Berkeley Talks: Top Biden official calls for unity, ‘moral courage’ in public service

(Music: “No One Is Perfect” by HoliznaCC0)

Anne Brice (intro): This is Berkeley Talks, a UC Berkeley News podcast from the Office of Communications and Public Affairs that features lectures and conversations at Berkeley. You can follow Berkeley Talks wherever you listen to your podcasts. We’re also on YouTube @BerkeleyNews. New episodes come out every other Friday. You can find all of our podcast episodes, with transcripts and photos, on UC Berkeley News at news.berkeley.edu/podcasts.

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Anne Campbell Washington: Hello everyone. Good afternoon. Are we all having an excellent time today here at the conference? I know I am having a wonderful time. Personally, I’m celebrating my 25th reunion with the Goldman School of Public Policy and it has just made it extra meaningful for me this year, and so it just really helps ground me on how special this community is, how we surround ourselves with the very best thinkers and people who want to make real change in this country and in the world. And I just feel like we are so blessed, we’re so lucky to be part of this community. I want to just give a round of applause to everybody here because we care and we are willing to come together today just to make a difference. So thank you for being here.

I want to thank our donors who made it possible for us to be here today, the Stupski Foundation and also Anthropic, and also our board of advisors and all donors to GSPP. Can we please give another round of applause? Thank you.

It is a distinct honor and privilege today to be able to introduce today’s keynote speaker. Secretary Deb Haaland is a fierce leader, repeatedly breaking down barriers for future generations. A 35th-generation New Mexican who organized for President Obama and led the New Mexico State Democratic Party. She made an unprecedented run and won as one of the first Native women to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and then made history when she was appointed to serve as Secretary of the Interior from 2021 to 2025. 

In all of her roles, her prolific leadership led to accomplishments that made the lives of working families better. She brings her personal experience as a military kid, a single mom and a Pueblo woman to stand up for working families, Native and underserved communities, and to address the climate crisis. We are deeply honored to have you here with us today, Secretary Haaland.

Following your keynote, you’ll be joined on stage by Dean Wilson for a short fireside chat. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Secretary Deb Haaland.

Deb Haaland: Thank you. Thank you all so much. I’m so happy to be here. Thank you. Let’s see if I can fit all this up here. Thank you so much. I am happy to be back in Berkeley. My niece graduated from Berkeley and got her degree in sociology several years back, and I’m happy to be back here and happy to be part of this special experience. Thank you all so much.

And before I begin, I want to acknowledge that we are gathered here on the ancestral homelands of the Ohlone people who have cared for this land since time and memorial. [Chochenyo language]. The Ohlone’s deep relationship with the East Bay, its waters, its hills, its ecosystems is still alive today through their descendants and community members who continue to advocate for justice, cultural preservation, land stewardship, and repatriation.

Meet the moment. What a wonderful theme for an event. Thank you, Dean. In normal times that might’ve just been a catchy little title for a policy conference, but as we all know, we are not in normal times. The challenges we face today are unlike any we have experienced in our lifetimes. This is unlike any moment in the history of America. 

Every day it seems some new pillar of American government finds itself under attack. USAID dismantled, undermining America as a force for good in this precious world. Centers for Disease Control gutted, reversing of decades of progress in eliminating deadly diseases for the people, not just of this country but of the world. Environmental Protections slashed, endangering the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, the land we rely on, the oceans that protect us and all living beings. It’s easy to look at all of this and be overwhelmed by the sheer chaos.

Where do we even start? How do we put the pieces of a shattered agency back together when its employees have been scattered to the winds, years of expertise and experience lost? How do we address the urgent needs of the people those agencies once served? 

The darker truth is though that what makes this moment unique aren’t the crises themselves. Even in our darkest days, we have rolled up our sleeves and crafted solutions to make our country better. What is so remarkable about this time is that the very idea that we can solve problems is also under attack. 

We face a creeping cynicism that suggests that our real enemy is our desire to make a difference. We face attacks on the very idea of wanting to make things better, and that’s why the Goldman School of Public Policy is so vital. Without places like this, without people like those in this room today, America wouldn’t have a prayer of meeting this moment.

