Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Announces First-in-the-Nation Cabinet Position for Service and Volunteering

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Announces First-in-the-Nation Cabinet Position for Service and Volunteering

MARIA SHRIVER :

Thank you, thank you. Sit down. Thank you. Gosh, I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't know Harris Wofford. He spent as much time in my house as I did, and so to have him here today means so much to me on a personal level. My parents love him, admire him, and he is a part of our family in every sense of the word. And he has also been, as Henry mentioned earlier, a real leader and pioneer in the service volunteering field, and he is respected throughout this country and throughout this world. So, from a personal place I want to thank you for making the time to be here. On behalf of everybody in California who understands the call that comes from deep within to be of service, I thank you for lending your expertise and your weight to this event. So thank you for being here. (Applause)

Henry, thank you for being here, coming all the way from Washington. Thank you for welcoming us at Northridge. Lateefah -- what about that woman, okay? (Applause)

Oh, my God, this woman. She talked about standing on people's shoulders. She's a legend in California, and she only kind of teased her story, but her story is remarkable, her service is remarkable, and what she came out here today to say touched, I think, every single person here. And she talked about the power of all of us, and that's what I'm so excited about, because today is a moment for all of us. It's about what each and every one of us can do to help our communities, to help our families, to help our state, and to help our country.

I often talk about it as the power of we. My parents talked about it as the politics of service. My dad, who Harris mentioned, talked a lot about the politics of service, and it's the kind of politics that you can practice no matter what your political affiliation is, no matter what your age is, no matter what your gender is, no matter what your religion is. The politics of service is about allowing your soul to be fueled by service. It's about allowing yourself to be a transforming agent, and it's about really what Gandhi said, because both my parents believed that we the people could be and should be the change that we want to see in this world. (Applause)

And I think that that in and of itself is a very powerful notion, that you -- each and every person here -- can be the change that you want to see in the world. You don't have to have a political figure do it for you. You don't have to have your boss do it for you. Your parents don't have to do it for you. You yourself can be the change that you want to see. All you have to do is go out and serve. And I think if you think about that, and think about the power that's in we the people, it really is a very -- we talked about it -- we the people; it's a very powerful concept. We the people can be the change we want to see in this world. Everybody who's wearing a colored outfit today believes in that concept. Everybody up here, who's changing their life and being of service, believes in that. And there are millions and millions of people throughout our state, and obviously throughout our country, who believe so strongly in that.

My parents taught my brothers and I, every single day they talked about what are you doing to help somebody else? They took us all over the world and talked about that we were responsible for changing the world. They taught us that there was no act that was too small, that there was no person who was too old or too young. We didn't have a friend who came over to our house who did not end up practicing the politics of service, if they wanted to do it or not. And many people didn't want to come over. Many of my friends actually ended up saying, "I don't want to come to your house today, because I haven't done anything, and I don't' have any plans to do anything." And even today my children say to me, "My friends don't want to come over here because you make them go out and serve, and they want to sleep in, and so nobody wants to spend the night over here." And I said, "Blame my parents."

But I am so proud of this moment, I am so proud of the people who are on this stage. There are so many people here who have incredible stories about changing their own lives, starting organizations to empower women, being mentors, being Big Brothers, being Big Sisters, serving in the military, going outside of their own comfort zone. And they think they go out to do it to change their community, but in fact it changes them from the inside out, and that is really the greatest benefit. (Applause)

So, there is so much that we can do together. CaliforniaVolunteers.org has 30,000 volunteer opportunities on the website today, just waiting for you to log on and find somewhere you can serve. If you know an organization that's not on the website, let us know about it. We want every organization that needs a volunteer in this state to be on that website, and to get somebody who can help them follow through on their message.

And I think it's really important to understand, as I said, that there is nothing that's too small, nothing that's not important. If you want to build a garden, we'll help you do it. If you want to clean a beach, we'll direct you to an organization that can help you do that. If you want to volunteer to be a CERT Volunteer, and help us be better prepared as a state, and perhaps change someone's life, we can use you. We can use you to change our state. If you want to mentor a child, we'll direct you to how to do that. If you want to bring food to someone who is a shut-in, who is older, who is lonely, who might have AIDS or Alzheimer's, we can direct you to an organization, and you can forever change someone's day, someone's life, someone's future. Remember, there is no act that is too small, no gesture of kindness, that doesn't have a ripple effect.

