pushing states in new directions and yes, it means some states did not rate as high as in the past years but they will have a chance to remedy that this year when they reconvene in the state capitals. our aim as legislatures across the nation to convene the 2010 sessions many of them this week is to focus on the state's attention on closing dangerous loopholes in their long ways of saving lives and saving taxpayer dollars. we also recognize the federal government and u.s. congress have a legitimate role in prompting nationwide action on public health and safety problems and especially those as massive as the one the results in an average of 40,000 lives lost every year. even the traffic is down in many states now was not time for state government leaders were safety advocates to congratulate themselves. we know any time there is a

major economic downturn highway fatalities dropped as well. .. know when the economy is finally revived, and hopefully that will be soon, the fatality numbers will likely rise again. that is why our annual highway safety report cards are tightly and useful tools to help lawmakers focused on where they can make those legislative prague -- legislative progress in bringing the death toll down. i would like to introduce our first speaker, will be the chair of the national transportation safety board. she has been in that job for not a very long time, but has been in the highway safety field for a long time and is an excellent advocate for highway safety. we appreciate you being here today.

>> good morning, everyone. >> good morning everyone. good morning. [laughter] and thank you judy, jackie and advocates for your leadership and making highway safety and national priority. true to form advocates for highway and auto safety have once again put together an outstanding report. i am honored to be here as they unveiled the 2010 roadmap to state highway safety laws. for many years, this roadmap has been an invaluable tool to occur. it literally is a map for legislators and advocates alike to identify transportation safety goals and to measure our progress. each year the national transportation safety board publishes are most wanted list of transportation safety improvements and our list mirrors many of the issues and priorities in roadmap. reducing highway fatalities must be a national priority.

the number of highway fatalities in any given year is about eight times the number of people we have lost in iraq since 2003. it is about four times the number of people who have been lost to swine flu in 2009 and it is about twice as many that we lose annually to the kenya. it is time for highway fatalities to take a position front and center. it is an epidemic. the death of our highways result in almost 40,000 funerals for mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors. fortunately, in the severino we know that there are proven strategies that will reduce the death toll. what we need is the will to do it. whether it is preventing a drunk driver from getting behind the wheel, buckling the children in booster seats, supporting our teen drivers their graduated

licenses are making sure drivers don't text and drive comprehensive and roebuck safety measures like the ones identified in this year's roadmap can and do save lives. what has been missing is the political will to take action in many cases. the roadmap helps identify areas in the states where workman still be done but it is up to leaders at the state and federal level to raise the bar on safety. we are joined here today by some of those leaders in all walks of life, in many professions, some seen on the front lines and some who legislate for change. they work hard to prevent deaths and injuries on our roadways. they can tell you just how hard it is to make a change in this area. it has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. we can't expect the fatality numbers to change unless we do

something different. the status quo is not enough. highway fatalities are the number one cause of unintended death for children, teens and young adults. that alone should compel us to act. let me talk for a minute about a couple of those initiatives related to young drivers. distracted driving. it is something we have all heard and read about. research clearly demonstrates that when driving, that when driving his distracted by any sort of wireless device whether talking on your cell phone, texting or doing something else that we haven't even thought of yet, it is dangerous and often deadly. the fatalities on the road each year it is estimated about 6,000 of those involved distraction and the problem is not abating. 81% of cell phone users say they talk on the phone while driving. nobody thinks that they are

going to get distracted to the point that they can cause an accident or result in a fatality but let me just cite one tragic example that i read about earlier this month. in north carolina a mother of two children, and mother had to offer children in the car with her. she was talking on herself on. when she crashed through a rail crossing gates and into the path of the moving train. killing a woman and her 5-year-old son. miraculously her infant was strapped securely into a child safety seat and survived the crash without injury. whether it is a car full of teens, texting each other or adults to have wireless devices it is clear that destruction is a danger we must eliminate. we can and we must do more. i mention how hard changes but we have got to start with ourselves and our own organizations. sometimes doing the right thing is not doing the popular thing.

i can tell you from experience. when i became chairman of the safety board we implemented an agency wide policy that prohibits employees from using electronic devices, including cell phones with their hands for your hands held while they are driving. will this be an inconvenience some people? yes, i am sure it will buy do you know what? it might also say of one of their lives or the lives of someone else on the highway. while distracted driving is a concern for drivers of all ages, we know it is particularly dangerous for teenagers. research pischon new drivers lack the experience and maturity to safely drive on their busy roadways. and the danger of this inexperience is compounded when a new drivers talking on his cell phone, has a car full of friends or is driving at night. that is why breault blessed the loss geared towards teenagers

are particularly imperative. measures like graduated driver licensing programs that put new drivers behind the wheel in graduated less risky conditions. but these measures are just the beginning. it is long been known that enacting primary seatbelt loss, reducing crashes involving re-pdy offenders improperly restraining children in agents eyes appropriate restraint will save lives. together we can do it. one initiative and one life at the time. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much. next we are going to hear from deputy secretary of transportation, john porcari. the secretary has been in the obama administration for six months i believe it is and has been deeply involved with secretary ray lahood in the

national bit about distracted driving as well as many other issues. he comes to the job from a wealth of state experience as secretary of transportation in maryland, twice. >> thanks judy in thank you judy and shecky for continuing to press for national and statewide reforms. that will keep our wrote is safe as possible. the department transportation safety has been in has been our highest priority for continuing to work with congress and are stakeholders. the law enforcement research community and because private industry in state and local officials to make driving in the united states is the safest in the world. one of the greatest threats on the road today is distracted driving. anyone using a cell phone a texting while driving or taking their eyes off the road for even a second is a menace to others. we are working hard to raise awareness about this problem and take direct actions to combat

it. our research shows in 2008 nearly 6,000 people died in crashes involving a distracted or inattentive driver and more than half a million were injured. that is unacceptable. we are greiling kurds to see this year's roadmap now includes destructed driving for the first time is one of its key measures of traffic safety for each state. let me highlight howie atia tr addressing this problem. first for presidential action. through executive order on september 30th president obama directed federal employees not to engage in texting while driving a government owned vehicles when using government supplied electronic equipment or while driving privately owned vehicles on official government business. the department transportation and other federal agencies have taken the leadership roles as well. the department transportation secretary lahood sponsor the first national distracted driving summit on september 30

of which brought together federal state and local government policymakers, researchers, at the kids in private industry. the secretary has also issued an order complying with the president corner banning any and all text messaging by employees. that basically says we may not use government issued phones or blackberries while driving, even off duty. also i held a conference call last week at the 50 state d.o.t. secretaries highway representatives of law enforcement representatives encouraging them to do the same hand to lead by example and adopt similar orders for their employees and for the state governments. i would also point out that secretary hud has launched a new web site, distraction.gov provides crandon information statistics and public-service announcements related to distraction. working with the federal

communications commission we are evaluating technology that may help curb distracted driving. we have also awarded demonstration grants in states, y that have handheld cell phones. anew yorkin connecticut to test the extent to which communities comply with this highly visible law enforcement activity. we are working on new rules to strengthen restrictions on the use of electronic crisis. we are working on rules that seek to disqualify school bus drivers convicted of texting while driving from maintaining commercial driver's licenses. this is now a hot button issue that state legislatures across the country. i encourage applicants to keep working on this. lawmakers run the country of proposed roughly 200 bills to ban texting arg using handheld cell phones well driving. boston, a kansas katechi missouri new mexico and south carolina will see bills introduced to combat distracted

driving. we encourage you all to be part of the effort, again we applaud the safety efforts. distracted driving is an important part of our overall safety efforts. every bed and every one of our safety issues are ones that we are moving forward on. the obama administration and secretary lahood dark-- and we are going to do that by working with their partners throughout the nation. thank you. [applause] >> thank you john very much. we appreciate that and thank you did before participating in our press conference. my name is jackie gillan and i vice president for highway and auto safety and i'm going to briefly highlight the key findings of this year's roadmap report and discuss the next steps needed to would than safety. let me repeat that the report and all of the materials for the press packet are on our web

site. i checked myself before i came over here. it is www.safe roads.org. advocates has selected 15 traffic safety laws that we believe are fundamentally essential if we are going to seriously reduce deaths and injuries on our highways and reduce health care costs. several states have had these laws since the 1980's in the 1990's, so most of them are not new to the states. all 15 laws are backed by scientific research and studies and supported by the major public health and safety organizations, business groups and numerous elected officials from around the country and in congress both democrats and republicans. the states in the report are only rated on whether not they have a particular law and not on how it is enforced or how well the public is educated about the law. the major finding of this year's report is that there is no state

that has all 15 loss. for the mark, too many states lack of fundamental basic traffic safety laws to reduce deaths and injuries on our highways into few elected officials are making these priorities in their state capitols. meanwhile, millions of americans are at risk every single day come a serious risk of death and injury because states don't have these safety measures. as chairwoman hersman said, many more people are dying in motor vehicle crashes than some of the major public health initiatives that we are promoting out there. not that they are not important. is just that we need to elevate this issue to that level. let's turn now to how the state laws are selected. this year of the kids did make some updates and revisions and changes to the loss considered in the analysis. and recognition of the growing problem of distracted driving

and the mounting scientific evidence of this contribution to deaths and injuries we have added to the 15 laws and all driver text messaging ban. we also strengthened the criteria for new teen driving laws to reflect a growing consensus among the public health and safety community including the american academy of pediatrics and others that the optimal wage boeri teen to enter the licensing system is age 16, and driving restrictions should be held on a teen driver until age 18. furthermore the criteria in the impaired driving section has been strengthened. full credit is only given to states with interlock laws that apply to first-time offenders and we support the efforts of map to get this law enacted in every state. finally, no state this year is given credit for a lot that is secondary enforcement. this means in order to take it

somebody for not wearing their seatbelt as a secondary enforcement means you have to commit another traffic offense. this doesn't make sense. secondary enforcement laws are week. they are impossible to enforce and we are sending the wrong message to the public when we do that. once again, we used a code to rate the states. green is the highest category indicating the state is significantly it dancing toward adoption of the navic is recommended highway safety laws. this year there are ten states and the district of columbia that have achieved a preen rating. the color yellow indicates while state is advancing toward adoption of the 15 laws there are still numerous and serious safety gaps. this year there are 31 states that fell in the yellow category. there red category is for states that have fewer than seven of the 15 basic traffic safety

laws. these dates are dangerously lagging behind other states in the adoption of laws and are putting their citizens at risk every day. there are nine states in the read category. first of all i want to congratulate the state of arkansas and the governor and the leaders of the state legislature on improving their overall grade to yellow. jefferson savage it started arkansas has been in the read category and last year the arkansas legislature with the support of the governor inactive the primary enforcement seatbelt lot. phasic nika upgraded their teen driving laws. they imposed a ban on text messaging while driving in the required admission interlock for all offenders. these were significant improvements in just show that where there is a political way, there is political legislative way to get it done and get these laws enacted. minnesota improved their rating from yellow from last year to

green with the enactment of a primary enforcement see bell law. other states were downgraded in this year's report. arizonan nebraska ohio pennsylvania vermont in virginia dropped from the yellow category into the red, for the more alabama, delaware, hawaii louisianans maine in michigan were downgraded to yellow from a previous rating of green so there's a lot of work for all the states to do this here. let me provide you with a brief summary of state legislative activity on highway safety laws last year. when we did our report last year were identified 344 state laws that need to be pass an order for every state to achieve and get into our green category. unfortunately the legislative pace and progress is still painfully slow. in 2009 over 344 laws that needed to be passed only 36 state highway safety laws were

