From the Duke News Service

May 16, 1999

ABC News' chief congressional analyst Cokie Roberts urged graduating seniors at Duke University Sunday to consider getting involved in their government — the one institution that binds all Americans — through political participation and public service.

"I will not say that this time more than all others calls for the service of every man. But I will say there was never a time when the services of those who possess talents, integrity, firmness and sound judgment were more wanted in Congress.

"Obviously, those aren't my words. I would have said 'every man and woman.' Those are the words of Thomas Jefferson in an 1806 letter to Barnabas Bidwell. Jefferson was chastising Bidwell for leaving Congress, and every so often I feel like I want to laminate those words when good people leave Congress and good people like you find that it's not an institution that you think is worthy of your talents."

More than 3,400 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees were awarded at the annual commencement ceremony before a crowd of more than 15,000 under partly sunny skies in the university's Wallace Wade football stadium. Roberts was one of five to receive honorary degrees. The others were President Emil Constantinescu of Romania; jazz musician Sonny Rollins; Carolyn Heilbrun, a Columbia University professor emerita and a leading feminist literary scholar; and George B. Autry, founder of a socioeconomic research center based in Chapel Hill. Autry was honored posthumously. The founder and president of MDC Inc., which specializes in economic and workforce development policy with a focus on the Southeast, died at home last month.

Roberts, who covers politics, Congress and public policy issues for ABC News, told members of the graduating class of 1999 that it is easy to be contemptuous of professional politicians these days.

But "to denigrate the professional is to denigrate the profession. We demand professional doctors and we respect the art of medicine, we expect professional bridge builders and we respect the science of engineering. To say that only amateurs, non-professionals, should be in politics is to denigrate government, the profession of government.

"Even though I know that is extremely popular, I would argue that is very dangerous, because we in this country have nothing that binds us together as a nation except our government. That's it. We have no common religion, we have no common history, we have no common ethnicity, we have these days no common language.

"And if you look at what is happening in the rest of the world today, you understand then the miracle of this nation. Look what's happening in Kosovo. President Constantinescu can tell you the miracle of this country, this ability of us to bring people together. The rest of the world we see too much torn apart by racial, ethnic and religious strife, and you know, with the horrible exception of the Civil War, we have been able to avoid that because of our nationhood, which has been defined by the Constitution. It's our shared history. That's it."

Congress, Roberts noted, is the place "where we do iron out our differences, that is where we come and find a way to bring together the energy-producing states and the energy-using states and the states that are more urban and the states that are more rural. All of the vast differences that exist in this country come together there."

A willingness to participate in government, she added, is "the glue that keeps the country together. I think it is even more important that we find that glue in a time of multi-culturalism, and I celebrate it thoroughly, but I don't think that it's wise to pursue multi-culturalism without also celebrating the institutions that bring us together."

Roberts cited a project at Duke's Kenan Ethics Center, called "The Content of Our Character: The Voices of Generation X," where 40 young people from universities nationwide talked about ethical leadership in politics, markets, civil society and communities. "In talking about politics, they said, 'Our generation cries out for leaders to guide us as one nation with a common future and shared aspirations. We yearn for someone to step forward and do what others in the community are afraid to do.' Well, so do it. You can do that. You can be the generation that does that instead of being the generation that continues to be contemptuous of politicians and professional politicians."

Roberts concluded: "As you go on your way from this wonderful institution, I hope that you'll remember the special importance of public service, understand its value in the history of this nation, and have the gutsiness and dedication to go for it yourselves."

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