Biden to Coast Guard grads: America is in awe of you
Updated: 1:14 p.m. ET
Vice President Joe Biden paid tribute on Wednesday to this year's graduates of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, praising their skills and courage even while acknowledging the increased risks they will face in today's "rapidly-changing" world.
In a commencement speech at the academy's New London, Conn., campus, Biden thanked the new graduates and expressed his gratitude "that you allowed me to share this day with you."
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The vice president, famous for his gaffe-prone past, absolved the grads of any "minor infractions" they'd committed over the years, and argued that "minor disciplinary infractions don't get in the way of talent."
"I've learned that from personal experience," he quipped.
Striking a more serious tone, however, Biden said he was "proud" of the students for having "sacrificed to serve your country" and for choosing the hard road even though "no one would have blamed you" for having selected another path.
"But that is not what you are made of," he said. "The American people are in awe of what you do."
The vice president acknowledged the "rapidly-changing" world into which the students are graduating, and he noted that challenges and missions, as well as climates, would change with it.
"This is not your father's Coast Guard," he said.
Even so, Biden urged the outgoing students to salute their fathers and mothers "for raising sons and daughters as formidable, talented and patriotic as the young men and women who sit before me today."
"Your country is indebted to you," he told the parents.
The vice president opened his remarks by referencing the devastating tornado that struck Oklahoma this week, and pledged the administration would do everything in its power to assist in recovery efforts.
"Our hearts go out and our prayers are said for the people of Oklahoma, particularly Moore, Oklahoma," Biden said. "A long road lies ahead of the people of Moore, and it's not going to be easy - but they'll not travel alone. They'll have all the resources of the United States government and the United States military and the American people at their side as they - as they make their way through."
