George Mitchell Interview (page: 6 / 6) Presidential Medal of Freedom	Print Interview

What does the American dream mean to you?

George Mitchell: I developed more understanding of it as I became an adult. I think the most dramatic illustration for me came many years later when I was a federal judge. I enjoyed it very much. It was a position of great power. But...

Get the Flash Player to see this video. The power I most enjoyed exercising was when I presided at naturalization ceremonies. They were what we would call citizenship ceremonies, where a group of people who had come from every part of the world, who had gone through the required procedures, gathered before me in a federal courtroom in Maine, and there I administered to them the oath of allegiance to the United States, and by the power vested in me under our Constitution and law, I made them Americans. It was always a very moving ceremony for me, because of my own personal experience, my mother having been an immigrant from Lebanon, and my father being the orphaned son of immigrants from Ireland, and I enjoyed very much those ceremonies. And after them, I made it a point to speak personally with each of the new citizens, individually or in family groups. I asked them where they came from, how they came, why they came. The stories were all inspiring. I wish that every American youngster had been with me to hear people talk about their experiences. Most of us are Americans by an accident of birth. Each of these people became an American by an act of free will, often at great risk and cost to themselves. Their answers were different, reflecting their different countries of origin. They literally came from every part of the world. But there were common themes, and they were best summarized by a young Asian man who, when I asked him why he came, replied in very slow and halting English, "I came," he said, "because here in America, everybody has a chance." And you think about the fact that a young man who had been an American for just a few minutes, who could barely speak English, was able to sum up the meaning of our country in a single sentence: In America, everybody has a chance. That is, of course, the distinguishing characteristic of the United States in all of human history, the first true meritocracy, the place where people can move forward, get ahead, whatever their background or family status, if they are willing to work hard and if they're lucky enough to get a good education. So, for me, that young Asian man's words stand out as a symbol of the meaning of our country. America is freedom and opportunity.

[ Key to Success ] The American Dream

After the events of September 11, 2001, these words sound even more poignant, because we've been wounded. We have a deep wound, yet the dream continues.

George Mitchell: Of course, September 11th means many things to our society and our people. But it also points out the paradox of America, an open society, with open arms.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. No matter how many times you hear or read the words that are at the base of the Statue of Liberty, the famous poem by Emma Lazarus -- "Give us your tired and your poor..." -- you get goose bumps, and you think about the fact that the United States has been the place of hope and opportunity for people from its very beginning to the present day.

[ Key to Success ] Passion

And yet that long, historic and valuable tradition, which undoubtedly is one of the major factors in the success of American society, collides directly with the realities of life in the 21st Century.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. We don't like to think about it, and we don't even speak about it much, but the reality is that while we live in a very advanced technological age, from which we benefit greatly -- that television camera is one of the most amazing inventions in all of human history, one that is transforming most societies -- the advances in technology are more rapid and significant in warfare than in any other aspect of human activity. The art of killing advances faster than anything else. So now, in the 21st Century, it takes fewer people with much less skill, much less in the way of resources, to kill very large numbers of other human beings than ever before in history.

And that makes it very difficult to maintain the open society and democratic values and open policies of immigration that we've had throughout much of our history. I think about the irony of it. My mother came through Ellis Island in 1920, on one of the last ships coming in, because the unrestricted immigration ended in 1921, when we recognized that we simply couldn't accept unlimited numbers from around the world. There were further restrictive acts in 1924, and we've had a number of others, but we still take in more people than any other country in the world. It's been a great asset to us, a great source of new blood, new ideas, new energy, but it does collide with the reality that has come about since September 11th, and I think it will produce a different policy and a different country in the future.

Different because we have to be realistic about the threat?

George Mitchell: We have to be very careful, very mindful. We decided 80 years ago that we couldn't take unlimited numbers any longer. We could during the period when we settled the great continent that makes up the United States, and we encouraged them to come. Then we reached a point where we couldn't take everybody. Now, we have to be more careful. I do favor continued immigration, but I think we obviously have to recognize that it does create a problem of security, and it must be reconciled with the other competing demands in our society.

Do you see an open-ended war on terrorism? Does that seem like a rational process to you?

George Mitchell: It's a change in our way of life to which we are adapting. There have been many dramatic changes in life, and this is a new one. It will challenge our commitment to an open society and democratic values -- always difficult to reconcile in the best of circumstances, now more difficult, but I think possible.

We will not succeed in ending evil everywhere. That, I think, is a notion that simply cannot be realized. But I think we will succeed in effectively eradicating these specific organizations that were responsible for the horrific attacks of September 11th and making it more difficult for others who follow them to succeed in their criminal actions. But in the end, we'll have to address the problems that give rise to the violence, and the irresponsible, immoral, and seemingly inexplicable actions that have taken place.

Thank you so much.

George Mitchell: Thank you.

George Mitchell Interview, Page: 1   2   3   4   5   6