Remarks by Alan Solomont at His Swearing-in as U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra. January 5, 2010

Welcome to Ambassador Narcis Casal of Andorra and Ambassador Jorge Dezcallar of Spain, along with Deputy Chief of Mission Jose Marco from the Spanish Embassy. We are honored you could join us. I’d like to express my personal thanks to Ambassador Dezcallar for his friendship during these past few months.

Thank you Jack Lew for officiating at my swearing in. I asked you to be my Rabbi today, and I am delighted that you could, not only because you are a colleague, but because you are a friend.

And speaking of friends, I am deeply honored to welcome Secretary Tom Vilsack, Senator Jack Reed and Congressman Ed Markey with his wife, Dr. Susan Blumenthal. Each of you is a distinguished public servant and an inspirational leader, but your presence here is an expression of friendship to Susan and me, and we are truly grateful. A very special welcome to Vicki Kennedy. I can only say that your being here means more to me than you know.

Speaker Pelosi, three years ago, almost to the day, I witnessed your swearing in as Speaker of the House. It was an historic day for our nation and for its children. Thank you for being present at my swearing in and thanks to the entire Pelosi family for being such good friends to ours.

I am certainly glad finally to be joining my colleagues who are leading Embassies in Europe, and I would like to welcome Ambassadors…

There are a few people who couldn’t be here but without whom I wouldn’t be either. As you all know, confirmation by the United States Senate of my nomination to be US Ambassador to Spain and Andorra did not come easily. I have many people to thank for their hard work helping me through the process, and in particular members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and their staff, who reported me out of their committee in September and whose support for my confirmation never wavered. I am especially grateful to Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senator Robert Menendez, as well as to Secretary Vilsack, for regularly intervening on my behalf, and to a friend of thirty years, Senator John Kerry, who worked a miracle the day before Christmas to ensure my confirmation.

One of my wife Susan’s favorite expressions is from Shakespeare: “I am part of all that I have known.”

As we embark on this opportunity to serve our country, there are far too many people to thank who played a role or lent a hand in getting us here. But please indulge me while I recognize some of them.

Thanks first to my family and friends for traveling on such short notice to bear witness to this day. My brothers David and Ahron are here with their families -- my sisters-in-law Joan and Sheera, nieces Elizabeth, Jaclyn, Aleeza and Yakira and my nephew Joseph. My brother-in-law Jeff Mendel is here with my niece Amanda, who works at the Treasury Department. Others in our family would like to be here, especially my mother and father-in-law, Blanche and Len Lewis. No one is prouder than they are.

I wish my parents had lived to see this day. Growing up in an orthodox Jewish home, my brothers and I learned from our parents the values of justice, compassion and service to a cause greater than ourselves. The very morning of my Senate confirmation, we buried my 95-year-old aunt, Ruth Solomont, the last living family member of my parent’s generation. At the cemetery where my aunt and uncle and parents are buried, I paused to say goodbye to my mother and father before leaving on this journey. In their wildest dreams, my parents could never have imagined this, but they provided the moral compass which has guided my life and which Susan and I have tried to pass on to Becca and Stephanie.

I leave for Spain with a partner, who has been my life partner for more than 25 years. I would not and could not do this without Susan. We look forward to sharing the joy and richness of this adventure with our daughters Becca and Stephanie, and we hope to welcome many of our friends and family in Madrid.

In early 2005, I met a recently elected United States Senator whose first words to me were: “I understand we have something in common. We were both community organizers.” As you know, community organizers are agents of change, and not in a generation have we elected a President with a greater mandate for changing the direction this nation is headed in. I am grateful beyond words to President Obama and to Secretary Clinton for this opportunity to work with them to change America’s role and standing in the world.

I’ve spent more time in this building than I anticipated, but it has been time well spent. I am grateful to my colleagues in the European Bureau and throughout the State Department, not only for what you’ve taught me, but for the warmth of your welcome and the steadfastness of your support. To Assistant Secretary Phil Gordon, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Nancy McEldowney, Deputy Assistant Secretary Spencer Boyer, Director of the Office of Western European Affairs Maureen Cormack and two superb desk officers, Alex McKnight and Stacie Zerdecki, a special thank you.

A special thank you also to Sharon Hardy for helping to arrange several of my swearings in.

I am leaving one group of fine professionals for another. I already know what an excellent team I am joining at Embassy Madrid, led by an outstanding Deputy Chief of Mission, Arnold Chacon. For nearly a year, Embassy Madrid has been without a Chief of Mission, and Arnold has carried out the duties of Charge d’affaires with extraordinary skill and effectiveness.

