Steve Cohen: “I recently read a speech that I believe deserves the attention of all Senators. Jack Valenti, the president and chief…”

“I recently read a speech that I believe deserves the attention of all Senators. Jack Valenti, the president and chief executive officer of the Motion Picture Association of America, a former aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson, and one of the most articulate and thoughtful people I know, delivered the speech in New York City, as the first in the Louis Nizer lecture series. Jack Valenti's words that evening carry a special resonance for me and I think they will for others. They are words of optimism about our future, in a time when too many in our country do not feel optimistic. But they are also words of caution, directed toward all of us in this body and all of us in this city, who create the policies under which Americans live. They stress the importance of the family, of education, of appropriate moral conduct, of individual--not governmental--responsibility. They are words to which we should all give careful consideration.”