(Stillwater) - Former U.S. Secretary Of State Condoleeza Rice says she believes economic recovery is currently the most important issue facing the country. Rice spoke Thursday at Gallagher-Iba arena in what was the twenty fourth addition of the Global Briefing Series sponsored by The School of International Studies, OSU President's Speaker Series, Spears School of Business, and the Student Government Association's Speakers Board.
Rice dedicated her speech to Dr. Martin Luther King, who in part made it possible for her to be where she is today. She spoke about many topics from the wars over seas to her super bowl pick.
Rice talked about focusing on what is important for our country and how our number one goal should be to defend our country so we never have another September 11th. Rice elaborated on how diligently the government works keep the country safe from terrorists, because a terrorist only needs one small opportunity and the Federal Government has to be one hundred percent right one hundred percent of the time. She spoke about Iraq and how democracy is better for the people of Iraq because democracy does not have to be enforced by fear the way tyranny is enforced, that it is embraced because all people prefer to choose who governs them.
In her comments about the world and U.S. economies, Rice indicated how important it is to heal the U.S. economy, and that without a strong economy in the U.S. economies around the world will suffer. Rice stated that she believes the people of the United States need to stand for the principals that made our country great in the first place, one of which is the private business sector because she believes our economic recovery will not come from government intervention but private businesses becoming what they once were.
When asked about other countries, and foremost China surpassing us, her comments straight forward when she said that "China will not surpass us (The U.S.) unless we do something very dumb." She also stated she had enormous respect for the achievements of the Chinese. Her belief that China will not pass The United States in the economic arena are based on the fact that China has a strict political system and no democracy, and that their way of facing adversity is to do away with not necessarily the problem but the person or persons reporting the issue to their government.
On the subject of immigration Rice believes that something needs to be done about people being able to easily come to the U.S. But also something needs to be done for the 10,000 plus immigrants already here illegally. She stated that they weren't going back but they were also afraid to go to doctors and send their children to school and something must be done to help them.
Speaking about education reform passionately, Rice said we would lose sight of ourselves if we do not reform the education system. She also stated that it should be every one's right to go to college but it is still a privilege to many. In her speech she urged everyone to go to college, to work hard to get there, and to try something new while there. Urging everyone to learn a foreign language she also urged students to study abroad to learn new cultures different from their own.
During the question and answer section of Rice's speech, a question was asked of her "What is your most memorable moment while you were Secretary of State?" Rice shared two moments with the audience, one on a professional level she told every one of her first time being in the oval office, taking notes for a meeting and she realized two thirds of the way through the meeting she hadn't taken a single note because she was sitting in awe of the oval office. She also shared a memory of a personal moment, and that was when she got to play the piano with Yo-Yo Ma.
At the press conference after the speech, members of the press were able to ask a few questions, and the question asked by Stillwaternews.net was her views on the health care bill. Rice's answer was that health care did need a reform, but she also stated that she didn't think the government needed to be quite as involved She said people wanted the government to step in but she felt that people that were against the health care bill felt the government was too involved for a democratic country, and the opponents of the health care bill felt their choices were being taken away from them.
The most important question, the one on every one's mind, was what was Rice's Super Bowl pick? Stating that her team had been out in September she claimed she will be rooting for the Saints, because of the difficulties New Orleans has faced since Hurricane Katrina and the improvements they have made since that time.
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