Watson Coleman: “I enjoyed the statement I heard the other day, that a pessimist is someone who complains when opportunity knocks.…”

“I enjoyed the statement I heard the other day, that a pessimist is someone who complains when opportunity knocks. Opportunity is knocking--a unique opportunity to send a message that America belongs to us all. It is a chance to prove that hard work and character can take you wherever you want to go in this country, no matter where you came from. I urge my colleagues not to major in the minors today, and to take this historic opportunity to confirm Alberto Gonzales by an overwhelming vote. This is a land of opportunity--a place where anything can happen. It is a place where a Jewish kid from Brooklyn can grow up to be a Senator from Minnesota; a place where a young man from South Carolina takes on a lot of responsibility at a young age to take care of his family and finds himself presiding over the Senate; a place where success is not defined by who your parents are or what they did or were able to do but how hard you work. Judge Alberto Gonzales is such a person. The son of migrant workers--we have heard the story again and again. I will repeat part of it--he grew up with seven siblings in a small house in Texas that his father built with his own two hands. As a child, Mr. Gonzales often stood outside of Rice University football games selling soft drinks to earn a few extra dollars. It was while standing outside of one of those Rice football games that he promised himself that he would one day attend that university and make the American dream his own.”