SPEA alumni have improved the quality of service given by government, and thereby enriched the quality of life for all of our people. I am very grateful to SPEA, and wish it many more years of service in the public interest. I want to talk to you tonight about public service and the important role that it plays in communities and in our national life. Let me add another crisis to the list. It is not in the headlines, but it should be.
Government continues to have many remarkably dedicated and competent employees.
Even so, my impression is that talent is getting harder to attract and retain. Even as interest in public service has waned, the need for quality workers has increased. Simply put, we need the best and brightest to address our most difficult problems. Government has its faults, and the proper role of government remains the great question of American politics. All Americans, ranging from the strongest supporters of government action to its harshest critics, have a stake in seeing that government is not only kept in bounds, but also works.