Transcript:
Governor Christie: We want to make sure that the great folks that you see standing behind me, that represent the achievement in our state, along with other Hall of Famers like Thomas Edison and Yogi Berra, Norman Schwarzkopf and Bruce Springsteen, Count Basie and Vince Lombardi, Danny DeVito and Larry Doby, Jack Nicholson, the late Whitney Houston, Tommy James, who is here today, that their achievements are celebrated in the state that they called home. And this is extraordinarily important and I think that when people walk through this airport and they get a sense and a feel for the place where they’ve landed and the place where they’re going to travel though—having the New Jersey Hall of Fame partner with the Port Authority to put our best foot forward is really a great opportunity for the Hall of Fame to, you know, advertise itself, but also for New Jersey to advertise those things that are going to be so important for the kids who will look to the future about what they can achieve. When you look at the men and the women who are displayed here, and the ones that I mentioned, it should tell them that there’s absolutely nothing that they can’t accomplish if they put their mind to it. And I also have, I think, a real predisposition to the edge that New Jersey people bring as well. No, not only from a governmental perspective but culturally as well. New Jerseyans fascinate American. I can tell you as I travel around the country I get asked all the time about some of our great folks here who have culturally taken over areas of this country—not only with their talent but with their personality. And, you know, whether you’re talking about the late James Gandolfini and what he did as a Rutgers alum and the star of The Sopranos or whether you’re talking about the late Whitney Houston, who charmed the entire world with her extraordinary gifts and talents—add it to all these other folks we talked about, New Jersey has put forward to the public, not only from an intellectual perspective but from a cultural perspective, some extraordinary folks. And I’m incredibly proud to be the Governor of this state and to be involved in this project.
