I was very moved by the fact that you had referred to the Declaration of Independence and to the Pledge of Allegiance. I consider them the force of law, I can tell you that. And I read those words frequently when it talks about the inalienable rights of men - include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These are inalienable rights, and they are not given by government, they are not given by bureaucracies, they're not given by procedures; they are given by God. These are God-given rights.

And if you continue into the Declaration, it then goes on to say that governments are instituted among men to secure these rights. Governments don't give them, governments don't award them; governments secure them in the name of God, who gave them. That's what the Declaration of Independence says. So our obligation is to make sure that, as governments, we secure these rights.

What is interesting about the Declaration of Independence and what is also interesting about the Pledge of Allegiance, at the time these documents were written -- and the Pledge was written much later than the Declaration -- they weren't true for all Americans. They weren't true in 1776, if you happened to be black, if you happened to a woman, if you happened to be of some other caste that was not considered appropriate to the time. And at the time, civil liberty and justice for all, there wasn't liberty and justice for all, as little children in the South and other places raised their hands to recite that Pledge every day.

But the beauty of the Declaration and the beauty of the Pledge and the beauty of our country is that we always were moving forward. We always use this foundation of God and the function of government to move the country forward, forward to achieve the dream that was laid out in these documents but which was not yet achievable. And slowly but surely, we moved forward, forward, forward, to make sure that we brought truth to those documents and that that vision became reality.

And it didn't happen by accident. It didn't happen just by people wanting it to happen. It happened because people made it happen. People sacrificed, people suffered, people marched, people protested. The nation's conscience was touched and aroused, and people just didn't sit back and say, well, it's just going to happen because it's in the Declaration or it's in the Pledge of Allegiance. No, it happened because people took action.

And that's what we're doing here today: we're taking action. And we're talking action to make sure that Hispanic Americans are properly represented in the work of the Department of State. It's important.

If we bring President Fox here and if we go to Mexico City and if we have the Summit of the Americas, and if I sign, as I did last week the CONCAUSA Agreement that says we're going to work together in this hemisphere, and as we start our trip to Europe this evening, stopping first in Spain -- interesting -- as we do all of these things, it's not enough if when the hemisphere then looks at us they see a Department that doesn't really reflect the diversity of our hemisphere or the diversity of our nation.

It is the diversity of our nation that is a blessing, a blessing that we, with each passing day, learn how to take greater and greater advantage of. It is our diversity that is our greatest asset in the world today because what we are able to do with our diversity of all the parts of the world that are represented here -- I mean every part of the world is a part of America -- we are of the world. And if we can see people like Dr. Flores, who could come to this country, as all of our relatives did, parents did at one time or another, and in less than a single generation become a success and become an American -- never forgetting where they came from, never being ashamed of that hyphenation, but at the same time being as true an American as anyone else. If we can do that and expand on that and make that better every single day, then we are showing to the world what is possible.

You can get over these differences and use those differences to create a stronger society. It's a message we can take to this hemisphere. It's a message we can take to the Balkans, we can take to Russia, we can take to Asia, we can take all over the world. Look what America can do. Look what you might be able to do if you only appreciated the worth of every single part of your society and touched that worth.

The men and women of the Department of State are America's face to the world. I like to say that they serve in the front lines, not of defense but the front lines of offense, because they go out and send this powerful, positive signal all around the globe that differences did not have be divisive and that freedom can work.

Our people can send that message just by doing what they do with great professionalism and integrity, but also by being who they are -- showing what America is all about to the rest of the world. Someone who could come from another country and become a success in his lifetime and is quoting the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance is an example of how we are motivated and what spirit we have in this society of ours.

So increasing the diversity of the State Department workforce is a high priority for me. It is a charge that I have been given by the President. That includes increasing the representation of Hispanics and other minorities throughout our Foreign and Civil Service ranks.

We haven't been doing well. The recent Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Report for FY 2000 states that, "At a time when Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in America, now 12.5 percent of the population, they are the only under-represented group that has not had significant increases in the federal workforce." This is not good. In the federal workforce as a whole, only 6.6 percent of workers are Hispanic, compared to 11.8 percent in the civilian labor force. And here at the State Department, the percentage is only 4 percent, I am sad to say.

