Joe Biden Plagiarism press conference 9-17-87 — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:13good morning everybody
2. 0:17's mic is falling here
3. 0:21thank you for coming I apologize for not
4. 0:23being able to do this last night
5. 0:25the quicker I
6. 0:27I'd like to get this thing settled as
7. 0:29quickly as I can let me uh
8. 0:31tell you a couple things first of all
9. 0:34apparently there's going to be a vote on
10. 0:35the ABM Treaty at 9 30 or thereabouts
11. 0:39and then I
12. 0:41am going to begin the board hearings at
13. 0:4210 o'clock
14. 0:44and I'm here for two reasons
15. 0:47one to set the set the record straight
16. 0:50and two to uh
17. 0:52get on with my business as chair of the
18. 0:54Judiciary Committee
19. 0:56several matters have been raised with
20. 0:58regard to my
21. 0:59presidential campaign and the conduct of
22. 1:02it and about my uh my freshman year in
23. 1:05law school 23 years ago
24. 1:07and I want to answer uh all your
25. 1:10questions about those matters best of my
26. 1:12ability
27. 1:13I hope if we haven't my staff has for
28. 1:16you my entire transcript from law school
29. 1:20from undergraduate school everything
30. 1:23that you would ever want to know about
31. 1:25what a brilliant student I was in
32. 1:28undergraduate school and graduate school
33. 1:31and the only bad part about all this is
34. 1:33my sons are going to find out I didn't
35. 1:35do as well as they thought I did
36. 1:37the uh
37. 1:40let me start off and uh
38. 1:42speak to uh very briefly I have no
39. 1:45prepared statement but very briefly to
40. 1:48the three matters that I have been
41. 1:50brought to my attention and I should
42. 1:52elaborate on for you
43. 1:54the first is the matter of whether or
44. 1:56not in a uh in a California speech a
45. 1:59year and a half ago or whenever it was a
46. 2:00year ago that I quoted Robert Kennedy
47. 2:04without attributing to Robert Kennedy
48. 2:07fact of the matter is that most of you
49. 2:10know or many of you know I write my own
50. 2:11speeches this speech I did not write I
51. 2:14honestly thought the paragraph that was
52. 2:16referred to as uh was a piece of
53. 2:19brilliant work by my staff
54. 2:21just as the lines that they have come up
55. 2:23with I would say the more original lines
56. 2:25in any campaign of just the broken
57. 2:28hearts line in others when they uh and
58. 2:31the quote related to if I'm not mistaken
59. 2:34I later learned it was a quote
60. 2:36related to um uh that all these things
61. 2:40do not measure the the sanctity of our
62. 2:42marriages Etc I did not know that was a
63. 2:44Robert Kennedy quote my mistake
64. 2:47I'm a great fan of Robert Kennedy's I
65. 2:49should have known it was Robert
66. 2:51Kennedy's quote I did not know that but
67. 2:53it's nonetheless my mistake
68. 2:55uh number one number two
69. 2:58um uh it's been raised that uh by my
70. 3:01opposition that uh I have used a
71. 3:06um I have a paraphrased Neil kinnick
72. 3:11and it's true I have
73. 3:13and I will continue to because the
74. 3:16sentiment he expresses this sentiment
75. 3:17that in fact I think best expresses what
76. 3:19uh what's at stake here about building a
77. 3:22platform for people the uh I made no
78. 3:25mistake in my view in using the Kennedy
79. 3:28quote and in all but one occasion the
80. 3:30best of my knowledge I attributed
81. 3:32directly to kinnick or I even went and
82. 3:34told a whole story about kinnick about
83. 3:36how I had this tape Etc and so on and so
84. 3:39forth
85. 3:40uh at the Iowa debate
86. 3:42at the end of the debate I did not do
87. 3:45what I did in that the Florida JJ dinner
88. 3:48the week before there or whenever it was
89. 3:50nearby or last week at the Jefferson Day
90. 3:53dinner in Pennsylvania I did not say to
91. 3:55paraphrase Neil kinnick I should have
92. 3:57but I was talking about me
93. 3:59in there and I was applying the same
94. 4:01exact thing kinnick said about himself
95. 4:03to me which applied as I said it now
96. 4:06there is one thing that I did not that
97. 4:10that I think was uh
98. 4:12a matter of my uh my extra exuberance
99. 4:15and uh I have been making speeches on
100. 4:17foreign policy because quite frankly I
101. 4:20think I'm the most qualified person the
102. 4:22Democratic party to speak to that issue
103. 4:24and as a part of that process and the
104. 4:26stump speech I've been making I talk
105. 4:28about how I have traveled around the
106. 4:31world which I have and I have met the
107. 4:33leaders from dong Chow Ping to Sadat
108. 4:35who's obviously passed away to Helmut
109. 4:38Schmidt
110. 4:40who's no longer there to Margaret
111. 4:42Thatcher who's still a leader and in the
112. 4:44context of one of my speeches I then
113. 4:47went into a a comment about and I said
114. 4:51and then we must build a platform
115. 4:53and uh I implied clearly from what I'm
116. 4:57told on the tape I clearly implied if
117. 4:58not said that a man who is an
118. 5:01acquaintance of mine who I've known for
119. 5:02years Dennis Healey who's on the tape
120. 5:04sent me the tape Dennis Healey did not
121. 5:06send me the tape the tape was given to
122. 5:09me and apparently several other
123. 5:10presidential candidates by a uh by
124. 5:14someone who had just been to England
125. 5:15covering the English elections I did not
126. 5:18that was totally inadvertent Dennis
