Good morning. On behalf of the people of Boise, it’s my pleasure again this year to welcome all of you to the 22^nd Annual Frank Church Conference on Public Affairs.

My sincere thanks to Bethine Church and Dr. Bob Kustra for inviting me to be with you this morning.

I want to extend greetings to our distinguished guests who have traveled long distances to address us during this conference: Dr. John Habib, Ambassador Paul Heinbecker, Dr. Samuel Pisar, and most of all, my brother, Dr. John Bieter, who came all the way from Boise’s North End to be with us here today.

Most of all, I’m honored once again to be part of an event that bears the name of one of the great statesmen of the 20^th century – a man whose understanding of the world of nations, and whose insight regarding America’s place among those nations, remain as valuable today, even post-9/11, as they were during his too short lifetime.

Today’s conference asks the question: What is the role of a lone superpower that is distrusted and even despised by even those we once counted as close allies? How do we stem the tide of terrorism when our actions seem only to feed the surge?

Frank Church would be the first to note that these questions have domestic as well as international implications. They are integral to the current debate over whether we will allow our clandestine security agencies to use torture in the treatment of enemy combatants. And they are central to our consideration of the Patriot Act and other steps that require us, in effect, to forfeit our liberty in an attempt to preserve it.

At the announcement of his candidacy for President of the United States, delivered in Idaho City on March 18, 1976, Senator Church said the following:

In stark contrast with contemporary presidents, our Founding Fathers were a different breed. They acted on their faith, not their fear. They did not believe in fighting fire with fire; crime with crime; evil with evil; or delinquency by becoming delinquents.

They set themselves against the terrors of a totalitarian state by structuring a government that would obey the law. They knew that the only way to escape a closed society was to accept the risk of living in an open one. …

I accept the risks of freedom gladly, for these are the true principles upon which we founded our Republic. In the days of our infancy, we had the courage to live by them, when their impact on the outside world made even the most entrenched monarchs tremble. Let us not shrink from them now, in the days of our maturity and might. … Let us reaffirm the faith of our fathers and reject the apostles of fear.

Well, I don’t know about you, but those words make me feel as though the wisdom, if not the actual spirit, of Frank Church is with us again today. And I think that is a great omen for the discussions that will follow. Here’s to faith instead of fear, and to a great conference.

Thank you.