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Senator Byrd

Leadership.      Character.      Commitment.

Remarks by U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd

October 31, 2003

The Challenge of Public Service in America

Senator Byrd delivered the remarks below at the Center for National Policy.  The Center's members presented Senator Byrd and Senator Richard Lugar, R-Ind., with the 2003 Edmund S. Muskie Award for Distinguished Public Service.

"Ask not what your country can do for you.  Ask what you can do for your country."

With 17 words President John F. Kennedy defined the essence of public service.  Public service is about personal sacrifice for the greater good.  It is about reaching for the better angels of our human nature.  John Kennedy not only spoke those words, he lived them.  Kennedy's book Profiles in Courage is a tribute to public servants who did the right thing in spite of the personal consequences. 

Throughout our history, the United States has been blessed with individuals who lived Kennedy's dictum.  Some, like George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt, have come from America's most privileged families.

Some have had the best of educational backgrounds.  John Quincy Adams left his position as a Harvard professor to serve in the United States Congress and as President of the United States, and was, perhaps, one of the greatest Secretaries of State in American history.

Woodrow Wilson was the author of a number of important books on the Constitution and the Congress, and the president of an Ivy League university (Princeton), when he became Governor of the State of New Jersey, then President of the United States.

Daniel Webster had  a highly successful law practice.  Herbert Hoover was a world-renowned engineer.  Dwight D. Eisenhower was a five-star general and the commander of NATO.

The list goes on and on.  But I shudder to think of how many of these individuals might have been discouraged from entering the world of public service if they were reading the newspapers or watching television today.

Party politics has come to be the end all, be all of too many in higher office today.  Partisanship which has always been with us, now rules policy and dominates much public discourse.

Dissent, debate, honest exchanges about our nation's problems and needs rarely see the light of day.  Misinformation, personal attacks, blind obedience to party are now the currency of politics in America today.

"Talk" radio with its wholesale pandering to traditional support groups, the incessant trolling for campaign contributions, 365 days of each year, these things have rendered the traditional, high-minded view of public service almost meaningless - - a boring relic of the past compared to the blood sport that passes for service in elective office today. 

Both parties are guilty of it.  There is more than enough blame to go around.  But I am here today to pass my concerns along to you and to ask you to think about how to begin to turn us away from the destructive, scorched earth quality of public discourse and public policy.

How are we going to attract young, idealistic people to public service if the pattern of personal destruction in politics continues? 

How are we going to ensure that our leaders represent a broad spectrum of the American people if we do not get a handle on the obscene costs of campaigns?

How will we ever solve the looming and severe problems we must face in health care, education, energy security, and national security if neither side will listen to the other?  There are many good ideas on both sides of the aisle.  How can we get away from the incessant posturing and come to grips with the issues?

What will we say to the American people to get them to go to the polls when they are so turned off by the gamesmanship and the negativity that they don't even bother to vote?  How ironic that the spirit of public service still survives at its finest in the selfless acts of ordinary Americans all across this nation who volunteer in hospitals, loyally serve their communities, raise funds for good causes, and give of their time to mentor children at risk.  How can we get that extraordinary, American spirit of fairness, generosity, and true citizenship to trickle up to today's political office holders?

Public service should bring out the best, not the worst, in those who are attracted by its enormous possibilities.

My colleague from the Majority party in the Senate who will also receive your award for public service is exactly the kind of public servant John Kennedy was talking about.

I wish that there were 100 Senators like Senator Lugar serving today in the Senate. 

You in this room also represent the very best in public service.  You work for your country and your contribution to the American political landscape is huge and productive.  I congratulate you on your patriotism.  I believe that the contributions made by all of you as you help to frame and explain the issues of the day are more important than you may realize.

I am honored by the award presented to me today.  I thank the Center for National Policy for recognizing and appreciating my efforts.  I also want to thank Congressman Tim Roemer, Maureen Steinbrunner, and Peter Kovler for their invitation to be with you this afternoon.  And you have one of West Virginia's favorite sons as part of this fine organization in our former governor, Gaston Caperton.  I thank him, as I thank each of you, for sharing part of this day with me.  As I close, I ask you to ponder the questions I have raised and to try to help those of us who still believe that good men and women can work together for the good of the country.

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