enacted throughout the nation. for states arkansas minnesota florida and wisconsin pat primary enforcement see bell loss. there are still 21 states that need this law. 11 states took action to strengthen their teen driving requirements. today only one state, delaware, has all of the optimal six elements of the strong graduated driver's licensing program for teens even though motor vehicle crashes are the number-one killer of our teens. booster seats covering childrens corrade seven were passed in five states first passed in washington ten years ago and we still have too many states that don't have it and only six states enacted laws addressing impaired driving. right now today there are 46 states in the district of columbia that are missing one or more critical of impaired driving laws. ten states telecaption to pass laws restricting text messaging for a total of 15 states with this law and we are looking

forward to more states acting to pass this law this year. and as usual there was an attempt to repeal one of the most effective and lifesaving loss. right now we only have 20 states that have this law and there were efforts in 19 states to repeal this law. in fact i want to single out missouri's governor jay nixon who vetoed a repeal measure. missouri has had a motorcycle rider of offer four years. it sailed through the legislature and took a tremendous political courage to be of that bill and he did it and we congratulate him for doing that. our analysis of state traffic safety laws resulted in our usual best and worst list. i think it is amazing that if you drive to this country, you can pass your states with some of the strongest traffic safety laws and some of the weakest traffic safety laws and yet it is incomprehensible to imagine flying into a large airport in

the united states or a small airport in not being subject to the same strong safety requirements. yet driving from washington dc to maine or washington state to arizona will mean passing through states that have weak drunk driving laws, don't ban text messaging, don't require that you use a booster seat for your child, have life-threatening loopholes in your teen driving laws and inadequate enforcement of seatbelt and motorcycle helmet laws. this year the best and worst states, there were ten in the green category. the top two in this category are the district of columbia, that got credit for 13 and-a-half loss in the state of new jersey with credit for 13 loss. the other states in order frank king are illinois, thank you senator colorton, maryland new york north carolina or again tennessee minnesota california

and washington. now there are nine worst states this year and we added unfortunately six new states to that category. they are arizonan virginia vermont pennsylvania ohio and nebraska. in order of ranking, the state's and the worst category having fewer than half of these 15 phasic laws ars south dakota, has only three of the laws, arizona, north dakota, wyoming va vermont pennsylvanians ohio and nebraska, and as i said earlier, in the interview it doesn't make sense in this area where you have virginia which is now red state bordered by the district which is our top area, district of columbia in our green category in maryland with a green rating when all of the thousands of people every day to cross between those states and yet they are not covered by the same important traffic safety

laws. in ohio governor ted strickland included a primary enforcement seatbelt law and his budget bill this year, and in the conference on the budget bill it was stripped down as a result of that ohio dropped to the read category and we are hopeful that governor strickland will try again to get ohio the primary enforcement seatbelt lauper cow the report clearly raises the question of what can we do to accelerate state adoption of traffic safety laws? timing is everything in the time is right now to increase pressure on the states and to put pressure on congress to take the leadership roll. congress has successfully done this in the last three decades. the reason we have the 21 drinking age is the lob the land in the zero tolerance blood alcohol concentration law as the law of the land to close a loophole and underage drinking and driving at .08 is congress recognizes this is an important public health and safety measure

and stepped in and set up a position and passed a law that compelled the states to black and it worked and we need that kind of leadership on these other issues. in fact many members of congress have already taken the leadership role, and laid the groundwork by introducing legislation that will spur state action on several of these laws. in fact in the house right now there is a surface transportation bill that is pending that includes a sanction on states that don't adopt a primary enforcement seatbelt law or a mission interlock law for first-time drunk driving offenders. we are going to here and our press conference from representative chris van holland he was one of the key sponsor of the critical piece of legislation pending in the house right now. is the teen driving though which was set minimum standards for every state to have a strong and effective graduated driver's licensing law. it doesn't make since when we have this body of research

showing these laws dramatically save lives of teen drivers, not to compel every state to have this loss of every team in every community is protected. there's also several laws that have been introduced, bills introduced to address the issue of distracted driving and encourage state enactment of all driver text messaging bans. these bill all have this report for highway and auto safety. it is definitely time for renewed and invigorated leadership in state capitols and in congress and that is the only way we are going to advance the highway safety agenda. we can delay any longer because the weight is literally killing us. this strategy of getting the states to pass laws in getting congress to lead the way when states don will save lives, prevent injuries and save taxpayer dollars. thank you very much. [applause]

>> thank you very much jackie. next we are going to hear from senator john cullerton who is president of the illinois state senate. an addition to this wonderful position that john is in he is also a very famous legislator in the united states. there is a much highway safety legislation in the state of illinois that doesn't have his mark on it, so we are very pleased he is here today to support the roadmap report. >> thank you judy. today, more than 100 people will die. on our nation's highways. and do you know what? it is going to happen tomorrow too. just think about this. if there was a plane crash today and 100 people were killed, someone from every state in the nation was on that plane, it would be a phenomenal tragedy. it would be the leading news story throughout the world.

and, the pictures of the people who died would be in every newspaper throughout the united states. now, how many days to think it would take of plane crashes or where 100 people were killed before congress and the president would immediately have hearings, have a joint sessions of congress, national address to the nation, to stop the plane crashes. i would say only a few. i can tell you that my former colleague, the president obama, who twice served with for eight years in springfield, who co-sponsored seatbelt laws with me, this is a top priority for him. he would be leading the nation. in passing legislation to stop the deaths. people would say, but what could we do to stop these deaths in

these plane crashes? advocates for highway and auto safety has outlined 15 pieces of legislation that have passed that would stop the fatalities. so, if it was a plane crash in congress would react so quickly, why can't the state's, who were suffering collectively the same 100 deaths every day, past these same laws? it really almost seems like it is simple. now i am very proud of the fact that our state is ranked third in the nation. i've sponsored many of those laws that are already in the books in illinois along with their former state senator obama, but the rest of the states start their sessions. we in illinois go in session tomorrow and most of the states, just about every state, is

dealing with a nominal budget deficits, so that is going to be the number-one priority. and yet, here are laws that are plainly laid out before every legislature that will result in saving lives in addition to saving the states a whole bunch of money. so, why would it be the number-one priority? one of the greatest things about being in the legislature is not just voting to balance budgets, but also to literally press a button and know that you are going to save hundreds of lives in your state each year. that has been my motivation for the now 31 years i have been in the general assembly. now, we are aware of the fact as jackie said, that our friends in congress know about these laws, and they are policed to pass carrot and stick legislation to

encourage or in some cases you could use the word compelled the states to pass these model teen driving text messaging, drunk driving laws that need to be passed. so, some of my colleagues have said, well that is on wanted federal intervention. i don't agree with that. when you look at the history of what congress has done, when they take away your road money if you don't pass a law, we passed the law. if they give you a carrot, only some pass the law. so, in my opinion dnr state capitol cannot quickly respond to the pleas of the experts if we don't quickly respond to the pleas of the experts, the families who have suffered, and i don't know if anybody here in the know some people here have suffered these tragedies but to go to a funeral of a teenager is

probably about the saddest thing you can possibly do. these tragedies do not have to take place. the laws are right there and i encourage all of my colleagues throughout the nation to please pass these laws. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much senator cullerton. next we have susan vavala. susan traveled from wilmington, delaware who is she is the highway safety activists and high school guidance counselor. unfortunately abutt burring souter today is the story of the loss of her daughter, kim and 18 related crash. >> good morning. thank you for inviting me here to be here today to share my family's story with you. june 12, 1995 was the first family vacation, the long summer

linda head. my daughter was learning to drive, her 16th birthday just two weeks away. was an exciting time with exams finally over, softball season and independence on the horizon. that afternoon was spent making plans for a movie adding with two friends. jolie one for best friends and softball team made in joe, good friend hewitt turned 16 just ten days before. the invited kim's younger brother michael long. we said our goodbyes at 6:45 that night. kim never came home. a catastrophic crash occurred only five minutes later. less than 2 miles from our house. julian michael sustained relatively minor injuries. joe, who was driving, was critically injured. my daughter, so full of life only five minutes before died in the front seat of the mustang because her friend briefly lost control of his car. he fishtailed into the path of a

30-year-old woman coming in the opposite direction in her all lane at inappropriate speed who had no idea that in the blink of an eye her life would change forever. alcohol, drugs or excess of speed were not factors. all five were victims of inexperience, a failure to recognize that novice drivers lack the skill that comes only but time behind the wheel. victims of the false sense of security that came when it driving permit turned into a license on a child's 16th birthday. we as adults, as legislators and as parents have failed to protect our children. about a year after my daughter's death i was asked by state senator david sicko led by might be interested in working on delaware's graduating license bill. i was very interested. i became the apparent voice for

delaware after tremendous work on the part of the others and hearing the story of kim's death. through my testimony before the state house and senate gdl became law in delaware. it is the work in progress but the statistics have shown that we have definitely made a difference. nationally, laws must uniformly update true changes in technology, road conditions and driving habits. some parents eager to turn over their car keys to their children to be relieved of that car pool burden. weiss sign-on for these responsibilities when we become parents. including the development of safe driving habits in our children. it is too late for cam but it is not too late for the rest of us. all who share the road with teens are potential victims of their inexperience. the purpose of gdl and the fact is not to punish but to protect, to give them time to learn to

deal with distractions and road conditions under the guidance of the inexperienced adults. it empowers parents to say no, to allowing their children to ride with peers who lack the experience or good judgment to keep them say. together is a nation we must reduce property damage, personal-injury and lives lost due to driver and experience. it is my hope that you never get that call or that knock on the door. only those who share this experience tell the heartache that never goes away. it shatters your world and destroys your dreams. it is terrifying and it is-- our personal tragedy has taught as a hard lesson. kim in many others have died in many more injured because the old system failed to provide the most important factor of all, experience. i applaud congressman bishop, castle, van holland and other legislators to share the vision

of bringing uniform licensing to our nation. since its implementation in june of 1999 delaware's gdl is one of the strongest in the country and a successful tool in reducing crashes involving 16-year-old drivers by only 60%. all of us hoosier the-- and several other states have benefited from gdl. it is my sincere hope that states which unimplemented a strong and effective gdl program will do so as outlined in the stand-up act. it is time to help all of our children to make better choices based on good judgment that comes only with experience. thank you for your dedication to making the rose in every state safer for all of us. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much susan. that was a very good speech. next we are going to hear from

dr. joseph wright, who is representing today the american academy of pediatrics. dr. wright brings a perspective that of many years of the national center in maryland and has the child advocacy institute and we are delighted that he could join us. >> good afternoon everyone. my name is dr. joseph wright and i'm a pediatric emergency physician and the senior vice president at children's national medical center, freestanding children's hospital here in the district of columbia. i have the child health advocacy institute there and i'm also a member of the committee on pediatric emergency medicine for the american pediatrics. i practiced and level 1 trauma centers for more than 20 years and their direct witness to the fact of motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for 16 to 20-year-olds in this country accounting for

approximately 5500 occupant fatalities annually. each year approximately 450,000 teenagers are injured and 27,000 of them require hospitalization. those killed approximately 63% of drivers and 37% of passengers, two-thirds of the passengers who died in auto milk bill crashes are male. the statistics are disturbing enough on their own but what we have to remember and what we have already heard is that each and every one of these cases represents an individual and family tragedy. lives change forever. is the father of two young men in the highest risk category, i not only him professionally concerned that very personally concerned about this on a daily basis. the american academy of pediatrics has a long record of supporting child safety measures in transportation, ranging from