127. 5:20Dennis Healey I do consider a good
128. 5:23acquaintance Dennis Healey I have great
129. 5:25respect for but Dennis Healey did not
130. 5:28send me the tape what I had been saying
131. 5:29in all of it I said and I assume one of
132. 5:31the reasons why
133. 5:33this is so pertinent to me is because
134. 5:35Dennis Healey is in this tape and he he
135. 5:38talks about kinnick as being a in the
136. 5:41tape if you've seen it uh the tape I'm
137. 5:43referring to but y'all know what I'm
138. 5:44talking about the tape I'm referring to
139. 5:45is a 10-minute advertisement done by the
140. 5:48labor party at the end of the last
141. 5:49election
142. 5:50that's the tape I'm referring to at 10
143. 5:54minute made by the apparently the
144. 5:56gentleman who did Chariots of Fire uh
145. 5:59was the was the person who produced it
146. 6:00and uh and quite frankly I think there's
147. 6:03uh you'll all be the judge and the
148. 6:05people be the judge I think there's much
149. 6:07to do about nothing I noticed that when
150. 6:10I when I um stand up I watched two of my
151. 6:14presidential contenders uh stand there
152. 6:16and say what all of you heard me say
153. 6:19first and I think only that we have a
154. 6:21chance to bend history if you go back
155. 6:23and look at the announcement speeches of
156. 6:24other candidates you'll see they said
157. 6:26Bend history and you've heard anybody
158. 6:27say that but me I'm not running around
159. 6:29saying they shouldn't say they can bend
160. 6:30history they can bend history if they
161. 6:32want to ban history in the marketplace
162. 6:34of ideas and the political realm the
163. 6:36notion that every thought or notion or
164. 6:39idea you'd have to go back and find and
165. 6:41attribute to someone I think is quite
166. 6:43frankly a ludicrous and if you look at
167. 6:45the themes that I've been pushing and
168. 6:47some of you've been covering me I think
169. 6:49you'll find that there are there are uh
170. 6:51Echoes of those themes and other
171. 6:53campaigns which there should be nothing
172. 6:55wrong with that
173. 6:56now not of the tough part as far as I'm
174. 6:59concerned my record in law school
175. 7:02I made a mistake
176. 7:04when I got to law school and you will
177. 7:06give be given the entire record I did
178. 7:07not have this record
179. 7:09I had sent away to Syracuse for the
180. 7:11record they had sent me the record but
181. 7:13they did not send me the material that's
182. 7:15the most pertinent not because they kept
183. 7:17it from he was on my record
184. 7:18I had there's a there's a course called
185. 7:21Legal methods and it's the course some
186. 7:23of you are lawyers every freshman in law
187. 7:27school I said at least at Syracuse
188. 7:29has to write a legal memoranda
189. 7:32the first six weeks they're at school
190. 7:33and the purpose I believe if I recall
191. 7:36correctly from 23 years ago is in fact
192. 7:39to teach you how to use the library and
193. 7:41to write a legal brief
194. 7:43and what you do is you have you're
195. 7:46divided into groups and there are a
196. 7:47hundred and I don't know 30 people
197. 7:49started off in my class we ended up
198. 7:51graduating I think 86 or 87 I graduated
199. 7:5476 out of that Bunch
200. 7:56the the fact of the matter is that we
201. 8:00started off and they divided us into
202. 8:02groups
203. 8:03and what they did is what you would do
204. 8:05is I would check your paper you would
205. 8:08check my paper and she would check your
206. 8:10paper
207. 8:11and part of the Mark was also the
208. 8:13ability to critique and show you could
209. 8:16really rip apart the other person's
210. 8:17paper
211. 8:18I hope I didn't say anything wrong
212. 8:21I'll wait if you if you need that
213. 8:25still The Stills are dead well I'll jump
214. 8:27up and down that or something the uh
215. 8:30uh
216. 8:32and uh so I I wrote a paper
217. 8:36and what I did through that paper I went
218. 8:40and got a law review article the Laura
219. 8:43view article had within the law review
220. 8:45article a number of citations and cases
221. 8:48I took the cases out of the larva view
222. 8:50article
223. 8:51and the footnotes out of the law review
224. 8:52article
225. 8:54and I thought what I was doing honestly
226. 8:56was the right way to do it and the and
227. 8:58the representation about what the case
228. 9:00said from the law review article
229. 9:03and then at the end
230. 9:04of the larvae article when they set out
231. 9:07and said this is what all this means
232. 9:09I wrote that in my paper what the
233. 9:12conclusion larva article and I footnoted
234. 9:14it
235. 9:16now folks the footnote I'm footnoting
236. 9:19the law review article on a 15-page
237. 9:21paper I use five pages of the 15 pages
238. 9:24out of the law review which refer to the
239. 9:26cases and then as the conclusion comes
240. 9:28up I cite the conclusion footnote 21
241. 9:32Laura view article what page it occurs
242. 9:34at
243. 9:35at the end of these this citation
244. 9:37I was wrong but I was not benevolent in
245. 9:41any way
246. 9:42and so this young fella who apparently
247. 9:44somebody's found some other campaigns
248. 9:46found
249. 9:48great I knew it'll already be around
250. 9:49somewhere one day uh
251. 9:52um
252. 9:53found and uh he went as a as a good
253. 9:57young fella and he said hey professor
