something the president did. he took very bold action by making an investment and working with the big automobile corporations. and some of you may say well, i don't fully agree with all of that but you know what, let me tell you, those autoworkers right now back on the job they are mighty proud that they have a good paying job the assembly lines are running and producing energy efficient vehicles and people in those towns that were pretty much wiped out in the last few years are now back on-line consuela and now we have more autoworkers working on different shifts and three or four shifts in the day now that's the story of to tell we are not going to let these jobs overseas and invest right here in the usa in effect during jobs

are very important to our economy and the president knows this and so do i., and that's why it's important for us to do everything we can to make sure families have the ability to get into good paying jobs that are producing good product sand services here in these united states to read and jobs for justice, we can't do it on our own, we need your help, we need to also help you to have your voice is heard but right now as you know in states around the country, state officials, governors are using this financial crisis to use an excuse to take this country on a downward spiral and to attack collective bargaining rights. you and i know that is not the way to go and in places like wisconsin and ohio to fight back defending labor unions that built america's middle class.

we helped collect 1.3 million signatures in ohio citizens can vote out there to have their voices heard. [applause] and the six officials who stood against public sector workers are now facing a recall election. [applause] they need to understand american workers still want and need a seat and a voice at the table. we no collective bargaining did in that seat and that voice to demand the working conditions to make livable wages to provide for their families. to give them dignity and respect and the chance to run a better life for themselves and their children. president obama understands labor unions are not the cause of america's crisis and

problems. they've always been a part of the solution in our opinion. [applause] in the day, the union have always helped to clear the path refer people to get into the middle class. as soon as the president took office he signed solicited orders to of all government money being spent on union busting activities, he supported a strong national mediation board committed to ensuring that union elections are space and under the old law to give you an example anyone who didn't vote in an election was counted as a vote against the yen and that doesn't make sense and now counting the votes like any other election. [applause] at ar department of labor we are doing our part, too.

we've recently proposed new rules requiring employers to report spending on those attorneys and consultants to persuade workers not to form a union. a very important role that you need to know about. [applause] we believe workers have a right to know who's trying to influence them and how much a company's earnings are being spent on anti-union activities. there was some good news recently for those who believe in collective bargaining, and i am asking you to recall the 40,000 tsa workers who recently were able to vote to form a union night for the first time. [applause] these are important milestones for the women and men who keep airports safe but just recently, yesterday in fact what about those 4,000 workers that are

going to go back to work and the 70,000 construction workers that will be back on the building and repairing our air force. that took leadership, and again, thank the administration for that. but believe me, i want to tell you that i do know what it means to be a part of the union and what they represent. and i know that because of the very early age and my own household it became very clear to me. my father represented the teamsters. he was a shop steward. he represented immigrant workers in a battery recycling plant. my mother worked many years of a toy factory that i will not name and who later fled the state and went south and never came back. but she worked there very proudly with the united workers, and i will never forget that. growing up in the committee in a small town in california it was

hard for our family, a family of immigrants, first generations of the air wasn't always fit to breathe, the environment wasn't always clean. in my community we lived near several superfund sites ha, gravel pits, polluted land fills and one that was just close to a school yard elementary school that was one of the largest in landfills in the country. and several miles away the area code is my note to one no -- [laughter] beverly hills there are zero land phyllis or chemical plants. i grew up with a very strong understanding that there were haves and have-nots in this world. but my father taught me about the difference that a union can make in the lives of workers and their families. and growing up, i remember very distinctly sitting down with my

father. he would say to me in spanish [speaking spanish] come sit here in the kitchen table. and i would thought what i do? am i in trouble? and he said no. he would reach into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled papers, maybe four or five and there were scribblings on there in spanish and he would begin to recite all was written and he had me translate them in english. and basically what they were for grievances of the workers that he represented at the battery recycling plant. they were given meager pay, the work was dirty and very harmful and the conditions as you know are unsafe and it wasn't fair. my dad, rolph, told me that injustice in the workplace exist and that workers needed to have a voice and someone to represent them in the workplace. my mother also helped teach me

to honor and respect all caregivers to keep our families strong. one of her first job is when she immigrated here to this country was to serve as a domestic worker. this was before i was even born. but from what she told me the problems she faced back then are very much the same that millions of women face today. a domestic workers and do some of the hardest working out there and it does matter. [applause] it matters to the elderly man who needs help opening up his bottle of medicine or taking a bath or changing his clothes. for countless loved ones, domestic workers are sometimes the first face they seek in the morning and the last one they will see before they go to sleep at night. domestic workers give soldiers

