SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Please, take a seat. (Laughter.)
To John Bass, I will be forever indebted for your partnership, for your leadership, for your friendship. No finer Foreign Service officer in this generation than John Bass. (Cheers and applause.)
And if you'll allow me the privilege of just mentioning a few people as we get started, people who have been with me every step of the way, starting with the heart and soul of this institution, my chief of staff, your chief of staff, Suzy George. (Cheers and applause.)
Tom Sullivan, my extraordinary policy partner, every step of the way these last four years. (Cheers and applause.)
Jess Wright, our unflappable problem solver, every single day. (Cheers and applause.)
To two extraordinary leaders, our Deputy Secretaries Kurt Campbell, Rich Verma. (Cheers and applause.) And their extraordinary predecessors, Wendy Sherman and Brian McKeon. (Applause.)
To our remarkable under secretaries and assistant secretaries and all the leadership of this department. (Cheers and applause.)
To my executive assistant Paul Nairin and our special assistants. (Cheers and applause.)
To Juliet, to Tina, to all the OMS who have kept us going every single day. (Cheers and applause.) And probably to everyone in this room today.
Thirty-two years ago I walked through those C Street doors. I took the elevator up to the sixth floor to the front office of what was then the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs. I walked into my new office. Its previous occupant had been a very large safe. (Laughter.) There was barely room for a desk. Those of us who are old enough to remember one of those huge Wang computers. And as I like to say, over 32 years I moved up one flight from the sixth floor to the seventh floor and got some windows, so not bad. (Laughter.)
The Cold War was over. We were entering a new era, a time of hope, possibility, what was famously thought to be the end of history. It didn't quite turn out that way, but here we are 32 years later, and that post Cold War era that was just starting when I started is over. We're in a new time, a moment where there's an intense competition going on to try to shape what comes next. Revisionist powers challenging us and the rules of the road that have governed how we've lived and operated for so many years. Global challenges that affect every single one of our citizens and from which no one is immune. We have new actors who, whether they're a corporation, an NGO, a group, individuals, all now super-empowered by technology and by information. If we can bring them together, we can solve problems much more quickly, much more effectively, but they also have a greater ability than ever before to disrupt and to derail what we're trying to do.
In short, this is a period - and in my experience over 32 years I've never seen anything quite like it - where there's a greater multiplicity, complexity, interconnectedness of challenges than ever before, moving at warp speed. We're in a world that's more combustible and more contested - a world of change.
But even in that world of change, I hold onto some core beliefs, some constants, that I wanted to share with you today.
I believe in the power, in the necessity of U.S. engagement and U.S. leadership. We know when we're not engaged, when we're not leading, then likely someone else is, and probably not in a way that advances our interests and values. Or maybe no one is, and then you're likely to have a vacuum that's filled by bad things before it's filled by good things.
But equally I believe in the power, in the necessity of cooperating and working with others, of our alliances and our partnerships - our comparative advantage around the world. America is so much better off when we're working with others, finding common cause, finding common purpose. And I believe in our ability, when we're at our best - unlike any other country - to rally others in common cause and common purpose.
But maybe most important, I believe in you, in each and every one of you in this institution. You're the ones who are showing that engagement and that leadership every day. You're the ones who are building those partnerships, strengthening our alliances. You're the ones who are rallying the world in common cause when we need it most. You're driven by passion, commitment, expertise, patriotism. We come from different places, different experiences, different motivations and backgrounds. But I think what brings all of us together in this place, in this time, is that unique feeling that you get going to work every single day with the Stars and Stripes behind your back.
I've watched you; I've worked with you; I've been inspired by you. I've seen you run into the burning buildings, not away from them. I've seen you get that peace agreement across the line at the last minute. I've seen you make sure that food and medicine can get to people who need it. I've seen you get Americans out of harm's way and get political prisoners out of jail. You serve in some of the hardest places. You ask the hardest questions. And you know that you have the extraordinary privilege of representing this country, representing our fellow citizens, every day around the world.
I believe in this community - because that's what it is, a community. Whether you're in DS or driving our cars; whether you're a political econ officer; whether you're a political appointee; whether you're here issuing passports and getting visas to people; whether you're in Public Affairs, Administration, Protocol, Human Resources; whether you're an EFM or an LES, a family member, because you, too, serve and sacrifice - you're a community. And I've seen you come together time and again as a community, and I believe in you.
As I look out at this incredible group - and some of you have heard me say this before - I often think of my favorite movie, one that back in the day if you were turning the channels of the TV you couldn't avoid during Christmastime: It's a Wonderful Life. And for those of you too young to really know the movie or remember the movie, simply put, at the start a character, George Bailey, is thinking of taking his life because he thinks he's been a failure. He thinks he's let down his town, his community, his family. And then an angel taps him on the shoulder and shows him, through the course of the movie, what life would have been like in Bedford Falls for his family, for his community, for his town. And we see the difference that George Bailey made every single day.
You - you are the George, the Georgette Baileys - (laughter) - of our time. Without you in the picture, this world, our country would look so much different. With you in the picture, both are so much better. You're working every day to make things just a little bit better, a little bit more peaceful, a little bit more full of hope, of opportunity. That's your mission, and you do it so well.
Now, this is a time of transition. And when we talk about transitions, sometimes we talk about passing the baton. That's what I'll be doing, but that's not what most of you will be doing. Most of you come Monday, you will keep running. And what gives me more confidence than anything else is to know that that's exactly what you'll do.
I return to the highest calling in a democracy, that of being a private citizen. I'll no longer have the privilege of leading this institution. But I want you to know I'll be its champion - I will be your champion - forever. You, the custodians of the power and the promise of American diplomacy. Carry on. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)
