Twitter. Com cspan. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] announcer American History tv programs are airing prime time on cspan3. A threeday vietnam war summit from the lyndon b. Johnson andon b. Johnson library, retrospective on the conflict. Tonight, the first major engagement on the war and then the soldiers battle after the war with sieve physical and psychological try, and a conversation with henry kissinger. Kissinger a president who has been known with being concerned about domestic policy, and a division of the country that has lasted to this day. Announcer tuesday, how america was divided over the work, and then by the time we got four or five decades away, where historical triangulation can actually take lace, when you can have the distance and perspective necessary not to just make a reactive or journalistic response, but something that is greater than the sum of its parts, you realize almost everything you thought you knew was not true. Wednesday, a look at the were from the perspective of those who fought it. Cia,day, 8 00 p. M. Eastern friday 8 00 p. M. Eastern, and all they conference with talks on africanamerican culture and africanAmerican History as American History. I could not get it out of my my students were thinking somehow africanAmerican History was not real because there was no textbook, as there was in all of these taught in the department. Realided to write a textbook. Go to cspan. Org. It is commencement time for colleges and universities around the country. Several hours, we will show you some of the people who offered words of advice and encouragement to the graduating clap of 2016. The wine of includes lawmakers, governors, and business leaders. We will hear from president obama. We begin with members of congress, hearing first from paul ryan and then senators Barbara Boxer and Jeff Sessions. A speech from his home state of wisconsin, his second time delivering the commencement address. He spoke previously in 2006. [applause] rep. Ryan thank you. Dr. Ryan. It sounds like a tom clancy novel. I forgot about that. Thank you very much. To the of 2016, congratulations. The class of 2016, congratulations. [applause] this is a big moment in your life and no matter how much fun you will have tonight, you are bound to remember some of it. No big loss, i will get over it eventually. Remember the people who got you here. Is an old saying i might have made up a few minutes ago. Marriage is for the couple and the wedding is for the family. Of your graduation the same way. It is their achievement just as much as it is yours. They have gladly given you all of the credit. If your brother or your sister or grandparents or cousins get a little tearyeyed, or they break down and sob, thank and appreciate them. They love you more than you will ever know. To all the faculty and families, i want to say, job well done. This is what gives us all hope for the future of the country and the community. It was basically 10 years ago conventionke at this last time and the last time i was here, it was my First Encounter as a catholic with our new bishop. Archbishop of milwaukee did the prayer, and i did this beach. I did the speech. Modernc was truth in the world. As expected, it was a total hit. [laughter] wild applause, cheering, shouting, and crying. That was just from the arch ship. Bishop. [laughter] up and said, i loved your speech. It was so short. Friends evergreat since. If you feel stir crazy and you are thinking about the rest of the day and the rest of your year or your life, rest assured, i will get right to the point. The biggest piece of advice i would give to all of you is this. Much about theo plan. Fulfillment lies in very unpredictable places. All of your life, people are going to hound you about the plan, the plan, what is your plan . Have you found a job, are you going to graduate school, where do you see yourself in 20 years . It will seem no one cares what you do so much as where you end up. You start to wonder about whether you should care either. Careerism in the wrong way is cynicism in perpetual motion. For i am dragged off the stage, let me clarify. Rejectt telling you to the job offer and move into your parentsbasement. What i am saying is wherever you end up, the work itself is the reward. Treated that way. Is, life can put your best laid plans through the paper shredder. You may never get the dream job or if you do, it may turn out to be a nightmare. Maybe you are meant to do something else. What seems to you like catastrophe could end up coming opportunity. To dismisso quick the opportunity if it does not fit into the plan. When you come back and see a fork in the road, you are probably deciding between two paths. Instead of thinking, how do i stay on course, think to yourself, where can i do the most good . Where can i get real fulfillment . If you realize it is a detour, take it. That in a nutshell is basically my advice. Let me proceed to elaborate. I was your age, i had a plan. 1992. It seems like yesterday, doesnt it . [laughter] itad a plan, i thought i had a good out and i knew exactly what i wanted to do. I wanted to be an economist. It goes to show you how much fun i was in those days. [laughter] plan was, work in finance for a few years, public dynamic, gets him experience, go to grad join a thinky phd, tank, give policymakers advice or moved to milwaukee. And work for an economic form firm. A few years later, everything was a going to plan. Then life intervened. The congressman who represented my home district decided to run for senate. He asked me to be his campaign manager. I said that is not my thing. Im a policy guy and not a political diaper you said in that case, run for my seat. I said, i am 27 years old. He asked me why not and i said, i was young and no way could i win. It was not my plan. He said, if i listened to all of the people who told me what i could not do, i would never have done anything in my life. What do you care about, what do you believe in . I told him i believed in the principles of our founding fathers. I loved