Congresswoman Lowey Addresses Graduating Class of 2013

Port Chester High School seniors graduated on Friday, June 21, 2013. Congresswoman Nita Lowey addressed the proud group of students. You can read her remarks at the graduation ceremony here:

Thank you, Dr. Combs, for that introduction – and thank you for your leadership at this school, and for all you have done for these students and for this community.

It really is an honor to share this evening with all of you.

To the Port Chester High School Class of 2013 – and especially to your Valedictorian, Anika Krause, and your Salutatorian, Astrid Vargas, – congratulations! 

You did it!

To the moms and dads, grandfathers and grandmothers, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, and neighbors and friends who are here tonight:

Thank you for encouraging and nurturing and loving these young men and women.

My husband Steve and I will never forget watching our three children graduate from high school, so we know the joy and pride you feel tonight.  

If there are tears, that’s ok!

Graduates, can you join me in a round of applause and much-deserved thanks to your parents, family and friends here tonight?

To the incredible teachers and faculty who have guided and taught and pushed and even prodded these students along the way - thank you.

Graduates – the Class of 2013 – you should be proud of what you have accomplished at Port Chester High:

An award-winning marching band; One of the best boys soccer teams in the state and undoubtedly one of the best in this school’s history Scholarship recipients who spent their summers abroad, exploring other cultures and languages; A thriving International Baccalaureate program;

Students who spent summers at NYU and Columbia, expanding their minds in challenging advanced courses; 

All-section, all-region and all-league athletes;

 And I understand there’s even a Westchester County Teen Idol out there tonight.

I could go on and on about this special class. You have been given a unique opportunity: an education. Many in your own families have sacrificed greatly so that you could be educated in the United States of America.

As you walk across this stage and receive your diploma tonight, keep in mind that not everyone has been given this chance.

Around the world, mothers walk their children in bare feet down dirt paths for miles and miles in order to get them safely to school, just because they want their sons and daughters to have the benefits of an education.

 In Afghanistan, girls have had acid thrown in their faces, just because they were going to school and wanted to be a scientist, or a lawyer, or an artist.

In Pakistan, a young girl named Malala was shot on her way home from school. She survived – and she is back at school.

In many Latin American countries, parents and children brave the violence of drug wars on the walk to the schoolyard.

That is how badly people want an education – and that is how important it is.

Sure, not every second of your education has been fun – and I have no doubt you sometimes struggled through homework and had some difficult tests.

But keep in mind you have received something extraordinary that comes with an education in America: the chance to build a fulfilling, safe and stable life.

For many of you, it’s your parents’ sacrifices that made tonight possible: they gave you the opportunity to pursue the American Dream.

Now, it’s more important than ever that elected officials, community leaders, and  all of you work together to help realize that dream: 

·        To provide Pell Grants and other grants and scholarships, so that an affordable college education remains in reach.

·        To support the generations of young people we call “DREAMers” – who are Americans in every single way but one – who go to college or serve in our military and want to be American citizens. 

·        To legislate a pathway to citizenship for people who want to be Americans, so that we – the United States, a nation of immigrants – seize this opportunity to once and for all fix our broken immigration system. 

As your Congresswoman, I will never stop fighting for those principles.

And I hope you don’t either. [jokingly] I know this might surprise you, but I graduated from high school more than a few years ago. 

One thing I’ve learned is that you will encounter two kinds of people as you continue your journey:

Some will see a problem and just move on.

Others see a problem and say, ‘I’m going to do something about it.’

America did not become a beacon of hope and opportunity because someone said, “someone else will fix that.” 

So as you leave here tonight, I ask you to be the kind of person who sees a problem and does something about it.

Be the kind of person who uses the skills and values you learned here to act when you see injustice in the world.

Be the kind of person who has a goal that is beyond you – something larger than yourself – and go after it. 

Remember the millions of Americans who never made it this far in their education, and do something to help make the dream of education real for them. 

Remember those least fortunate among us, and pledge to help lift them up.

Remember that as you fully embrace the responsibilities of citizenship, you must register to vote and you must act upon the issues of the day.

I grew up in the Bronx, just across the street from the old Yankee Stadium.

Neither my family, nor I, would have ever imagined that one day I would have the privilege of representing my community in the United States Congress. But I knew I would have the opportunity to make a difference.

Whether you become a member of Congress, an entrepreneur, a parent, or a teacher – you will also have that chance, along with the responsibility, and the ability, to help others and your community.

If you continue to work hard as you did here at Port Chester, if you continue to engage with your community, and if you continue to look outside of yourself – not only will you help build a better, more just world, you will have opportunities that you can possibly only imagine today.

Graduates, there is so much more ahead. You are all just getting started.

 Thank you - and congratulations to all of you, the Port Chester High School Class of 2013.

I wish you all the best of luck.