[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.