So, as we all go about our very busy lives I think it's important to remember that we are the people, and we are the change. And when my husband was elected governor in 2003, in his Inaugural he said, "I cannot do this alone. The burden is too great, the problems are too massive. But with your help, I can do this." If we come together, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Green, men, women, all different nationalities, everything that California has to offer, because our greatest natural resource is us. If we all come together to help each other lift the burdens that we all encounter day in, day out, we can make this state as great as our imaginations believe it can be. We can let every person in this state know that there is someone who believes in them, someone who thinks that they have a future worth fighting for. And in the end of the day it won't be our jobs that define us; it will be those small gestures, those small acts of compassion that people remember us for.

So this is a great day, I think, for everybody who is here. This is a great day for this university, to be part of, I think, a historic event. This is a great day for California. This is a great day for this Governor, who believes in the power of service and who believes that each and every one of us can serve. But most importantly, I think it will be a great day, and it will make days great in each of our lives, if we in fact come together and be the change, be as great as we think we can be, and if we serve together.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you the person who had the idea of making service and volunteering a Cabinet-level position, because that's the only way to get the people to the Cabinet-level position is if you elevate service and volunteering, and make it a force to be reckoned with. He's a great public servant and he is your Governor; Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Applause)

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER :

Thank you very much. And thank you, Maria, for the wonderful introduction. Sit down, sit down, please, please. It's wonderful to get such a great introduction from the First Lady, I love it. Thank you very much, I appreciate that. And thank you very much, Senator Wofford, for coming out here today, I really appreciate that. And of course he was right that we took a walk on the beach in 1977. Think about that, more than 30 years ago, almost 31 years ago. And we did talk about our futures, and I was talking about my plans, and I asked him what his plans were. He said he wanted to become a senator one day. And I said, "You will," I said, "because you're very hungry, and you believe in public service." And he did become a senator, and a great, outstanding senator. So it was really great to -- (Applause) And he asked me what I wanted to become, and I said, "I want to be a movie star." (Laughter) Anyway, those were the good old days. (Laughter)

But anyway, it's great to have him here, and also it's great to have Henry Lozano here with us today, thank you very much for coming out. There's a man that has dedicated his life to public service, and great leadership, and it's great to have him. And then Lateefah Simon -- what a speech. I mean gee, this was really outstanding. I got so motivated I got goose bumps back there when I listened to you. Wasn't that a fantastic speech? So motivating. It's just really great. (Applause)

And the we want to thank also President Koester, or in German it's actually Koester, right, the right pronunciation -- Koester from Cal State Northridge, for having us here today and hosting this event. Thank you very much. (Applause)

And then, of course, we have Karen Baker here today also with us, who is doing such an outstanding job managing all of this. (Applause)

And then Jeff Hoffman from Disney. We want to thank Jeff Hoffman for the great job that you are doing. (Applause) Thank you very much for making the resources available to stage all of this and to organize all of this. Disney has been a great, great partner in a lot of different events, and especially you guys believe a lot of volunteerism, so thank you very much for that.

Now, let me just tell you, I'm very excited to be here today with all of you volunteers, and to be here at this university, at Cal State Northridge campus, with a proud history of service and community involvement for many, many years. So we want to say thank you to Cal State Northridge for the wonderful work that you're doing in volunteerism and promoting that. A big hand to the university for that. (Applause)

Now, I have to tell you that I would not be here if it wouldn't be for Maria. I have to be very honest, very honest. (Applause) Not only did she suggest that we create this Cabinet position -- and you never say no to your wife, okay? So if you want to have peace at home, let me just give you advice, all the fellows here that are about to get married or will get married someday in the future. Just say no to everything that your wife says.

MARIA SHRIVER :

He means say yes.

GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER :

But let me just tell you, there's another reason, and that is because I started dating Maria in 1977. And if it wouldn't have been for her taking me home to her house and meeting her parents, I would have never met the Shrivers, I would have never met two extraordinary -- I should say actually the most extraordinary human beings I've ever met in my entire life, which was Sargent Shriver and Eunice Shriver. And of course you have heard all the things already from Senator Wofford about Sargent Shriver, that he was a great public servant, he worked in government for many, many years, in the political arena for many, many years. But he was such an extraordinary public servant. He started so many programs, if it is the Peace Corps, if it is Job Corps, if it Legal Aid to the Poor, if it is the War on Poverty, Head Start and VISTA, and the list goes on and on and on, of the kind of things that he has established.