We talk a great deal about politics in this country, but people forget that politics doesn’t change people’s lives. Policy does. Thank you. Politics has never fed a hungry child or eradicated a deadly disease. Talking heads and podcasters have never trained a disabled veteran or fed a family affected by a natural disaster. A hot take on social media doesn’t rebuild a home or educate a student. Politics, electing people who care, electing people with lived experiences that reflect the real experiences of everyday Americans combined with policy absolutely make a difference. 

As I’ve heard every election since I can remember, elections matter. Having a voice in our election matters because the people we elect to make the policies bring their ideology and their worldviews to these positions. Listen, our government isn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but despite it all, I believe we can make a difference and I know you do too, otherwise you wouldn’t be sitting here today. And part of the reason I wanted to join you today is to speak to the importance of faith in the possibility of what we can do together.

And I use the word faith deliberately. Especially in times like these it takes belief, moral courage and determination in the face of despair to keep going. We have to find it inside ourselves, nurture that flame and keep it lit. My ancestors migrated to the high deserts of New Mexico in the late 1200s. In the harsh climate they became some of this continent’s first agriculturalists raising corn, beans and squash in the desert without irrigation, I’ll add. They worked together. They had a distinct mission to build a future for more than just themselves, but for the generations who came after them, including me. That mission is passed down to each of their descendants and we take that charge seriously, to look at the challenges we face in terms of generations, not just in the present. Despite facing political forces that sought to eliminate hard-fought preservation of traditions, steal tribal lands, suppress religious practices, and exterminate us, we survived. Deeply misguided greed tore my grandparents from their homes as children and sent them to government-sponsored schools that sought to eliminate their languages, their cultures, and their ways of life.

As a result, I think it’s fair to say that my family had a few reasons to be cynical about our nation, more than a few. They had literally hundreds of years worth of reasons, but they were far from cynical. They had faith in their purpose. My grandfather, when they tried to pigeonhole him into hard labor, he started a baseball team for Indian kids. When they tried to take away his language, he learned four languages. Even though this country tried to take everything away, my grandfather helped build this country on the railroad. He was a diesel train mechanic. The people I come from believed in the American dream and they were willing to fight for it. My mother served in the United States Navy and had a career in the Bureau of Indian Affairs. My father, who was a 3rd-generation immigrant, served as a Marine in Vietnam where he received the silver star for saving the lives of six Marines.

I spent my childhood moving from base to base. I grew up surrounded by people who were willing to fight for this country. I was fortunate enough to graduate from college and then law school at the University of New Mexico. I struggled at times going to school and raising a child on my own, but I fed my family with the help of food stamps. I birthed my child with the help of Medicaid. And the Earned Income Tax Credit helped support me and my child thanks to the leaders who cared. I’m living proof of the ways that government can lift people up and make things possible.

I brought these memories and lessons with me as I entered public life. I spent a lot of time doing political work early in my career, but even then, I never lost sight of what politics is for. It’s not a game or a reality show. It’s not a chance to troll our supposed enemies or threaten them with the Department of Justice. It’s about the hard work of getting people elected so that they can help people. That hard work led me to represent the first district of New Mexico and serve as one of the first Native American women in Congress. That hard work led me to co-sponsoring more bills than any other freshman in the 116th Congress. And that hard work broke barriers and led to the first Native American to serve as a secretary in the president’s cabinet.

And it allowed us to do the hard work of governing, really governing so that we could help people. Pushing the clean energy transition forward with jobs that can support families, addressing the dark and painful chapters of our history, building a water conservation plan to address persistent drought in the west and southwest, conserving 41 million acres of land so future generations can bask in the bounty of nature. But the policies my team and I pursued were not just for my people, they were for all people because I truly believe that when we hold our nation to the highest standard, it uplifts everyone. When we acknowledge our mistakes and resolve to do better, when we dig in and do the work, it reinforces the most important message of all that change is possible.

Which brings me back to the moment we live in now. I’m not going to sugar coat it. People are hurting and many, many signs suggest that it will get worse, and I’m sure that it will. Just in my state, just in the few past weeks, we’re seeing things that would’ve been unthinkable less than a year ago. As many as eight rural hospitals in New Mexico could close because of Medicaid cuts. That means that people in small towns in my state will have to travel hundreds of miles just to get medical care. Can you imagine having a medical emergency, a heart attack, a severed limb, a horse accident even, and then being hours from the nearest hospital? It’s not right. And in fact, people will die.