infant car seats to teen driving safety and every stage of growth and development in between. we applaud advocates for highway and auto safety for publishing the 2010 roadmap report. since it was first published in 2004 this report has highlighted the need for every state to institute a comprehensive audit safety laws and to protect individuals of all ages to use our roadways every day. the model safety laws graded in acute in the 2010 roadmap have a direct impact on the number of children and teens who are injured or killed in motor vehicle crashes. studies have shown states with strong primary enforcement seatbelt laws, as has been mentioned, graduated driver licensing programs, and required child safety booster seats have lower ogle injuries and fatalities than states that do not. nevertheless, today most states still have not implemented a

three stage graduated driver's licensing program despite strong evidence that these programs directly contribute to reducing more-- motor vehicle accidents and deaths of young drivers. the american pediatric calls upon every state to pass a graduated driver's licensing program for teen drivers. the adolescents as a novice driver who lacks the experience and ability to form many of the complex task of ordinary driving. compared with experienced drivers, the novice adolescents driver is less proficient in detecting and responding to hazards in controlling the vehicle. 16 to 19-year-olds have the crash rate more than four times that of mature adults. passing stronger teen driving laws will provide young drivers with practice come experience in support that they need to ensure to be responsible drivers. we can protect both teenagers themselves and everyone else on

the road as well. in addition the report also highlights the need for mandating child booster seats and requiring the use of safety belts for all motor vehicle passengers implementing these measures will mean that i see fewer young people in very serious and very preventable injuries, and not to get to professorial here but i really want to stress the fact that these are preventable injuries. when i teach my public health students at george washington university here in town, we talk about the 3p's supervention, engineering, education and enforcement. industry is doing what they need to do with regard to the engineering. with regard to education programs like the national safe kids campaign which is a program of our institution is doing what it needs to be doing in terms of educating the public. with regard to enforcement we really need to level the playing field here. as was mentioned by senator

culberson to the stroke of a pen we can level the playing field with regards to these laws. it is ludicrous for me to practice here in the national capital region where we serve states that as to what curt carrot top of the list, the district of columbia and maryland and states that are the worst part of the listen va so i really would like to stress the fact that we need to strengthen that there had e, the enforcement on this prevented the activity. i would like to very much never have to see another injury or death resulting from a motor vehicle deaths. as a parent and a physician i can attest that automobile safety laws benefit children families in their society in medical system as a whole. let's work together to assure that every state has the highest level of protection for everyone on the road and i thank you for your attention this afternoon. [applause]

>> thank you so much dr. wright and next we are going to hear from another mother who has lived with the terrible loss and a personal injury for many years. marge lee is also a political activist in the state of new york. she has turned her grief into changing laws and making it a better world for other people so they don't have to go to the same thing and we are very thankful that she is here with us today. >> good afternoon. thank you judy. my heart goes out to susan. were both members of an ever-growing group of victims this referrer in comprehensible lost because of the completely preventable roadway crashes. in 1990 my family was returning home to new york. we never made it home. we were hit by a drunk driver in new jersey. my 25-year-old stepson kenny was

killed. my 5-year-old son and my 3-year-old daughter were injured. i sustained multiple life-threatening injuries and came very close to dying. there has been significant progress for the last 30 years to curb the alcohol impaired driving but that war is not yet won. the 2010 highway safety report card shows that all states have adopted modern drunk driving loss, not all states unfortunately including devices for alterant drivers and significant penalties for impaired drivers to endanger child passengers. new york recently enacted landrieu's law. this is a measure that holds accountable anybody that puts a child passenger at risk. it is named for 11-year-old leann drew prosodic. he got into the car with a friend's mother. that mother was arrested for

d.w. viper go under the law, those convicted of dwi with the child passenger will be charged with the class e felony and face up to four years in prison. if that child is killed, they can serve as as 25 years. we all know that drunk driving has long been a leading factor in fatal crashes. in 2008, about one-third of all highway deaths were alcohol-related but today there is another kind of behind the wheel the impairment that is rapidly growing threats to our safety, distracted driving. including texting while driving. i.t. wide body of the evidence shows the use of cell phones and other electronic devices dramatically reduces reaction times, perhaps as much as alcohol. a 2009 study for the institute found that text messaging increase the risk of crashes by more than 23%.

only 15 states and the district of columbia currently banned text messaging for all drivers as a primary offense. meaning a driver can be pulled over for that. even though my state of new york pessin all driver texting restriction in 2009, the law classifies texting while driving only as a secondary offense. while new york pox texting lott is a step in the right direction it is simply not enough. the ali texting ben on this year's report card and primary offense. texting behind the wheel is a secondary offense is too weak. it simply won't work. fortunately new york senator carl marcelina of greece and is sponsoring legislation this year to make texting while driving a primary offense. and there's another representative in washington state with the same type of legislation. bigel this year appealing for greater diligence in protecting all motorists it is my sincere hope that more state lawmakers

who sponsored bills to restrict distractive driving and the tenacious until those bills become law. a lot of attention has been focused on teens and texting and rightly so. their inexperience in propensity to texting combined with their basic a maturity and a false sense of invincibility is all too often a deadly combination behind the wheel. this is why my organization is in strong support of the save tina novice driver uniform protection act stand up and is joined the save road chretien's coalition to push this important legislation through congress. every state should have tough graduated driver licensing laws including cell phone and texting bands. as a mother who lost a child to impaired driving a woman who nearly lost her life in the crash and a committed advocate for curbing the carnage on our roadways i appeal to every governor and every state legislator to make 2010 the year

when we will see strong ignition interlock, teen driving laws and all driver texting bans for adults become reality. there's no question that they will avert tragedy than save lives. thank you. [applause] >> thank you marge. is my pleasure not to introduce our next speaker, who is representative chris van hollen. representative finn holland represents district eight in montgomery county in maryland and member of the house democratic leadership team. before serving in congress beginning in 2002 representative dan holland was a member of the maryland general assembly where he was consistently a reliable and effective champion of highway safety laws in maryland, and he is now one of the original sponsors of the stand-up act, h.r. 1895 and we welcome you and appreciate your leadership role in this issue.

>> thank you jackie. let me first commend and applaud at the kits for highway and auto safety for compiling the report that is being released today and for all of their good work. to judith lee stone and jackie gillan and that would be remiss if i did not-- a very quiet lady who was one of the leaders in the maryland general assembly on these very important issues that had the-- as a member of congress on this important legislation. most, especially want to thank the monsoor here, for sharing their personal stories, their stories of family tragedy and for then working so diligently

to try and make sure that we don't have more moms and other family members who have to share those stories of tragedy. because we have seen significant progress in this country and driving safety laws and mothers against drunk driving has made an important impact and others that made an important fact that we know from the continuing tragedy is that much more work remains to be done. this is an area where we need to continue to work to move ahead at the state level, and that the federal level. this report as you know has a whole slew of recommendations with respect to traffic safety and avoiding crashes. i want to focus specifically on the teen crash situation and like my colleague here, dr. wright i also have two teenage drivers it in my case in the family and i think all

parents worry, understandably so, when they are teenagers and other young drivers get into the car whether they are driving themselves whether they get into the car with the teenage friend and that is why i think it is absolutely essential that we at the federal level provide in impetus to the states to move forward in developing the gdl requirements and i am very proud to have joined with my colleagues, tim bishop from the state of new york and my-- mike castle from delaware who were the chief authors of the stand-up legislation which is a bipartisan piece of legislation come to try and use with leverage we have that the federal level to prod states to move in the right direction. there have been successes as you know in the past with regard to the other driver safety flaws with the federal government has intervened to try and create a

uniform set of standards in standards that we know have worked. and if you look at the graduated driver license programs in places where they have been enacted, you have seen up to a 40% reduction in teen driver crashes, and that is obviously important progress because the toll is significant, and continues, continues to be a source obviously of great tragedy in this country and i think it is important understanding behind all the statistics are the kind of stories we have heard. if you look at the overall numbers they are indeed something that cries out for a response that the state and federal level. ten teenagers are killed in the united states each day as a result of motor vehicle crashes. in my state of maryland over the last five years crashes and

balding teenagers that claimed 579 lives and in the last decade, over the last decade u.s. seen 80,000 deaths in crashes involving teen drivers. that is a staggering figure, and we obviously invests lots of funds and resources to fight diseases in this country, as we should but we need to treat this as a public health emergency, because these are preventable crashes, preventable deaths and we need to rally with the same kind of urgency as we would if you had a disease by taking this kind of toll on our children and on the people throughout the country. thank you gold who are gathered here today to work with us to pass this legislation so that we can make sure that are teenagers and all of our family members are better protected as they had

out on their roadways. nobody is invincible, and we want to make sure that we take every measure we can as a country to move in the right direction so i just wanted to tank hawala view. we are very hopeful we can get this legislation moving. s.a. said it has bipartisan cosponsorship. it is common sense, and what we need is for all of the people gathering in this room and people throughout the country to recognize that they have an important stake in the success of this bill and help us get it passed so thank you all of you for your efforts. [applause] >> thank you so much congressman fan holland. that was very helpful levin cycle. next we are going to here from dr. steve part curtain who is the long-term leader in the injury prevention field and then at the forefront, also in the state of wisconsin trying to get

a good highway safety laws passed and he is also on my board of directors. >> thank you judy. i am the chair emergency medicine at the medical wisconsin and direct emergency department which serves and level 1 trauma center and i have been doing this kind of work for over 30 years, and the first want to congratulate our congressional leaders who were with us today, and also our state legislators, who as senator cullerton made reference to by the push of a button he can save lives and i would state that you all are going to be able to save more lives by the stroke of a policy penn then i can do with the stroke of a scalpel, putting in heidi into a patient coming to an lifesaving procedures, when this kind of

prescription if you will come save lives so i applaud your efforts and i must say the most difficult thing that i have to do as an emergency physician is not to go through the critical details resuscitation is of patients who are clinging to life. it is to tell mom that their daughter has passed away or that they have suffered lifelong, disabling brain injury. that is the hardest thing that i do and that is what i don't want to do and die again partners in public health both that the state and federal level makes my job easier, and makes the emergency department less crowded with costly treatments. over the past several months, we have witnessed a health care reform debate and for the important arguments for reducing health care costs. yet over the past decade tens of thousands of americans have died

and hundreds of thousands have been injured requiring costly treatments and our nation's emergency departments and trauma centers. costly and permanent injuries, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, extremity injuries with lifelong disabilities. our nation's policymakers, both state and federal, currently have solutions to health care costs and their respective communities to reduce health care costs and save lives, yet many of them choose not to act. for those states two of comprehensive gdl primary enforcement laws particularly to my neighbor in the south of illinois we don't typically talked very favorably about illinois and wisconsin but in this case illinois is a shining example of thoughtful public health policy. the state's benefit and others outlined in the advocates report. for those who don't, for those

states who don't choose this pathway lives are lost and taxpayers pay more with increased medicaid costs. it is just an example, requiring to manage traumatic brain injuries for those who do not buckle up for wear helmets. the evidence based policies, these state prescriptions for health, to prevent death and disabilities are available to use that there is inaction. if i do not use all the tools of my disposal to save the patient's life i have fallen below community standards. but i and my colleagues can do this alone one patient at a time. the state legislative and gubernatorial policy leaders and our federal partners need to do more. they have the policy tools. they have the road map. they have the road map to safety. i asked them to use them, in

nack life saving policies. we ask you do everything you can do to se reduce costly and juries. over the past decade my colleagues and i in emergency medicine, a pediatric emergency medicine, emergency nurses, nurses, social workers rehabilitation specialists have treated hundreds of thousands of patients damaged, torn, bruise, lacerative, many permanently affected from car and motorcycle crashes. .. martin of farmers insurance, and