254. 9:59this guy didn't do it the right way
255. 10:02brought it to the professor the
256. 10:04professor brought it the dean the dean
257. 10:06said explain yourself Biden
258. 10:08and I wrote which you will get it's in
259. 10:10my record here I wrote a two-page letter
260. 10:12explaining why I had been so stupid but
261. 10:15that I did not intentionally move to
262. 10:18mislead anybody I didn't to this day I
263. 10:21didn't I know I didn't I did not I was
264. 10:23mistaken but I was not in any way
265. 10:26benevolent
266. 10:27so I asked in the bottom letter I said
267. 10:30Dean let me speak to the whole faculty
268. 10:34and make my case in a sense my first
269. 10:37trial
270. 10:38and I walked in and I made my case
271. 10:42the dean told me afterwards later that
272. 10:44afternoon and in fact what they were
273. 10:46going to do is make me take an F in the
274. 10:48course for this semester if I made it
275. 10:51through
276. 10:53the remainder of the school year
277. 10:55and we're still in good standing the
278. 10:57second year not related to anything
279. 10:58ethical or unethical just made it
280. 11:00through in terms of my grades because
281. 11:01they told us when we got there they're
282. 11:02going to flunk 40 of us out
283. 11:04if I made it through then I'd have to
284. 11:07repeat the course
285. 11:08the legal writing course
286. 11:10and I'd repeat that course the next fall
287. 11:13and whatever grade I got in that course
288. 11:15would be my grade and they'd strike the
289. 11:18F from my transcript you have my you'll
290. 11:20have my transcript also and you'll see a
291. 11:22line from the official transcript
292. 11:24through that I went from an F to a b
293. 11:29I often think what happened if I hadn't
294. 11:30gotten that B I would have been 78 in my
295. 11:32class but anyway
296. 11:34now that's the whole of it
297. 11:38that's it
298. 11:39what you have what I'll give you and
299. 11:42then the dean wrote a letter
300. 11:44the dean who presided over the Matter
301. 11:46wrote a memorandum the file that I'd
302. 11:48never seen until yesterday
303. 11:50which said let me quote the letter but
304. 11:53you I mean you'll all I'm sure you'll
305. 11:54all go through it very closely anyway
306. 11:58as you should I'm not being facetious
307. 12:00you should
308. 12:01it says the faculty it says Syracuse
309. 12:04University College of Law December 1
310. 12:061965.
311. 12:08hard to believe it's 23 years ago
312. 12:11um almost 23.
313. 12:13Joe uh two or it says subject Biden
314. 12:17Joseph R memorandum it has written up
315. 12:19here it says quote the faculty in a
316. 12:21meeting on December 1st 1965 found that
317. 12:23in his required paper and of course on
318. 12:25legal methods Mr Biden used five pages
319. 12:28of published larva articles of eight
320. 12:30published Larry view article without
321. 12:31quotation or citation that's precisely
322. 12:34right the five pages worth I did not
323. 12:36cite the sixth page I did cite where
324. 12:39they had the conclusion and then he says
325. 12:41that
326. 12:43um The Faculty recommended to the dean
327. 12:46that is great in the course we recorded
328. 12:47as F and that this minute be added to
329. 12:49his file and if he continues in the law
330. 12:51school next year he'll take the course
331. 12:52again or be precise make this a required
332. 12:55course of excuse me if he continues in
333. 12:58law school next year he must take the
334. 13:00required course in legal methods
335. 13:03in conference with Mr Biden the same day
336. 13:05the dean explained the action of the
337. 13:06faculty and the fact that Mr Biden would
338. 13:09have to consider the probable outcome of
339. 13:11his application to a character committee
340. 13:13to certify for his Fitness to practice
341. 13:14law the dean and four Mr Biden if his
342. 13:17record in law school was clear from this
343. 13:18point on the dean would be willing to
344. 13:20state to his character committee his
345. 13:22opinion that this matter should not
346. 13:23stand in the way of his admission then
347. 13:25upon graduation the dean who succeeded
348. 13:28the deceased Dean it was Dean Karis Dean
349. 13:30Miller wrote to the bar Committee in
350. 13:33Delaware
351. 13:34Dear Mr Canby
352. 13:36Joseph R Biden Jr was awarded a JD
353. 13:38degree from this college on of law in
354. 13:40June 2nd 1968. he was a regular he was
355. 13:44in regular attendance not always while
356. 13:47pursuing his studies of law at Syracuse
357. 13:49University Mr Biden is a gentleman of
358. 13:52high moral character his record reflects
359. 13:54nothing whatsoever of a derogatory
360. 13:56nature and there is nothing to indicate
361. 13:59the slightest question about his
362. 14:00Integrity industry or ability August 1st
363. 14:031968 20 years ago so ladies and
364. 14:06gentlemen I made a mistake
365. 14:08little did I know I'd be standing before
366. 14:10the whole world
367. 14:11acknowledging the fact that I didn't
368. 14:13know how to write a legal memorandum and
369. 14:16it pay costing me as much as it's
370. 14:18costing me
371. 14:19but I've learned one thing since I've
372. 14:21decided to run for president
373. 14:22and I assume one thing everything about
374. 14:25me everything about me is going to come
375. 14:27out in the public record
