In my time as Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, I have learned once again, that there is bad news and good news. The bad news is that the suffering is real. All over this world, from Kosovo to East Timor, from Sudan to Sierra Leone, there is suffering so real that it hurts to see it close up. But there is still good news. Lawyers do matter.
Good lawyers matter more.
One person can make a difference. But to make that difference you need both ideas and energy, because human rights practice without theory is as thoughtless as human rights theory without practice is lifeless. For each of you in your own careers, I wish you the same good fortune that I have had. And when your moment comes, I hope that you will choose to commit yourself to careers not of selfishness, but of service, to some of the many people in this world who quite literally have nothing. In the last 6 months, I have traveled to 20 countries.