Please read clearly and a little bit slower than normal.
Speech by the Secretary of State
Thank you very much for the kind introduction and it's a great pleasure to be with Seeds of Peace. I always look forward to these opportunities. I enjoy, especially, having groups of young people visit the State Department, so I can not only talk to the next generation of leaders, but learn, as well, from the next generation of leaders.
It's always so inspiring to see how passionate young people can be about finding solutions to some of the most difficult problems that we face in the world, especially foreign policy problems. It's exciting to see all of your enthusiasm poured into an outstanding program such as Seeds of Peace. It is a program that empowers all of you to take the important step from interest to action, from having a concern about something to committing yourselves to make a difference, to change something.
Meeting with young people is one of the most important and enjoyable parts of my job and I take it very seriously. When I was overseas a week or so ago, I had the opportunity to meet with young people in Kuwait, Iraq, Bosnia, Saudi Arabia and Hungary. And last week, I had a chance to meet with wonderful youngsters who were here from all across America, as Congressional interns, and I spoke to about 800 of them.
It's always exciting because I'm sort of on the backside, a kind of old gentleman and all I can do now is to encourage the new generation of leaders coming up to take their responsibilities seriously, to recognize that a legacy is about to be passed to you. No matter what country you're from, no matter what religion you hold dear, you are being passed a legacy from the past -- good elements of the legacy, not-so-good elements of the legacy. The one thing that we're sure about is that you are the ones who will take this legacy into the future and make things better.
In all of my conversations with young people, we talk about families, we talk about histories, we talk about hopes and dreams, and we talk about fears and doubts. And in all these conversations we come away with a richer appreciation of one another as fellow human beings. Seeds of Peace is dedicated to the same essential mission. It is committed to the proposition that if only people could sit down together and look one another in the eye, then they can acknowledge their basic humanity, that they are all one.
It would not solve every problem in the world. But when people share the ideas and feelings that make them human, then peace has a chance because dialogue is underway. Peace has a chance to take root in their hearts.
It sounds so simple and sounds so possible, and it is. All of the young people who make up Seeds of Peace are living proof that people can change, that peace is possible, that attitudes can be changed. All of you are examples for others to follow, standards for others to reach. Seeds of Peace has given you a chance to challenge the stereotypes of your societies and to replace old opinions about enemies with new knowledge about friends. This change of heart is the foundation of peace.
