MUSC's Commencement Address, May 19
Sen. Lindsey Graham
encourages graduates
Editor's note: The following is an edited
version of the comments and advice offered by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Sen. Lindsey Graham
delivers MUSC's May 19 commencement address.The irony of all this is that America is the only country I know of in the world where your commencement speaker can address the medical school and still make a “D” in biology. The only degree I would ever get from this school would be honorary, I promise you. I have a great respect for what you’ve been able to accomplish because when you make an 800 on the SAT, politics is pretty much the only route you can take. The bad news is that I’m one of the smarter ones up there.
Speaking of smart politicians, Sen. (Ernest “Fritz”) Hollings is here. Sen. Hollings was a great help to me to transition into the senate.
The Hollings Cancer Center, well, it’s here because of Sen. Hollings’ vision for this school. And I promise you, Sen. Hollings, trustees, faculty of this school, and to the students, that we’re going to build upon his legacy for this institution, and we’re going to knock one out of the ballpark and establish the Hollings Cancer Center Research Center as a tribute to you. There’s another Republican wearing a robe back here who was former president of this university and a dentist, Republican Gov. Jim Edwards. He was a Republican when all Republicans still met in a phone booth, and that was hard back in the 1970s. But I never will forget, he got threatened as a governor by somebody who didn’t like what he was doing, and I can sure relate to that.
But between Sen. Hollings and Gov. Edwards, this school has been well represented in the political world, and to the graduates, very quickly—I know this is a big day for you, you’ve all worked so hard to get here and you’re fulfilling the hopes and dreams of your family as Dr. Greenberg indicated, who by the way, is the right guy at the right time. We’ve got to keep him here, we’re not going to let him go. I believe in immigration, but you can’t leave.
To the classes here, to the nurses, to everybody in health care professions, I don’t want to just talk about doctors. Doctors are very important, but the health care profession encompasses more than physicians.
My mother had cancer, she died of Hodgkin’s disease, and it was a slow, painful death. And I will be reminded all of my life of two nurses; one I couldn’t stand to see serve my mother, and the other I got so excited when she came in—and that’s the way life is. But to those in the nursing profession particularly, you have a chance to connect with families unlike anyone else in the business. We have a nursing shortage. Take the education you have acquired and go out there and help people because you are on the front lines of medicine.
Now, to everyone else in the allied part of medicine, you really do connect with people.The one thing that I love about the medical community is that it creates good jobs, and those jobs are applied to people's needs in our home area. So the advancement going on in medicine from the physical therapy side to the research side, God bless you, I hope you stay in our state.
South Carolina, ladies and gentlemen, is last in too much. We have the highest degree of diabetes. We’re in the stroke belt. We have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the nation. Our health care environment in South Carolina is unacceptably bad. I’m looking at the solution in front of me. We have to, as a state, take the health care needs of our citizens, come together as Republicans and Democrats, and do something about it. It is an embarrassment that this beautiful place, South Carolina, has so many health care problems related to poverty and lack of education, and we’re going to fix that. We’re going to fix that. And you’re going to help us fix it. And the way you do that is: don’t leave. You have to stay here. There may be job opportunities all throughout the country; I’m sure there are—but I’m begging you, don’t leave your state. You can do so much for South Carolina with the education you’ve received here; you can turn this state around. And I want to be your partner.
Now to the doctors in the crowd, God bless you. If you’re not good politicians and good businessmen, you’re not going to be good doctors. Medicine is changing literally every day and every night in ways you couldn’t have dreamed of 50 years ago. About 65-70 percent of the money that comes into this university hospital system comes from the federal government. The federal government is beginning to dominate health care in terms of financing and regulating. And we’re doing it in a way that’s going to put a burden on future generations they can’t pay, and we’re doing it in a way that doesn’t make people as healthy as they could be. I’m looking for partners. I’m looking for partners at the state level in the medical community that will help create a system of health care second to none.
So my challenge to you, our new medical professionals, is to get more involved in how health care is delivered and financed because not only will it affect your family, but it’s going to affect the future viability of your nation. The day of opening up your medical practice, sending in the bill and getting paid and not having any worries about what happens are over. The days of not being involved in politics from a medical community perspective are over.
And last, but certainly not least, I don’t think you can be a quality health care provider unless you’re a quality person. I’m living a dream of my parents; I’m the first person in my family to ever go to college. Neither of my parents graduated from high school and they died when I was in college. I’ve got a simple message. Don’t take for granted those that you care the most about. This is a wonderful day in your lives and you didn’t get here by yourself. The only thing I can tell you is when I woke up at 21-years-of-age, both parents dead, and a 12-year-old sister, I thought my world had come to an end. I realized that the world was bigger than myself. I realized that I had family and friends who loved me, embraced me and took care of me when I couldn’t take care of myself.
You’re being asked to take care of people under tremendous stress or very difficult circumstances. Families will be looking into your eyes for comfort and support. Don’t forget those eyes that you’ve looked into all these years. I want you to be a great medical provider, but also try to be a great father, a great mother, a great husband, a great wife, and try to be a great American by putting your country’s interest ahead of your self-interest.
Friday, May 26, 2006
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