Commissioner Michael J. Copps has been a member of the United States Federal Communications Commission since 2001. He was honored by the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding of Sacred Heart University with the Tikkun Olam Award at the Nostra Aetate Awards Ceremony on November 27, 2007, for his humanitarian leadership to promote universal access to the benefits of communication for all Americans and his advocacy for media education among our nation’s school children

Copps, Michael J.

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Sacred Heart University: DigitalCommons@SHU

Sacred Heart University ReviewVolume 25 | Issue 1 Article 92009Acceptance Speech, Tikkun Olam AwardCeremony, November 27, 2007Michael J. CoppsFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/shureviewThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the SHU Press Publications at DigitalCommons@SHU. It has been accepted for inclusion inSacred Heart University Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@SHU. For more information, please contact ferribyp@sacredheart.edu.Recommended CitationCopps, Michael J. (2009) "Acceptance Speech, Tikkun Olam Award Ceremony, November 27, 2007," Sacred Heart University Review:Vol. 25 : Iss. 1 , Article 9.Available at: http://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/shureview/vol25/iss1/9Acceptance Speech, Tikkun Olam Award Ceremony, November 27, 2007Cover Page FootnoteCommissioner Michael J. Copps has been a member of the United States Federal CommunicationsCommission since 2001. He was honored by the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding of Sacred HeartUniversity with the Tikkun Olam Award at the Nostra Aetate Awards Ceremony on November 27, 2007, forhis humanitarian leadership to promote universal access to the benefits of communication for all Americansand his advocacy for media education among our nation’s school children.This article is available in Sacred Heart University Review: http://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/shureview/vol25/iss1/9MI C H A E L J .  CO P P S____________________Acceptance SpeechTikkun Olam Award CeremonyNovember 27, 2007Chairman Roberti, Dr. Cernera, Rabbi Ehrenkranz, RabbiKorn, members of the CCJU Board, distinguished guests all: This isreally one of the nicest things that has ever happened to me. And, Imust add, one of the most moving. To be chosen for this distinctionby people whose life work goes to the fundamentals of our humancondition, whose understanding of things human and divine givespurpose and direction to so many millions of lives, is—to use aword my kids often use without understanding how deep it goes —awesome. Totally awesome. And sharing an awards evening withHis Holiness, Pope Benedict : well, it’s a little more than I thoughtwould ever happen when I entered first grade at Saint Monica’sSchool in Milwaukee back in the mid-1940s. So I thank the Centerfor this high honor and for the path-breaking work it does to fosterthe mission of respect, cooperation, and peace between Christiansand Jews. Your work is a shining example of how education,__________Commissioner Michael J. Copps has been a member of the United StatesFederal Communications Commission since 2001.  He was honored by theCenter for Christian-Jewish Understanding of Sacred Heart Universitywith the Tikkun Olam Award at the Nostra Aetate Awards Ceremony onNovember 27, 2007, for his humanitarian leadership to promote universalaccess to the benefits of communication for all Americans and his advocacyfor media education among our nation’s school children.1Copps: Acceptance Speech, Tikkun Olam AwardPublished by DigitalCommons@SHU, 2009collaboration, and trust are the standard by which we can all livebetter lives together.I have to tell you this award has some immediate practicaleffects, too. My lovely wife Beth, sitting right there, is parishsecretary at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Old Town Alexandria,Virginia. I think when her pastor and boss sees the copy of tonight’sprogram that I’m going to make sure he sees, listing the pope’s nameand mine as awardees, that will translate into an even better workenvironment for her. So thanks for that, too.We are all surely honored tonight to have three of our nation’sforemost Congressional leaders come here. Thank you SpeakerPelosi, Senator Schumer, and Chairman Markey for the vision andleadership you give our nation and for the support you give theCenter tonight.I am also proud to share this stage with my colleague andfriend, Jonathan Adelstein. As soon as Jonathan joined theCommission in 2002, we found an amazing confluence ofagreement on many issues. When the FCC headed down the roadof loosening the rules that require our broadcast media to serve thepublic interest, Jonathan and I began to travel the country far andwide together to listen to and learn from the American people abouthow they felt about it. We have shared scores of stages since then,given speeches together, sat through hearings lasting up to ten ortwelve hours at a time together, broken bread together, andstrategized together about how we can do our part to ensure a bettermedia environment for our country’s future. We have grown soclose together that I think he is seriously thinking about starting toeat fish on Fridays during Lent, and I’m looking into what’sinvolved in keeping kosher. Seriously though, Jonathan is smart,dedicated, and courageous, and I am proud to have him as bothfriend and colleague.The communications issues that Jonathan and I work on arevery important. Bringing the wonders of broadband and theInternet to all our people is make-or-break for America. Underlinethe word “all” there, because each citizen in this land, whether theyMICHAEL J. COPPS802Sacred Heart University Review, Vol. 25, Iss. 1 [2009], Art. 9http://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/shureview/vol25/iss1/9are rich or poor, living on a remote farm or in the inner city, healthyor part of a disabilities community, is entitled to access the tools ofadvanced telecommunications, both as an economic matter and, Ibelieve, as a civil right. Other nations are ahead of ours inaccomplishing this access, and that translates into not just anembarrassing number fifteen or twenty in the global broadbandrankings. It translates into