JJS Douglas Award 2004
Eliot Spitzer
Sept 15, 2004 Washington, D.C.

Thank you and good afternoon, everyone.

Justice requires devotion to ethical conduct. Beyond believing in what is right, American justice requires that individuals must stand up and protect the moral and ethical foundation of our government and constitution. Justice has always been an American ideal, but not always a consistent practice. We know, for example, that in recent years high-ranking officials in some of the nations largest investment-banking corporations and financial institutions have take n advantage of employees and investors by misleading them. This deception , driven by personal gain, could have and might have continued had an ambitious and principled man not done what he believed was just.

The man we acknowledge here today is the twelfth recipient of the Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Award. He has dedicated his life to seeking justice. His efforts connected to the enforcement of securities and corporate governance laws embody the ethical values to which Senator Douglas devoted his career and, more importantly, lived. Fairness, trustworthiness, and integrity define both this years Douglas Award winner and his work much as it defined Senator Douglas.

The man I am speaking of is New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Born in the Bronx on June 10, 1959, Eliot Spitzer and his siblings were reared to think both intellectually and compassionately. As his father once said, and I quote: "We tried to teach them that it isn't enough just to make your own pile. Building off the intellectual foundation of his childhood upbringing, Spitzer attended Princeton Universitys Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He was, he said, constantly, and I quote: looking to see the world from a different perspective.

Mr. Spitzer graduated from Princeton University in 1981 and went to Harvard Law School, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review. After graduating from Harvard Law in 1984, Eliot Spitzer was a clerk to United States District Court Judge Robert W. Sweet. He later served as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan from 1986 to 1992. As Assistant District Attorney, Spitzer rose to become chief of the Labor Racketeering Unit, where he successfully prosecuted organized crime and political corruption cases.

On January 1, 1999, Eliot Spitzer became New York States sixty-third Attorney General. Since entering that office, Attorney General Spitzer has advanced initiatives to make New York a national leader in investor protection, environmental stewardship, labor rights, personal privacy, public safety and criminal law enforcement. Spitzers investigations of conflicts of interest on Wall Street have been the catalyst for dramatic reform in the nations financial services industry.

His prosecutions of sophisticated white collar crimes have resulted in some of the nations largest fraud recoveries. The New York Observer editorialized, and I quote: By refusing to look the other way as C.E.O.s and financial institutions ripped off New Yorkers, he helped bail out the state during a difficult budget crisis."

But his work is not limited to investment fraud. Attorney General Spitzers lawsuits against Midwest and Mid-Atlantic power plants will pin down the responsibility for acid rain and smog in the Northeast. His efforts to curtail abuses in the green grocery industry have been hailed as landmark labor rights cases. His investigations of internet companies and direct marketers have resulted in new privacy protections for consumers throughout the nation. And his "code of conduct" was the foundation for a settlement that reformed the way the countrys largest gun manufacturer designs and distributes handguns.

Spitzers work as a public servant has gained him nation-wide recognition. New York Magazine awarded Eliot Spitzer their Public Service Award, TIME magazine named him as their 2002 "Crusader of the Year," and the San Francisco Chronicle picked him as their 2003 "Businessperson of the Year."

Eliot Spitzers dedication, vision, and integrity have helped to build the reputation of the Attorney General as "the Peoples Lawyer. From the Gambino Family to unscrupulous Wall Street C.E.O.s, Attorney General Spitzer has fought to make sure no person or organization operates above the law. Where others have settled or chosen to do nothing at all, he has stepped in to do what is right.

This is an important characteristic for a Douglas Award recipient. Douglas himself was known as an uncompromising idealist who marched to his own drumbeat. Attorney General Spitzer has set high ethical standards for himself and all New Yorkers and has set a new tempo for aggressive public service.

Attorney General Spitzer:
On behalf of the University of Illinois, the Paul H. Douglas Ethics in Government Program, its donors, and members of the Douglas family, it is my honor to present you with this years Paul H. Douglas Ethics in government Award.