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Remarks by Assistant Secretary of State Patricia Harrison at the CultureConnect Program Ceremony

Remarks for Treaty Room

Opening remarks

Good afternoon Mr. Secretary, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests. It is my pleasure to welcome all of you to the Department of State as we celebrate the service and dedication of 13 extraordinary citizens and our public-private partners of the CultureConnect program.

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is charged with the task of “increasing mutual understanding” between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

We have a wide range of programs to undertake this mission, including the well-known Fulbright Program. But increasingly, it is our cultural programs that are generating interest and enthusiasm as a tool to open dialogue with young people worldwide. Our regional bureaus, our people in posts around the world and our partners have worked together to ensure the success of the CultureConnect program.

Ou r cultural ambassadors and envoys are dedicated to helping young people achieve a future of accomplishment and contribution.

We have no stronger supporter for programs and initiatives that positively impact both youth, young adults and those who influence them than the Secretary of State. He frequently includes dialogue with youth wherever he travels. He has hosted round table discussions with young participants on foreign policy, invited high school and university students to shadow him for a day here in the State Department, and inspires people of good will globally to focus on helping their successor generation. Through his own commitment and service, he affirms the importance of the work we are engaged in through CultureConnect. He believes that optimism is a force multiplier and through CultureConnect we are increasing the numbers of people of good will who are helping young people look toward their own future with optimism.

Deputy Secretary Armitage has also joined us today and I want to thank him as well for his continued support of this program.

Ladies and gentlemen please join me in welcoming the Secretary of State, Colin Powell

(Secretary Powell steps to podium to deliver remarks.)

After Secretary Powell remarks:

And now on behalf of the Department of State and the American people, I would like to acknowledge our CultureConnect ambassadors, envoys and public-private partners.

• Debbie Allen, renowned and award-winning dancer, choreographer and producer, as a CultureConnect Ambassador, Ms. Allen traveled to Beijing, Yinchuan, and Shanghai, China, teaching master dance classes for hundreds of boys and girls and young adults.

• Ms. Denyce Graves, a world-renowned opera singer and one of our first CultureConnect Ambassador, landed in Warsaw, Poland, for her inaugural trip in may of 2003 and since that time has traveled to Venezuela, Canada, Cyprus, France, Russia and Romania, inspiring thousands of young people. David Perry, Ms. Graves' manager and accompanist, will accept this award on her behalf.
  
• Michael Kaiser, President of the prestigious John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; as a CultureConnect Ambassador he traveled with our Department of State delegation, including Brian Sexton, my Deputy Assistant Secretary Tom Farrell, and myself to Iraq to ensure the successful visit and subsequent performance of the Iraqi National Symphony with the National Symphony Orchestra at a historic concert last December. In addition, his commitment, expertise and counsel is helping the arts community revitalize arts management and cultural institutions in Mexico.

• Daniel Libeskind, internationally acclaimed architect, as a CultureConnect Ambassador he has traveled to Tunisia, Italy, and India, where he has motivated thousands of students, encouraging them to connect to community and as they design buildings to also build strong foundations for a better future.
  
• Yo-Yo Ma is celebrated both nationally and internationally as an accomplished classical artist and arts educator who has won 16 Grammy awards. As a CultureConnect Ambassador, Mr. Ma has met with, trained and mentored thousands of students worldwide including Lithuania, Korea, and Lebanon. He joined the National Symphony Orchestra, performing with them at the Kennedy Center and conducted master classes in Washington and New York with the Iraqi musicians. Mr. Jay Golan, Senior Director of Carnegie Hall, is with us today to accept the award on his behalf.
  
• Wynton Marsalis, an accomplished musician and winner of nine Grammy awards, is a co-founder of Jazz at the Lincoln Center. As a CultureConnect Ambassador, Mr. Marsalis traveled to Mexico in May 2004, where he interacted with over 800 children in master classes, workshops and performances. Mr. Derek Gordon, Executive Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, is here today to accept the award on his behalf.
  
• Joel Meyerowitz is an award-winning photographer whose work has appeared in over 150 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world. At the Department of State’s request, Mr. Meyerowitz and the Museum of the City of New York created After September 11: Images of Ground Zero, a special exhibition of images from the archive of over 8,000 photos to send around the world. The images and in many cases Joel Meyerowitz traveled to more than 200 cities and 75 countries and have been viewed by millions.
  
• Frank McCourt is a Pulitzer prize winner and an acclaimed memoirist and an honored teacher. His book Angela’s Ashes was a New York Times bestseller. A follow-up to Angela’s Ashe; Tis: A Memoir, was also a New York Times bestseller. As a Cultural Ambassador Mr. McCourt inspired young people in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Algeria, with stories of the hardships he faced growing up in Limerick, Ireland, encouraging them to recognize their potential to tell the story of their own lives.
  
• Doris Roberts, Emmy award-winning actress, has created an enduring legacy in television, film, and theater. She also founded one of the first organizations to help young people with HIV AIDS. As a cultural ambassador Doris Roberts traveled to San Jose, Costa Rica, where she served as a mentor to middle and high school students—aspiring actors—and visited with children at a special HIV AIDS hospital.
  
• Ron Silver is an award-winning actor, director and producer who also serves on the Council of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Silver helped launch the concept of the CultureConnect Program when he traveled to China on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in 2002. Mr. Silver, who speaks fluent Mandarin, presented the official 9/11 photography exhibit in China and through the Internet spoke to thousands of Chinese young adults.
  
• Mary Wilson, started performing as a member of The Supremes, one of the most successful female singing groups in music history. As a CultureConnect Ambassador, Mary Wilson has traveled to Mozambique, Botswana, Bangladesh, Oman, Pakistan, and Uruguay, where she has lectured, performed and taught master classes to thousands of young people. In Africa, Mary carried her special message of the importance of an individual's power to acknowledge and overcome HIV AIDS in Mozambique and Botswana, publicly getting tested for HIV aids, and requiring concert-goers to show proof of an HIV aids test for admittance to her concert.
  
• Courtland Freeman and Omari Faulkner are serving as our first Sports Envoys through the CultureConnect program. These two recent Georgetown graduates and former NCAA basketball players have traveled to over 24 countries conducting basketball clinics for both boys and girls, while affirming the positive aspects of American culture, including teamwork, volunteerism, community engagement and hard work..

And now I want to acknowledge our CultureConnect public-private partners.

• Jay Golan is the Senior Director of Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall, a national historic landmark, has been the global symbol of excellence in performance since 1891. Partnering with the Department of State, Carnegie Hall has managed international exchange programs bringing young people from many countries to train and perform on their legendary stage. Students from around the world including the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra are able to say, “I played Carnegie Hall.”
  
• Derek Gordon, Executive Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. Jazz at Lincoln Center has been a partner with the Department of State since the inauguration of the CultureConnect program. Through the leadership of musical director and CultureConnect Ambassador Wynton Marsalis, Lincoln Center is a leader in jazz musical education for young people.
  
• Michael Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Center has been a leader in arts education for young people. In partnership with our cultural programs, the Kennedy Center has hosted numerous musicians and young people from around the globe.
  
• I would also like to acknowledge Bernie Williams, center fielder for the New York Yankees and jazz guitarist, who has graciously accepted our invitation to serve as our newest CultureConnect Ambassador. Thank you and we look forward to working with you, Bernie.

Each CultureConnect Ambassador has received a certificate along with these awards, which reads: "The heart of America resides in the American people and in the values we cherish. As a CultureConnect Ambassador you have shown the world America at its best."

Thank you all for being here today.

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