WASHINGTON–As credit unions were preparing to hike Capitol Hill and lobby for their cause, a former U.S. Secretary of State said it’s imperative they also “lobby for the future.”
Former Secretary of State John Kerry told an audience at CUNA’s GAC here he has deep concerns over what’s happening in government and governance in the United States, over what has become of the U.S. leadership role and image in the world, and shared a strong call for action on climate change, saying it’s reflective of whether America can still shoulder big challenges. He said he remains confident the U.S. can do so.
Familiar With CUs
Kerry came prepared to speak to credit unions, expressing a familiarity with credit unions themselves and issues currently before the credit union community.
“To America’s credit unions, I want to say thank you for the efforts you make to support veterans when they return home to civilian life,” said Kerry a Vietnam veteran who earned three Purple Hearts. “There is nothing that says thankyou better than an enduring job, economic security and the opportunity to lead a better life.”
Kerry, who was a five-time senator from Massachusetts, noted his home state passed the first credit union-enabling legislation in the country in 1909, and then added, “The philosophy of the CU movement is as fundamental today as it was 110 years ago. Not for profit. Not for charity. But for service. It’s based on the bedrock belief that everyone ought to be able to better their standard of living by pooling their savings and making loans to neighbors and providing access to credit.
It’s called building community as far as I’m concerned. Thank you for fighting to make it more than a slogan.”
Kerry, who said he is a 40-year-plus credit union member, said he doesn’t believe credit unions have been treated fairly with “one-size-fits-all rules,” and also said he was frustrated with the inability of a “paralyzed” Congress to pass legislation addressing cyber-security. But Kerry said the issue goes far, far beyond credit unions, saying if the world thinks nuclear weapons are a threat, cyber-attacks have are a similarly huge risk. “You can have 15-25 guys sitting in a shed and they can bring down a nation. You don’t have to fire a weapon, you just have to press ‘send.’”
Kerry argued that comprehensive global rules around cybersecurity and cyber terrorism are possible, saying that while he was Secretary of State in the Obama Administration the United States and China were able to come to the table and discuss global standards. What the world needs now, he said, is the kind of summit that was held between President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1986 over intermediate missiles. “Nothing less than that will protect us,” he said.
Here’s what Kerry had to say on other topics:
Governance
“Here you are in Washington, voicing your frustration that nothing is getting done. You know what? You’re not the exception. The problem we face today in the United States of America is much bigger than one issue or one particular industry’s agenda,” said Kerry. “Our governance isn’t working well. Left. Right. Center. Conservative. Liberal. Doesn’t matter. It’s not working for anybody. It’s long past time for America to get its act together for itself and for the world.”
Noting how he, a Democrat, and former Republican Sen. John McCain had once stood together when both were senators in the prison cell in which McCain was held in what was then North Vietnam, Kerry said, “I am not confident in our ability to act in a bipartisan way. I’m concerned about our ability to solve big problems; we’ve either forgotten how to govern or we are allowing governance to be stolen out from under us every day by partisans and the corrupt. I’m not worried about China or any of those other folks. We can handle them. I’m worried about our ability to make our democracy work here at home.”
Other big problems, said Kerry, are Americans choosing not to vote; getting big money out of politics; doing away with gerrymandering (“which literally steals an election”), and doing away with entities that stop people from voting.
Washington & The Swamp
“Not only has the swamp not been drained, it’s gotten bigger,” said Kerry. “It’s time for every American to take responsibility for determining the real facts and acting on them. If we can’t agree on what the real facts are, how do we make democracy work? There is no Republican or Democrat behind that question. Two and two is four and four and four is eight. There are certain things we know.”
Later, during a Q&A, Kerry was asked what has changed about bipartisanship in Washington.
John Kerry during a Q&A at GAC.
“The rules of the Senate haven’t changed, the people have changed. (Former Massachusetts Senator) Ted Kennedy would have a dinner at his house and you’d have a bunch of different people there. Conservatives and liberals. That doesn’t happen anymore. Senators and congressmen are busy chasing money all the time. The people themselves have come with a harder ideological edge. By the way, the anger people feel, the (political) fringes are the ones who are active. What happens is a bunch of promises were made beginning in 1994 with the (Rep. Newt) Gingrich Contract for America, a whole series of identifiable red button issues, and none of those things happened. So, you went from the Gingrich Revolution to the Tea Party, and then to the Freedom Caucus. There was no delivery. You had a hostile takeover of the Republican party by Donald Trump. I understand (his election) completely. I think a lot of people voted for him believing he was going to shake it up.
“I do think if people were to get away from this ideological extreme pressure and be able to vote their conscience without fear they are going to be primaried. Congressmen and senators are threatened that if you don’t vote this way you are going to have a primary. And they fear primaries more than a general election. I think it could all change in a matter of weeks if everyone said enough of this nonsense, let’s get something done.”
America & Big Projects
“We’re not building anything in America on the national level,” said Kerry. “I rode on a train in China that went 300 miles an hour. How many have ridden the (Amtrak) Acela lately? It can go 155 miles per hour, but it can only do that for 18 miles of the trip (between New York and Boston). We’re the country that went to the moon, invented the Internet, that is still curing diseases and doing amazing things, but we’re not rebuilding America. We don’t have a national energy grid. I’m saying all of this because we can’t be a country that is busy inflicting self-inflicted wounds on ourselves.”
America As A Leader
“The (government) shutdown should not only not have happened, it should never happen again for a nation like ours,” said Kerry to a round of applause. “The only problem is we’ve said ‘never again’ before. And it just keeps happening. Don’t underestimate for a moment the damage these events do to us, to our esteem, to the nation that liberated Europe in World War I and World War II. Our intent has always been the mostly benevolent. No nation has conquered more land and then given it back than America.
“We can’t play games with our credibility. It matters to the security of the world. I can’t emphasize enough how much the shutdown and the dialogue that came with it didn’t impress anyone in the world. We need to behave like America and the United States. People are asking if they can rely on America. Will a treaty hold or will the next president change it?
“I believe our security is at stake. (Chinese) President Xi and (Russian) President Putin are busy running around the world saying ‘The United States of America is in decline, the liberal order of the west is dead, this is the Chinese century.’ No, my friends, I refuse to accept that the liberal order of the west is dead. Our values are worth fighting for and standing up for.”
The Pace of Change & World Leadership
“Nothing we face today is irreversible or irreparable. I believe in the values of our country. We are still the envy of the world, but it’s all moving faster. We’re seeing industrial change at a digital pace. No one has ever been through that before. It’s only going to go faster. We have to remember how to hold on to the human parts of this transformation. We can’t play games with our credibility. It matters to the security of the world.”
Climate Change
“Climate change is real. The Paris Climate Accord, contrary to what (President Trump) said, and this is the only time I will reference the president—the president said it puts the burden on Americans. No, no, no, it does not, because every nation wrote their own plans for what they will do. One-hundred ninety-five nations signed on. Thirty-eight states in U.S., Republican and Democrat alike, require people to move toward renewable energy
“You want to grow your economic business? There are 300,000 people working in solar technology; second is wind power technology. There are 50,000 people working in coal. We’re beginning to get it right. The solution to climate change, and by the way there is still time to do all this if we make the right choices, and the solution to climate change is energy policy. So, I’m optimistic about where we can go in the future and in our capacity as humans being. “
The Bigger Picture
“Don’t just go to the Hill to lobby for your cause,” urged Kerry. “Remember to lobby for the future.”