Freedom forum. Tonightme you all here to celebrate the museum and the First Amendment and look forward to a new chapter. I would like to recognize some of the museums Founding Partners who we are so pleased to have with us this morning. [applause] we are also honored to have several of our trustees in attendance coleman, davidke jack kirschenbaum, john lee, charles, peter prichard, mike, john, prichard, mike, john, barbara. [applause] after more than 11 years, the museum will close its doors on pennsylvania avenue at the end of the month. While we are sad, we are also heartened that nearly 10 million visitors walked through our doors to experience a story of news, the role of the free press in history and the core freedoms of the First Amendment religion amendment religion, speech, assembly and petition apply to their lives. We think everyone who visited, but thank everyone who is part of this room. Belief inou for your the importance of our work and our mission. [applause] years, yourt 11 support has helped us to provide hundreds of programs like this one tonight on topics ranging from politics to journalism to Current Events 60 more exhibits covering president ial elections elections, lyrical satire, hurricane katrina, the kennedy assassination and the stonewall protest and even the movie anchorman and the World Champion washington nationals. [applause] you have helped us to champion the five freedoms of the First Amendment to further the newseum mission to increase public understanding of a free and fair press. The newseum and all it stands for would not have been possible without all of you we thank you for being a part of our story. We will begin tonights program with the celebration of the newseum followed by the keynote speaker who will each talk about what the First Amendment means to them and in their daily work we are honored to have as her dead soledad, obrien, First Amendment expert and champion, floyd abrams dc congresswoman Eleanor Holmes norton Fox News Sunday host veteran journalist Chris Wallace but unfortunately we heard just this afternoon john lewis cannot join us due to a lastminute scheduling conflict and he sends his regrets. We will the program, hear from five individuals who use the five freedoms of the First Amendment to affect change in their Community Joining us for a short Panel Discussion will be Charles Washington junior an ardent activist for executive director for First Amendment center will moderate the conversation. We hope you will join us after the program for a reception in the newseum, giving us all the opportunity to toast the newseum and before you leave tonight, please sign the guestbook located outside the theater on level one. It is not my pleasure to introduce someone who has been an integral part of the museum peter prichard. In 1985, al and charles displayed keen judgment and power of persuasion when they convinced peter to take the position of editor of usa today to become executive director of the newseum with the creation and construction in arlington subsequently served in roles as president of newseum, Freedom Forum and chair and chief executive officer of the newseum. When the decision was made to move across the river to the district peter agreed to don his , hard hat to oversee the construction of this magnificent building on pennsylvania avenue. Please join me in welcoming peter prichard. [applause] thanks. When we launched in 2008, i really didnt expect to be near mere 11 years, but before i say much more if we are thinking people i think we should thank those who made this such a resounding and memorable success. For many years, it has been recognized as one of the most popular museums in washington recognized around the world for , the excellence of its commitment, programs and welcoming attitude to anyone who ever walked through the doors. Please take one moment to thank our most excellent chair jan and all employees working full and parttime and all generous friends and donors and volunteers who contributed so much to the success. [applause] thank you. Naturally when an Excellent Institution like this has to close people ask why. There are many reasons. Our founder and capable long first, time ceo charles and many other managers and trustees including me, made this newseum too large. We thought big and wanted to make an impact so this was a too expensive to operate despite spending more than 500,000,150,000,000 that we raised from generous donors both large and small the newseum could never break even the smallest deficit was in the 7 milliondollar range and by Rising Interest Rates its more than 30 million fortunately our foundation could not sustain the losses over time. Also saw macro trends that created serious headwind the development of this with the digital hurricane that swept over oldschool traditional media newspapers large and small were decimated of objectivity and news reporting deteriorated or disappeared in some cases and some politicians found blaming journalist was a political gain so the traditional media natural base of support was left economically weakened. We also opened in the midst of a recession and fallout from that greatly increased over time with annual Interest Payments on our debt and because we receive no money from Government Entities to remain independent we had to charge an admission fee of more than 20 that was in line with museums around