publicpolicy because i wanted to solve problems. That is what he needed to hear. He said run. Not convinced. I called my mentor. I grew up with mentors. One of my best was a guy named jack, a congressman from new york to i asked him, what do you think . Should i do this . Wouldd absolutely, you make a huge difference. Go do it. I called another mentor. Bill bennett. , does this past the laugh test . He says, yes, barely. [laughter] actually, he was quite encouraging. I called my mom and told her what i was thinking and she thought i was crazy. You would really want to do that . Ultimately, iran and i won. Won. Ran and i to do go and where i wanted to make my difference. The issues i care so much about and the issues my employers were telling me they wanted me to work on, were the issues in front of the house ways and means committee. Reform, economic growth, jobs, health care, retirement security, poverty. My goal was to become the chairman of that committee because i thought i could be a huge asset or at least make a big difference in the areas that i cared so much about. I worked for years to achieve that goal and finally, last year in 2015, i became the chairman of that committee. Seven months in, john boehner resigned unexpectedly. , who i just in line assumed would be the next guy, kevin, dropped out. And my colleagues asked me to run. I never wanted to be speaker. I said no many times before. I was a policy guy. I do not like the idea of spending my time on other things. I lived with my family in janesville. Every weekend, i am with my family. It was Turkey Hunting and track meet and then with my mom. I could not give up those weekends. Not like me, if you do the job, change it, keep your weekends at home and focus on it, make it work, turn it around. I took the advice and i soon realized i could do this and i actually like the job. Dog that caught the car who was never chasing it in the first place. [laughter] we seem to have something in common as well. At the beginning of your senior year, i also did not know what i would be doing after graduation. This job is not anything i ever expected or thought i wanted here yet i still am doing what i love. Public policy. I learned, eventually, in my journey, that Public Policy was my vocation. Public service is where i found my fulfillment. Through all the twists and the turns, that has been the consistent theme of my life. Now you have to go out and figure out what is yours. It may change as you get older. Only way youre going to find out is if you take your work seriously. It is your contribution to our country. When i say this, i am not saying your work is what you get paid for. Your work is all of your responsibilities. Like your family, your friendships, your community. It is funny. As life gets more complicated, it also gets a whole lot simpler as well. Status will matter a lot less and doing your part will matter more. Do not worry too much about the plan. As i was thinking about these remarks, i had a mild panic attack that my advice was not sufficiently practical. For good measure, let me put it in a click, threepart postscript. First, a lot of people will tell you not to fear failure, but learn from it here it is a great piece of advice that i would also say you need to forgive it, too. But sol make mistakes will other people. Your friends and coworkers and family, do not sweat the small stuff. Stride. In it is good life advice. It is also good professional advice. Nobody likes a debbie downer. Nobody likes somebody who is lecturing all the time. Lot of young, talented, smart, ambitious people in society, you among them. Attitude is everything. Have a good attitude. Be an uplifting. Fill the glass and do not take from the glass. Second, read as much as is humanly possible. Seriously. Once wrote to his son, you will never be alone with a poet in your pocket. I was always more of a history and economics guy. The lesson still applies. The greatest asset you have is your mind but it is like a muscle. You have to keep it in shape. Do not forget that. You come out of college and you are like, i do not have to read that stuff anymore. Third, if you are a believer, keep going to church. Do not let that fall by the wayside. I know that might sound a little preachy and even a little cheesy. You might not you do not need to make a big show of it. Go. Prayer has sustained me and difficult moments in my life and i think it will do the same for you. As you get older, you will realize that life actually does follow a plan. Be your plan. T it is gods plan. Coming to except that fundamental fact, not coming to except that begrudgingly, but peacefully, that is the essence of faith. Make astion is, did you difference whenever you could . Did you think, yes, i am doing this the right way. Are you endeavoring to be fulfilled and be a good person . In all of your aspects, all your works in life . If you remember one word from the speech, let it be faith. That should be all the planning you need. May god less you and keep you in his care. Again. Ulations once [applause] california senator Barbara Boxer told graduates at the university Berklee School of politics to be resilient in the face of criticism. The democratic lawmaker who announced in january her plans to retire after serving 30 years in Congress Also talked about her own future beyond elected office. This is 10 minutes. [applause] thank you so much, professor. And i am so sorry about that internship, but remember, Jennifer Lawrence did not win american idol. We all make mistakes and i apologize. My staff is here and they are going to get an earful. But what a wonderful welcome. Want to say to the faculty and the parents and the friends, it is wonderful that you are here. Most of all, congratulations to of 2016. Rkeley class congratulations. You did it. No more late nights at libraries. Forore last and it cramming your last poly psy final. It is over, folks. No more. Today, you can finally celebrate. But right now, there is only one thing standing between you and your hardearned of diploma and that is me. It. T despite being a United States youtor, i plot i promise not to filibuster. This is your day. You earned it. You studied. Focused, you learned, you managed to dou all of that and live your lives. Andstarted relationships you ended relationships. Somebody is really happy about that breakup. [laughter] [applause] you missed your family but you enjoyed being away from your family. You ate healthy and you exercised. [laughter] sen. Boxer that is debatable. But then you squandered all of that good work a top dog at and kingpin doughnuts. You balance your budget. [laughter] on occasion, you busted your budget. I think you are the very definition of the word survivor. Im a survivor. I have survived 40 years in elected years elected office. 