joan claybrook. >> good afternoon. i am bill martin with farmers insurance group. hopefully you'll stay for my talk in spite of that. [laughter] it is a very rare person who has not been touched by this public health issue, but even those of us who have not been directly involved might take a moment right now to think about the risk to our lives. we all understand risk. many of us buy insurance to protect us from those risks. insurance companies can never fully protect from the emotional traumaof an auto acc never protect whoof from the emotional trauma of an auto accident, and so farmers insurance and the other members of the advocates, the other insurance company members believe that passing effective

laws will do the work policyholders a favor we cannot do to them. i think they would much rather avoid the accident than have us pay for it. they would much rather have that day back before the trauma. before a legislative action to prevent people from risking the lives of responsible people, the type of action you see in the 2009 stand-up act we would all be exposed to even more unnecessary risks. , the technology will bring us there. so i ask you to take a moment and take a bold journey with me if you close your eyes and think about being at night on a two-lane road driving the speed limit 45, 55 miles an hour and driving one direction while a car comes the other direction and as one author called this a public trust at the moment a

public trust, an idea that person would act responsibly. think about being behind your will and what is happening behind the other we'll is it somebody that doesn't have the experience you have? is it a group of teenagers perhaps fleeing, poking, pleading with the retial? mabey the driver is getting a text message and looking down to see who it was just for that instant, just for the instant it takes to cross over the center line. and to change you, the responsible driver and your life permanently. statistics show that teens have a far disproportionate number of these accidents happening to them than anybody else. they haven't learned those of us who are getting older learn. and so we ask for the oversight of the lawmakers to protect us from behavior's that will make

our roads less so. we are all at risk for making bad choices. the insurance industry knows proven effective laws such as graduated driver's licensing and bans on destructive driving behavior teach us about the risks in the driving environment and how to avoid them. farmers and insurance colleagues on the board of advocates continue to join together with safety, consumer and public health groups to urge these important laws kleypas stand within the states and congress. they help us keep on the right side of the center line which i think is probably the best insurance policy for all of us. [applause] >> thank you. bill is by the way in insurance co-chair of our board, and now i want to have the consumer share of the board, joan claybrook come to the podium. thank you. >> this is to wrap up,

everybody. as administrator of the national highway traffic of frustration in the u.s. department of transportation in the carter years and i saw firsthand the difficulty of changing driver behavior and the need to research and determine how to do so. that work laid the groundwork for many successful federal and state programs that we see today and that we are advocating for tomorrow. it's a great honor to hold that job because of the opportunities for saving lives and reducing cost the injuries are enormous. today i serve as the consumer co-chair of fat cats for highway and auto safety and i know that the insurance industry has been instrumental in helping make the work of that possible and to help produce highway deaths and injuries. in the late 1970's we were beginning to understand the passing traffic safety laws in combination with public

education and strong enforcement would in fact change the way people drive. changing driver behavior by education alone is totally ineffective. slogans and publicity campaigns without laws and enforcement have never worked and they never will. in 1978 during my tenure the first child restraint law was passed and with our strong support by the mid-1980s every state had a law requiring small children weidinger child safety seats. it wasn't long before the statistics bureau the wisdom of the lifesaving policy initiative of specific traffic safety laws enforcement and education, the three that make people change the behavior as well as advances in the design of child safety seats or in other ways in the design of cars. no wonder our motive for vehicle crashes the number-one killer of infants and toddlers as they were in the decades before. these were passed by the states. the same success occurred in

reducing drunk driving. that resulted in congress and the state's past tough laws, criminalizing impaired driving and imposing tough penalties on and you're driver's. a similar story is revealed for safety usage increase and 12% during the carter years when i was there in the 1970's to 80% today and these numbers can be further improved with authority for all states for primary enforcement without use. our nation is in the middle of another raging debate how to improve universal health care, reduce economic burden and our society. and why they may be differences of opinion about how to achieve these goals there is universal agreement that prevention is the key. passing traffic safety laws is the cornerstone of prevention. for years we've known from the peer review of research the laws are read in the advocate's road map are proven to save lives and reduce the cost to society including health care costs.

yet as of today not one state, not one state has enacted all 15 laws in this report. many are missing primary enforcement seat belt use, all right motor helmet use, teen drinking the beat code on driving laws. this should be the blueprint that congress uses to pass and push the state's to close these dangerous gaps and save billions of dollars every year in health care burdens created by the motor vehicle deaths and injuries. everyone has a stake in advancing the laws and saving lives, state legislatures, governors, members of congress, executive branch officials, businesses, public health and safety groups, medical personnel, the media command of christmas to all the american people who could afford the devastating, and heartbreak we've heard about today. it is senseless for the public officials to allow another year to pass and accept the 40,000

people who die each year and over 2 million who are injured. this report is a wake-up call, we could call for everyone the legislative action is urgently needed. let's make it happen. thank you. [applause] >> thank you to the speakers and for your patience and for having sat through what i think are some really wonderful speeches and thank you for being here. all right. it's time to take questions from those of you in the room. do we have any questions here? >> if you would ask your question and the microphone that would be helpful. and can you identify yourself? >> ashley from the washington post. as you lobby the state legislators and congress for these laws can you be specific in telling us who is lobbying and the other direction as you pull for these laws, who are the

specific lobbyists or lobbies pushing against them? >> joan claybrook can take that one. >> i can tell you there is one organization that lobbies against motorcycle helmet laws and of course that is the one law the state of illinois has not been able to pass and they are very unfortunate, very effective grass-roots. but for the most part, the other statutes or laws where there is no organized opposition in fact the medical societies, the nurses, health community lobbies, highway officials do as well. there is a perception and legislators mind that per constituents may not like it that some of the parents of the teenagers who won't get their license until they are 16 and a half tons of 16 might be against that. so it is the perception that has to be overcome and the legislators negative by the

efforts of all of these groups advocates being the leading ones, so it can be done and let's not forget we've made remarkable progress as joan has outlined over the last 25 years. the fatality rates have dropped dramatically in our states. it's just that one-stop, why not continue to save those lives? >> with regard to that some of the problems we face [inaudible] before the interlock went in has to do with the judiciary. they felt that the penalty paid was sufficient and they didn't and the cost of the interlocked was an additional burden and they did not request that it be put in. it was up to them that they had the choice and they chose not to. >> is there another question from the press in the room? can you get the microphone back

there, please? it's up here in front. sorry. thank you. and could you identify yourself? >> i work for kc-z which is a public radio station los angeles. asking about california which got a green light there were a couple of things i didn't understand. one was the booster seat, how could that be improved and could you talk a little bit about california laws about team driving and the way you would like to see those changes as well and anything else you think we can do better. [laughter] >> on the booster seat issue the reason california only gets half credit for that is because they don't cover children through age seven and and we've tried to get that passed in california to raise the age through age seven. that is the optimal law, and we do get have credit if you have something in that case, but not full credit and that is where that comes from, and on the gbl laws weening graduated driver

licensing, we still have in california of the laws we include in the report, the california needs to have a 16-year-old age for the learner's permit. they still need to have in my time restriction that doesn't have secondary enforcement. remember we don't count the law we have all it is secondary enforcement, no matter what it is. secondary enforcement means they have to be stopped another reason before they can get a ticket. it is a weak and ineffective law 13 driving that they need is also a passenger restriction which they have but it has a secondary provision and the secondary enforcement provisions we do not count it. and there's a couple others, self restriction fer fer teams advance text in. it does not ban -- it has cellphone restriction for teens, but again, secondary

enforcement. so those me to change. mick the primary enforcement. hi receive the laws study primitive force it to get secondary was it an issue. let's go back to the days that the high we see the laws were in force as primary enforcement as a given. and then also there are counties in california that have ignition interlock laws for the first-time offenders as a pilot but we would like to see the state to the statewide. i the question here from somebody from the internet i would like to take if i could. the question is what the writers as i haven't had a chance to read the press kit yet but for now how do you credit half of the law when compiling lists for the disabled nebraska has six and half of the 15. what is this house i explained if they have some of the law we give them a partial credit so

it's not really have a law, it's we have the numbers and that's how we get to a number like six and a half. and in the case of nebraska it is the booster seat law is only covers of age five instead of through age seven. so that is why they did have credit for that. we have other questions from a reporter? our question is for john cullerton. >> can you identify yourself? >> adc representing wls. our question is with states that have limited budgets how do you will try to enforce or how do you encourage efforts that especially when there is limited budget? >> first of all we have to understand the state spent enormous amount of money on medicaid and many of these people who are in these crashes if they are not on medicaid in the first injured go on medicaid. as we actually save money by passing these laws, and in terms of enforcement think it is fair

to say a lot of these assault force. when she talks about secondary enforcement that puts it in mind of the driver a i can get away with not wearing my seat belt they are not going to stop me. and it states that pass primary enforcement immediately the usage rate goes up 12% and it's not because there's more police officers it is self enforcement so it doesn't cost any money, it literally saved money and in these tough budget times on president in my lifetime now is a time to save money by passing these laws. thank you very much. do i see any other hands? can i go to somebody else? who has addressed a question yet? thank you. and then we will come back to you. >> maureen with fox news. the ftc, that is a green state and maryland as well and get virginia is averitt state what

efforts are being made if any of to push virginia to get up to speed especially since we are intertwined in this area with people crossing the border freely every single day. >> we are trying to highlight the fact these gaps exist. in the case of virginia they could raise the status of a lot of their laws to primary enforcement and would not have gone into the red erie. they have other things they do need to do as well but i think that the legislators who need to look at the issues some of the issues senator cullerton brought up. this is a cost issue. the money that is spent we spend in this country $230 billion that we do not need to spend on motor vehicle crashes and if we could just, it translates into a crash tax is what we call it about $800 per person in the country. that is a lot of money.

