1,900 graduates who have followed. 24 I do not congratulate you for being the first 25 and among the first. I congratulate you for what you 3 1 have done for this nation, for what you have done for 2 the Air Force, for your contributions to knowledge in 3 this land, to helping us to lead the way to space, for 4 showing young women throughout the world that you can 5 be almost anything you want to be if you try hard 6 enough and if it's the right thing to do. 7 I know how important that is because of some 8 of the women who blazed the trail for you, my Aunt 9 Winnie and Aunt Lucille Finley and so many of the WASPs 10 and the WASPs who are here tonight. 11 I was about six years old when they came home 12 from the war. I thought that they were some of the 13 most wonderful, the bravest people that I had ever 14 imagined. Some of them, as they were figuring out what 15 to do, came down to Miami. It seemed a good place to 16 collect one's thoughts and figure out what your next 17 step was going to be. 18 And they were pretty wonderful. They told 19 stories. They told about -- I can still remember it so 20 vividly -- Aunt Winnie telling about how she flew a big 21 25 across the Donner Pass one night and how she was 22 going to let the plane down -- but the right engines 23 really caused her trouble in a great snowstorm -- and 24 to climb a tower and signal people. The rest of the 25 WASPs told her how mistaken she was. But I didn't 4 1 think she was mistaken, I thought she was a heroine. 2 And they talked about targets and bombers and 3 Dot Lewis played the guitar and how they took me on my 4 first airplane flight. And I still remember that Piper 5 Cub and everything that it has meant to me since. 6 They went on to get married. Some had 7 children, one to be a doting aunt to now two 8 generations of nieces and nephews. They taught school. 9 They contributed to their community. They went to law 10 school. They have contributed to their communities and 11 they have reached out to help others along the way. 12 When my mother told me I couldn't go to law 13 school because I was a woman, I looked at the WASPs and 14 quietly decided I wasn't going to pay any attention to 15 her. They have blazed a trail for you and for me and 16 they have left a legacy of honor and of service and of 17 love. 18 But you and the other women who served with 19 you in the Air Force and in the military who served 20 with such distinction have done something equally 21 important for the WASPs. You have proven them right. 22 You have proven that if you give them a chance, women 23 can fight for this country. 24 They can fly the most extraordinary machines. 25 They can contribute to this nation. They can help lead 5 1 the Air Force. They can make a difference every step 2 of the way. You have picked up their banner and flown 3 aircraft that they only dreamed of. You have taken 4 their banner into space. You are helping to lead this 5 nation. 6 I have been so touched in these three and a 7 half years to have men bring their daughters to visit 8 the Attorney General, nine- and ten-year-olds, 9 11-year-olds, or to walk down the street in Washington 10 or someplace else in the nation and have a young woman 11 come up to me and ask a little bit about being Attorney 12 General and wonder what they can be when they grow up. 13 Because of you, I can look them straight in 14 the face and say you can raise wonderful children, you 15 can fly into space, you can lead your nation, you can 16 make a difference. 17 They believe me when I tell them this because 18 of you. But at the same time, you and I and others who 19 care so much have a sacred duty to these young women 20 and to their brothers throughout this nation. And that 21 is to fight as hard as we can in whatever arena of 22 action we have chosen to maintain this nation as a 23 strong and free nation so that these children can 24 pursue the dreams that you have given them. 25 In that connection, I think in these next 6 1 years we together, both in the military and the 2 Department of Justice, and throughout this country face 3 three important issues. The first is the world is an 4 awful lot smaller today than it was even 50 years ago. 5 Problems that once were local or national in scope are 6 now international in consequence. 7 Those in the military and the defense 8 department have always faced consequences in the 9 international arena. That is your arena. But we see 10 now in today's world the international consequences of 11 economic actions taken halfway around the world felt 12 all the way around the world. 13 We see the international consequences of 14 migration across borders and across continents. We see 15 the impact of environmental actions taken in one sector 16 of the world having direct and immediate impact around 17 the world. And in crime, we watch the international 18 impact of drugs, of terrorism, and of computer crime, 19 just to name a few. 20 And so in today's society, the general and 21 the Attorney General and the ambassador and the 22 intelligence operative in a far-off land and the 23 businesswomen concerned about the devaluation of 24 foreign currency and the secretary of the treasury, all 25 of us, and colleagues I have not named, must work 7 1 together. 2 We must work together as never before, but we 3 must do so while paying clear adherence to our 4 traditional role and not stepping across our role, 5 either for the Attorney General to tell the general 6 what to do, or the military to become involved, in 7 domestic law enforcement. 