40 years. For supporting me, most of you, to get that done. Like you, i have managed to enjoy living my real life and a lot of that is here today. You were introduced to my son and his family. My husband is here and we will celebrate 55 years of marriage very soon. [applause] sen. Boxer of course, when you when i was in those planes, it was only 25 years but it is still fabulous as more than 20 years ago, the professor stated, i had the honor of speaking to another berkeleyyou see graduates. Doug was one of those. Thet his degree in political economy of an industrialized society. That was his degree. My husband and i were very impressed, but we did have one parental concern. Cannot wait toy hire someone with a degree in the political economy of an industrialized society. Many hours of deep discussion and drawing a total blank, we realized there was only one answer. Law school. By a show of hands, how many of you are thinking about going to law school . You can be proud. Higher. Are thinkingou about careers in Public Service, for a senator, member of congress . I hope you do. We could use you in Public Service, which, as a career, i can attest to is fascinating and and at times, extremely rewarding. I decided to write about it over the past three years. Im excited to tell you my memoir will be released at the end of the month. , and i have the battle scars to prove it. You have to be lent to be tough in your life, regardless of your career choice. People are going to try and dissuade you from your dreams. People will try to scare you into silence and onto the sidelines where it people will try to make you doubt your resolve and even doubt yourself. But if you master the art of tough, you will win the day. Let me be clear, the art of tough does not mean being a bully or obnoxious. We have seen some of that in politics, havent we . It means being smart and doing the right thing, not being afraid to step up, even when you are called every name in the book. A i can attest to it. One day, i woke up and heard on the radio someone say this about me. Please do not applaud after i tell you what they said. [laughter] sen. Boxer i trust you. Barbara boxer is a great candidate for the democratic party. Female and learning disabled. That is what they said. Someone else wrote, Barbara Boxer is quite possibly the biggest doofus ever to enter the senate chambers. You will not believe what they said about me when i spoke out against the iraq war. Some even called for my resignation. Of the fewone standing up for gay marriage, and when i stood alone protesting the impossibly long lines during the 2004 election in ohio, one senator, speaking on the senate floor, said, Barbara Boxer is driving herself further toward the political fringe with the long grass already tickling her knees. I am happy to tell you that guy lost his race the next time and i got elected. That was good. [applause] but when you are attacked for something you deeply believe in, you need to wear those attacks as a badge of honor. If you know you are doing the right thing, you simply have to do it. Kid, there were no women in politics to speak of. As i grew older, i saw things in the world that made no sense to me, just like you see things in the world that make no sense to you. Perhaps that is why you chose this major, to change things for the better. Saw a war that made no sense to me, the vietnam war. I saw a racism that made no sense to me. The great baseball player jackie edbinson, being blue boo and attacked because of his skin color. I saw women being a less than equal treated less than equal and having no say over their health care. Had to take a risk and i hope you are ready to take a risk, too. Are you ready to do that . [applause] know it is anu election year. You cannot miss it. We her cynical voices, people who say there is no difference between the candidates. You are Political Science majors and you are graduates now and you know better. You know because you have a sense of history. If people in the 1960s had said why bother voting, we would never have passed landmark laws like the villain the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights act. We would set out, never have elected the first africanamerican president in our nations history. [applause] sen. Boxer this year, every issue is at stake. Womens rights, Voting Rights, income inequality, the security is all at stake. We need your energy and your voice. When you hear a president ial candidate say 11 Million Immigrants should be deported, or that we should ban muslims from entering the country, if you disagree with that, you need to speak up and speak out. [applause] sen. Boxer with a clear voice. When you hear someone say that Climate Change is a hoax, you need to speak up with a clear voice if you disagree. When you hear states like North Carolina discriminating against the lgbt community, if you disagree, you must speak out. [applause] sen. Boxer and when you hear there is no student crisis, you know they are wrong. You must speak out if you disagree. But you doon and on not want me to so i will skip to the next part of my speech. Fromave a College Degree one of the greatest universities in the country. You know how to think. You know how to write. You know how to speak. In short, every single one of you, you now have the tools to be a leader. Yo