lost opportunities for millions ofAmerican kids and whole chunks of our country that won’t be ableto compete in the modern world.Then there are the media, my number one priority at the FCC.The media are so precious, so fundamental, so central to ourinteractions as a society, and so powerful. No other industry comesclose to matching media’s power to shape our future. It touchesevery aspect of our lives. When used positively, media can enlightenminds, convey powerful ideas, educate, and lay the foundation forhuman and economic development. But when employed tomislead, misinform or under-inform, media can, and, sadly, oftendo great harm. No one knows this better than leaders of ourreligious communities.I believe that people of faith are drawn together by manycommon interests when it comes to the media. They want a mediaenvironment that recognizes their presence, covers their spiritualand temporal issues, and provides them ample opportunity forexpression. They want local media that cover the thousands of goodworks done in their communities every day. They want media thatserve the needs of all our citizens, and that certainly includes thepoor, the disadvantaged, and the disabled. They want a media thattruly reflect the diverse threads that hold together this great tapestrythat is America. They want those who operate the airwaves tounderstand that in return for the privilege of using the people’sspectrum, the people expect a return that goes beyond anyone’scorporate bottom line.On January 24, 2005, I read the most powerful statement on allthis that I had ever seen. It was Pope John Paul’s Apostolic Letter toThose Responsible for Communications. John Paul wrote this: “TheACCEPTANCE SPEECH: TIKKUN OLAM AWARD 813Copps: Acceptance Speech, Tikkun Olam AwardPublished by DigitalCommons@SHU, 2009positive development of the media at the service of the commongood is a responsibility of each and every one.” He went on, “If thecommunications media are a good destined for all humanity, thenever-new means must be found—including recourse to opportunelegislative measures—to make possible a true participation in theirmanagement by all. The culture of co-responsibility must benurtured.” As citizens, then, we have a responsibility to demandand to secure a media environment that informs, reflects, andnourishes us. As John Paul so eloquently put it, “The positivedevelopment of the media at the service of the common good is aresponsibility of each and every one.” And it was inspiring to hearPope Benedict, on the occasion of the 40th World CommunicationDay, place the same emphasis on “cultivating co-responsibility” inthe media.What a wonderful word—co-responsibility. It’s not a newtheological term or some new social science jargon. It’s anotherword for working together, pulling together for the common good.It’s that “public interest” term that appears some 112 times in theCommunications Act that is supposed to guide everything theFederal Communications Commission does. Co-responsibility. Isn’tthat how we built this land of ours?I don’t believe we built America with the “everyone for himself ”attitude that seems to divide rather than unite people today. I don’tthink we built America by sweeping difficult challenges under therug and pretending that our political and civic destiny should bedetermined by the outcome of a mindless debate about whether ourideas for the future must only be judged through the prism ofwhether they are “regulatory” or “deregulatory.” How much energyhave we squandered, how much progress have we forgone, becauseof that one over the past quarter century?I don’t think we built America by putting a mythical hyper-individualism ahead of the things we can overcome by workingtogether. We all glory in that wonderful Declaration ofIndependence that trumpeted America’s determination to be free.But what won that independence for us was our Declaration ofMICHAEL J. COPPS824Sacred Heart University Review, Vol. 25, Iss. 1 [2009], Art. 9http://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/shureview/vol25/iss1/9Interdependence, our determination to work together and sacrificetogether and fight together to be free.And that’s how we have made our greatest progress ever since.We built our physical infrastructures—from turnpikes, roads, andcanals through transcontinental railroads and interstate highways—by people, communities, and their government working togetherfor the common good. Isn’t that how we should spread ourbroadband infrastructure and our information highways now? Webuilt our schools and churches by pulling together because we knewwe were all responsible. Co-responsibility. And, at long last, wefinally tackled, and began to overcome, discrimination andinequality in our midst, although we still have many doors to openfor many Americans.I’m preaching to a united flock here tonight, I know, but thiswonderful evening is an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to theseideals and to recommit ourselves to put them back in the vanguardof our goals as a people. Let’s not just restate them. Let’scommunicate them. Let’s shout them from the roof tops. Let’s givea clarion call, because if the sound of the trumpet is uncertain, whowill respond to the call to battle?As I travel across this land, I sense a new spirit just beginning todawn in America, a budding determination to tackle our problems,reassert core values, rebuild our country, and fill in the still dauntinggaps of our democracy. We’re not on auto-pilot to that future—notby any means —and it could still fall victim to those who peddle thesilly bromides of our recent past. So it’s up to you and me to soundthe call, to nurture understanding, to foster cooperation, thecommon good, and co-responsibility. You at the Center do thisevery day. I follow you in reaffirming that dedication tonight,thanking you for all you do, and expressing the heartfelt gratitudethat Beth and I feel for this evening which both humbles andinspires us. God bless you all.ACCEPTANCE SPEECH: TIKKUN OLAM AWARD 835Copps: Acceptance Speech, Tikkun Olam AwardPublished by DigitalCommons@SHU, 2009

Acceptance Speech, Tikkun Olam Award Ceremony, November 27, 2007

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Acceptance Speech, Tikkun Olam Award Ceremony, November 27, 2007

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