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THE ANNUAL RAMADAN FRIENDSHIP DINNER
Hon. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton:
... It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to see the Turkish American Community beginning to take a more active role in the life of our country here to help to bridge some of the divides that exist and the lack of understanding that all too often is present.
... I personally believe that diversity is one of America's great blessings. I don't think any people -any group- has all the wisdom in the world. I think we are all searching for how to live the best life, how to be the kind of person that we are intended to be. And here in the United States we're given such an opportunity to be whomever we choose to be and that strengthens the entire country
... We are a nation of immigrants and New York is at the real core of that basic American ideal. The American Dream belongs to all of us. It is not the property of someone whose family came here three hundred years and it is not out of reach of someone whose family came here yesterday. But that requires that each of us do our part.
....I am proud that -I believe- I am the senator with the largest Turkish American Community. So I am very pleased to be able to represent you. Now I hope that the values that are at the heart of Ramadan, values that I share –faith and family, community, and responsibility to one another–will continue to serve you individually and collectively well and that you will even redouble your contributions to America.
There is so much more that unites us than divides us. And we are living at a time of history when the voices of division unfortunately often shout from the rooftops and the voices of unity can barely be heard, that the commonality of the human experience and particularly the great monotheistic religions that share so much in common have to be heard above the dissonance and the discord.
I hope that this gathering tonight that brings you here will give you even more of a reason not only to be proud of your Turkish heritage but also proud of your American heritage as well. And to be part of what must be a global effort to promote understanding and to bring the voices of compassion and unity to a point where they drown out the voices of hatred, exclusiveness, and division
I'm very optimistic because I believe that this country that I'm privileged to serve holds out such promise not only to those of us fortunate enough to live here but to people everywhere and with mutual respect we can build the kind of world that is envisioned on this night.
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