Speeches

Let me start by saying that it’s always great to be back in Dallas. I feel like this is my second home. It’s hard to overstate how important this city, and really all of North Texas, is to me, both personally and professionally. This is the only metropolitan area with three UT System institutions, all of them crown jewels in their own right – UT Southwestern Medical Center, UT Arlington, and of course UT Dallas. And I married a Dallas girl, so the city has always had a special place in my heart. 

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Let me start by thanking Guy Bailey for that kind introduction – and even more so, I want to thank and congratulate him and his team for taking on the herculean task of launching a new university, and for completing an absolutely phenomenal first year.

It is always great to be here in the Rio Grande Valley, one of my favorite places in the world.

I’ve been here more times than I can count over the last year and a half, and I always seem to leave with a bunch more friends than I had when I arrived.

Thank you very much John. 

I am truly honored to receive this award tonight.  More importantly, I’m hoping this gala goes a long way toward helping the children of the fallen CIA officers.  It is not only a noble cause; a cause for which we should all be thankful that we can contribute, but with the world in such chaos, it is essential that we recognize the future will be no less secure for those in harm’s way.  We must continue to provide for those who need it the most.  I thank all of you for your support to this incredible cause.

I appreciate the opportunity to be here today, to help honor and celebrate the phenomenal contribution UTIMCO has made to our state over the last 20 years.

I want to congratulate, and thank, Bruce and his team, as well as all the investment partners here with us today. 

I would be remiss not to also recognize all the UTIMCO Board Members, past and present, who are with us today – whose vision and leadership have been instrumental.

It’s fair to say that most Texans have never heard – and likely never will hear – of UTIMCO. 

I want to thank TASA for inviting me to be here and to share some thoughts with you – and, to all of you who have traveled here from all over the state, welcome to Austin.

Let me just ask, how many of you graduated from a UT institution?

I know I speak for everyone associated with the UT System when I say we are tremendously proud that so many school districts around the state have UT Alumni

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.  Thank you, Justin, for the kind introduction, and of course thank you Capitol Area Council for this wonderful recognition.

Georgeann and I have been back in Austin now for about a year, and I must say that we are thrilled to be back home in Texas.

During our many years in the military, we never really had the opportunity to establish roots, so it has been a real blessing for us to start sinking our roots deep here in a city that is, truly, everything we hoped it would be.

(As prepared)

Good afternoon.  I appreciate the opportunity to be here, and to share some views with such an esteemed group of Central Texas leaders

As someone who left Austin three years before AARO was founded – and returned to find a city that had grown tremendously while retaining all the things I loved about it – I want to thank and congratulate you all for helping make that happen. 

Thank you for helping make our city the envy of the nation in so many ways.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUw17k7iQOE

The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA), representing more than 13,000 active and retired FBI Special Agents, held its second annual G-Man Honors gala and fundraising event October 28, 2015, in Washington, D.C. The event featured Admiral William McRaven (Ret.), Chancellor of The University of Texas System, who received the FBIAA Distinguished Service Award. 

Thank you, James, for that generous introduction.  I appreciate your kind words, and even more so I appreciate everything you, and of course Patty – my former classmate at UT Austin – have done for the University of Texas System, the state of Texas, and me personally.

As a former Chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, and one of a small handful of Regents in our 130 year history to serve consecutive terms, you have made an outsized contribution to the state of Texas.  And of course your impact is especially pronounced here in North Texas.

Good morning.  I want to thank President Martinez and the Municipal League for giving me an opportunity to join you today.  I also want to recognize and thank the members of the Legislature that are here today.

I have said many times in the past nine months that the people of Texas should be extremely proud of their citizen legislators.

I spent much of the past 14 years working with Capitol Hill, and while there are some wonderful Senators and Congressmen, there is a lack of bipartisanship today that I have not seen in all my years in the military.