A famous historian once said that the history of mankind could be summarized in two words: Challenge, and Response.

Today in Vermont, we face huge challenges:

... The challenge to grow more and better jobs, especially in certain pockets of our state.

... To expand health care coverage while we control the costs.

... To protect our young people from risk, and give them the skills and knowledge they'll need as adults.

... To continue honoring our commitment to a clean environment.

... To meet our needs in transportation and energy planning.

And all this, as we confront our most severe budgetary pressures in nearly a generation. Vermont’s future historians will record the story of our response.

Our situation makes me think of the relationship between my older brother and his wife. My brother would give someone the shirt off his back. In fact, I have seen him do it. He has a big heart.

His wife knows how to squeeze a penny into a nickel, and believe me, she does. Working together, they run a loving and efficient household.

As Vermonters, we can do the same. By pooling our differences, we can build a stronger, more caring Vermont.

State senators and representatives come to the State House from towns and cities all over Vermont. Each is entrusted by his or her neighbors with their voice and their vote.

Together -- Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and legislators alike -- we have all taken an oath to represent you. It is an oath we share, and an oath that binds us together. In a lot of ways, it’s like a marriage. Together, we can turn our challenges into opportunities, for Vermont and her people. Together, we’ll press on.
In his inaugural address, Governor Jim Douglas delivered practical solutions to our most pressing challenges. Vermonters have expressed their trust in his strong, steady vision and leadership for our state. I think Vermonters made a great choice.

At the same time, I have confidence in the ability of Senate President Pro Tem Peter Welch, and our new Speaker of the House, Gaye Symington, to find common ground where -- despite our differences -- we can respond constructively to the challenges at hand.

For my part, I pledge to preside in the Senate with impartiality and respect, preserving the process that ensures that each voice is heard. It's my pledge to your senators, and my pledge to you.

Together, we will press on.

In the coming days and weeks, we'll spend a lot of time talking about numbers: tax rates, deficits, revenues, rates of uninsured, reading and math test scores, and more. Numbers help us understand the scope of our challenges.

But we must always remember that what we’re really talking about is people -- people who choose to live in a state where summers are short, winters are long, taxes are high, and people really care about one another.

People like Jill Lord, director of nursing services at Mount Ascutney Hospital, whose life's work has been to provide love and care for sick and hurting people.

People like Steve Flint, a teacher at the Addison Central School, recently recognized as a National Baldridge Quality Award winner.
People like Chief Dave Emery, of the Brattleboro Fire Department, who recently led his brave crew to fight a huge fire in downtown Brattleboro.

People like Jacques and Mariel Parent, who along with their entire family have made an investment in family farming for another generation in Highgate.

People like Rabbi Max Wall, who has challenged a new generation of Vermonters to learn foreign languages and to travel to distant lands to be peacemakers.

People like Hung Yue of Plainfield, a leader with the Vermont Peace Academy who was a member of our 2003 Peace and Trade Mission to China and Taiwan.

People like Maggie Cassidy, a foreign language teacher from Brattleboro Union High School, who has inspired a new generation of Vermonters to talk to other peoples in other lands, and discover how we can work together.

There’s a certain quality that all those Vermonters share. As we look back in time, to see how our forebears responded to challenge in their own times, that same quality shines through.

Fellow-Vermonter, President Calvin Coolidge said it all.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence,” he said. “Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.

"Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

"Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The 'press on' has solved, and always will solve, the problems with the human race."

Those are powerful words, and words to remember whenever a solution seems farthest from our grasp: "We will press on."