8 As we reach across our disciplines, we must 9 continue to adhere to the traditional roles that have 10 made this nation so strong. But we can do that, we can 11 do it without interfering with each other's mission by 12 developing a better understanding of the mission of all 13 involved by sharing information appropriately in a way 14 that can be invaluable to the mission of all concerned, 15 by sharing equipment, and most of all, by sharing 16 know-how. 17 It has been my pleasure to work with the 18 military, to work with ambassadors on issues of drug 19 trafficking abroad, and to be so impressed with the 20 military's excellence, to be so impressed with the 21 military's ability to reach across disciplines in the 22 right way to achieve our common goals. 23 I have watched the military do extraordinary 24 things. In the summer of 1994, we faced a crisis in 25 the straits of Florida. I watched the Coast Guard take 8 1 on rafters in an absolutely extraordinary undertaking. 2 I watched the Department of Defense respond at 3 Guantanamo to demagnify the exodus from Cuba. I 4 watched them set up a community and do it in a way that 5 was in the best tradition of the military of the United 6 States. 7 They did it humanely, they did it 8 effectively, and it was just an extraordinary moment to 9 watch them working with the Immigration and 10 Naturalization Service, working with the Coast Guard, 11 working with the diplomats to achieve such a remarkable 12 resolution of a crisis. 13 And I have watched the military work with the 14 FBI in the tragedy at Elcabar. I watched us deal 15 together on what would happen if we faced a crisis such 16 as was faced in the subways of Japan with the gas 17 attack. 18 I have seen the military in action and I am 19 here to say that I am impressed. I am impressed with 20 the excellence. I am impressed with the diversity of 21 interest and of knowledge. I am impressed with the 22 effectiveness, and I think Secretary Widnall said it 23 best, I'm impressed with the teamwork and coherence of 24 those I have watched in the military. 25 We have much to do to work together to learn 9 1 how we can perform our respective roles, how each of us 2 can deal better with the international consequences 3 that we face in our particular missions, how the FBI 4 can work with the military representatives and the 5 ambassador and the intelligence community and the 6 international trade rep in an embassy abroad and best 7 represent the interests of the United States in 8 resolving the international issues that face us 9 throughout the world. 10 And I have some suggestions. First of all, 11 we should do more training so that we understand the 12 roles of the different institutions better than we do 13 today. We should do more in cross-designating people. 14 It has been such a pleasure for us to have 15 representatives in the military in the Department of 16 Justice, and we should do more in exchanging roles so 17 that people have a better understanding of the roles 18 involved. 19 Lawyers think they know it all. But I 20 have found that lawyers are very limited. They know 21 the rules and processes of the law, but they don't 22 understand all the military has to face. 23 They don't understand some of the diplomatic 24 niceties and they generally don't understand that much 25 about the history or the issues that we face abroad. 10 1 But we're learning because I think that's one of the 2 high priorities of the Department of Justice. I think 3 it is important for us all to better understand the 4 world. 5 I learned an awful lot about western 6 civilization in high school and college. I learned a 7 lot about American history. But it's been a long time 8 learning a lot about the rest of the world. And in all 9 that we do, I think we've got to realize that there is 10 no area of this vast globe that will not have an impact 11 on all of us at some time during the life of those who 12 graduated in the class of 1980 and thereafter. 13 It is so important that we learn what the 14 history of a nation is and what sovereignty means to 15 them. And what happens if we take one course that will 16 insult and embarrass them, but if we took another 17 course, we could resolve problems so very easily 18 without a great deal of fuss. 19 I think the State Department, the Department 20 of Defense, and the Department of Justice can do so 21 much if we learn together about what we will be dealing 22 with and become more effective as we do it. 23 Lawyers like to litigate a lot and the 24 Department of Defense appreciates our litigation some 25 of the time. But they also think, as I do, that we 11 1 litigate too much and that lawsuits are very costly 2 things that should be avoided at all cost. 3 But like you know, it's better to deal and to 4 negotiate from strength. It is important that we 5 negotiate from strength, but that we learn how to 6 negotiate. And I have tried to establish in the 7 Department of Justice a procedure for resolving 8 disputes without litigation. 9 I'm trying to teach lawyers how to negotiate, 10 and in so doing, I have undertaken some pro bono 11 service which is working with teachers in the D.C. 12 community to determine how we can best resolve 13 conflicts in schools without knives and guns and fists. 14 And I am so impressed with what people can be taught 15 about conflict resolution, whether it be at the 16 community level, the level of Washington, or around the 17 world. 