Children of State Department employees who accompanied their parents to Foggy Bottom today for Take Your Child to Work Day got an earful of John Kerry.
The secretary of State addressed kids in the auditorium at the State Department with 1-year-old “diplo-mutt” Ben at his side.
“It’s really amazing the number of women contributing in many, many, many different facets of America today – leadership positions, all contributing in so many different ways – who really were empowered by this idea of learning sort of what parents did and what life is really all about and having a sense of reality about what a job is and what kind of contributions parents are making to the world,” he said, noting the day’s roots as Take Your Daughter to Work Day. “And today, there are women who will tell you they were impacted by that, particularly in the 1990s, and I think young men and women across our country today who are following in the footsteps of their parents.”
He waxed about his Senate days when he took his daughters along on trips to Vietnam and Cambodia.
“When I was 11 years old – I don’t know how many of you are 11 – my dad worked right here in the old building around – that’s attached to the new building, and he was a young Foreign Service officer. He was stationed in Europe. And one day, I was pulled out of my school, didn’t know where I was going, and off I went to Berlin, Germany, and to school overseas. And it had a profound impact on me as I learned language and learned how other people sort of live and the differences, and it opened my eyes to a whole bunch of possibilities,” he continued.
“…There are so many challenges – climate change, energy, energy use. You can shut off lights at home. You can make sure that the water isn’t running excessively. You can help put seals on windows or do things so that you’re energy-efficient at home. You can pick up trash. When you go to the beach this summer, make sure that there isn’t a lot of plastic left around because it kills fish and it kills birds. There are all kinds of things that you can do as you think about the world around you.”
Kerry noted that more than half the people in the world live on less than $2 a day and a lot of people live on less than $1 a day, telling the kids to “try that for a day or two and see what happens.”
He then administered an oath of office to the children.
“I want you to know that the Oath of Office you just took is the same Oath of Office that I took as Secretary of State. It’s the same Oath of Office that many of your parents have taken in one role or another. And it is also the same Oath of Office that members of Congress take and public officials take,” Kerry said. “It’s an Oath of Office that we’ve taken in our country really way back to the founding of our nation. So that’s a pretty good set of responsibility, and I expect all of you to go to work today. Is that a deal?”
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