376. 14:29and I've done some dumb things and I'll
377. 14:32do dumb things again
378. 14:33I've done some dumb things this Senator
379. 14:35done some dumb things as
380. 14:38as a lawyer but what I haven't done and
381. 14:40I suggest to you
382. 14:42as a matter of my character
383. 14:44go ask anyone with whom I ever practice
384. 14:46law opponent or friend
385. 14:48ask any of my colleagues anyone opponent
386. 14:52or friend
387. 14:54ask anyone whatever whom I've had a
388. 14:55relationship with
389. 14:57and if they tell you Joe Biden is not as
390. 15:00straight as a narrow I'll be very
391. 15:01surprised
392. 15:02so ladies and gentlemen I've been dumb
393. 15:05I did something very stupid 23 years ago
394. 15:10that's it
395. 15:11uh fire away
396. 15:14yes the questions have Arisen about what
397. 15:16you've done more recently than 23 years
398. 15:18ago you say that where all those
399. 15:20references to Hubert Humphrey's speeches
400. 15:23to Robert Kennedy's speeches to John
401. 15:24Kennedy speeches where all those
402. 15:26inadvertent references put in by speech
403. 15:28writers or by Joe Biden I don't know
404. 15:31what all you're talking about the one I
405. 15:33know about for example I have and
406. 15:35everyone else there are certain generic
407. 15:36quotes people have used
408. 15:39um about uh matter of fact I got a call
409. 15:42from
410. 15:43from a guy who's a friend of mine I
411. 15:45think none of you believe it but uh
412. 15:46Jesse Jackson and Jesse called me to
413. 15:49tell him he said look Joe I used the
414. 15:51Hubert Humphrey quote about the dawn of
415. 15:53Life the uh whatever and he said I
416. 15:55didn't attribute it and I didn't I
417. 15:56didn't know it the fact of the matter is
418. 15:58every time that I have been aware
419. 16:00that has been someone else's quote I
420. 16:03have used it as a matter of fact the
421. 16:04criticism of me
422. 16:06by the Press with good reason has been
423. 16:08in part in this campaign that I quote
424. 16:10too many people that I quote Kennedy all
425. 16:12the time I quote King all the time I
426. 16:14quote uh Humphrey all the time so what
427. 16:17I'm saying to you is that if and when
428. 16:19I've ever quoted anyone without saying
429. 16:21this is their quote it's either because
430. 16:23as I say in some speeches listen can you
431. 16:26hear the voices let the word go forth I
432. 16:28don't quote anybody everybody knows that
433. 16:30when I haven't attributed it's either
434. 16:32because in fact it's been clearly known
435. 16:34by everyone what it is or I honestly did
436. 16:36not know I was quoting somebody else and
437. 16:39I want to say one other thing
438. 16:41it's ironic to me and I I guess it's you
439. 16:43know it's all comes to the territory
440. 16:45but I don't know anybody else other than
441. 16:47Reverend Jackson who's had as much
442. 16:49original material
443. 16:50uh as I have had in my speeches and the
444. 16:53irony is I'm standing here
445. 16:56um talking about whether or not
446. 16:59um my use of someone else's quotes
447. 17:02are are are are the essence of uh who I
448. 17:06am and what I say and what I stand for
449. 17:09as honest as I can answer your question
450. 17:11what effect do you think this might have
451. 17:13on your presidential campaign
452. 17:16I don't think it will have any effect
453. 17:17but I don't know you all will make the
454. 17:20judgment about that it'll all depend on
455. 17:21how you write it I don't mean that I'm
456. 17:23not being smart it'll all depending on
457. 17:25the American people looking at me
458. 17:26they're going to look at me and say is
459. 17:27Joe Biden being honest with me or is Joe
460. 17:29Biden not being honest with me I'm being
461. 17:31honest and if they conclude that uh that
462. 17:34uh my uh my mistakes and my attitude in
463. 17:38addition about uh these other two
464. 17:40matters the quotes and the rest is not
465. 17:42right then well they have a right to say
466. 17:44not me but
467. 17:47the kinnick material
468. 17:50um yes before the Iowa debate did you
469. 17:54sit with that videotape and learn his
470. 17:59gestures and memorize the words and
471. 18:02could you explain why at the beginning
472. 18:04of that close you said that you had been
473. 18:06thinking about what you wanted to say I
474. 18:08sure can I'm thank you for asking me
475. 18:11the answer is yes
476. 18:13I looked at that tape I was moved by
477. 18:16that tape
478. 18:17uh i s we sat down I turned it on I said
479. 18:20my Lord look at this guy look at the
480. 18:23what he is expressing here
481. 18:26and I didn't I looked at it once and I
482. 18:29didn't have to look at it again
483. 18:31and what I would do out on the out on
484. 18:33the stump I'd say
485. 18:35I saw a tape from Neil kinnick where he
486. 18:38stands there and he's angry
487. 18:40and he looks out at his people and he
488. 18:42says why am I the first kinnick
489. 18:45ever to go to a university
490. 18:47it doesn't take much if you feel that
491. 18:49folks you have to look at that 10 times
492. 18:52I saw that it was a connect I mean I
493. 18:55could tell how that man felt and it's
494. 18:57how I feel it's how I feel about what my
495. 19:01party's about what I'm about why in the
496. 19:04lord's name am I standing up here
497. 19:06as a presidential candidate at 44 years