So you can imagine what it was like to have Eunice there, who started Special Olympics, which is an organization for people with intellectual disabilities. And she starts this organization with nothing, and then builds it up, and now there are 165 countries worldwide having this organization, with millions of athletes that participate in sports competitions and that are having equal rights, and that have opportunities, equal opportunities, and all kinds of great things. Getting medical care, can live wherever they want, get jobs, and so on and forth. That's what she was fighting for, for the last 40 years, to build this organization.

So now you have these two parents there; think about that. You have these two parents there, and then all of a sudden you go and you hear all day long about service. And then you come in there and you think that you look studly with your muscles, right? (Laughter) And all of a sudden the father says to me, Maria's father says to me, "So, what do you do?" (Laughter) "Well, I can lift 500 pounds in the bench press." (Applause) So he says, "No, I'm not talking about for yourself, I'm talking about for other people." And I was stuck, I was stuck there.

And so I recognized that this is a family about public service, and they inspired me so much so that I got involved in 1977 with Special Olympics, and I started doing public service. I became the National Coach and International Coach for Special Olympics, became the Torchbearer, traveling around all over the country, all over the world, to promote Special Olympics. Then I became the Chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness, and started traveling all over the country, in all 50 states, to promote health and fitness. And I got more and more excited about the fact of giving something back to my community, giving something back to the state and to the country. And then I started after school programs all over the United States to take kids -- (Applause) To take kids off the streets and to give them a positive opportunity and alternatives, and to make them say no to drugs, no to gangs, and no to violence, and to say yes to education. (Applause) To say yes to education, and yes to sports, and yes to building your life.

And so I found this just so satisfying, and I can tell you that after the years and years and years of public service like this, and giving something back to the community, I said to myself, "You know something? That I'd rather do this -- I'd rather go to a school and help an After School kid with their homework, I'd rather go and play chess with someone -- (Applause) I'd rather help a Special Olympian across the finish line than going down another red carpet to a movie premiere and try to make another few million dollars." (Applause)

So this is when I committed to become governor of the great state of California, and I tell you, it is the most wonderful experience to wake up every morning and to think about how can you make life better for the people of California. And let me tell you -- (Applause)

And what a great experience also it is when you're governor and you travel around the state and you see so many of our great volunteers. Let me tell you something. The most extraordinary experience I have had was when we had the fires this last fall. Think about this. Here we had fires breaking out not only in San Diego but in 18 other places all over the state of California. When I went down to San Diego I got the message that almost 10,000 volunteers registered to help when they had the first down there -- almost 10,000 volunteers. Just think about that. (Applause)

When I went to Qualcomm Stadium -- which was the place where all the people that were evacuated went to -- and there were thousands and thousands of people there waiting for food and for water, and for baby formula and diapers, and all kinds of things. There were the volunteers, hundreds of volunteers were in there handing out water, helping those people with blankets and with cots, and with all kinds of things. And even though those people did not know if their homes burnt down, or whatever it was, whatever the tragedy at home, they were content, they were happy. Why? Because there were all those hundreds of volunteers there helping. I will never forget that sight, of what a wonderful sight that was, to see so many volunteers coming in and helping. And the same thing happened again with the oil spill that just happened right after that. We had the oil spill in the Bay Area. Who were there the first were the volunteers, thousands of volunteers. (Applause)

We got phone calls from the Bay Area, thousands of volunteers. And I remember Karen coming to me and saying, "They called us from the Bay Area, they don't know what to do with all those thousands of people. They can't use them all." Can you imagine what a great situation that we are in here in California? They can't use all of the volunteers, because there are so many showing up. That is fantastic. I was so proud of our volunteers. (Applause)