18 And I think it is incumbent upon law schools, 19 it is incumbent upon the universities of this nation 20 and this Academy to do everything we can to teach 21 people in whatever undertaking they will pursue how to 22 resolve conflict, how to resolve disputes in the 23 simplest, fastest, best way. 24 This world is far too complicated now. It is 25 fraught with far too many dangers to let us take up our 12 1 time with needless dispute when, if we learn a little 2 bit about process, we can do it so much easier 3 up-front. As we do this, we need to negotiate from 4 strength, which you provide with such magnificence 5 around the world, but we've got to stop being 6 pessimistic now. 7 When I came to Washington, somebody said, 8 "But you haven't dealt with that country before. You 9 don't know all that it is. It's just wishful 10 thinking." And I said, "What's it going to hurt to 11 believe we might make some difference if we negotiate 12 and try to work out the problems." 13 This world is too complicated, and if we 14 don't work it out, we're going to be in a bigger mess. 15 We've got to believe that we can make a difference 16 while at the same time being prepared if we can't make 17 a difference and if we don't have somebody cooperate to 18 take effective action otherwise. 19 One of the most wonderful skills that anybody 20 can have as we deal with these international issues is 21 the skill of communication. Sometimes you don't have 22 to speak the same language to communicate. It's how 23 you shake a hand. It's how you look somebody in the 24 eye. It's how you remember people, even if you have to 25 have a translator explain that you want to know how 13 1 their wife is and what they're doing and how their 2 child is and did they get to law school. 3 It is putting human and diplomatic relations 4 in a human context. But it sure does help if you can 5 speak their language. And one of the greatest single 6 needs we have in law enforcement, in business, and in 7 all that we are undertaking in this nation is the 8 ability to communicate with people around the world in 9 their language as well as understanding the nuances and 10 appreciating the direct contact that you can give it. 11 English is a remarkable language. It is 12 becoming the universal language of this world. But 13 whether it be in law enforcement in trying to 14 understand 26 dialects of one language as you undertake 15 electronic surveillance or if it's resolving a problem 16 you have with an extradition treaty, language can make 17 a difference. 18 What is clear, however, is that as this world 19 is so small, we can never ever turn inward again in 20 isolation. We must always be willing to take our role 21 and assume our responsibility in the international 22 aspects of our respective missions. 23 The second issue that I think is of concern 24 to us all as we try to figure out how we can maintain 25 a strong and great nation for those 11-year-olds yet 14 1 to come down the road as leaders and as generals and as 2 Attorneys General is to recognize the opportunities, 3 the marvelous opportunities, but the extraordinary 4 dangers that technology and science have presented us. 5 These opportunities, these challenges, and 6 these dangers stagger the imagination and convert 7 vanity to prayer. We must address them together. The 8 State Department and the Department of Defense have 9 worked so long and so well to address the issue of 10 atomic attack. 11 But at the same time, the Department of 12 Justice must gear up to work with you in deciding what 13 we do about people who smuggle radioactive material, 14 how we address that issue in a comprehensive, 15 thoughtful way on maintaining the integrity of our 16 respective missions. 17 We face today the prospect of attacks on our 18 information infrastructure that present real 19 challenges. This information infrastructure gives us 20 an ability to communicate and to coordinate that we 21 never dreamed would be possible. 22 But when a hacker can sit in a kitchen in 23 St. Petersburg, Russia, and steal from a bank in 24 Chicago, think of what that hacker can do unless we are 25 vigilant with the information infrastructure that is so 15 1 vital to our defense, so vital to our commerce, so 2 vital to this nation. 3 Again, the military has done so much in 4 leading the way, but it is something that we must all 5 work together to address. And it will require an 6 unusual partnership between the Department of Defense, 7 the Department of Justice, State, the NSC, and, most 8 importantly, the private sector. So much of the 9 strength of that effort will come from the Department 10 of Defense, but we must do more. 11 We are in an information era with an ability 12 to communicate that boggles the mind. But as we can 13 communicate across cyberspace, so must we take steps to 14 ensure the privacy of that communication to ensure the 15 encryption in an appropriate way that will permit 16 business to use that information system to the best of 17 its advantage consistent with lawful objectives. 18 But as we do that, we have got to make sure 19 that we have the capacity in law enforcement to 20 appropriately, pursuant to court order, conduct a surveillance when it 21 is right. And by that, I mean, if somebody stole from 22 a company today and they did it just by taking papers 23 and I had probable cause to believe that their papers 24 were stored someplace by the person who had stolen the 25 papers, and that I could get a court order for a search 16 1 warrant, I can go in to court, have all the 2 constitutional protections observed, get a search 3 warrant, and get those stolen papers and prove that a 4 crime has been committed. 