498. 19:08old because I'm so much better than my
499. 19:11for the rest of I honestly think it
500. 19:13connected with me my father's a smarter
501. 19:15smarter than I am so is my mother why me
502. 19:19because they gave me a shot and that's
503. 19:21the notion I was trying to communicate
504. 19:22to people and I used kennic to
505. 19:25communicate it
506. 19:26now what I did in the speech
507. 19:29I landed
508. 19:30at the airport I know you all know that
509. 19:35I don't spend a lot of time
510. 19:37um
511. 19:41I don't spend a lot of time writing
512. 19:44um
513. 19:45speeches I do them on the back of
514. 19:47envelopes I do them I mean I work on
515. 19:50them but I do them some of you travel
516. 19:52with me and you watch How I do them
517. 19:54and on the way out to fly out for that
518. 19:56debate which I had to do something the
519. 19:58day before and I'm going out to the
520. 20:00debate out in uh
521. 20:01they call it the
522. 20:03joint appearance
523. 20:05and uh I didn't have a close
524. 20:08and I must tell you it says you've
525. 20:10observed it's hard for me to say
526. 20:11anything in two minutes
527. 20:12and I uh I didn't have a close and I got
528. 20:16off the plane
529. 20:18and I feel by the way
530. 20:20that I know the subject matter of these
531. 20:22debates I don't feel like I've got I've
532. 20:23been here 15 years so all I was trying
533. 20:25to think of what do I close with how do
534. 20:27I how do I close and usually what I do
535. 20:29is you've observed is I wait till the
536. 20:31bait goes on and sees where the debate
537. 20:33takes us
538. 20:34so to make an appropriate close not some
539. 20:36canned thing
540. 20:37and so I'm getting in the car and it's a
541. 20:39young man named David Wilhelm who runs
542. 20:41my campaign
543. 20:43and I said David
544. 20:44I don't have a clothes and they said we
545. 20:46prepared you seven or eight closes I
546. 20:49said I don't agree with any of them they
547. 20:51don't have any feeling to them he said
548. 20:53well why don't you do what you do on the
549. 20:54Kenneth thing
550. 20:56that expresses what you mean and I said
551. 20:58you're right
552. 21:00and I said you know thinking about it
553. 21:01that applies to me
554. 21:04and that's honest to God true what
555. 21:06happened we're riding over in the van
556. 21:08and I I mean I said that to me I said to
557. 21:11him that's it was he in the van with me
558. 21:13I think he was and um
559. 21:16and so I got there and what I should
560. 21:19have said instead of saying what I was I
561. 21:21was thinking about it on the way over
562. 21:24what I should have said
563. 21:26I should have said to paraphrase Neil
564. 21:29kinnick
565. 21:31it's the only time I didn't and all the
566. 21:34times I've ever used it those same
567. 21:35people heard me give this quote I mean
568. 21:37that audience was made up of people
569. 21:39who've hurt all of us they were all
570. 21:40everybody's people
571. 21:43anyway that's it
572. 21:53in California we're a Canon is remarks
573. 21:58I don't know I don't remember but if you
574. 22:00notice I uh
575. 22:02um after that I think there were several
576. 22:04times after that I used it and
577. 22:05attributed to either a famous person or
578. 22:09uh
579. 22:10um uh uh I I tell you the truth Nathan I
580. 22:14honest to God don't know in April when I
581. 22:17was traveling with you you were using
582. 22:18those remarks unattributed yeah and I'm
583. 22:21telling you I don't remember when I
584. 22:22found that out Dennis Healey
585. 22:25um my recollection again I'm not in
586. 22:27woman don't have my material that a
587. 22:28number of times in New Hampshire you
588. 22:30attributed getting the tape from Healy
589. 22:32on more than one occasion in some detail
590. 22:34I just acknowledge that to you I was
591. 22:37referring to the one occasion that was
592. 22:39out there I believe what I did
593. 22:41throughout this thing is I would mix and
594. 22:43move and I was talking about how how I
595. 22:46am I clearly if I didn't say it I
596. 22:48clearly implied I got it from Healy and
597. 22:50though based on those two things do you
598. 22:52feel you're able to control to put in
599. 22:54the vernacular your mouth that you can
600. 22:56think before you talk well I've been in
601. 22:59this business for 15 years
602. 23:02um and uh I uh
603. 23:04um I let my record of 15 years versus
604. 23:07the transgression that you're referring
605. 23:09to uh stand and you can make you all can
606. 23:12make that judgment I feel very capable
607. 23:13of uh using my mouth and sync with my
608. 23:16mind
609. 23:18the law school The Memo from the dean
610. 23:22the say to December 1st of your freshman
611. 23:25year when was the the paper oh yeah I'll
612. 23:28give y'all
613. 23:29paper was actually written and handed in
614. 23:31October the 18th we'll start sir oh I
615. 23:34don't remember
616. 23:35September
617. 23:37I mean it was like six weeks into school
618. 23:39uh I I honestly but you you have I'll
619. 23:42give you every one of the including the
620. 23:43paper
621. 23:44I mean a paper that's marked up the
622. 23:46whole works I didn't know they had the
623. 23:47paper
624. 23:49I'm sure I'm not being smart I I didn't
625. 23:51know that I didn't think that anyway
626. 23:54that this issue has been raised by your
627. 23:57opponents well uh do you think that uh