and each state has a number assigned to them as to how much money it costs them for motor vehicle crashes. this is already made a blueprint for them to cut down on some of those expenses and especially with these preventable the statutes that can be passed so why the others are going to be working with us to try and change the status in virginia. we are going to be working in maryland and d.c. to read because even the beer in the green category dustin of things they need to do. so let's work together and get that done. >> yes? >> as judy said the purpose of this report is to also reached the stage and give them a great but we are going to be working with our safety partners at a board of directors is comprised of the safety health insurers, and certainly in virginia strengthening their law is something that is going to be

tried again for years and years they have tried in virginia to get a primary enforcement seat belt law we, and so we are hoping that this report will give them another tool in their toolbox to go to the legislature and say we dennett, you know, virginia is a red state you've dropped from yellow to red. we have glaring gaps in the highway safety laws. va doesn't even have an open container law. they have many elements of the graduated driver's license ladder secondary. so we are hoping that we will take this collective group of public health and safety and insurers and be working in the legislatures to try to help those sponsors to get these bills through and senator cullerton said they are not easy of battles. they are certainly effective winning we succeed and they save lives and save cost. but there is a lot of resistance and a lot of times they are not on the top of the priority list

of a governor or committee chair. i've worked on many bills we're committee chair has a lot of authority and autonomy and for some reason as senator cullerton said perception doesn't want this bill to go through but advocates has worked for years on primary enforcement and seat belt law and we are hopeful as in other states that may be 2010 will be the year we get some of these through. >> we also are in support of the federal legislation that would help the state's take such action if there is legislation that has seen such activity in the house of representatives and in the transportation bill that will be taken up this year. we hope that that will remain in and that will compel a number of the states to pass these were all the states really. any other questions? back here. yes. >> i also from abc representing

for senator cullerton, please. >> more questions for senator cullerton. i wonder why? [laughter] >> it was mentioned during the yellow category were taking steps to advance to the green status and in the area of team driving that's the only category a lot of the states are in the yellow and i want to know what kind of steps are you taking to advance to the green in regards to the team driving? >> we have three things we need to do in illinois. the motorcycle helmet law is a jury difficult to pass. i wouldn't predict that would happen soon. the idea of moving back the minimum age to 16 for a learner's permit is a new proposal. i don't know that's been introduced in illinois. i suspect as a result of this as a matter of fact i'm going to bring this to the attention of the legislators and have that introduced as early as a few weeks from now and then i think

there's only one minor tweak to boehmite time driving restriction in the weekend so illinois would like to lead the nation we are close to doing that and it is the work that at the kids have stun year in and year out to point us to provide direction. and so i look forward to that. with regard to the motorcycle helmet stuff it's just really difficult throughout the state. if anything we are playing defense in many states where they are trying to appeal. thank you. >> one more question. >> you to respond to that? >> i want to point out the question makes clear the achilles' heel for many states rests with the team driving protection of the graduated driving laws is where a lot of states are falling down, and as the senator has said, moving the

age of permits back in our state in maryland from 15 years nine months to 16 as part of the graduated the driving laws program where many states can improve their status with regard to this report. >> we are going to take two more questions, this gentleman and then go to the washington post. >> there's a lot to talk about distracted drivers for using devices and that sort of thing, but as automakers moved to put internet access in cars and that sort of thing what if any pressure are you putting on that industry to prevent them from making these things more accessible? >> good question. i will to a crack at it if anyone wants to jump in the are able to do that. you're right. it's been astounding to see the speed with which some of these devices are being proposed and we are very concerned about it. we have been concerned about it

for years as some of the devices have been coming in slowly but they seem to be coming in much faster now and we have spoken to the federal government on several occasions and said in many cases this, in all cases this is a federal government issue and not a state government issue. and i think that the national highway traffic safety administration and others at the department of transportation need to get on top of this because it is going to go crazy. and it already seems like it is. what was the second part of your question? what are we doing about it? okay. we do have a petition that we have filed at the federal motor carrier safety administration on the truck driver destruction electronic devices and department has considering that and it goes a little wider the and the phone use and so the we expect we will get an answer sometime in 2010 on that issue.

and now washington post. >> finally the virginia legislature as you know passed a text messaging ban that was utterly toothless because of the secondary and unenforceable. more generally speaking how would you characterize the will and intent of state legislatures everywhere in passing secondary enforcement bans on various things that become popular issues? >> i characterize it first as a mistake. and as i say, it used to be the primary enforcement was the wall of the land in all of the highway safety laws. it didn't really exist. i think it's a convenient way to compromise and get bills passed in state legislatures. i think that it may be that we need to do a better job of educating people about how destructive it is because, which is one of the reasons we decided not to give any credit at all for any law that has secondary

enforcement because it is impossible for the police to enforce it effectively. yes of course they can enforce it but does a police officer really want to write to tickets? most don't and that is what they have to do to make it effective. so we are starting with this press conference to make a very strong statement about secondary enforcement and we will not be accepting it anymore. you know, it's always been the case one of our most important laws is primary enforcement seat belt law and it was the seat of laws were the only ones that suffered from secondary enforcement but now it seems to be popular to do and i don't know whether that is true in illinois senator cullerton but it seems as though it is something that has to stop. >> i was printed ad another way we are addressing the issues

again reinforce this federal legislation, the legislation that is out there on team driving requiring states to pass the seat belt law we are required enforcement. but we'd the federal level is one of safety law whether it is district attriting martine dreading or primary enforcement or mission interlock we are asking of sponsors and have introduced legislation that requires that in order to win for a state to meet the requirements in passing that law we that it has to be primary enforcement. thank you very much. we have concluded a press conference. thank you. sprick there will be individual interviews. >> yes, we are happy to do individual interviews afterward. it is www.saferoads.org. you can get the materials if you go to that web page [inaudible

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did you know that the number one free news application for your iphone or ipod ucc and retial? you can get access to three streaming channels on c-span radio, plus c-span and c-span2 s after words and it's all freeand and available from the store. >> the alf-cio president richard trumka said y

on business executives and in light of new reports as bonuses to be in the millions of dollars. speaking at the national press club. he also said democrats should not take union support for granted. this is one hour. >> good afternoon. welcome to the national press club for our speakers luncheon. my name is donna leinwand, president of the national press club and reporter for usa today. we are the world's leading professional organization for journalists and committed to in the future of journalism by providing informative programming and journalism education and fostering free press worldwide. for more information on the national press club, please visit our web site at www.press.org. on behalf of the 3,500 members worldwide i would like to welcome the speaker and guest in the audience today. i would also like to welcome those of you who are watching on c-span. we are looking forward to

today's speech and afterwards i will last as many questions from the audience as time permits. please, hold your applause during the speech so we have time for as many questions as possible. for those in the broadcast audience, i would like to explain if you hear applause it may be from the guests and the members of the general public who it in our luncheons and not necessarily from the working press. [laughter] i would now like to introduce the head table guests and ask them to stand briefly when their names are called. from your right, she lot of dna, former president of the national press club. tauter gilman of the dallas morning news, hollywood, reporter for urban bird news liz shuler, secretary of the alf-cio and guest speaker. mark sheff, crane's work force management. john hyatt, chairman for the speed and a guest of the speaker.

skipping over the podium, angela keene, bloomberg news and chair of the national press club's speakers' committee. speaking over the skeeter for a minute, bob carden communications and the committee member organized today's event. thank you very much, bob. arlene baker executive vice president of the alf-cio and guest of the speaker. peter archives@press.org of ap broadcast. venita, chief research analyst in the office of investment for the alf-cio, and finally, rodrigo valdiron, freelance op-ed writer. [applause] laws >> 30 years ago working in declines of western pennsylvania, our guest today probably didn't envision standing before the national press club of the newly elected

president of the alf-cio. richard keene to work in the mines for the same reason most miners do because his father and his grandfather had worked there before him. but trumka of the way worked through college and law school, joined the labour movement and eventually led the united mine workers union. as president of the umda, trumka led the union and one of the most successful strikes in history against the pittston coal company which tried to avoid paying into an industrywide health and pension fund. the strike resulted in significant advances and employ your employee cooperation and enhanced line workers job security pensions and benefits. breaking with decades of tradition, his consistent use of nonviolent civil disobedience led to his receiving the leader of responsibility to report from the martin luther king jr. center for nonviolence social

change in 1990. his accomplishments as president of the mine workers union include passage of the federal court act that provides guaranteed health care for retired miners and bringing the union back into the alf-cio. he served as psychiatry treasurer for 14 years before being elected president in september. lester president of, and mr. trumka to the economic recovery advisor board. he met with president later today. please join me in welcoming to the national press club mr. richard trumka. [applause] [applause] >> thank you thank you for this kind and generous words and i'm delighted to be here at the national press club. i also want to thank the

officers of the press club for the invitation to be here with you today special you and bob carden, the committee chair member who arranged this. thank you. ten days to the decade and one here in tuzee obama administration our nation remains poised between the failed policies of the past and hopes for a better future. this is a moment that cries out for political courage and we are not seeing enough i spent the first week of this year traveling on the west coast. in san francisco i was of rested with low-wage hotel workers fighting to protect their health care and pensions from leveraged buyouts that had gone bad. in los angeles and in san diego

i talked with working americans who moved to tiers by outsourcing and benefit cuts. everywhere i went people said to me why do so many of the people we elect seem to care only about wall street. why is helping her bankers a matter of urgency win but on the planet is something we have to live with but we make anything in america any more? and why is it so hard to pass a health care bill that guarantees americans healthy lives instead of guaranteeing insurance companies healthy profits. as i traveled from city to city i heard a sense of resignation from middle class americans. people laid off for the first time in their lives asking what do i do wrong.

i came away shaken by the sense that the very things that make america great are now in danger. what makes us unique among the nations is this. in america working people are the middle class. we build our middle class and the 20th century through hard work, struggle and visionary political leadership. but a generation of destructive driven economic policies has eroded that progress and now threatens our very identity as a nation. today on every coast and in between, working women and working men are fighting to join the middle class and project and rebuilt. we crave political leadership ready to fight for the kind of

america that we want to leave our children, and against whom the forces of greed that brought us to this very moment. but instead we hear a resurgence of complacency and political paralysis. to many people in washington seem to think that we've everything will in 2010 and were elected leaders must choose between continuing the policies of or striking out on a new economic course for america. a course that will reverse the damaging trend toward greater inequality that is crippling the nation. at t moment, the voices of america's working women and men must be heard in washington. the voices of bankers and

speculators for whom it always seems to be the best of times. but the voices of those who for whom the new year brings pink slips and give back some, hollowed out health care, foreclosure and pension freezes its the roll call of an economy that long ago stopped working for most of us. today i want to talk to you about the labor movement vision. see, working people want an america, an american economy that works for them, that creates good jobs where wealth is shared fairly and where the economic life of the nation is about solving problems like the threat of climate change rather than creating problems like the foreclosure crisis. we know growing inequality

undermine stability to grow as a nation by squandering the talent and contributions of our people and consigning entire communities and to stagnation and failure. if we are going to make our envisioning one real first we must challenge our political leaders and ourselves, and we must challenge the movement. workers formed the labor movement as an expression of our lives. a chain of responsibility and solidarity making millions of people here in america and around the world into agents of social change able to accomplish much more together than as isolated individuals. that movement gives voice to the hope and values and interest of working people every single day.

but despite our best efforts, we have in the word a generation of stagnant wages and collapsed benefits. a generation where the labor movement has been much more about defense than about offense. we're the horizons are shrinking rather than growing. but the future of the labor movement depends on moving forward, on innovating and changing the way we work. on being open to all working people and giving police to all workers even when sun laws and employers seek to divide us. and that is something we are working on every single day. the alf-cio is building new ways for working people to organize themselves. and new models for collective bargaining. we have created working

americans, 3 million member community-based union growing in a working-class neighborhoods. this is one of the signal accomplishments of my predecessor john sweeney. i have to tell you i'm very, very proud and honored to have you here with us tonight. please, stand up. [applause] we are proud of our alliance with workers' centers movement that links movements to the alf-cio with hundreds of grassroots workers' organizations around the country. we are also working with community allies to strengthen the voice and bargaining power of low wage workers of los angeles car washers. next week alf-cio executive vice president or lynn baker, who is right over here, will lead the

labor movement commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the lunch counter sit-in's in greens were a north carolina. continuing the great work that she has done over so many years on behalf of the most vulnerable in our society. and not far from greensboro we have been working with unemployed african-american day laborers and workers centers desperately trying to keep, if the dream launched in those cities. in san diego last week i visited a pre-apprenticeship program what formed by the labor movement to create a pass for at risk youth. in los angeles i saw a remarkable come into the sleeper management program created by the workers that is focused on green jobs. see, these programs demonstrate tremendous benefits that are

possible when labor and business come together to solve problems jointly. when i was there i met with a man once homeless and he was 19 days away from becoming a journeyman electrician. don the young man said to me the union gave me a chance to go from no life to the hope for a middle class life. i didn't -- it didn't just teach me to get a job. it taught me how to be a man. and then i talked to hotel workers, members of you might hear. many of them immigrants on strike to keep in hotel jobs from falling back into poverty. and to union members with ph.d. some fighting to prevent california budget catastrophe from crater not only their jobs

but the education of their states' children to a i thought as i did i thought of my father on strike in the coal fields when i was a boy, and i was reminded of this basic truth. a job as a good job because workers fight to make it a good job. and it doesn't matter if the job is in a coal mine or classroom or car wash. and that, my friends, is why the unions are needed today more than ever before. i grew up in a town in southwestern pennsylvania and surrounded by the legacy of my parents and grandparents. my grandfather's and my father and brothers and fellow workers went into the line somewhere deathtraps to work for wages that were not enough to buy food

and clothes for the families. they and the union they built made those jobs in the middle class jobs. and when i went into the mine, it was a good julca. a good job meant possibilities for me, possibilities that my mother moved heaven and earth to make real that took me from penn state to law school to this very podium. what is our legacy? what's the legacy of those of us who are helping the world by shaping the world for children and grandchildren will inhabit. as several government leading the foundations young people the right now? to work places offer hope? do the evin offer worked? are we building a world we are proud to hand over to our children? are the voices of the young, of

the future being heard? in september i was elected president of the alf-cio together with secretary treasury louis shore come here with me on the left and executive vice president of leni baker. she is the youngest principal officer in busbee history. [applause] i asked her to reprogram about reaching too youngkers as a part of the effort and the alf-cio conducted a study of the workers between the ages of 18 to 34. comparing their economic standing and attitudes and hopes with those of a similar survey conducted ten years ago. the findings were shocking. they revealee lost decade of young workers in america.