5 But if instead the information was stolen by 6 technology on a computer and was stored in a computer, 7 which was encrypted, and I had no means of breaking 8 that code, we would see law enforcement severely 9 hampered. What we want to try to do is keep up with 10 the technology, not expand the right or the authority 11 to surveil, and we want to do it consistent with court 12 order, consistent with the constitution. 13 It is going to require, as we see today, the 14 military working with all concerned, working with the 15 private sector, the Department of Justice, and other 16 agencies to achieve the goal of privacy as appropriate 17 and law enforcement authority as appropriate only under 18 the Constitution. 19 We see other challenges. The Department of 20 Defense today is working hand in hand with the 21 Department of Justice to promote nonlethal technologies 22 that will enable police officers to control a situation 23 in a far better way than with guns that we use today. 24 And we see so much being done to address the issue of 25 chemical and biological attacks because departments are 17 1 working together the right way. 2 What is clear, our challenge of the next five 3 years, is to make sure that we, the people, control 4 technology. And we must do everything possible to 5 ensure that technology will never ever control the 6 people and erode our constitutional rights. 7 To do that, it seems to me, we must educate 8 all. We must make sure that people are skilled and 9 understand the marvelous technology we have. We must 10 be prepared to retrain as we develop new technology. 11 And that leads to my third challenge that I 12 think we face together. And that is how can we give 13 our young people in this nation a future. Not just a 14 few young people, but all the young people in America. 15 I see it from the perspective of the 16 prosecutor who used to pick up a three-sentence 17 investigation for a 17-year-old whom I had just 18 adjudicated for an armed robbery and see five points 19 along the way where we could have intervened to have 20 made a difference in that child's life and kept him out 21 of trouble. 22 I decided to start early. And the doctors at 23 our public hospital taught me about child development, 24 how the first three years of life are so critical, how 25 50 percent of all learned human response was learned in 18 1 the first year of life, and how the concept of reward 2 and punishment and a conscience was developed in those 3 first three years. 4 What good are all the prisons in America 5 going to be 18 years from now if we don't teach a child 6 the difference between right and wrong and develop a 7 conscience in those children today. What good are all 8 the schools and all our abilities to teach skills going 9 to be if the child never gets the foundation of 10 learning in those first years. 11 We can do so much, but there are some that 12 say, "That's not my problem. I'm not interested." I 13 as a prosecutor will never be able to build enough 14 prisons unless we start now to give our children a 15 future. The business community will not have people 16 with the skills necessary to fill the jobs to maintain 17 this nation as a first-rate nation unless we start now 18 for all our children. 19 The doctors and the future doctors that are 20 here tonight will not be able to keep up with the 21 demands placed on our health care institutions unless 22 we provide preventative medical care up-front. We're 23 all in this together, as General Stein said. What we 24 need is a well-trained Army, an Army with the skills to 25 match the challenges of technology and an Army and an 19 1 Air Force and a Navy and a military that represents all 2 America so that all America can have a part in our 3 future. 4 How do we do this? We have to look not just 5 to the child in the inner city. We've got to look to 6 the children in suburbia, to children who find both 7 parents working, to children who come home at 3:30 in 8 the afternoon and face an afternoon and early evening 9 with little supervision and with little care on 10 weekends. 11 We have to make an investment in our children 12 making sure that we do everything we can to train their 13 parents to be strong, effective parents, to making sure 14 that they have health care, preventative medical care 15 that will give them the foundation for a strong and 16 healthy future, that they have child care in those 17 first formative years that will form the foundation for 18 an education that can prepare them for the 21st 19 century, that they have an educational system that can 20 truly teach them. 21 And one of the things we've got to do is to 22 examine the priorities of this nation. Something is 23 wrong with a nation that pays its football players in 24 the six-digit figures and pays its schoolteachers what 25 they pay them. We have got to change that. But the 20 1 schoolteachers' work will be for naught if that child 2 moves into the afternoon and the evening alone except 3 for television. 4 We have got to provide constructive 5 opportunities in the afternoons and in the evenings 6 recognizing that, as our work force has changed, so 7 must we change the structure of our days for our 8 children. 9 We've got to develop mentoring programs that 10 can provide the adult supervision that is so critical 11 and community police officers who reach out to keep 12 that kid out of trouble as much as to identify the gang 13 leader that gets them into trouble. 