U.S. Representative from Maryland's 3rd District Benjamin L. Cardin spoke to student leaders at the Hopkins Student Leadership Dinner in the Clipper room in Shriver Hall on Wednesday, Oct 30.
Brooke Neuman, leadership dinner co-chair, gave the opening comments. She thanked the student leaders for attending the event and described the achievements of the Coalition of Hopkins Activists for Israel (CHAI), a subgroup of Hillel that promotes political awareness and the cultural heritage of Israel.
Jonathan Snow, a member of CHAI, then introduced keynote speaker Cardin by describing his responsibilities and accomplishments.
Cardin began his lecture by stating that Hopkins was the fourth campus he had visited within the prior 24 hours. He had visited several campuses in order to encourage college students to vote. Cardin mentioned that the college age group is, out of all age groups, the least affiliated with political issues.
He then went on to discuss the bonds between the United States and Israel. He mentioned that Israel is the United States' only true ally in the Middle East. He then questioned what the role of the United States is in the relationship between the two countries.
Cardin said that Israel needs the United States to meet three criteria. First, the United States needs to be an ally in regard to world opinion and provide leadership in dealing with other states. Second, the United States must be a facilitator for peace as opposed to a dictator.
"We cannot and should not say what needs to be done in the peace process," he said.
Thirdly, Israel needs help in dealing with terrorism. Cardin said that Israel is benefiting from the U.S. attacks on terrorism. He added that the United States has provided Israel with weaponry and technology for defense against terrorism.
Cardin then went on to discuss whether Israel was prepared for a U.S. attack on Iraq. He mentioned that they were supportive and believed that, basically, "[the U.S. has] to do what we have to do." He stated that if Israel felt threatened, they are prepared to and will defend their people.
Cardin later said, "It is time that this country becomes less dependent on imported oil." He mentioned that the 1991 attack on Iraq scattered only because of the fact that it had oil.
Israel has no oil itself, but its neighbors do.
"We are extremely vulnerable for oil and it affects Israel," he said. He said the United States should be talking about alternative energy sources and that it should be testing it to see if they are in its national interest.
"I'm a person of principle," he stated. "All [members of Congress] have an opinion." He went on to discuss that all members of Congress are more likely to vote in accordance with their constituents' opinions depending on how important the issue is to the constituents.
Cardin then went on to discuss his beliefs on the economy.
"I urge [the Bush administration] to challenge the priorities of our economy," he said.
He mentioned that the state of the U.S. economy affects the United States' ability to be involved internationally when "we can't even fund our schools and medical plans."
He proposed having a budget that focuses on education, Medicare, welfare and other human resources all the while not using social security money. Cardin felt that Congress needs to rethink some of the budget bills that were passed last year. When asked about his recommendation on what to cut from the budget, he stated that he would most likely reduce the tax cut for the budget.
He ended his lecture by urging everyone to go vote and stated that this upcoming election is a "critical election for the future of our country." He urged everyone to get all of their friends to vote, "even if it's for Democrats," he said. "It is a precious right. It's your future and you have an obligation to choose how you want it."
Following his speech was a question and answer period, facilitated by Ron Demeter, a CHAI member. Throughout the period Cardin covered many topics, including the spread of anti-Semitism.
"There's a lot of ethnic hate in the world -- if you can get rid of one, you can get rid of it all," he said.
He then went on to discuss other topics, such as his opinion of media objectivity, how he got started being an activist as well as his opinion on past administrations dealing with Israel.
He ended the night with advice: "The strength of America is in the individual ? go for it, move mountains," he said.
The night ended with closing comments by Yotam Goren, leadership dinner co-chair. He presented Cardin with a Hopkins sweatshirt and thanked all the groups for their support.
The event was organized for student leadership.
Cardin has represented Maryland's 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987. He has worked for healthcare reform, 401k programs, preventative benefits for Medicare, U.S. and Israel bonds as well as many other issues. Cardin is also an active member of the Ways and Means Committee, the Human Resources Sub-committee and of the Social Security Committee. He is also a Commissioner of the Helsinki Commission, the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