628. 24:00that the others are out to get you for
629. 24:02some reason or I I don't I don't have
630. 24:04any opinion the reason I mentioned that
631. 24:05is I was I was told by a it was in print
632. 24:09in the Wilmington newspaper where one
633. 24:13campaign was asked whether or not they
634. 24:15did this and they said no another
635. 24:18campaign did this and there was a
636. 24:20reference I'm told in a Des Moines paper
637. 24:22saying that one of the campaigns did
638. 24:25this look I'm a big boy I I've been in
639. 24:30politics for 15 years this is not my
640. 24:32style they want to do it this way so be
641. 24:36it but it's not my style I am not very
642. 24:39good
643. 24:40um I don't know you all find that out
644. 24:43I'm confident
645. 24:46I was saying that the real question is
646. 24:48in this is is not whether you borrowed
647. 24:51some text textual material but whether
648. 24:54you're a vision which is supposedly one
649. 24:56of your strong points is real or whether
650. 24:59it's borrowed and and they cite not only
651. 25:01these examples but the fact that you
652. 25:04seek often to identify yourselves with
653. 25:07the Kennedys and Martin Luther King and
654. 25:09the activism of the 60s even though your
655. 25:12record is somewhat at odds with that
656. 25:14that you were not greatly involved in
657. 25:17civil rights you were for the war and
658. 25:18you even thought of running for office
659. 25:20as a republican how do you answer those
660. 25:23people well first of all we've talked
661. 25:24about this a lot you and I that's not
662. 25:26that that's not accurate by the way I
663. 25:28mean that's kind of a anyway let me
664. 25:30answer the answer the question
665. 25:32I don't know anybody
666. 25:34who was run for public office who has
667. 25:37tried to communicate a great idea who
668. 25:39hasn't gone back and used other great
669. 25:41ideas to make those motions I mean I
670. 25:44recall Robert Kennedy quoting he he did
671. 25:46not think up if I recall the notion that
672. 25:49some men ask you know that wasn't his
673. 25:51but it conveyed what he meant
674. 25:54it didn't mean he Associated himself
675. 25:56when I quote Edmund Burke in these
676. 25:58hearings I don't I'm not quoting Edmund
677. 26:01Burke because I agree with his
678. 26:02conservative views but because the point
679. 26:03he's making allows me to communicate
680. 26:06in eloquent language the point that I
681. 26:09want to make on that specific instance
682. 26:11number one so I mean I don't I don't
683. 26:13quite understand this but second point
684. 26:15I'd like to make is that
685. 26:18um that with regard to my almost running
686. 26:21as a Republican that is not correct what
687. 26:24is correct is that when I got back from
688. 26:27Law School
689. 26:28my Democratic party in the state of
690. 26:31Delaware had less than an enlightened
691. 26:33view on race
692. 26:34the race issue meant a lot to me I could
693. 26:37not bring myself to register as a
694. 26:39Democrat it used to be 20 to be 21 back
695. 26:42in those days
696. 26:43what to register and so I came back to
697. 26:46Delaware and I registered as a decline
698. 26:49independent because I couldn't bring
699. 26:51myself to associate with Richard Nixon
700. 26:53and what he I don't mean I didn't mean
701. 26:55in a personal sense but what he stood
702. 26:56for is there that that philosophy and I
703. 27:00wasn't comfortable with this with the
704. 27:02Democratic party which at that time was
705. 27:04more an old southern Democratic Party
706. 27:06and so I registered independent in the
707. 27:09meantime I worked for a law firm clerk
708. 27:12for a law firm that was a a a a
709. 27:14mainstream Blue Blood Republican Law
710. 27:16Firm and they tried to get me to join
711. 27:19the young Republicans one day I'm
712. 27:20sitting there and asked me to the junior
713. 27:22they always had the young Republicans
714. 27:23party at their office Christmas party
715. 27:25and I'm a low man the totem pole so I
716. 27:27had to go out and get the stuff for the
717. 27:28party for the senior partner and our
718. 27:30next thing I know they asked me whether
719. 27:31I'd consider getting involved in hold
720. 27:33office and the young Republicans that
721. 27:34I'm not a republican I don't want to be
722. 27:36a Republican and
723. 27:38another instance that happened is a uh
724. 27:42friends of mine came to me and said Bill
725. 27:44Roth is not going to run he was my
726. 27:45next-door neighbor is he going to run
727. 27:47for the Senate why don't you run for the
728. 27:49Congress as a Republican
729. 27:52I said I don't want to run for Congress
730. 27:53and Republican I don't want to run for
731. 27:54Congress
732. 27:56and so that's you know this stuff about
733. 27:58I was a republican now lastly with
734. 28:00regard to the 60s
735. 28:04during the 60s I was in fact very
736. 28:08concerned about the Civil Rights
737. 28:09Movement I was not an activist I worked
738. 28:12at an all-black swimming pool in the
739. 28:14east side of Wilmington Delaware I was
740. 28:16involved I was involved in what what
741. 28:19they were thinking what they were
742. 28:21feeling
743. 28:22I was involved but I was not out
744. 28:23marching I was not down in Selma I was
745. 28:27not anywhere else
746. 28:28I was a suburbanite kid who got a dose