14 We've got to make sure that when we train, we 15 train for jobs. It used to puzzle me as to why we have 16 so many requirements in high school, and yet we don't 17 have a requirement that you have a skill that can 18 enable you to earn a living wage by the time you 19 graduate. 20 Somebody says, "Well, I'll go to college." 21 How many of you know people who went to college, got a 22 B.A. in English Lit, and sat there for two years trying 23 to figure out what they were going to do. Let us make 24 sure that we have a skill and that we have a capacity 25 in this nation to retrain people as that skill becomes 21 1 obsolete. 2 That capacity to retrain should be as 3 automatically available as the capacity to educate from 4 K through 12 if we are to keep up with the changing 5 technology of this world and to make sure that all our 6 people are productive and can live to their fullest 7 potential. 8 But I feel encouraged because, as I told 9 cadets earlier this evening, I see across America 10 communities joining together with employers and the 11 business sector and schoolteachers reaching out to form 12 partnerships to reweave the fabric of community around 13 our children. I see volunteers coming forth to become 14 mentors to make a difference. 15 Do you know that the cadets of this Academy 16 in the last year did 40,000 hours of service to their 17 community? I think that is extraordinary. Do you know 18 that some of the cadets of this Academy went to assist 19 at a soup kitchen, and as they kept coming back to 20 assist, they saw the same people there and they decided 21 that something was wrong. 22 And so instead of just going to assist, they 23 brought their computers, they brought their skills, and 24 they started teaching people how to do this or how to 25 do that or how to participate once again. And step by 22 1 step, they made a difference. 2 Do you realize that cadets of this Academy 3 have reached out to youngsters in high school and in 4 middle school to talk with them about what it means to 5 grow up, how to develop skills, how they might come to 6 the Academy because they care, because they want to 7 make a difference. 8 Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could get the 9 Department of Justice and the military organized around 10 this nation so that every single one of us reached out 11 and made the difference at least each year in the life 12 of one young person by being a mentor by providing a 13 scholarship, by teaching them a new language, by 14 helping them to grow up in a strong and positive way. 15 After talking to the cadets of this great 16 institution tonight, I think it's going to be possible. 17 I think they're going to leave this institution leading 18 the way to make that commitment. 19 Some people ask me if I'm pessimistic about 20 this nation, if I'm discouraged, and I just smile at 21 them and say, "Quite to the contrary." In the three 22 and a half years I've been in Washington, I've had a 23 chance to travel across this land to talk to young 24 people and to the elderly, to talk to so many different 25 people. 23 1 And never in all of my life have I felt so 2 encouraged about the future of this great nation. The 3 officers and the enlisted men who are making a baseball 4 diamond for some kids in an inner-city community in San 5 Antonio, the cadets here tonight, youngsters make a 6 difference. Schoolteachers working as hard as they 7 can, there is a strength and a braveness in this 8 country that is just wonderful. 9 And I think it's best to sum it up by the 10 experience that I've had since April the 19th of 1995. 11 On that Sunday, after the blast in Oklahoma, I went to 12 Oklahoma City and I've been back twice. And victims 13 and survivors have sometimes come to visit me at the 14 Department of Justice. 15 In this time I watched the people of Oklahoma 16 City and this nation come together as one to speak out 17 against the violence that spawned that blast from hell, 18 to reach out to survivors and victims and help them 19 begin to heal, to support law enforcement to see that 20 the people responsible for that travesty were brought 21 to justice, and to speak out and stand for this nation 22 and for all this nation stands for. 23 I think that that experience, the bravery of 24 those people, the firefighters that I met in 25 Indianapolis who went to help, the police from 24 1 Arlington who went to make a difference, countless 2 Americans reached out to help and to support and to 3 say, "We will not be beaten down." 4 This nation is on its way to making sure that 5 we give to all Americans the chance to be free, that we 6 give to our young Americans the chance to grow up, to 7 go to great academies such as this, to make a 8 difference in their lives and in the lives of all 9 Americans and indeed of the world. 10 To the class of 1980 and to those women that 11 have come after, you are part of a great nation and you 12 are making it greater. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 25 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 I, CATHY E. LEAF, a Registered Merit 3 Reporter, do hereby certify that I was present at and 4 reported in stenotype the foregoing matter; 5 that I thereafter reduced my stenotype notes 6 to typewritten form, comprising the foregoing official 7 transcript; 8 further, that the foregoing transcript is, to 9 the best of my knowledge, a true and accurate record of 10 the foregoing matter on the date above set forth. 11 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my 12 hand this 3rd day of September, 1996. 13 ______________________________ 14 Cathy E. Leaf, RMR 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25