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【Part 1】
Hello, my name is Joe Biden. I work for Barack Obama. (Laughter and applause.)
Now, I know no one in Kenya is familiar with Barack Obama, but I can tell you although for years as a United States senator, I had -- I was on a committee called the Foreign Relations Committee, the chairman, and did a lot of work relating to Africa, I hear about Kenya all the time from Barack Obama. He sends his love to you, not just your love to him. (Applause.)
And, Wangari, it’s an honor to be with you. I am very accustomed these days to hanging out with Nobel laureates. (Laughter.) I work for one, I get to meet one here, our Secretary of Energy is one -- I am feeling very, very insufficient not having a Nobel Peace Prize. (Laughter.) But it’s an honor to be with you, it genuinely is. (Applause.) Thank you so much.
You are one of the great treasures not only of your country and of the world, but you’re the embodiment -- in my view -- of what I’m going to talk about today, that is the human capital that this great country has to offer. And you are -- you are one of the great pieces of that capital. It’s an honor, again, to be with you.
Now, where is Professor Freida Brown, the Vice Chancellor of United States International? (Applause.) Freida, professor -- I want you all to know we have caused this beautiful woman a lot of concern. She has been the main person in making sure that my ability to speak here was made possible. I want to personally thank you for all the cooperation and all you do. (Applause.) Helping organize us at a speech is a very difficult thing to do, and I thank you very much, Professor.
Ladies and gentlemen, students, leaders, and friends -- I can’t tell you how much I appreciate being invited to speak before you all today. And I thank you for the warm welcome. And as I said, I bring greetings and love from President Obama. I will relay to him that you said, send him -- you’re going to send [him] love. But I want to reiterate, again, he sends his. He is committed. He is concerned, and he is deeply involved in the formation of our policy. And something that -- and he looks forward to the day that he will be able to come and visit as President of the United States of America. (Applause.) I’m sure there may not be -- I doubt whether there’s enough room in the country to house everyone who wants to see him when he comes, but he is anxious to come.
It’s great to be in your beautiful country. And it’s great to be in front of all of you. I come here as a representative of the United States to say one thing, one primary message -- the United States stands with you, stands with you on your journey to a secure, free, democratic, and prosperous Kenya. It’s a journey nearly 50 years in the making.
On December 12, 1963, 50,000 Kenyans filled the stadium in Nairobi and 200,000 -- 200,000 more -- I can remember, as a college student, watching 200,000 more pack the hillsides around the stadium. An entire nation’s eyes watched as, at the stroke of midnight, the new Kenyan flag was unfurled for the first time, making Kenya the 34th independent state in Africa.
Earlier that week, American President Lyndon Baines Johnson sent a congratulatory letter to Prime Minister Kenyatta, welcoming Kenya to the family of nations and comparing Kenya’s journey toward independence with that of America’s. And he said, and I quote, “As our own freedom for all our citizens was proclaimed to the world by our Declaration of Independence, so Kenya’s freedom begins with her declaration of independence today.”
