    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [October 15, 1995]
    [Pages 1593-1595]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Dedication of the Thomas J. Dodd Archives and Research
    Center in Storrs, Connecticut
    October 15, 1995

        Thank you very much, President Hartley. Governor Rowland; Senator
    Lieberman, Members of Congress, and distinguished United States Senators
    and former Senators who have come today; Chairman Rome; members of the
    Diplomatic Corps; to all of you who have done anything to make this
    great day come to pass; to my friend and former colleague Governor
    O'Neill; and most of all, to Senator Dodd, Ambassador Dodd, and the Dodd
    family: I am delighted to be here.
        I have so many thoughts now. I can't help mentioning one. Since
    President Hartley mentioned the day we had your magnificent women's
    basketball team there, we also had the UCLA men's team there. You may
    not remember who UCLA defeated for the national championship--
    [laughter]--but I do remember that UConn defeated the University of
    Tennessee.

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    And that made my life with Al Gore much more bearable. [Laughter] So I
    was doubly pleased when UConn won the national championship.
        I also did not know until it was stated here at the outset of this
    ceremony that no sitting President had the privilege of coming to the
    University of Connecticut before, but they don't know what they missed.
    I'm glad to be the first, and I know I won't be the last.
        I also want to pay a special public tribute to the Dodd family for
    their work on this enterprise and for their devotion to each other and
    the memory of Senator Thomas Dodd. If, as so many of us believe, this
    country rests in the end upon its devotion to freedom and liberty and
    democracy and upon the strength of its families, you could hardly find a
    better example than the Dodd family, not only for their devotion to
    liberty and democracy but also for their devotion to family and to the
    memory of Senator Tom Dodd. It has deeply moved all of us, and we thank
    you for your example.
        Tom Dodd spent his life serving America. He demonstrated an
    extraordinary commitment to the rule of law, beginning with his early
    days as an FBI agent, then Federal attorney. He was equally passionate
    in his opposition to tyranny in all its forms. He fought the tyranny of
    racism, prosecuting civil rights cases in the South in the 1930's, long
    before it was popular anywhere in the United States, and helping to
    shepherd the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. He fought the
    tyranny of communism throughout his years in elected office. And while
    he bowed to none in his devotion to freedom, he also stood bravely
    against those who wrapped themselves in the flag and turned
    anticommunism into demagoguery.
        Tom Dodd was in so many ways a man ahead of his time. He was
    passionate about civil rights three decades before the civil rights
    movement changed the face of our Nation. In the Senate, he pioneered
    programs to fight delinquency and to give the young people of our
    country a chance at a good education and a good job. And that is a task,
    my fellow Americans, we have not yet finished doing. He saw the dangers
    of guns and drugs on our streets, and he acted to do something about
    that. Had we done it in his time, we would not have so much work to do
    in this time.
        Tom Dodd's passion for justice and his hatred of oppression came
    together, as all of you know, most powerfully when he served as
    America's executive trial counsel at the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal.
    It was the pivotal event of his life. He helped to bring justice to bear
    against those responsible for the Holocaust, for the acts that redefined
    our understanding of man's capacity for evil. Through that pathbreaking
    work, he and his fellow jurists pushed one step forward the historic
    effort to bring the crimes of war under the sanction of law.
        Senator Dodd left many good works and reminders of his achievement.
    Some bear his name, the children who have followed in his steps and
    served the public, who carried forward his ardent support for an
    American foreign policy that stands for democracy and freedom, who
    maintain his commitment to social justice, to strong communities and
    strong families. They have also upheld their father's tradition of
    loyalty. And as one of the chief beneficiaries of that lesson, let me
    say that I am grateful for it and again grateful for its expression in
    this remarkable project which will help the people of Connecticut and
    the United States to understand their history.
        I am delighted that this center will bear the Dodd name because it
    is fitting that a library, a place that keeps and honors books and
    records, will honor Tom Dodd's service, his passion for justice, and his
    hatred of tyranny. Where books are preserved, studied, and revered,
    human beings will also be treated with respect and dignity and liberty
    will be strengthened.
        Dedicating this research center today, we remember that when the
    Nazis came to power, one of the very first things they did was burn
    books they deemed subversive. The road to tyranny, we must never forget,
    begins with the destruction of the truth.
        In the darkest days of the war, President Roosevelt, with those
    awful bonfires fresh in his memory, reflected upon how the free pursuit
    of knowledge protects our liberty, and he put it well when he called
    books ``the weapons for man's freedom.'' I am glad that Tom Dodd will be
    remembered here, in this place, in this building, with this center, in
    the State he loved, with the very best arsenal for the freedom he fought
    to defend his entire life.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 1:40 p.m. at the University of Connecticut.
    In his remarks, he referred to Harry Hartley, president, and Lewis

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    Rome, chairman, University of Connecticut; and Gov. John G. Rowland and
    former Gov. William A. O'Neill of Connecticut.