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May 27 (UPI) -- Vice President Kamala Harris made history Saturday when she became the first woman to deliver commencement remarks at the graduation ceremony for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. During her address, Harris focused on a changing world of emerging threats and challenges.
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"Since 'R day,' your first day on campus, the world has drastically changed, a once-in-a-century global pandemic took millions of lives and disrupted lives for billions more. America ended our longest war and Russia launched the first major ground war in Europe since World War II," Harris said.
"Looking forward to the future it is clear you graduate into an increasingly unsettled world where longstanding principals are at risk."
The vice president touted U.S. leadership against emerging threats from Russia and China in her remarks.
"In Ukraine, Russia's aggression is an attack on the lives and freedoms of the Ukrainian people and an attack on international rules and norms that have served as the foundation of international security and prosperity for generations," she told the graduates.
"In the Indo-Pacific, China is rapidly modernizing its military and threatening both the freedom of the seas and rules of international commerce, and at the same time autocrats have become bolder, the threat of terrorism persists, and an accelerating climate crisis continues to disrupt lives and livelihoods all a threat to global stability and security," she said.
U.S. leadership is crucial to challenge rising authoritarianism, she declared.
"In the face of all these challenges, America plays a singular role of leadership," she said, asserting that a strong America "remains indispensable to the world, our democratic ideals of freedom and liberty inspire billions.
"Soon, as officers in the United States Army, you will join the ranks of those brave warriors and make your mark on the world, so wherever you go from here remember your oath and let it guide you in all that you do," Harris concluded.