All across the country we’re facing a campaign against immigrant communities unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Children separated from their families by masked ICE agents. Schools forced to have drills to train children what to do if America’s new secret police shows up. Federal employees who provide vital services fired. People overseeing medical care, environmental protection, and schools terminated without regard to how much our communities need them. The veterans who sacrificed for our country, worried that the services they depend on will be cut. They face a future where sacred promises made to them will be broken. I could go on and on and on. This is the moment we find ourselves in.

But how do we meet it? We need people who understand the importance of policy and care enough to elect people who will build good policy. And when I say that, I mean each of you. Every person here has a perspective to share a background that informs your approach to solving problems. That’s what we need now, the wisdom and perspective of all people from all backgrounds. Now I realize that can sound like a standard progressive talking point about diversity, and maybe it is. It’s a value that’s under attack at this moment. We’re told that the idea of diversity being a strength has gone out of fashion. Well, I don’t accept that at all. But at the same time, I think we have to remember that diversity is only a strength when we make it a strength, when we use it to help each other, to help make each other stronger and to lift everyone up.

Here at the Goldman School for Public Policy, Eugene Bardach’s eightfold path method of policy analysis is a central tool. It’s a brilliant framework for analyzing policy options and identifying a path forward. And the last step in that eightfold path is this, tell your story. That’s something that resonates very powerfully with me, given my own background. In Laguna Pueblo stories are not just words, they are wisdom. To speak with respect and reverence and care that can heal, that can create. And isn’t that what policy is all about? Language with power. Language that restores balance. And I believe, I truly believe that for all of us, the policymakers, that is what we must aspire to, especially when hostility is all around us and especially when the world is out of balance.

When we do our job well, we speak something into being that was not there before. But we all know that healing doesn’t happen overnight. We are the stewards of a community that started before us and will continue after us. It’s humbling to think that way. Believe me, when you’re sitting in a committee meeting and you remember that the bill you’re sweating over is going to impact your grandchildren’s grandchildren, it wakes you up a little bit. You pay attention to the details.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan signed a bill into law that cut federal funding for community mental health programs. That was over 40 years ago. But we’re dealing with the repercussions on our streets today. People are suffering from a choice made by someone who didn’t care enough to care about them long before they were born. Rebuilding the structure that once supported them will take decades as well. When we think of climate action in the short term, it can seem insurmountable. What we do this year will barely affect what happens next year. Even if we pass a bill today to build sustainable energy infrastructure, our climate might not improve for a decade or more. When we think in the short term, the way so many people do today, an election cycle, a news cycle, a social media post, it seems hopeless. But when we think in terms of generations, we can act with both urgency for the needs of future generations and patience for an issue that will be with us for a long time to come.

It’s these lessons drawn from my own background that I bring to this fight. These are my tools. What tools will you bring as we seek to build the future? What words with power will you speak at this time of crisis? How will you be a steward for the generations to come? Because we need you. We need leaders of all kinds, from all backgrounds to meet this moment. The challenges we face may be daunting, but I believe that only if we come together, diverse in our backgrounds, but united in our commitment, humble in the face of our challenges, but confident in our shared abilities, we will be up to the task. Thank you all so much. I’m so happy to be here with you today. Thank you.

Dean Wilson: Well, I can certainly see why people keep voting for you and supporting you in office. You’re amazing. You have an amazing story. I mean you’ve run for office at the congressional level, you’ve been in cabinet, you’re running for governor, you’re quite the public servant. Can you speak to what bug bit you and why that got you into this idea that you wanted to represent other people in our democracy?

Deb Haaland: Thank you so much for the question. I mean, I got my start in politics by getting people registered and to vote in New Mexico. Native Americans couldn’t vote until 1948. That it took a World War II veteran, a Native American World War II veteran from Isleta Pueblo to come back home from serving in the Pacific to realize he couldn’t vote in state elections and suing the state of New Mexico. And so we’re behind, right? We’re behind. And so I just felt it fell upon me as a Native American in New Mexico to register people to vote and get them out to vote. That’s where I started. And then one day I just thought I’d run for office.