themselves physically and emotionally and they are indeed professionals that we rely on. [applause] yet millions of home care workers struggle to get by if living near poverty levels. urning a median income in many cases of less than $17,000 a year to read and through your caring across generations campaign, you have helped to give them a voice so they can demand better wages, dignity and respect no matter who they are. [applause] i said this before and i will say it again all workers have protections under laws of this great country, the united states of america. [applause] we need to nurture the

contributions of our immigrant workers so we can win the global race to help build, to out and educate and out innovate our global competitors and that's why president obama will not let up on our fight for a more sane and humane 21st century immigration system in that packet of immigration reform we cannot forget our children. so it is very, very important that you all understand that this president is fighting hard alongside many people in the cabinet, myself and others to help pass the dream act.

>> katella deily katella the and patriotism of the students who left the country to the path of citizenship to those who serve in our military or excel in the classroom. they are in fact our future. and in spanish b.c. [speaking spanish] we don't give a person to lose our talent to spare especially in the hard economic times and i know people are struggling right now and i travel around the country and i hear many stories and with the housekeepers who were here please stand and be recognized. [applause] [applause]

>> it breaks my heart not only as labor secretary, but as the daughter of proud working immigrants. it earlier this year we were reminded by the 100th anniversary of the triangle fire 136 people mostly immigrant women and girls tragically lost their lives. the triangle left many lessons from which they can all learn from and i pay particular attention to three of them. we must defend and protect our most vulnerable workers. we have to be vigilant on the worker's safety for all of our workers and workers must have a right to organize and to bargain

collectively and that is a space principle. [applause] we invited a group of women organizers for the first time ever in our history to the white house and the told us why and for the chosen to organize the work place is not. we've heard from a child care worker in ohio and a domestic worker in new york, and we heard from a ernestine who works at a wal-mart and at a t-mobile call center. visa women have their voices heard and they made it very clear that after a century, after the trial, the triangle fires the workers still need and

want a voice at the table and up their jobs and about a better wages and benefits and we still have more to do. a collective bargaining still needs to see the table to demand things like decent working conditions that are healthcare and safe workplaces. it means respect and above all dignity and a chance for all of us, our children and generations of children to earn a better life and in this country and thanks to your effort and the jobs of justice and for your continuing efforts for working people making progress in so many ways. the fight now is a fight for our lifetime. something that we can't forget so for the men and women and for our children and grandchildren

let us take inspiration from our history hour own parents and families that have struggled and hope for progress and change. and let us make that commitment here today together to get this country back on track to read to do this for all america so that we can stand proudly again and shine that light of hope to many on this planet who would love to call america their home. i am moved by what you'll have been doing. please note that you have an advocate of supporters in the president strongly believes in everything that you and you need to know that. this president, this administration coming and you can't forget that. and we need you now more than ever especially in this crisis

that we are having come a crisis but would like to rot many of our young people of their future, of their likelihood in this country, the fight is a big fight, but it's one we can win because we have seen it happen not too long ago and i hope that you will all remain steadfast, ready and prepared for what's ahead. hope is coming and it is here for many of us to read it is for me and i know it is for people i have been able to see across this country because now they have a voice and people are listening. secure voice is loud and clear, don't forget who you are and how needed your voices are when you go back and come back to your states and to your communities back to your churches and please of a planet or the schools you need to let people know that we are by your side. i want to ask one last thing. this last week i get the

privilege of spending some time and 40 acres in california near fresno where the farm worker movement began with cesar chavez and richard chavez and i reminded of the anomaly presented by the father at the time that was presiding and he said above all, what we need to remember is to respect all workers regardless of where they come from, what means they have or don't have, but to always place than first. that is what cesar chavez did and richard chavez did, that is what the continue to do, that is what we will continue to do. thank you. [speaking spanish] and yes, we can. thank you. [applause]

[chanting "usa!"] thank you again for your tremendous advocacy of leadership on behalf of working americans. you have truly been a voice for working people and we are very honored that you are here with us. again, let's give a warm welcome. she made the sport in her schedule to be here with us this morning. thank you