the country and around the world but quite high for washington where the government funded institutions are free and we underestimated how hard it would be to breakeven when the competition is free. So much for the tedious financial details the good news is we had a great run and in our nearly 12 years on pennsylvania avenue more than 10 million visitors and most of them found it could be an entertaining and educational experience. We received accolades from critics and visitors around the world for six years in a row and here are three representative comments. Its hard to put into words how history unfolds at each turn. This is a worldclass museum that is among the most important sites ever visited in washington the hallmark of a free society and it is more relevant that at any time a nations history through the many exhibits and forums we help to understand how crucial all the freedoms of the First Amendment are functioning in democracy and to take those for granted i hope you remind yourselves and there they are freedom of religion of speech of the press, of assembly we have a very active International Program doing forums all over the world everywhere we went in to say you americans are so lucky to have your First Amendment we should always remember that. The top digital Educational Programs we help middle and High School Students to help critically assess news reports and how to tell fact from fiction in the wild west environment of the internet. These programs reach more than 10 Million Students in middle and high school in the United States and many countries around the world and will continue as we move forward. We also remind how much Good Journalism can accomplish when editors are at their best. Inscribed on the wall and that inscription says it is a cornerstone for democracy. People have a need to know journalists have a right to tell. Finding the facts can be difficult reporting the story. Freedom includes the right to be outrageous. Responsibility involves the duty to be fair. Journalist provide the first draft of history a free press at its best and it shows journalism can be a noble cause and the newseum was a noble effort from a Commercial Point of view we faltered but we left millions of visitors delivered delighted with our substance. Millions of people understand their bedrock freedoms, what they mean and why its important to exercise them so they never ever atrophy. We help them to understand the crucial role journalism plays in a free society and why it deserves constitutional protection. Not only did newseum have a good run i would submit we did a lot of good to make a difference in the lives of many visitors. I would like to think there are a few hundred Young Journalist out there because they came to the newseum now doing their best to help the public understand complex issues of the day. One is the labased reporter who last week tweeted i visited the newseum as a 17 yearold unsure if i wanted to pursue a career in such a turbulent and unpredictable industry they captured everything it stood for and no doubt i needed to be a reporter. It will be missed programmable close with a quotation from one of my heroes the only politician to ever win the nobel prize for literature a record may stand forever. [laughter] churchill said success is not final failure is not fatal it is the courage to continue that counts. As our founder said dont just learn something from every experience, learn something positive we may not be able to build another newseum but we can promise the work will continue it may be in a different form or on platforms but it will continue. Thank you so much for what also many of you did to further this noble cause. Thank you. I am very proud to be here toda today. I want to start by thanking all the people here who made this great museum possible and made it what it is, a champion of First Amendment rights in the country, and one of the Great Teachers of the nature of the First Amendment. I want to start out by quoting a statute from a different country and a different time. It said five through 15 year sentences could be imposed for false or exaggerated news of such a nature as to quote mack harmed the national interest. That was 1925 in italy within one year after mussolini took power there. And it occurred to me in saying a few words tonight how easy it is sometimes, how thoughtlessly we take the First Amendment without thinking of it or how different. And the rest of the world certainly mussolini but every country by way of example and the democratic countries truly where they have an enormous amount of freedom where american pows were being held and then to say the publication of certain top secret designated material would interfere with ending the war, getting our soldiers bac back, i spoke to lawyers from canada, england, lots of countries around the world that were stunned at the results. And now often enough i dont think we celebrate this museum as it has not just that case but the degree to which we are unique in the world and the degree with respect to all of these freedoms. Let me mention one recent example. I never needed the First Amendment i never made a radical decision on anything. I gave a speech a month ago at Duke Law School and i was describing a case in which the organization you would know of which goes to churches that more in the death of american soldiers Westborough