Dean Wilson: It just hit you like, you know what? I’m going to run for office tomorrow. So you describe yourself as a 35th-generation New Mexican. What’s special about New Mexico? What is it that when you think about your state that really inspires you to want to make it a better place, what attributes do you see there?

Deb Haaland: So we’re called the Land of Enchantment for anyone … How many people have been to New Mexico?

Dean Wilson: Nice.

Deb Haaland: OK. There you go.

Dean Wilson: Road trip.

Deb Haaland: So I don’t have to tell all of you who raised your hand, I don’t have to tell you how special it is because you know. We have the most amazing landscapes in the world. I mean, from Albuquerque, you can look west and you see volcanoes and you see mesas and big swaths of beautiful desert grass. And in southern New Mexico, the Oregon Mountains, they’re big and jagged. And we have the most amazing landscapes, the most beautiful sunsets. And it’s a place we’re fighting for. That’s all I can say.

Dean Wilson: Yeah. So when you first became a representative of your state, in Congress, what was kind of your wake-up moment that you had a vision, you had an idea, you were running for office, now you’re in Congress? What kind of alerted you to this is going to be either harder than I thought or this is going to be worth the fight? What was that moment for you?

Deb Haaland: Yeah, so I think it started immediately. I got sworn into Congress during a Trump government shutdown. I mean, that was my first thing. I raised my hand and then I was like, OK, this is the fight. I mean, one of the first things we did during that government shutdown was we had a panel discussion and had tribal leaders, and it was all about the cuts to Indian Health Service and other programs for the Indian Health Service and tribal leaders were there. And we talked a lot about what budgetary things would be cut. Yes, it hit me in the face. I’ll just say that. So we worked hard. Nancy Pelosi was our speaker, and she knew how to handle Donald Trump. And before we knew it, he worked hard to resolve the government shutdown.

Dean Wilson: Can you say a little bit about something that we may just take for granted about the work of being a congressional representative, that you do a lot of reading or you do a lot more fundraising than people think or know, or that you spend a lot of time in other states or you get assigned roles within the party? What’s something that we don’t know about the role of being a representative, especially at the national level?

Deb Haaland: Sure. So yes, it’s both of those things. It is raising a lot of money and it is a lot of reading. One of the things that I started working on immediately when I got there was the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people, for example. And that wasn’t like … Nobody was really talking about that, right? It wasn’t a national issue. I mean, 30 women were disappearing in their communities, and it seemed like nobody cared about that. And so I think it’s … When you know that this issue is important and you’re trying to raise it to a level where the country knows and understands and will actually care about it. I mean, that’s hard work too, right? I mean, what should our country care about? And so you’re working hard to raise those issues. So we had hearings, we had roundtables, we had press conferences, we used whatever tools we could to bring that issue to the forefront. And we were able to get a law passed, and I was able to implement that law as Secretary of the Interior.

Dean Wilson: So a lot of work behind the scenes to kind of organize campaigns to move things across the finish line. Really amazing. So can you define this idea of co-stewardship agreements for us? Help us understand them and then maybe … A lot of them grew during your tenure. These ideas of co-stewardship, teach policy makers about the power of shared governance and collaboration.

Deb Haaland: Yes. Thank you for answering that question. So some of you might know that a lot of Native Americans were kicked off their lands to make room for national parks and wildlife refuges. There’s one in Alaska where nobody even let them know that they were creating a national wildlife refuge and they went to their fish camps one summer and all their cabins were burned. This happened in our country. And so what I think was missing for the longest time is that the federal government didn’t realize that Indian tribes have an obligation to their lands. I mean, they can be kicked off of it, but that doesn’t absolve them of the obligation they have to care and steward these lands. So we recognized that, and when I got to the Department of the Interior, we probably had 20 stewardship agreements and we worked really hard and essentially implemented 400 co-stewardship agreements.

And so what that means is that the tribes whose ancestral homelands that these public lands sit on, we’re asking them to come to the table to share in the stewardship of those lands, to teach our biologists and our ecologists and the people who are caring for those lands in our federal government, that they use their traditional knowledge to help us understand from their perspective how we should be caring for those lands. And so I was incredibly grateful that so many tribal communities said yes and stepped up and agreed to share their knowledge with the folks from those various offices and bureaus.

