Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the USS Cooperstown Commissioning Ceremony.

VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and in TV quality (h.264, mp4) format here.

AUDIO of the event is available here.

PHOTOS of the event will be available on the Governor's Flickr page.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good morning, everyone. What a spectacular, beautiful day this is. And I want to, first of all, thank Commander Patrick Earls for welcoming me here today. Having the Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro is a special honor. Vice Admiral John Mustin, Commander Daxton Moore, Captain Frank Russo, Captain Josh Rawitch.

And of course, the keeper of the flame of baseball's home, Jane Forbes Clark, the Board Chair of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Joe Torre, who's got a long list of teams that he's been associated - most recently, the Yankees. And former catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, Johnny Bench, who, as a Buffalo native myself, I will note that he once played for the Buffalo Bisons as well, back in the 60s before any of you were even conceived of - thought of, I should say.

Today is a beautiful convergence of American values. You think about patriotism, duty, service by all those in uniform, love of country, but also love of America's pastime, and that is baseball. Those are unifying values at a time when people think our country is so divided. But we stand here today and reflect. There's so much more that unites us than divides us.

And on this momentous occasion, we reflect on the generations of individuals who stepped up and served - from John Paul Jones, the father of the Navy, through generations like my Uncle Billy, who as a teenager, lied about his age and he could enlist in the Navy back in World War II. And still today, members of my own family who put on a uniform so proudly. We will never as a nation or as a state take for granted their willingness to sacrifice. And today is an opportunity as we launch this beautiful ship, made up in Wisconsin - and you think about, one of my favorite lines from a movie we all know, "If you build it, they will come." Well, they built it in Wisconsin, and here we are.

So today is a celebration. Today is also a day we think about those going forth, willing to go into harm's way around the world. As a member of Congress, I served on the Armed Services Committee, which took me across the world to places like Bahrain. I saw the members of the Fifth Fleet who are not going to see their families for so many months, sometimes years, and they were so proud to wear the American uniform.

And in that sense, I know that truly this country will endure when we have patriots like those who are going to be boarding this ship, heading to Norfolk, heading to Florida, and someday perhaps heading into harm's way. So, our love goes with them. You may call yourself America's Away Team - but to all of you, you'll always be in our hearts, America's hometown team, starting right here in the great State of New York.

Thank you for the honor of addressing all of you this morning. And may God bless the crew members of the USS Cooperstown, may God bless the great State of New York, and may God bless the United States of America.

God bless all of you. Thank you.