Defending America’s freedom and liberty in the years to come is a responsibility that lies in the hands of the students of America, according to former Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Ashcroft served as the Attorney General under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He served this post during the attacks of Sept. 11 and played an integral role in the creation of the Patriot Act and other key legislation designed to prevent future attacks.
Ashcroft recalled the events in the aftermath of the attacks and working with President Bush and the rest of the Cabinet to decide what to do next.
“I remember very vividly the president never wavered, never seemed unsure,” Ashcroft said. “He turned to me and said firmly and decisively, ‘Never let this happen again,’ and I knew he was charging me with the responsibility to get it done.”
From this, Ashcroft described his efforts in creating the Patriot Act, which was put into law on Oct. 26, 2001, a mere month and a half after the attacks. He described his motives behind the act as a means of securing Americans’ liberty, which, he noted, is meaningless without security. His only regret about the act was how the public perceived it.
“If there was a major failing in my time as attorney general, it was with the Patriot Act,” he said. “We did an excellent job putting it together, but the American public was led [to believe], by dissenters, that somehow this act was a threat to their civil liberties.”
Ashcroft noted that the Patriot Act was only the first step, citing a change in the system was necessary.
“If the system is not augmented, if we continue to operate in this prosecution mindframe instead of focusing on prevention, we will continually be looking retrospectively at tragedy rather than looking forward to success,” Ashcroft said.
Ashcroft was very insistent on the importance of freedom and liberty to the American people, citing that “it is the very core value of our and all of humanity’s existence.” He said his passion for this came from a poem gracing the bottom of the Statue of Liberty resting in New York Harbor.
“[Citing Emma Lazarus] ‘Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses’ and there it is ‘yearning to breathe free.’ People who respect [and love] freedom yearn for it and protect it. There is nothing that can be a limiter in that kind of setting, and that is inspiring,” Ashcroft said.
Ashcroft spoke on the meaning of liberty and freedom to this nation and cited that policy can go only so far. He charged the students listening to his speech with the responsibility of learning and educating themselves so that freedom can be protected in the future.
“It is a responsibility that has fallen on us today, but even more heavily on you in the years to come,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important for you to do well, to understand the technology, to understand the philosophy, to make the commitment that America will remain free.
“That, with freedom and liberty as the transcending values of the United States, will allow the U.S. to be a community of achievement and human dignity unmatched anywhere in the world today. The future for America is bright, and the best is yet to come.”
