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

The United States is in a moment like no other in recent history, says Deb Haaland, former President Joe Biden's secretary of the Interior Department from 2021 to 2025. Every day, she says, it seems a new pillar of the American government is under attack. But what makes this moment unique aren’t these crises themselves, but the attack on the idea that problems can be solved at all. 

“We face a creeping cynicism that suggests that our real enemy is our desire to make a difference,” she said during the keynote address at the Goldman School of Public Policy’s Annual Conference and Alumni Gathering in September. “We face attacks on the very idea of wanting to make things better. 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.”

In this Berkeley Talks episode, Haaland discusses how policy — not politics — is the only path to real change, and why we need a unified effort grounded in moral courage and diverse perspectives to meet the challenges facing the country. 

“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,” she says. “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.”

More about the speaker: 

Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe in New Mexico and the first Native American to serve as a U.S. Cabinet secretary. Before that, she was the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 1st Congressional District from 2019 to 2021, one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress. She is running for governor of New Mexico in the 2026 election. 

Watch a video of Haaland’s keynote, followed by a conversation with Goldman School of Public Policy Dean David Wilson.

Listen to the episode and read the transcript on UC Berkeley News (news.berkeley.edu/podcasts/berkeley-talks).

Music by HoliznaCC0.

U.S. House Office of Photography photo by Franmarie Metzler.

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