>> along the same lines, and since you mentioned it yourself, do you feel any similar views with regard to the religious issue that our protestants versus x number of catholics, x number of jewish folks, doesn't matter? >> do you know what? as my dad used to say, to make a long story unbearable, that's a

question i have heard before, and i have, i have a somewhat long answer to but i hope you will bear with me. one of the great things about studying the supreme court is that the membership of the court reflects the, what matters in the country at large. in the early part of the republic is the big differences, everybody was a protestant. that was not an issue. but the regional differences were what really mattered at the supreme court. because that's what mattered in the country. it was very important that the be a new york justice, that there be a massachusetts justice, a virginia justice. that reflected the political controversies of the day. now not very important. we had to justices from arizona for a long, long time, a relatively small state.

so what? nobody cared. the country started to change. in the late 19th century, immigration really was changing the country. so you started to have that be important to the supreme court. you had the first catholic justice. who was the guy who wrote dred scott. why am i blanking on his name? bad decision. chief justice tawny was the first catholic justice on the court. turn of the century. a lot of jewish immigration. you start of, justice brandeis, justice cardozo. the first jewish seats. the country starts to be, the big issues in the country in the middle of the century civil rights. thurgood marshall. very important milestone in the country, 1981, the first woman on the court.

2009, sonia sotomayor, the first hispanic justice. as an overlay to that you have the evolution of six catholics and three jews. i actually think that is not very important and very significant. because john roberts and samuel alito were not appointed by president bush because they are catholic, but they were appointed because they're conservative. the real divisions in the country now are ideological more than religious, or racial. president obama didn't the point sonia sotomayor patricia's catholic and elena kagan because she's jewish. he appointed them because ideologically they were in line with them. but i think it's actually one of the good things about american society that religious differences have faded to the point where the fact there are no protestants on the supreme court is, so what? and that's really sort of my reaction is so what.

>> state courts are grappling with cameras in the courtroom, and we note from kathie that there's not likely to be cameras in the supreme court anytime -- >> the famous phrase was over his dead body. >> so what do you think about that? do you think would help the public's perception and understanding of the supreme court? or do you think it's a good thing they don't have been? >> i think it's absurd and ridiculous that there are no cameras in the supreme court. you can tell how much my opinion matters in that debate. look, you know, i think there are reasonable arguments to be made. i'm not persuaded by them, but reasonable arguments that in trial courts we have civilian witnesses, where you have jurors, they cameras could have some effect. but in the appellate courts where you're dealing with professional lawyers, professional judges, i think it

is absurd that there are no cameras in the court. and i was amused to see that justice ginsburg gave a speech just a couple weeks ago i think, i forgot where it was, where she, she plucked out some funny and vaguely embarrassing comments that the justices had made during oral arguments, and said, and then conclude by saying as you can see, we will not be allowing cameras in the courtroom anytime soon. because would be embarrassing to the stuff on kim. imagine if you came to the supreme court in a first amendment case and said, your honor, the reason we kept the stuff from the public as we thought it might be embarrassing. they would laugh you out of court. but look, it is their candy store. and fairest to the supreme court, i think the court is an institution that works very well the way it is. i understand they're reluctant to tamper with it. but i just think, to say an event is public in 2011 because

75 people, or whoever it is, ken troop in there and watch, i think it isn't unduly limited reading of the word public. now, i do think the court has done well, or better, on the issue of audio. and i really do -- the room out as many of you know, the ideal recordings are released every friday. it's sort of to step forward, one step back. they used to release the important cases of af. navvy just released them all at the end of the week. look, beggars can't be choosers. i think that's an improvement. i wouldn't be surprised if in 10 years the arguments were streamed live over the web. because that would really require no disruption at all of

the supreme court building, the architecture, the microphones are there now. no one would see anything different. and i think with younger justices, both justice sotomayor and justice kagan in the confirmation hearings were much more receptive to the issue of cameras. so audio i think is sort of on a march in the right direction. video is a different story. you would have to put cameras in the court. the justices are appropriate and understandably very jealous and protective of the supreme court's building. you might have to change the lighting. all of that, you know, i can see why they would pause on that. but still it's the public's business. and i think it should be open to the public, but it ain't going to happen anytime soon. just?