Dean Wilson: Very nice. At the Interior Department, you launched a lot of major initiatives on conservation, tribal sovereignty and dealing with the legacy of boarding schools. Do you have something you see as your core legacy from your time at the Interior?

Deb Haaland: I guess it’s the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative because it seems like no one really knew about that until we started our project. We published two reports, the Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative. We had two reports. We did what we called the Road to Healing. It was a national tour in various parts of the country for victims and survivors to testify in person. That is being turned into a oral history project. I mean, the last I heard this administration, they took a bunch of funding away from that. But I think it’s still moving forward. I mean, it was a really terrible era of our history that a lot of people didn’t know about. I mean, we can’t heal from things if we don’t know about it. And so I was very proud that after we were able to finish our second report and get a list of priorities to the president, that he called us right away and said he wanted to issue a national apology. So I think that was meeting the moment, quite frankly, that he did that. And I was very, very proud that he did that.

Dean Wilson: Very powerful. In your remarks, which were amazing, you talk about problems that can wake you up. And so I’m curious about what keeps you up at night?

Deb Haaland: I mean, climate change keeps me up every night. It’s worrying. It’s really worrying to me. And like I said, when we set out in the Biden administration to move our clean energy transition forward, and we stood up these 12 offshore wind projects that are powering millions and millions of homes. I mean, I don’t know if we compare the carbon output from before 2020 and then compare it today. I don’t know if there’s a big difference, but I think that clean energy is one thing that we can do as a country to protect our environment. And so I was really happy to be able to do that. I feel like if I’m not doing something … I have to do something, otherwise I feel useless. So that’s why I’m running for governor.

(Applause)

Dean Wilson: (Laughs) You can always come spend some time at the Goldman School of Public Policy if you want. We’ve got plenty of chairs open here.

I was really inspired by the stories you told about your father starting a baseball team and speaking four languages. And it made me think of this idea of hope in that when there are barriers, some people just kind of stop at the barrier, and then some people find ways to go around the barriers and go over them or blast through them. If you have a will and you have a way, then there’s an opportunity to make a difference. Can you talk about what gives you hope, how you deal with barriers and challenges? We know you’ve had many of them from running for office to confirmation, to just getting things done in such a large agency. Talk about hope.

Deb Haaland: Sure. Well, I just met with a group of students out here just a few minutes ago. They give me hope. People here give me hope because you are here because you want to learn. You are here because you want to network. You’re here because you want to share your knowledge and you’re here because you want to share your knowledge with students. So I think as long as we’re learning, as long as we’re sharing, as long as we see that folks are not sitting on their hands doing nothing, that I have hope. And so I am grateful …

When I was at the Department of the Interior, I had the most amazing team and we were able to remove two species off the endangered species list because we were able to restore their ecosystems. We were able to help … They were in a place where they weren’t threatened any longer. Things like that give me hope. And so I think we just need to keep … As long as we’re working toward making things better for people, then we should all have hope. I mean, yes, you have to probably work a little harder and longer and faster and all of that, but we shouldn’t be afraid of that either. I feel like hard work still means something in our country today.

Dean Wilson: We like to say here at Goldman, we do the hard work of democracy, really trying to solve these big public problems, bringing all parties together. So looking back and looking forward, how do you define success for yourself, not just politically, but in terms of the legacy you want to build and leave?

Deb Haaland: Sure. So how do I define success for myself? Well, I have a 31-year-old child who is compassionate and smart and involved, I guess. I mean, I feel proud of that. When you can raise a good kid, I think that’s something to be proud of and have hope about.

Dean Wilson: That’s not a bad indicator. Well, we know that you’ve had a busy day and we appreciate you taking the time to spend with us and share your thoughts. And I want to make sure everyone gives a heartfelt thank you to you for doing this. We really appreciate your service and all the work and all the love you care about for our country.

Deb Haaland: Thank you so much.

Dean Wilson: Thank you very much.

(Music: “No One Is Perfect” by HoliznaCC0)

Anne Brice (outro): You’ve been listening to Berkeley Talks, a UC Berkeley News podcast from the Office of Communications and Public Affairs that features lectures and conversations at Berkeley. Follow us wherever you listen to your podcasts. You can find all of our podcast episodes, with transcripts and photos, on UC Berkeley News at news.berkeley.edu/podcasts.

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