Remarks by Secretary Tom Ridge at the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services Citizenship Day Ceremony

Release Date: 09/18/03 00:00:00

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 17, 2003

SECRETARY RIDGE:  Thank you.  Thank you very much.

One of the truly best occasions that I experience with members of the Department of Homeland Security are occasions like this, where we have the opportunity to welcome new citizens, fellow citizens, to our country.

If there is an event that occurs during the normal course of governing that reminds us what we are protecting, in terms of our values and our way of life, and why we are steadfast and resolved and protected forever, it's a naturalization service, because it's the same hope and opportunity and freedoms and liberties that brought my forefathers to the shores, and continue to bring new citizens to the shores to pave the way for another generation of immigrants, and that's really at the heart of the mission of the Department of Homeland Security.

So, I thank my good friend, Eduardo.  I thank the Daughters for giving us the opportunity to have this ceremony in this elegant and historic place.  It is magnificent.

I'm going to take the liberty of recognizing a couple of people in the audience.  You mentioned my service in the Congress of the United States.  I served for 12 years with the gentle lady from Cleveland, Ohio, who was kind enough to join us today, Mary Rose Oakar.

Mary Rose, would you please talk about public service. This woman has been about public service all her career as well.  So, Mary Rose, I'd like you to stand and be recognized.        

(Applause.)

SECRETARY RIDGE:  Thank you.

Eduardo and others were very appropriate in their remarks reminding us that we call on just about every generation of Americans.  We send our best and our youngest and our toughest and our most courageous overseas to fight to defend the freedoms and the values and the liberties we all enjoy, and I've got a great friend here, a great patriot, and a great lawyer.  I can't call you a former Marine, John Fields, once a Marine, always a Marine.  My buddy, John Fields.  

John, will you stand and be recognized, please?

(Applause.)

SECRETARY RIDGE:  Again, to Eduardo, to Michael, and to Alfonso, thank you for arranging and making this such a wonderful ceremony.

Of course, I want to extend a special welcome and congratulations to our most honored guests, those of you who just took the Oath of Allegiance.

I also want to recognize on behalf of the President and your fellow country men, the friends and families who join you today, to all of you who join those in the first two rows, we thank you.  This is a special occasion for all of us.

I'm deeply honored to participate in this citizenship ceremony as we commemorate National Citizenship Day.  It is fitting, as has been previously noted, that we celebrate this day and the value of citizenship on the anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution.

For it is citizens, it is citizens, dedicated to the ideals of freedom and committed to the principles of democracy who have sustained the Constitution, and who have sustained our nation for over 200 years.

That document's stated purpose was to form a more perfect union, and at a time in our country's history when freedom is under attack and terrorists seek to undermine and destroy that union, it is more important than ever before that we honor those who seek to promote it and to strengthen it, our citizens.

Welcoming new citizens is one of the most important and vital things we do as a country.  It re-invigorates our national spirit.  It reinforces what we have always been and always will be -- America, a proud nation of immigrants.

By the end of this year, Eduardo and his team will have welcomed more than 600,000 new citizens to the United States of America.  And today alone, we will welcome approximately 13,000 new Americans, at 50 naturalization ceremonies nationwide.

Obviously, here at this ceremony, we have just celebrated a very diverse group of new citizens; 13 individuals who have come from all over the world, and we welcome you.

The skills that you bring and the sacrifices that you have made, they do not go unnoticed to your fellow citizens.  They come with our deepest respect and our admiration.

Naturalization ceremonies such as this give us an opportunity to celebrate those who come before you and their contributions to our country as well.  They also remind us that in a troubled world, the United States continues to stand tall, as a beacon of liberty for all those yearning to breath free.

This beacon stretches across the world.  It touches the lives of all those who dream of a better life, a life of hope and a life of opportunity, of equality, and of justice, and the new citizens here today are evidence that the beacon has never burned brightly, and it is reassuring to know -- very reassuring to the country, but while a few isolated embittered individuals may want to tear America down, many hundreds of thousands if not millions worldwide are eager for an opportunity to join us in building up America, because they believe, as you do, in the principles and values upon which our country was founded over 200 years ago.

It has been said that America is a willingness of the heart, and perhaps that is truer today than ever before.  Perhaps more than any other time in our nation's history, we have learned the lessons of time and events.

We have learned that we are called to serve as long as we call ourselves "free."  We are, after all, a nation built upon principles, forged by pioneers, and protected by patriots, and yet for this country to endure, we need an active citizenry.

That is why it is important to remember that naturalization represents more than the willingness of Americans to welcome legal immigrants and embrace all the good things that you bring to our country and our communities, this ceremony also signals your willingness to accept the responsibilities of the United States' citizenship, because freedom is a constant that transcends all.  

It is a course that we will forever chart.  So, more than anything, the nature of that course and our progress as a free people will depend on how well we meet the responsibilities of good citizenship, our responsibilities to one another.

With that in mind, I want to echo the announcement of the creation of the new Office of Citizenship within the Department of Homeland Security.  The sole mission of this office is to promote public awareness of both the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

It will revive and emphasize the common civic identity in values essential to citizenship and raise awareness of the benefits and responsibilities associated with it.

It will enhance educational opportunities in English, Civics and History for legal immigrants to assist their integration into the United States.

I am certainly pleased to welcome Alfonso Aguilar; very, very pleased to welcome you.

I must tell you that Eduardo was very excited after he had his conversation with you that you were interested and willing to join the Department.  We are honored that you made the decision to join us and join America in this effort.

I am confident that under his leadership, we will be successful in meeting our goal of reaching out to new legal immigrants at the earliest opportunity and to provide them with the information and tools they need to successfully integrate and assimilate themselves in their new country.

We are, after all, a democratic society, and to truly succeed, democracy requires the active participation of all citizens, naturalized and native born alike.  For democracy is but the public face of the nation.  Ultimately, it depends on the values and liberties and sheer will of the people to maintain the democracy.

I would say to my new fellow citizens, consider the Constitution that you hold in your hands today, both a calling card of citizenship and a call to serve.  

Freedom is now our charge to keep, your charge and my charge, all of our charge to keep together.  Let us provide for it.  Let us protect it.  Let us preserve it, with all the courage and compassion that this great republic deserves.            

On behalf of the President, on behalf of your fellow citizens, we welcome and congratulate you, our fellow Americans.  

 Today, you join a freedom loving family, and we are stronger because you joined us.  Know that we count each and every one of you as a blessing, as a contribution to our great country, and know that you can count yourselves among a nation of new friends.

We are honored that you have chosen America to call home.  May America long fulfill your dreams, and may your dreams long fulfill America for generations to come.

God bless you and your families as you go forward, and welcome.

This page was last modified on 09/18/03 00:00:00