[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 151 (Friday, December 8, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2164-E2165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  TRIBUTE TO JACK VALENTI ON HIS RECEIPT OF THE CIVILIAN PATRIOT AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, December 8, 2000

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleagues to join me today in 
congratulating and honoring Jack Valenti, the President of the Motion 
Picture Association of America, on his receipt of the first Citizen 
Patriot Award. This award recognizes outstanding contributions by 
civilians to our nation's military personnel and to our nation's 
security. My dear friend, Jack Valenti, is a friend to many of us here 
in this body, and he is most deserving of this singular honor. Jack 
first served our country during World War II, flying over 50 combat 
missions over Italy. Later, he served in a position of great 
responsibility in the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson. He 
then went on to represent our nation's film industry here in 
Washington, D.C.
  Mr. Speaker, I could spend all day extolling the virtues of this 
outstanding man, this extraordinary citizen and patriot. However, my 
efficient nature suggests that I share with you the excellent remarks 
of Secretary of Defense William Cohen when he presented Jack with this 
award. I request that excerpts of Secretary Cohen's speech be placed in 
the Record.

 Remarks of Secretary of Defense William Cohen Presenting the Civilian 
    Patriot Award to Jack Valenti, President of the Motion Picture 
                         Association of America

       I had a long speech tonight, but that's not what I'm going 
     to inflict upon you. You had an opportunity to pay tribute to 
     a young sailor who survived the U.S.S. Cole tragedy. I don't 
     know if many of you are aware of what took place following 
     that terrorist bombing. But for 48 to 72 hours following that 
     tragic event, these young men and women aboard that ship 
     worked much of the time without any power. They were in total 
     darkness. They had no external support. They had lost 17 of 
     their colleagues. Fifty were desperately wounded. They had 
     chaos all around--smoke, jagged metal. Then they lost the 
     power and the water was coming in at 10 gallons per minute, 
     and they had to bail it out bucket by bucket. But they were 
     determined to save that ship to make sure that ship did not 
     go down.
       So I again want to tell you how proud I am [of our forces], 
     and how proud I am of President Clinton for having reached 
     across the aisle to say, ``I want this Republican to serve in 
     my administration to send a signal to the American people and 
     to the Congress that when it comes to national security there 
     is no party label. There is no party difference. We have one 
     national security commitment.'' And I thank him for giving me 
     this opportunity to be the civilian representative of the 
     greatest military in the world, bar none. They are the finest 
     military that we have ever had. They have performed 
     magnificently the world over. Janet and I had the opportunity 
     to visit General Tilelli in Korea up on the DMZ in the frozen 
     hills. We've been out in the Persian Gulf where the 
     temperatures ranged from 120 up to 140 degrees. We have been 
     all over the world where our men and women serve us. And I 
     must tell you--there can be no higher honor for me and Janet 
     than to be working on their behalf.
       It takes a great tragedy like the U.S.S. Cole to remind the 
     American people that our men and women in uniform are serving 
     us. Because of them, you and I are able to sleep safely. We 
     go home tonight and we sleep under that blanket of freedom 
     because of what they do day in and day out, because of the 
     dangers they face day in and day out, because of the lives 
     they put on the line day in and day out. They are great 
     warriors. They are also great musicians, as you've seen. They 
     are great peacekeepers. They are diplomats. But most of all, 
     they're our sons and our daughters, and we must do everything 
     in our power to make sure that we give them everything that 
     they need and deserve in order to continue to serve us in the 
     fashion that they do. That has been our commitment. That will 
     be, hopefully, the commitment of those who will follow.
       The film industry plays a critical role. On the way in, a 
     number of the television reporters were asking us, ``Why are 
     you doing this? Why are you here in Hollywood?'' Well, 
     Hollywood has played a role in the security of this country 
     throughout our history. If you go back to World War I, it was 
     the movie star celebrities who were helping to push those 
     Liberty Bonds. If you look at World War II, many of the 
     celebrities were raising over $1 billion to support that war 
     effort. And then there are the film clips that we have seen 
     here tonight--``Saving Private Ryan'' by Steven Spielberg; 
     ``U-571,'' ``The Perfect Storm,'' [and] ``Top Gun'' that 
     Jerry Bruckheimer produced earlier. And we are going to 
     witness another movie produced by Jerry with Michael Day, 
     ``Pearl Harbor,'' coming out on Memorial Day. And, of course, 
     there's another great tribute to our military by Cuba 
     Gooding, Jr. in ``Men of Honor.''
       The film industry is important in shaping what people think 
     about our military and supporting them, and we wanted to be 
     here to say something to Hollywood you don't hear very often, 
     and that's ``Thank you.'' Thank you for all that you do in 
     portraying the men and women who serve us, their patriotism, 
     their courage, their sense of honor. On behalf of all of us, 
     we in the Pentagon want to say thank you to Hollywood.
       Tonight, we're going to present the first Citizen Patriot 
     Award. And again, I was asked on the way in, ``Why Valenti?'' 
     Of course, you have to say, well, why not Valenti? . . . . We 
     are celebrating a patriot in Jack Valenti. He is a veteran 
     who flew 50 combat missions over Italy in World War II, who 
     went on to public service in the White House with President 
     Johnson, who has continued his service to this film industry 
     but also to this country. And you know that he's a man of 
     great language and literature and passion and commitment. He 
     has been a

[[Page E2165]]

     strong advocate on behalf of the men and women who are 
     serving us in the military. So if we're looking for a citizen 
     patriot, at the very top of the list we take Jack Valenti for 
     all that he represents.
       I will tell you that patriotism is in his blood. I remember 
     reading a book that he wrote some years ago, and I came 
     across a passage. He said, ``I remember my white-mustached 
     grandfather, Sicilian, proud, and dignified, and dominant, 
     speaking to me and his dozen grandchildren in heavy accents, 
     thick with an odd mix of Sicily and the Texas gulf coast, and 
     he said, ``Love this country, be proud of this country. It's 
     a good land.''
       Jack Valenti has lived up to the words of his grandfather. 
     He is proud of this country. He is a proud patriot. And I 
     can't think of a better summation than one I read from 
     Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who also was a warrior, during 
     the Civil War. Holmes said that, ``Through our great and good 
     fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. And 
     it was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a 
     profound and passionate thing. And while we're permitted to 
     scorn nothing but indifference and don't pretend to 
     undervalue the worldly rewards of ambition, we have seen with 
     our own eyes beyond and above the gold fields, those snowy 
     heights of honor. It's for us to bear the reports of those 
     who follow. But above all, we have learned that whether a man 
     accepts from Fortune her spade and will look downward and 
     dig, or from Aspiration her axe and cord and will scale the 
     ice, the one and only success which is his to command is to 
     bring to his work a mighty heart.''
       For more than half a century, Jack Valenti has brought to 
     his work a mighty heart, and we are eternally grateful for 
     that.

     

                          ____________________