747. 28:31of exposure to what was happening to
748. 28:32Black Americans when I'm in my own City
749. 28:34worked there one the only white employee
750. 28:36is the only white lifeguard in this 13
751. 28:39or 14 lifeguards to find out that many
752. 28:41of these guys lived in that City their
753. 28:43whole life a small City and never knew a
754. 28:45white man
755. 28:46it was a revelation to me and it
756. 28:49appalled me
757. 28:51and I look I was 29 when I ran for the
758. 28:54Senate folks other people were marching
759. 28:57carrying banners I was down here voting
760. 28:59against the war
761. 29:01I came down here at 29 years old
762. 29:05so you know well the war was still on so
763. 29:08this notion that I wasn't involved that
764. 29:10I supported the war
765. 29:12you know I mean I was not out I am not
766. 29:14as you probably all figured out about me
767. 29:16I don't like dirty campaigns I am not
768. 29:19culturally one of those guys who likes
769. 29:21to uh I don't fit very well with I'm not
770. 29:25a joiner I don't go out I'm not very I I
771. 29:28was out of sync with
772. 29:30by the time the war movement was at its
773. 29:32peak when I was at Syracuse I was
774. 29:34married
775. 29:35I was in law school I wore sport coats
776. 29:40I was not part of that I'm serious
777. 29:43what you all don't seem to understand is
778. 29:44some of you I think you understand it I
779. 29:46don't think you're really being well I
780. 29:48won't characterize it but you know there
781. 29:50was a four-year period there folks
782. 29:52there's a lot there's a light years
783. 29:55when I was in the college campus those
784. 29:57of you who go back with me 1961 to 65.
785. 30:01Vietnam was like Nicaragua is now
786. 30:04we all said that's kind of stupid but
787. 30:05it's going to end
788. 30:07but you don't see many people marching
789. 30:08on campuses
790. 30:10go up to my son's campus in Philadelphia
791. 30:11go down south or go out west
792. 30:15there's nothing like the na War movement
793. 30:16that's about where Vietnam was in 1963
794. 30:19in 64 and 65. so I find you all going
795. 30:22back and say well where were you Senator
796. 30:24Biden at the time you know I think it's
797. 30:27bizarre
798. 30:28I think it's bizarre and then when the
799. 30:30movement did catch up
800. 30:32I was a 23 year old guy married
801. 30:36and look you're looking at a middle
802. 30:37class guy
803. 30:38I am who I am
804. 30:41I'm not big on flak jackets and tie-dye
805. 30:43shirts and you know that's not me
806. 30:47I'm serious
807. 30:49but that's the period so anyway I want
808. 30:50to get this straight man because I keep
809. 30:52getting asked this all the time and I'm
810. 30:54not going to get this many in your room
811. 30:55again until I'm inaugurated so you know
812. 30:58they they
813. 31:01second thing is when I got finished when
814. 31:05I got finished Law School
815. 31:08I came back I had the most important
816. 31:10thing to me in my life
817. 31:13it's my family
818. 31:15and I got back and I was gonna have a
819. 31:16baby
820. 31:18flat out that's what was important to me
821. 31:19and I was going to take the bar exam
822. 31:22which was a bear
823. 31:25you know I mean I hated Law School
824. 31:28I really did but by the way go out and
825. 31:31ask anybody in Delaware whether you
826. 31:32think I was not a good lawyer and ask
827. 31:33any client I represented whether they
828. 31:35think they didn't get their money's
829. 31:36worth and ask anybody in Delaware that
830. 31:38ever watched me try a case
831. 31:40to tell me that I wasn't a good trial
832. 31:42lawyer go find anybody
833. 31:44as a good lawyer I am a good lawyer if
834. 31:47you want to might find out more about
835. 31:48that come down at 10 o'clock down at the
836. 31:51hearing so you know folks I don't
837. 31:53understand this
838. 31:54and how many other people 29 years old
839. 31:57did something about the war I'm the guy
840. 31:59who asked the Foreign Relations
841. 32:01Committee when Gerald Ford said he had a
842. 32:03plan to end it I remember and some of
843. 32:05you will remember I looked at at uh um
844. 32:09Senator man so I said why don't we ask
845. 32:10to go see the president ask him what the
846. 32:12plan is I said well no one ever does
847. 32:14that and I said well why not
848. 32:16and I remember Jack Javits standing
849. 32:18there and saying well it's not a bad
850. 32:20idea let me call Henry
851. 32:22they call Henry Kissinger and we all
852. 32:24went down I think if not the first time
853. 32:26on the few times in history
854. 32:28that the entire Foreign Relations
855. 32:29Committee went down and sat with the
856. 32:31president and with the secretary of
857. 32:33state
858. 32:34and everybody played Patty Cakes
859. 32:36everybody went down said yes Mr
860. 32:38President no Mr President
861. 32:40and they're very polite and I was young
862. 32:43I was 30 I guess then
863. 32:45and I'll never forget and you asked some
864. 32:47of my colleagues who were there I said
865. 32:49and I remember being scared to death
866. 32:51saying it I said begging the president's
867. 32:53pardon Mr President but if the president
868. 32:55were the senator from Delaware I expect
869. 32:56the president would expect me to ask the
870. 32:58president this question I was a fool I
871. 33:00mean I was so nervous asking the