low wages, education deferred. these were so bad one in three of these 18 to 34-year-olds is currently living at home with their parents because they can't afford to live alone. the desperation i heard in the survey and places of the proud hard-working americans fills me with a sense of urgency. an emergency there should be shared by every last elected official here in washington and across the country. as a country and a movement our challenge is to build a new economy that can restore working people's expectations and renew their hopes. if he were laid off because what wall street did to our economy, it's not your fault. a dead-end job with no benefits

is not the best our country can do for its citizens. so what went wrong with our economy? you could say as simple as we bills to a low wage high consumption economy and try to bridge the contradictions with debt and then he and there's a lot of truth in that simplicity but if you're going to understand it in a way that will help us understand how to fix it to i think we need a little more detail. cecum a generation ago the nation's policy makers in marked on a campaign of radical deregulation and corporate empowerment. one that is celebrated private agreed over public service. nellis bet warned of the dangers of the path.

jared polis sees that rewarded and accelerated outsourcing. financial deregulation designed to promote speculation and the dismantling of our pension and health care system. we warned that the middle class could not survive in such an economy, the growing inequality would inevitably shrank the american policy that we were borrowing from the rest of the world at an unsustainable pace. the bus but follow bubbles and that our country would be worse off in the end. these policies promenaded in the worst economic decade in living memory. we suffered a net loss of jobs. the housing market collapsed. real wages fell and more children fell into poverty. and the enormous growth and equality during that decade

yielded mediocre growth overall. now, this is not a portrait of a cyclical recession but of a nation with profound, unaddressed structural economic problems on a long-term downward slide our structural problems predate the crisis that hit in 2007. they are not going to go away by themselves in 2010. first, we have under invested in the foundations of our economy. including transportation and communications infrastructure that are essential in a middle class society and in a dynamic and competitive high wage economy. but the most important foundation of our economy is education and training.

we simply cannot continue on the quality of education we provide to all of our children and expect to lead in the global economy. likewise, we need to provide opportunities for lifelong skills upgrading to workers through both private and public sector. second, we failed over a long period of time to create enough jobs at home to maintain our middle class and we have allowed corporate tax to whittle away at workers' bargaining power to undermine the quality of of the remaining jobs. finally, the structural absence of good jobs means a shortage of sustainable demand to drive our economy. we want an entirely different kind of economy. let's talk about what we need to

do. we must directly and immediately take on what is from by creating millions of good of jobs now and rebuilding our economic foundations and getting working people the freedom to form unions again and make all of our jobs good jobs. [applause] we must pass genuine health care reform and reregulate our financial economy so that the finance is the servant of the real economy and not its master. so that we have -- [applause] as we have an independent consumer financial protection agency and so that we never again take the public money and use it to rescue bank executives and stockholders.

i like to commend president obama's leadership and insisting on a viable and strong independent consumer protection agency which is crucial to the real financial reform. now busbee eight's 5. program will create more than 5 million jobs. extending unemployment benefits including cobra expanding for what for stricter and green jobs investment, dramatically increasing federal aid to the state and local governments facing financial disaster. a direct job creation where feasible, and finally direct lending of t.a.r.p. money to businesses that can't get credit because of the financial crisis. we need to adopt a tax on financial speculation so that we can find the jobs effort as the economy recovers.

now, some in washington say when it comes to jobs go-slow. taken half steps. those voices are harming millions of unemployed americans and our families. but they are also jeopardize in our economic recovery. it is to have a plan for paying for job creation over who time. but it is bad economics and suicidal politics and not to aggressively address the job crisis at a time of double-digit unemployment. in fact, budget deficits over the medium and long-term will be worse if we allow the economy to slide into a long job stagnation an unemployed workers don't pay

taxes, and they don't go shopping. businesses without customers don't hire workers. they don't invest and they also don't pay taxes and. our economy simply does not work without good jobs. so we must take action now to restore workers voices in america. the systemic systematic silencing of american workers by denying their right to form unions is at the heart of the disappearance of good jobs in america. we must pass the employee free choice act so that workers can have the chance to turn bad jobs and to good jobs and so we can reduce the inequality which is undermining our prospects of a stable economic growth. and we have to do that now. not next year, not even this

summer but right now. each of the initiatives should be routed in a crucial alliance of the middle class and the board. but today as i speak to you, something different is happening with health care. on the one hand we have the house bill which asked a small part of the country that prospered in the last decade, the richest of the rich to pay more in taxes so that most americans can have health insurance and the house rains in the power of health insurers and employers with an employer mandate and strong public option. but things to the appalling irresponsibility of the senate republicans and power of the

wealth among some democrats the senate bill drives a wedge between the middle class and the poor. the bill rightfully seeks to insure most americans have health insurance. but instead of taxing the rich to the senate bill taxes the middle class by taxing workers health plans. not just union members health care plans. in fact most of the 31 million uninsured or in short employees who will be hit by the excise tax are not union members. the benefits tax in the senate and the senate bill puts working americans who need health care for their families against working americans struggling to keep health care for their families. now, this is a policy designed

to benefit eletes. in this case, insurers, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and irresponsible employees -- employers. at the expense of the broad public. it's the same tragic pattern that got us where we are today. and i can assure you that the labor movement is fighting everything with the we have got to win health care reform that is worthy of the support of working men and working women. [applause] these great struggles over health care and jobs and freedom to organize and financial reforms are the first steps. beyond the short-term job crisis, we have to have an agenda for restoring american manufacturing. a combination of fair trade and

currency policies. worker training, infrastructure investment and regional development policies targeted to help economically distressed areas. we cannot be aclass society in c global economy without a healthy manufacturing sector so we must have an agenda to address the daily challenges the workers face on the job to ensure a safe and healthy workplace and workers currently rules. we need also comprehensive reform of our immigration policy based on shared prosperity and fairness and not cheap labor, and we must take on the retirement crisis. .. accounts fully exposed-- ex post

everything wrong with wall street. today the median balance of 401(k) accounts is only $27,000, nowhere near enough to secure retirement. we need to return to a policy of employers sharing responsibility for retirement security with employees while also bolstering and strengthening social security. now, president obama campaigned on a platform of boldly taking on these challenges. he spoke often about the need to refound our economy on doing real things rather than dreaming of financial pots of gold. he asked vice president biden to lead the effort, to restore the middle class. for the first time i can recall we have an administration that sis manufacturing, making things

here, as central to america's future and speaks clearly about the positive role for workers and their unions in the >> who believe in that vision. of course, president obama inherited a terrible mess from his predecessor. a journey of stolen elections, ruinous tax cuts, financial scandal, a government sponsored torture , glutted cities and economic collapse. president obama's administration began out of necessity and vision with the act of political courage. the enactment of fraud and substantial economic recovery program.

despite republican opposition this stimulus was big enough and to make real positive impact on our economy. creating more than a million jobs already. but the jobs prices has escalated. the foreclosure crisis continues in wall street will return to its old ways precut by the way this is bonus week on wall street and watch how much a disciplined they show with all of the nation watching and watch and we amazed. we need the boldness and clarity that we saw in our president during the campaign in 2008. when he outlined of the scope of the economic problems facing our nation unencumbered by the political crosscurrents

weighing us down today. one year into the above the administration and with the congress that has strong democratic majority, we need leadership action that matches the urgency that is felt so deeply by working people in this country. [applause] too often washington falls into the grip of ambivalence about the fundamental purpose. is it to protect wealthy elites in gently encourage them to be more charitable? or is it to look after the vast majority of the american people? government in the interest of the vast majority of americans has produced our greatest achievement, the new deal, the great society

and the civil-rights movement, social security, medicare, minimum wage, at 40 hour week and civil-rights act and voting rights act. that is what made the united states a beacon of hope in a confused and divided world. too many people take for granted government's role as protector of wall street and the privilege. they see middle-class americans as overpaid, and underworked. they see social security as a problem rather than the only piece of our retirement system that actually works. day -- they fail to see the connections and in a quality and homelessness. the world view has brought democrats nothing but disaster.

they offered middle-class the false hope of tax cuts. tax cuts and up enriching the rich, devastating the middle class by destroying the institutions like public education and the social security that makes the middle class possible. are you trying to tell me something? [laughter] >> we are now with our ku and a point*. >> i am not done with what i have to say. [applause] >> it has been 25 minutes and we will start. >> did you wrap up in 30 seconds? >> i can wrap up in a couple minutes working people have been waiting 30 years. [applause] >> are you almost done?

>> i am. not a problem. this is what i have to say. no matter what i say or do come with the reality is when unemployment is 10% and rising, working people will not stand for tokenism. they will not vote for politicians who think they can push a few crumbs our way then continue the failed economic policies of the last 30 years. i will be more blunt. in 1992 workers voted for democrats who promised action on the job who talk about reining in corporate greed and health care reform and instead we were emboldened with wall street and not much more. we swallowed our disappointment and we worked to preserve a democratic majority in 1994 because we knew what the alternative was.

that there was no way to persuade enough working americans to go to the polls when they could not tell the difference between the policies of the two parties. so politicians to think working people who have it too good, too much health care, too much social security, too much medicare, too much power on the job, are actually inviting a repeat of 1994. [applause] >> our country cannot stand that. president obama said in his inaugural address the state of the economy calls for action, a bold and swift and we will act in not only to create new jobs but to lay a new foundation. but now is the time to make good on those. for congress, president obama and the american people. we have some ideas with

those people can do on the weekend if they don't believe us. go sit with the unemployed, talk to college students looking at tuition hikes and laid off professors and new jobs a graduation, talk to workers whose jobs are being far short and ask what these americans think about their future and ask them what they think of wall street, health insurance companies and big banks. ask them if they wanted government deficits in partnership with those folks for a government that stands up for working people. think about the great promise of america and the great legacy we have inherited. our wealth as a nation and our energy as a people can secure for us and our children and their words of my predecessor, samuel, a more schoolhouses and less jails, more books and less arsenals, more blurting and less voices more leisure and

less greed more justice and less revenge. in fact, cover more of the opportunities to cultivate our bett that is the america we look forward to. we look forward to getting it now. thank you. [applause] sorry about that. >> we will get started. >> please be seated. the estimate is below had no effect on employment and it was especially effective in the construction industry. why should there be another stimulus if this is the result of the first? >> good question. let's talk about history. with the first stimulus was thought about nobody thought the economy would be in a deeper recession as it

turned out to be. back then they said we need at least one point* $3,000,000,000,000.2 turn the economy around for remember that? the republicans stood up and fought against every last piece of the stimulus bill so we're able to get a bill that was two-thirds of what was needed and nonetheless our figures indicate and most economists figures indicate we're saving some jobs but we need a second stimulus package along the lines that we have lined out -- line of the afl-cio points to line of jobs broker we understand a double-dip recession because the states are not spending. workers are not spending. if we don't do something to create jobs and spending, the recovery that is taking over a little bit of the financial economy will take over. >> just mentioned the 5.plan

to stem unemployment you proposed in november it includes using t.a.r.p money for medium and small businesses. which plan has come to pass and which happen and when you meet mr. obama's today what will you tell him? >> first of all, today's meeting is not about the economy. some of the portion of the plan has been enacted. extending health care benefits, a covert benefits and unemployment. we suggested 12th month the house agreed the senate gave a two months suggestions and we will visit that. reauthorization of the transportation go, the house has done that the senate and hopefully is working on that. of reauthorization of the clean water act that house has done that hopefully the senate.