But guess what? I am happy to say we are going to change that. We are going to change it because of the kind of commitment we are making today with Dr. Flores. We are going to change it because I signed up these wonderful young interns right here. Raise your hand. (Applause.)

SECRETARY POWELL: We are going to bring in youngsters like that from across the country, from all of the Hispanic organizations and institutions and universities and places where you are, and bring you in and show you what you can be, show you what is possible.

I want to see each and every one of you being sworn in in this room one day, maybe 10, maybe 20 years from now. (Laughter.) Okay, 25. (Laughter.) As an ambassador, not necessarily to a Latin American country, an ambassador to Russia. Don't restrict yourself to Hispanic issues. The world is yours. And we are starting you in on the ground floor, and we're going to raise you and get hundreds and thousands more like you so that there will come a day when a future Secretary of State will be able to stand up here proudly and look at a more diverse workforce than we have now.

So I applaud the efforts of the Hispanic Caucus in Congress, who have been instrumental in addressing this problem and working aggressively on solutions. I want to also recognize the fine work of the men and women of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans and of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda.

As was noted by the Ambassador here at the State Department, we have established a 15-point action plan and we are going to do lots of things: advertising campaigns targeted toward the Hispanic community; establishing cooperative relationships with 30 Hispanic professional organizations; expanding our Diplomat-in-Residence program to HACU member institutions; our Pickering fellowships, named after a distinguished member of the Service, Tom Pickering; educational exchanges such as our Fulbright program and our internship programs that you see represented by these fine young people with their red ribbons; and the appointment of a coordinator for Hispanic Recruitment in our Human Resources Bureau.

The productive relationship that State has built with the Hispanic Association of Colleges that has brought us all here today is absolutely essential to our efforts to bring young Hispanics into the Department, and the Principles of Cooperation that Dr. Flores and I are about to sign will intensify and increase the interaction between the State Department and the 245 Hispanic-serving institutions, colleges and universities in the United States and Puerto Rico that are members of HACU.

We hope that our deepened partnership will result in greater awareness among students, faculty and staff about the programs and activities, career and employment opportunities, at the Department of State, both here in the United States and at all of our locations overseas.

So we are counting on all of you here present, and all of the institutions, agencies and others that Dr. Flores and his colleagues represent, to get the word out to your most promising young people that we have great jobs, challenging jobs, wonderful jobs, here at the State Department for them; that our recruits will be afforded opportunities to perform, to hone their skills, to have adventure, excitement, to go around the world, to do things that your colleagues in school right now might not have the opportunity to do. We can offer excitement. We can not always offer the monetary incentives that the private sector may dangle before them, but the dot.com world has gotten a little soft lately so we have a better sell. (Laughter.)

But you're going to have more than dot.com riches in front of you. You're going to have a chance to serve your country. You're going to have a chance to deal with some of the most compelling issues of this new century. You're going to have the chance to advance the cause of freedom, political freedom and economic freedom around the world; fostering sustainable development, bringing people up out of poverty, bringing people up out of despair; eradicating poverty and disease and promoting peace around the world. I assure you young people, and the thousands of others like you we hope to attract, that this kind of work will bring a sense of satisfaction later in life that will be greater than any bank account balance you might accumulate. It is noble work.

And so my team at the State Department and I look forward to working in partnership with all of you as together we seek to build a State Department workforce for the 21st century that looks like America, that looks like all of America, a workforce that is diverse in its composition, yet united in its commitment to excellence and service to our wonderful country. Let that be our prayer, let that be our goal, and let's make sure we achieve this goal so we can match the vision given to us by our founding fathers so many, many years ago.

And I would now like to ask Dr. Flores to join me at the table to sign the Principles of Cooperation. Thank you. (Applause.)

(The Principles of Cooperation were signed.) (Applause.)

AMBASSADOR DAVIS: Mr. Secretary, Dr. Flores, and all of our guests, I would like to thank you very, very much for coming to this ceremony today. We really look forward to developing the partnership we have laid the groundwork with the signing of these Principles. We have all enjoyed this ceremony today, but don't think that you're off the hook when you leave this room because we will be calling on you. The Secretary has laid a very, very, heavy, important charge on us to achieve results, and I will be calling on all of you to help us achieve those results.

Thank you very much. (Applause.)