Baptist church with signs thats the closest the police will allow them to be to the church they say this is gods punishment because the United States is too accommodating to gay people so i use that as an example in my talk of the extraordinary degree of First Amendment protection that we would protect those speakers when the conduct was so offensive and outrageous and so contrary to the norms of human behavior. It wasnt a controversial speech except the organization then protested me and had a rally outside the campus with my name on it. And its not that well known. I usually dont get involved in situations like that. And i was struck again even here. [laughter] even to protect such speech it is unique in the world that that speech would be protected and a lawsuit brought by the father of a deceased soldier that was denounced viciously in the ugliest possible way. And that should be followed by the exercise of First Amendment rights by that same organization that i described in the case. To be furi. I want to say what a joy it is to have been here on a number of occasions to have a chance to walk around this great edifice celebrating the protection of freedom of the press in particular and all the other not insignificant rights protected by the First Amendment. It was an accident that the First Amendment is first. It had been third initially, but the first two proposed amendments were not ratified. But the first has come to have a special role in our jurisprudence. To celebrate the First Amendment, thank you. [applause] thank you for this wonderful remarks. Eleanor Holmes Norton is in her 15th term as a congresswoman for the district of columbia. She is the chair of the house subcommittee on highways and transit and serves on the committee of oversight reform and the committee on transportation and infrastructure. Before her congressional service, president jimmy carter appointed her to serve as the first woman to chair the u. S. Equal Employment Opportunity commission. She came to congress as a National Figure who had been a civil rights leader as an organizer with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for help organize the march on washington to help recognize the 50th anniversary of the historic Voting Rights act. Please welcome Eleanor Holmes norton. [applause] thank you for your kind introduction. I remember this day was a useless corner. The district had used this corner gu that wasnt much use o anyone thats one of the cornerstones of the constituti constitution. I dont know about the rest of you, but i do not. Since theyve opened millions, visitors from every part of the world spot at this site sometimes on their way to the capitol and you can see the capital from here to. Its the First Amendment. You can see the capitol where it belonged. The sighting couldnt have been more right. So i regret any notion of losing the museum today but for two reasons when i think about it, first as the disappearance of so many newspapers and the difficulty is pure news outlets have in our country today. Second, it is evidence that the First Amendment itself is losing currency particularly among of all people, young people who must depend to Carry ForwardFirst Amendment so that people yet the evidence and in preparing for my remarks but i came upon. Here the brookings amendment found, and im quoting them, freedom of expression is deeply imperiled on u. S. Campuses. Theres a significant number of College Students who believe that hate speech is not protected by the first amendme amendment. She cannot be heard is acceptable and republicans and brookings warns they bear in mind most controversial study on campuses are from the far right. This is a generation that is very effectively using the First Amendment to protest for issues they favor. The notion they would be intolerant for the other side may mean that we all have to do something to help them relearn the reasons added for the nations constitution in the first place. Im a thirdgeneration washingtonian born and raised in the Nations Capital. That innercity that even then was supposed to symbolize the essence of american freedom. Not only was the Nations Capital racially segregated, the city had no home rule thats what we call it. The city was governed by the congress and federal government and of course there was no person like me to represent the district and the congress. I dont know if my child helped me develop an appreciation for the First Amendment. I do remember that as a young lawyer but one out of one to cobol school. I got to argue a case in the United States supreme court. That was a court order that kept this organization from appearing again after it had already appeared and engaged in racist and antisemitic remarks at a rally. I remember another case i argued in new york when the liberal mayor of new york city, john lindsay, denied the notorious alabama governor George Wallace a permit to speak at a public facility stadium went into the supreme court. Those were not difficult cases s in light of controlling precedents. Proselytizing those with whom i have nothing in common yet it was clear to me that my ultimate client was the First Amendment. So, in my own life, and my life as a lawyer, i had regarded the First Amendment as a tool like none other for change and i remind us all that it remained so. It didnt say kill the First Amendment. This amendment remains