Throughout my adult life, I’ve been blessed to associate with people who believe in the power of politics and public service to improve our lives.

There is an inscription in the lobby of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston that reads: “This library is dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy… and to all those who through the art of politics seek a new and better world.”

Some of us came of age in the 1960’s when the memory of President Kennedy’s call to service was still fresh, but then differences over the war in Vietnam and between the generations began to divide America. We survived a long period of declining confidence in government and increasing cynicism about politics, but we have witnessed the election of a President who has promised to make “service a cause of his presidency” and who inspired a new generation’s belief in the power of political participation to change the world.

There are many people here today who traveled the same or a similar road to who I am personally indebted and for whose public service we are all indebted. These include my former colleagues at the Corporation for National and Community Service who are carrying out the President and First Lady’s challenge to make service a lifelong commitment as well as other friends in government, from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other, who are on the front lines of trying to solve America’s and the world’s most daunting problems.

Over forty years ago, as a page at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, I marched in a candle-light vigil in Grant Park following the nomination of Hubert Humphrey over Gene McCarthy and after clashes that day between anti-war demonstrators and the Chicago police. On November 4, 2008, I was present once again in Chicago’s Grant Park on election night. Between those bookends, I worked on scores of political campaigns, from City Council to President of the United States. My work on those campaigns fueled my passion for public service, so I’d like to offer thanks to the hundreds if not thousands of active citizens, with whom I’ve worked, who believed enough in our democracy to take an active role in it. So many of you are here in this room.

This is an auspicious time in our Nation’s history and a critical moment in our bilateral relationship with Spain.

I said at my confirmation hearing before the Committee on Foreign Relations that “ this is a time when the President and the Congress have challenged American citizens to roll up their sleeves to help solve the problems of their communities, of our nation and of the world. And I said that I come before the Committee as one of those citizens, nothing more and nothing less.”

Now, I hope to follow in the great tradition of citizen diplomats, representing our country and advancing our interests abroad. The very first United States Ambassador to Spain, John Jay, was a man of the bar; another, Washington Irving, was a man of letters. More recently, my predecessor Eduardo Aguirre was a banker. All citizens, answering their nations’ call to serve and serving with distinction.

Just as the challenges facing our country are too great to be met by government alone and require the participation of citizens from every sector, the problems facing the world cannot be solved by any one country. As President Obama noted last September at the UN: “This cannot solely be America’s endeavor. Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world’s problem alone. We have sought – in word and deed – a new era of engagement with the world. And now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.”

This is a core principle of American foreign policy as envisioned by President Obama and Secretary Clinton, which I will do my best to carry out.

In addressing so many of the world’s problems, from the spread of terrorism to global warming and global poverty, Spain is an important ally of the United States and one on whom we increasingly rely.

That was evidenced by the Washington summit meeting in October between President Obama and President Zapatero, and it is magnified by Spain’s ascendency this past week to the presidency of the European Union.

This is a moment in our bilateral relationship when both countries seek a stronger partnership. Our government is appreciative of Spain's commitment to success in Afghanistan, to its assistance with the closing of Guantanamo and to its collaboration in response to the world economic crisis. I am eager to work closely with the government of Spain to expand cooperation on these and other issues of mutual interest.

Although especially hard hit by the world economic crisis, Spain in the 21st Century is a great success story and an excellent example to other countries around the world. After a devastating civil war and a long period of dictatorship, Spain created a vibrant democracy and a prosperous economy. The ninth largest economy in the world, Spain is a world leader in renewable energy and high-speed rail. The United States is the largest foreign investor in Spain, and Spanish investment is growing rapidly in the United States. The close cooperation that both countries seek with one another is aimed at protecting the safety and security of each country’s citizens, promoting a more stable world and a more sustainable planet and helping both economies realize a rapid and full recovery.

The United States has likewise enjoyed excellent relations with Andorra since full diplomatic relations were established in 1995. Andorra joined the UN and the OSCE in 1993 and is a signatory to numerous international agreements. The 11 million tourists who flock there each year testify to Andorra’s beauty and charm, and Mr. Ambassador, I look forward to my first trip there.

In a rapidly shrinking world, geography and history remain important determinants of destiny. By virtue of its history and geography, Spain is an important link between Europe, North Africa and the Arab world. It was from Spain’s exploration and conquests in the sixteenth century that much of these United States were formed. That history also forms the basis for Spain’s unique ties to our Latin American neighbors,

For all of these reasons, I feel honored and blessed to have been given this assignment as United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra. Having once said if confirmed, now that I am confirmed, I pledge to represent the American people with the dignity, dedication and diligence that reflect the character of our great nation. I will work hard every day.