state and local governments is done a somewhat of the creation read needs to be much more because we have 48 states in danger of cutting spending and it does precious little good to increase spending at the federal level if the state level decreases by the same amount. creating jobs has not been taken up at yet with targeted job creation and last come with the t.a.r.p money has not been done yet. roads are not being made in middle sized manufacturers that can create jobs, we think we should take that t.a.r.p money that has been not spent or paid back and ascended through small regional banks so they can do immediate lending to help create jobs and hopefully we will see some of that happen. >> what do see as the major roadblock to getting that past? >> politicians.

[laughter] [applause] and a republican party more disciplined than anybody imagined that is determined to see the president fail. so they will not work in the interest of the country. they fought against health care, the stimulus package package, there was no alternative but to say no and rethink that is tragic for the country and we hope they finally come to their senses and think about what is best for the country instead of what is best for the next election. >> doesn't more stimulus signified more debt and how much gets to the systemic weaknesses that led to the recession? >> stimulus would help create jobs, not more debt. let me do a survey. how many people here can afford to live in the house

they are in? raise your hand. how many people paid cash for the house that they live been? one person? the rest of us had to buy on time. we can afford that house but we had to do it on time. it is the same thing with a jobs program. we can afford a job program of the size necessary for the economy we just may have to pay for it over time. it does not mean more debt but last that the more people we put back to work. with the chinese to spend 9 percent of gdp on stimulus and they spend all of it and china. we spent a little over 2% and we spent some of it in the united states but the most of it went out or some of it. a wind mehl. if you buy a window of a

broad, $0.62 out of every dollar is used to stimulate somebody else's economy rather than hours. we create jobs that creates demand that fuels the economy. someone to come back to the speech. the last 30 years we have had low-wage, high consumption and the economy. and to bridge that contradiction we borrowed. we now know that that is a system that's cannot endure. what is the new engine that fuels the economy? more debt? it has to be good jobs where the wealth that we produce is distributed a little more fairly so everybody can participate. one person, a millionaire with or one-person $100 creates less demand than 100

people with $1. we have to make sure the wealth is spread out more so we can build this economy. the other thing to be done is to reregulate. if we only stimulate the economy and go back to the same economy we had come with the same result will happen. the people at the top will walk away with the vast majority of what is produced and the rest of the country will see more jobs go overseas. we're at a crossroads. urging people to act quickly because they are suffering. if they don't come i think they truly will be in control of the american populace. >> the demand for shorter work time with the traditional response of shorter work time the

struggle for the eight hour day was the core of the policy during the demit depression the 30 hour work week was the priority why today are they not demanding a four day workweek? >> good question. let's start back and we would like to have a four day workweek but we have made no day workweek and are paid for new days. we are laid off. when wages started to stagnate, i need to go back. 1946 through 1973 wages doubled productivity -- and so did wages. we had a good thing going. we built the middle class the greatest expansion of wealth in the history of mankind. the interesting thing income was increasing faster than the people at the top so the wage gap was collapsed. 1973 through today productivity has continued

up but wages have stagnated. workers went through four or five different strategies to compete with that. when they stagnated first we tried to work longer hours to get over time to make up what we were not getting in raises. that did not work so then be sent to another person from the family into the work fayyad -- work force. when that didn't work we took on a second or a third job. that didn't work then we got lucky and we hit the high tech bubble of the '90s. people's wages were not going up but look at that 401(k)? they felt rich. so they felt like they could borrow and they did. then the high-tech bobble collapsed.

then people we got lucky again. the housing bobble took off. now my $100,000 house is worth $200,000 so i can borrow. so i did. so we have an economy that forces people just to get by and work longer and more jobs and the retirees whose pension has been taken away have to go back out into the work force. we should have a work system where we work fewer hours and make more money. but this economy and the last 30 years has made that impossible for most americans. it is an economy that has ground people up and taken jobs and turned back time and lower the wage. we have people working for wages today lower than they were in the '70s. you cannot work fewer hours on wages to pay for the 2010

commodities with wages of 1970. it is up to us to create the jobs. that is why the employee free choice act is important because we get a chance to make those jobs, a good jobs, create a better balance in the economy, create a real demand for product so we don't have to borrow our way into the middle-class the barded our way into the middle class. >> speaking of the employee free choice act would of the prospects for labor reform in 2010 even just a scaled-down version given the momentum shift against the democrats and general election year anxiety? >> you will see the employee free choice act passed first quarter 2010 and have real effect we will start creating and make real good

jobs in this country again. >> with regard to the employee free choice act it seems to and president of van the stern had different messaging. who is right? what is going on? >> the question is wrong. i never said there would be a vote. maybe he said that. but we are in 100% agreement i think everybody and the labor movement is 100% of the lockstep whether or not you are in the afl-cio. some health care at supporters express frustration that obama has not weighted more forcefully to shape legislation and push it through congress. have deerfield about the employee free choice act? >> the president fully supports it and the vice president supports it. vast majority members

support the employee free choice act and by the we will have the employee free choice act despite the efforts of the republican party and a group of business people who do not want labor form -- reformat all. >> what industries or companies should be targeted for unionization under employee free choice act? [laughter] will card check survive in the final bill? >> first of all, every shop should have a union. [applause] i believe better decisions are made when you sit at the table as the cool. i will give you a classic example. when my son was five years old he would say i want to do this and i would say no. and that is it. he did not have been a kind

of leverage or bordering power and could not go to any higher authority. he had no bargaining power. two minutes later my wife comes up to me. [laughter] and she says i want to get a new car and i say let's sit down and talk about this. it is a different process because we come to the table. we came with almost the same bargaining power but i was still on the short and. that is what a union does. one worker against the employer it does not matter how right righteous, you have no ability to do anything. but no matter what the group is if you have people who were sitting down and working and we can work together more effectively and create partnerships where we really do take on what i consider to be the

opponents and the second of all come abetted decision. >> or look added a different way you can legislate every issue so every health and safety issue can get legislated. that is a real mess because you cannot create a one-size-fits-all, a collective bargaining allows to tailor every decision or every problem for the best of those two parties it is a great solution. >> would you be willing to except a compromise that dropped card check with binding arbitration? >> of the person that asks the question has the power to do that, by will bargain with do otherwise i make it had not to. >> thanks to the mold of the tsa director nominee, labor relations has been inserted

into the controversy over the beach right bombing scare. how would allow tsa to bargain affect security? >> if you think it would have the adverse effect on security but i make the case his hold on having a leader is lessening security in this country because they have the interim leader. [applause] but they don't have a leader for tsa. i think that has the adverse effect -- affect. let's see. a private can be in the union and they are. the flight attendants can be in a union and they are. the mechanics and all of the ground personnel can be and a union and they are. but the people that check them somehow if they are in

a union, somehow that adversely affects national security? i do not get the logic of it. i think they were in a union we would have better security in this country. and talk to them. they are overworked come to view a round at least we could say this is what is necessary for real security at the airports. we will bring a union to every tsa people and more security two fed tsa worksites. [applause] >> will you actively oppose the health bill if the senate favored tax is in there? >> we are working diligently for decades to get health care bill passed and we're not about to stop now. i am not about to speculate what will be in the bill or would not blow be in the

bill. it is inadequate from our point* of view it does not deserve the support of working men and women that we are a long way from the finish line and we will try to get a bill that does and should and will garner the support of the working people in this country because bringing health care to every citizen out there is too important to get this close than say that we quit. [applause] >> we're almost out of time before i ask the last question we have important matters to take care of. love me remind the remembers of future speakers we have the honorable mr. romney from massachusetts will be here. april 12, dennis quaid to the actor will discuss the prevention of potentially deadly medical in paris. july to present our guest with the at much coveted 10 pc month.

[applause] but we will only give you have a cup of coffee because your speech went over. >> if you gave me a full cup it would have gone in hour. >> your meeting with the president this afternoon what will you be telling him? >> we will talk about the weather, a weekend football game and who will win the super bowl, a health care, . [laughter] health care. >> what is the message? what is the one thing you want to come away? >> we will talk to the president among friends trying to solve problems. i will not go into what we will talk about but trying to solve problems. >> okay. would like to thank you for coming today. i appreciate it.

really. [laughter] [applause] i would also like to thank national press club staff members joanne booze it, melinda cook and pat nelson also for the research the video archive of today's luncheon is provided by the national press club operations center. they are available for free download on itunes as well as our website and you can purchase transcripts by e mailing us at archives@press.org. for more information about national press club please go to our website at press.org. i think you and we are adjourned. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations]

>> good evening. my name is leon from a e.i. it is my pleasure to welcome news to the bradley lecture and to extend a special welcome to those of you joining us through the wonderful efforts of c-span. the next brad the venture will take place in february when it professor andrew from university of virginia will speak on the topic, i do liberals know best? intellectual self-confidence and claims to a monopoly of knowledge. it did enormous pleasure and distinct privilege to introduce today's speaker my former student and a colleague and now my friend

and teacher who talks at the public policy center and editor at the new quarterly magazine. offering advice neil strauss once widely suggested one should always assume there is one the silent student in your class two is buy far superior to you in head and heart. when first appearing a decade ago in my class is comity 19 was not quite silent but soon became apparent especially through his writings and his manner he was the type of student strauss wanted teachers to imagines march and deep. from israel to new jersey at age 80 he had come to the committee on un of social thought through capitol hill working for new to gingrich

he landed after completing undergraduate studies at american university. of the bachelor thesis a youthfully ambitious account of the world of recent and social thought from antiquity to modern times. [laughter] was published in 2000 under that title the tyranny of reason. although distinguishing himself in graduate school he fortunately was drawn to public affairs he joined the staff in several capacities in rising to become the executive director. he served as associate director of white house domestic policy council with the george to be bush administration that included health care and cultural life issues before taking a president's at the ethics of public policy center 2006. senior editor of the new atlantis a contributing editor from "the national

review" and has written many important essays and review of the "wall street journal", "new york times", a "washington post" and also regularly for "newsweek" on topics ranging from immigration, social indicators of welfare to health care science and stem cell policy partisan politics and political candidates. on this side he has managed to edit a rescind a e.i. volume on religion and has produced a remarkable book of his own imagining the future of science and american democracy a sober and lucid book to reveal the deep and decisive differences between the roles and conservatives retarding how they think about the future. there is more. with other attention he has

said doctoral dissertation on the thought of edmund burke and tom is paid which shows the differences between them faithful to their time and thought and weighs settle the debate the fundamental differences between the borough and conservative thought today. find of the common september 2009 saw the first issue of national affairs. which represents for those of us who were nurtured by him, nothing less than the rebirth of the public-interest risen like a phoenix from the ashes. happily our late dear friend live to see the rebirth and perhaps wrote his last letter a note of congratulations and encouragement to yuval levin. is a man of clear thought, a good sense and shrewd judgment with lacking all petty this am blessed with a

quick 10 and a generous spirit and a prestigious capacity for good works. like his hero, but yuval hopes to have a respect for tradition and reform with their love of country and a founder appreciation of life that is made possible for so many. teachers often flatter their students by telling them they have learned more from them than they have imparted but in the present case is the absence of truth. with eager anticipation of afford to his lecture recovering the case for capitalism which promises to instruct the home team of the economist of how best to understand that economic system under which we live and for the most part, a flourish. please during may in giving a warm welcome to yuval levin. [applause] >>

