Near the close of his speech, Biden shifts from the geopolitical mission of the Coast Guard to the philosophical foundation of America itself. He tells graduates that while every other nation can be defined by ethnicity or geography, the United States is the only one built on an idea — the Declaration of Independence's assertion of equality and inalienable rights. He argues that Americans can't be anything other than a people who keep pushing that arc toward justice, and that this generation of Coast Guard ensigns embodies that ideal through their diversity and willingness to serve.