So, this is the same kind of effort and capacity that we should have in every California county, and this is what this is all about. This is what we want to accomplish here. We never experienced anything like this before, this kind of enthusiasm to volunteer. Californians' desires and will to serve are there in abundance. All we have to do now is go and harness this great, great energy that is out there. We have to harness is so that the people know where to go and what to do, if they want to give their time, or if they want to give some oft hire resources. That's what we want to accomplish. And I think that Maria said it right when she said yes, government has its job to do, but government cannot do it all. Government can give direction, which is the important thing, but the real action does come from the people. They are the ones that can create the action. They are the ones that make this state really great. (Applause)

So I want to ask all of you here today to help me create a California of the heart. This is the important thing here. We want to create a California of the heart, with muscle, that allows us to make a real difference for the people in California. (Applause)

I want to move civic engagement to the highest level of our state government, which is where it belongs. Volunteerism ought to be on the highest level of our state government. And to make that happen, this is why I am signing here today an executive order to create a Cabinet position which will be called the secretary of service and volunteerism. This is what we will do. (Applause) And our Cabinet Secretary will be none other than Karen Baker, (Applause) who is doing such a fantastic job managing CaliforniaVolunteers. And I want to just say thank you to her for the extraordinary work, and I also want to say thank you to my wife, who is the honorary chair of this organization, and she has also done such an extraordinary job. (Applause)

I just want to tell you that my wife, there's not a day where she doesn't talk about this. There's not a day where she doesn't say, since I've come into office, we've got to create this Cabinet position. She believes in it. She has grown up with a family that believes in public service. And Maria, let me tell you, will carry on the family tradition, because she is really 100 percent into this. I can always tell, she's so passionate about inspiring people to get involved. A big hand for Maria. (Applause)

Now, let me just say by elevating the state's volunteer profile, we will make it easier for people to go and get involved with this whole thing, like I said, in all 58 counties. And with our new secretary working very closely with volunteer centers, with local officials, with law enforcement, with fire department, and every organization possible, I think we're going to be hugely successful in this state. And I believe very strongly of what Senator Wofford said, that we will be the model for the rest of the country. There will be other states that will follow us, and eventually, I think, the federal government will follow us with this. (Applause)

I remember what Sargent Shriver my father-in-law said. He said, "Serve, serve, serve, for it is the servant that will save us all." Now, let us create some action here, and let us sign our executive order to make this official. (Applause)

Please, ladies and gentlemen, welcome Secretary Karen Baker. (Applause)

SECRETARY BAKER :

How great is this Governor? (Applause) I just cannot say enough thank yous to a governor who understands that we want to be and need to be at the table. Am I right? (Applause)

He is such a bold leader. He understands us, he understands that there are over 6 million of us out there giving, caring and serving every day. But we need millions more, am I right? (Applause)

And let's just for a second talk about Miss Maria. Is she the most inspiring, visionary leader you've ever met? (Applause) There it is. I've never seen a more creative leader, a true visionary. She cares so deeply about the people it's at the top of every org chart that she has us create at the agency, because it just resonates with her. She gets it. She knows that that's where the energy is. And here you have this amazing dynamo of Maria Shriver and that incredible family, and then you have this unbelievable, bold, action-oriented leader. We cannot go wrong, am I right? This is amazing. (Applause)

So we're going to have a little talk, okay? I'm no Lateefah, but I do want to thank her. She's such an inspiration, it was fabulous. (Applause) We need to build a volunteer force that is the largest in the country. Am I right? (Applause) Then let's stand up, if I'm right. Let's stand up if I'm right. (Applause)

And the people that I'm looking at right now, all of you -- look at each other. This is history. You're at the place -- you're at the place where this is being born, and you are now all our ambassadors. Congratulations. All right? (Applause)

And we need you to just not get one, not just get two, not just get three. I need at least five people for everyone in here. You need to speak to your family, you need to speak to your friends, you need to speak to your neighbors, you need to speak with your co-workers, all right? It's about telling others that know of your great service, that know that get so much when you give, that they need to come toe the table. The Governor is inviting them. Let's get them out, let's turn them out. (Applause)

And finally, I think we've got to end with a cheer, because this is a very rowdy crowd. Am I right? (Applause) Governor, if there are two words that it all boils down to, it's "We serve." Let's hear it. One, two, three -- we serve. I'm afraid that that was just not loud enough, and I want to encourage you to go deep, okay? We've got to feel your commitment, all right? One, two, three -- we serve! Now, that's a force. One last time, the big finale, can't get louder than this, okay? One, two, three -- we serve.

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