>> thank you very much. icahn nine cell you how much that means to me. they all of you for being here and many things to a e.i. for the invitation to speak to night. it is great. [laughter] i have done that many times. for me it is a great and humbling honor to be asked to deliver a bradley lecture and while i sir they know i do not believe -- belong in the week of those who deliver them it is great to be in their company. a e i is the appropriate place to take up the subject , but the question of of capitalism in this very complicated moment we are living in. let's think about that question and that moment.

for friends of capitalism the last two years have not been pleasant. first came a cascade of market committee's that are the most cliche and with reckless investors and irresponsible farming and wild speculation and charlatans and financial collapse and retirees losing life savings while wall street back cats get bonuses even alan greenspan apologizing to the congressional committee for keeping their brains to lose. that washington was just as disconcerting if partially excusable by the panic. the middle of last year the federal government owned the largest bay, insurance company and auto maker and managed a substantial portion of the financial sector and was the clearing winners and losers ad hoc. government spending has exploded a and lawbreakers

big -- no the entitlement programs even as the fall into bankruptcy. it seemed this would cause the american people to lose its faith in the economy. rassman said all they found only 30 percent down capitalism was better than of socialism but that past. and has been replaced by populist discontent as much fat the government and as that the market. they should not take too much heart from this because it's just people aren't an easy today but it is not into an argument of capital this them or even a coherent case about the emerging contention in washington. we will need to explain what is a risky and what is at stake and why it matters. such an explanation is no simple matter. after decades of defending why inched or another we

have lost of what democratic capitalism is the strengths and weaknesses political and moral as well as an economic justification. therefore is a recovery of the understanding clarified that prescriptions for a better way. i hope to offer one brief sketch the end where it might direct us. a recovery of the case for capitalism should begin at the beginning when we want to become reacquainted we would be wise to start with a refreshing dip into the late 18th century. in this case we should begin by did begin to adam smith before returning to our own time. the father of modern economics was a student of human nature and of the theories of economy was part of a larger project.

swift began with a view of human nature is believed all those human beings were self interested they would be toward benevolence. it is with day self regard that expresses itself in desire for attention and praise and recognition and motivates human behavior even this of the begins with their cells and reveal for someone in distress but for smith the fact of the self regard shows approval shows of opening for moral registration for the little appetite to make civilization possible. to step in december the shoes and have some idea of doing if i am being observed and that imaginary impartial spectator is to begin a of social order and self restraint so with the moral conformity and social norms.

this is out and well functioning society the tendencies to self regard is with decency. but the well functioning society takes were cared require social institutions decide to channeled toward the moral for me should. those institutions were smith's lifelong obsession trying to shape human souls the great speaker of education is two direct vanity to proper objects he wrote in his first book the theory of moral sentiment. nobody says that the miss education it is not to fool men into acting well but the idea is to shape character and behavior and channel passions. this is a peculiar their moral obligation that there's no use to persuade men to be virtuous no

recitation of the catechism will do the trick. it is the experience of life and society that developed through that the bill did human beings that modern virtues that has prudence, industry frugality honesty civility and liability. days of the virtues of the liberal society and a low but solid that could be widely shared and not just cultivated for a few and label for a stable and productive lives. these are the altar of version of self commander self control. this is what the smith thinks is the key. "it is not only itself a great virtue but all the rest seemed to derive the principal luster. he defined self demand for delayed gratification and restraint on the appetite or disciplined.

the great project is a transformation for self regard by means of social institution to direct the 82 proper objects. by ranging human relations so there is praise or benefit to be gained he hopes to about people to exercise virtue to improve circumstances. his ambitions are practical life in a free society consist "uniform constant and and interrupted effort to every man to better his condition" end quote. that modern improvement makes this impossible and unwise legislator will the ranging so those are valued and rewarded. smith new this arrangement would not be under management it is just too complicated like this teacher adam ferguson smith was and is the fascinated by the intentions motivating our actions and those

consequences. rather than by coercion it would be accomplished in a general way through for bad establish rules of the game intended to draw self-interest to people toured these it needs without forcing particular outcomes. smith made the case for the general approach and four years later his lectures on jurisprudence with social arms created this way it is formalized into specific areas. he collected and expanded the portions of those lectures with labor and commerce into a book about political economy caldwell the nation's and published in that fateful year of great ideas for growth economics was just one element but a particularly important one. as a good liberal he's thought it would be at the center of moral philosophy and bob welch was a

precondition recant care for others if we ourselves are hungry. it required a developed economic teaching built around institutional arrangements that could help produce prosperity rather encouraging discipline with moderate virtues by making self demand to better our condition. the wealth of nations offers such a teaching and institution. the wealth of nations begins with a fact, not an argument that the division of labor made enormous improvements in efficiency and quality production dividing and subdividing manufacturing processes saves a great deal of time and ever and creates specialization. rather than each man knowing a little about what each becomes an expert and sells his expertise to others and that way all work is done by

experts and each person can trade on the value give a reason to improve the process and products. the process of exchange is the arena in which labored goods and services are bartered and delays at the heart of the modern economy but the rules are not self legislating were naturally obvious. on the contrary, the market is a public institution that requires rules imposed that understand the workings and the benefits. this is where great insight comes in. and to the reading economic philosophy each of the european powers that market rules that said the interest of trading companies to work closely with the government to put economic policy to be the national interest. in stead come smith argues legislators should govern the markets in the interest

of a common consumer consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production and in the interest of the producer only so far as maybe necessary bedded is so perfectly self-evident it would be absurd to prove it but the mercantile system, the interest of the consumer is almost constantly sacrificed to evolution. by turning fell logic on its 10 to establish a market for the good of the consumer smith believed they could on the ship and thence productivity and wealth that a turkish moderation and order. serving the good of the consumer would mean improving uniform role -- rules with all buyers and sellers. these rules which smith called the system of natural liberty would allow participants to set prices and values by free

negotiation in which no player is allowed to use coercion to compel of price other than the market. the system involves natural the pretty not in this sense it is a work of nature but no player or an outsider may impose artificial prices so only than natural price can prevail. this would make pricing more efficient with direct capital more efficiently than if legislator would and would help the best producers prospered. that does not mean it would serve every individual self-interest smith did not think it was a per for terminate of interest many merchants would be better off without competition and many would use the power to call on friendly politicians to avoid competition but a system of uniformly applied rules that does not have powerful merchants would better serve most people to

serve the wealth of the nation as a whole. smith has an unusual definition "the wealth of the state consist from the provision of all other necessary and convenience is. the nation is will they would consumer items are inexpensive relative to the needs of the common people. nation is wealthy with a decent life is in the reach of most. this is a very democratic and populist notion. other broader the reach of the market, the more efficient it will be progress smith wants to encompass everyone and have society become one large market in which she writes every man is a merchant and society itself grows to be what is properly called a commercial society. a commercial society smith insist is a group society. wealth is necessary because it reduces the misery of the port and allows everyone to

be more sympathetic and degeneres. if their own misery pinches of severely we have no be sure to attend to that of our neighbor. and the market is not just a mechanism for roth production it is also a civilizing institutions. it makes human relations more dignified. the system of exchange as opposed aristocratic system allows the less privileged to redress society in terms of what they have to offer rather than what they need. smith puts of the famous passages go back it is not from the benevolence of the butcher or brewer or baker but the regard for their own interests. we address ourselves not to the humidity but self of and never talk of necessity but of the vintages. nobody but a bigger chooses to depend chiefly on the benevolence of his fellows the decisions. says smith is not saying it is degrading but depending

on others is demoralizing and extending the rule of the market to wall helps most avoid the fate and allows them to function as a dignified the quote group of the fundamentally popular democratic figure it is an important role point* quote magna society can truly be flourishing and happy of a far greater members are poor and miserable. his system would allow those to live off of wages to benefit more than any others. most important, the market is well designed to harness self regard for self command. players have a powerful incentive for what others will think as they have to appeal as customers. the virtues most valued are precisely with the virtues want honesty and reliability and in short, a disciplined. the markets is a powerful

tool of discipline and with demand and rewards of conformity and can spread into the larger society. when the greater part to of the people the merged company they bring punctuality into fashion and these are the sorts of virtues of commercial and patience. as it turns individual self-interest the market might turn individuals into self discipline and even a constructive risk venture and enterprise. it is crucial to see self demand and discipline not freedom lay at the heart of capitalism and yes the market evolves free competition that is free of the undue influence not free as the existential and ideological matter. they are forced with government power and kept by regulation and law for the greater good.

cement advocating capitalism because it makes three impossible not because it is freedom. it makes freedom possible by guiding people to choose to obey the rules. the question is given that of men are profoundly imperfect can they be made to what to do good so they're not forced? smith insist through his writings the answer is yes in the free market is one way to make that happen. it is an answer to the problem of appetite. not unleashing the appetite but self discipline and restraint not against the argument for the need for it. but smith might be the first to say it hardly guarantees the consequences and without question the moral case for capitalism and especially as a system of discipline has long been subject to serious criticism to recover the case beyond adam smith's original formulation we are

taking the criticism seriously. there is not today and never has been a serious economic peak of the fundamental tenets of capitalism but oral day shall the world critiques. proposing alternative systems, offered moral systems not genuine economic theory. tomorrow critiques of capitalism 102 fall into two categories. one, up popular with kindest is capitalism is unfair to the poor. this is nonsense. the port in the west have had no greater deliver then adam smith. it is true in a quality person is. the standard of living has driven-- dramatically and the potential to escape poverty is never great then

a capitalist economy. today and has far more to do with culture than economic injustice. but that very point* brings us to the second and more serious critique fabs the empty social life of any higher meeting grows bankrupt even as it grows materially wealthy. is capitalism just a means to replace material poverty? is it the moneymaking machine that burns social capital for its fuel? this line of criticism has a very long pedigree with some of the earliest critics from capitalism to the present day from romantics to moralist and post-modern and also recalls the classical and christian critiques lacking and especially with discipline and trade aimed at profits this most reprehensible since the desire knows no bounds.

adam smith accepted on the contrary the market with discipline society sets on our appetite but as it turns out the capital this stage is not an age of discipline but far from it. our society is a steady of the unfounded appetite the chief problem is resulting from sexual restraint and personal responsibility and the popular culture much of the time is a diabolical mix of vulgarity and the public life is unrestrained gluttonous feast upon the flash of the future. we borrow then more we can pay and use more than read for all of our immense wealth we still manage to live beyond our means. it is almost fair to say we lack for nothing except discipline but as adam smith can tell us disciplined is what we require to be free. this is no small problem so what happens?