872. 33:01question but I said Mr President what is
873. 33:05the plan with all due respect I've heard
874. 33:08this all my career what is the plan
875. 33:12I did more in that meeting
876. 33:14than a lot of people did that marched
877. 33:17so I don't take a back seat to the
878. 33:19notion that somehow I did not go on the
879. 33:22line other people marched I ran for
880. 33:25office got elected the United States
881. 33:26Senator 29 and came down here and was
882. 33:28one of those votes to help stop the war
883. 33:31and I'm proud of it
884. 33:33hasn't this issue undermined your
885. 33:36credibility on Judiciary Committee
886. 33:37during the board hearings I think what
887. 33:39you should do is you should ask any of
888. 33:41my colleagues
889. 33:42ask any of my colleagues democrat or
890. 33:44republican whether they think it's
891. 33:45undermined my ability to do the board
892. 33:47carrying I invite you to do that I will
893. 33:49not characterize it anyone from Senator
894. 33:52Humphrey to Senator Thurman Senator
895. 33:54Simpson call up Simpson ask him call up
896. 33:57Thurman asked him what he said to me
897. 33:59yesterday look this place runs on honor
898. 34:02this place runs on honor if it's going
899. 34:04to work
900. 34:05and yesterday when this thing when I Got
901. 34:07This Record
902. 34:08I called all of my colleagues and I said
903. 34:11will you give me a matter of personal
904. 34:12privilege I want to explain to you
905. 34:14something
906. 34:15I talked about my record
907. 34:18I sat them all in there it's not an easy
908. 34:20thing to do folks I something I have to
909. 34:22do wasn't a hard thing but it wasn't
910. 34:24easy either you asked them what they
911. 34:26think you asked them what they
912. 34:27spontaneously said to me so I don't
913. 34:29think it under my the only thing will
914. 34:31undermine my ability to run the board
915. 34:32carries if it turns out I don't know
916. 34:33what I'm talking about
917. 34:35on the issues yes much of what is being
918. 34:37discussed with the board hearings or
919. 34:39Works statements and writings of 20
920. 34:41years ago does this incident give you a
921. 34:43new perspective on that no I you know I
922. 34:46know about look folks I assumed all
923. 34:48along this was going to come out New
924. 34:50York Times asked for our records
925. 34:52they're going to give them all my
926. 34:53records I call to get them you know you
927. 34:56you all would not look and say gee he's
928. 34:58got an F with those lines slashed
929. 35:00through it and then a b above it I
930. 35:01wonder why
931. 35:02I guess we don't not going to ask any
932. 35:04more about that the answer is no what
933. 35:06the board caring's about is about
934. 35:08principles bork I find to be an
935. 35:10honorable man if you listen to my
936. 35:11question in the Bork
937. 35:13I've asked bork about matters of
938. 35:15principle upon which we disagree I think
939. 35:17we disagree
940. 35:19and you know I mean
941. 35:21anyway yes Mr body
942. 35:24timing of particularly the Syracuse
943. 35:27matter has led some of the suspect that
944. 35:29perhaps Republican opponents have uh
945. 35:31been at work getting digging out your
946. 35:33records do you have any suspicion along
947. 35:35those lines
948. 35:37I don't know whether my Republican
949. 35:39opponents or Democratic opponents all I
950. 35:42know is that it is somewhat coincidental
951. 35:45that you all have been writing that
952. 35:49Biden's first primary is the bork
953. 35:51nomination
954. 35:52I know every one of my opponents in one
955. 35:55form another have been saying geez
956. 35:57I'm not sure I want pork to win but I'm
957. 36:00not sure I want Biden to do well either
958. 36:01they've got a dilemma it's a conundrum
959. 36:03you know I mean they got a problem
960. 36:05and so everybody I think that it is not
961. 36:08purely coincidental
962. 36:09that on the day I want to tell you Ken
963. 36:12is somewhat unsettling to see you on the
964. 36:14air I'm going to say you do anything
965. 36:15wrong with me but the day before my
966. 36:17hearing a guy who values his honor above
967. 36:20everything else saying whoa look at this
968. 36:22I make the top of the news isn't that
969. 36:24interesting and I went around spoke to
970. 36:26almost all your editorial boards made my
971. 36:28case on the merits and I find in one of
972. 36:31the major magazines which is appropriate
973. 36:33you did the right thing I got my
974. 36:36comments on bork which you're all
975. 36:37basically saying hey guys doing pretty
976. 36:38well I'm being presumptuous but I think
977. 36:40let me put this away people aren't
978. 36:42saying you all sort of wrote beforehand
979. 36:44that I was somehow gonna leap over you
980. 36:46know the stage and grab them by the
981. 36:48jugular or something I you know I mean
982. 36:49that's the you I think was your expect
983. 36:51you in the editorial sense so right in
984. 36:53the middle of this I get this big box
985. 36:55about Biden and Kenneth I don't think
986. 36:57it's coincidental but I tell you one
987. 36:59thing my learning curve is moving on
988. 37:02this presidential race and I want to
989. 37:04tell them all I'm in this race to stay
990. 37:06I'm in this race to win and here I come
991. 37:09thanks a lot folks
992. 37:11[Applause]
993. 37:12foreign