>> yes? are we done? okay. thank you for having me. [applause] >> a panel of latino elected officials talks about voting trends, the census, redistricting in the 2012 elections. the national association of latino elected and appointed officials posted this discussion in san antonio, texas, at its annual meeting in june. it's an hour and 20 minutes. >> that was quite some time ago. but it was really the two years

ago when national hispanic organizations like those that are represented up here, along with others, and national hispanic media companies like ours, along with others, convened for the very first time to begin planning the campaign that would result in the 2010 census count. and as we came together we clearly understood what the challenges were. everybody in this room knows them personally. the issues of fear, the issues of status, the transient sea of our community. and just misunderstanding about what the census means. we also recognize the important benefits that come with a complete count. the federal resources that we need to improve our schools, our infrastructure, our transportation. and most importantly, the designation of no political boundaries. what developed out of those

meetings was the most comprehensive and arguably the most effective campaign of its tight. the results of these efforts were impressive. latino participation rates in the census overall were historically high, and the outcomes both in terms of the growth rates and the characteristics of our population, were heralded by virtually every media outlet in america. "the wall street journal" front-page captured the sentiment with the headlines let team those feel growth in the decade. and as if you saw saw the from page there was a map and over the map the headline, loss united states. >> and as you all know it wasn't just in the traditional urban centers like los angeles and houston and new york. it was all across america. and in the committees like akron, nashville and indianapolis. latinos are changing the face of

america. so now we turn to the topic of this morning, what do these demographic shifts mean, and how does the community now turn those numbers into clout? this morning will hear from a prominent leader in the field, arturo vargas, of course your leadership. a nationally recognized expert in redistricting, latino demographic trends and the census. arturo will discuss the impact of those numbers. the latino vote for 2008 and 2010, and the implications as we set forth on the election cycle for 2012. and i think we'll hear for the very first time projection for 2012 latino turnout. nina perales is the director of litigation at maldef. her litigation has included successful statewide redistricting cases in both texas and arizona. she will talk about maldef's

efforts in the southwest. opportunities to advance latino political progress, areas and challenges. she will be followed by juan cartagena who was recently elected president and general counsel for latino justice prldf. juan is a well-known civil rights attorney, has extensive litigation experience in areas of voting rights, employment discrimination, education and language rights. he will share his views on redistricting, especially as relates to the eastern coast dates and florida. i'm going to wrap up the panel by asking a few questions that will extend beyond redistricting and politics into other areas that we all care about. education, immigration, and political empowerment. so we hope to spark a lot of debate and discussion this morning, and going to start off by hearing from arturo who will talk about the results of the

2008, 2010 elections and implications of 2012. >> thank you, monica. and once again welcome everybody. before we get into our projection for 2012, what i would like to do is remind us a bit about the impacts of latino voters and the impact we had in the 2008 and 2010 elections. let's not forget the size of impact we had in the past two elections. so i'm going to take you back, if we can get our powerpoint up, take you back to 2008. and remind us that not on the latinos have an impact in november of that year, but there was a decisive role that latinos played in both republican and democratic primaries. with regard to the republican primary, race between mitt romney and john mccain who

were the ones leading as they went into the florida primary. essentially, john mccain not carry the state of florida he probably would've dropped out of the race. but because john mccain carried florida with more than 50% of the hispanic vote, he won that state and put them on a trajectory to win the nomination. had no hispanic vote in the republican primary of 2008 in florida, mitt romney would have edged out john mccain. in the democratic contest between obama and, senators obama and clinton, we remember senator obama had a huge lead having won the primaries in iowa, new hampshire and nevada. yet on super tuesday, senator clinton was able to get the lion share of the vote by caring states like california, which had a colossal 370 delegates, making her competitive throughout the primary season. senator clinton was able to stay in the race to the very end on the strength of her hispanic support.

so we were decisive in both defining the outcome of the republican primary race, and influencing the contest on the democratic race. and, of course, on november 8 pashtun november 4, 2008, 2.7 million latinos were heard at the polls and were able to be decisive in a number of states turning the election for senator obama in that contest. and then just last year we saw again a historic impact of latino voters and candidates old hat on the race. we had projected last year 6.5 main latinos would vote in that election. now these numbers have come out and 6.6 million latinos participated in that race. not bad by just being off by 1000 hitting it almost on the mark.

[applause] >> so to distort things about that contest last year. latino voters had a decisive impact. many attribute the democrats being able to hold onto the u.s. senate by virtually latino vote in states like colorado where michael bennet was able to be elected after having been appointed to the seat in colorado. harry reid being able to maintain his seat in nevada, and in california being able to carry all of the statewide races for the democrats. however, on the republican side we truly saw a historic development with the election of marco rubio to the united states senate. we saw the first latino governor elected in a state of nevada, and the first latina ever elected governor of any state with election of martinez as the first woman governor, first latino governor of the state of

new mexico. and then historic gains by republicans in united states house of representatives, more than doubling the numbers from three to seven with the election of the first latinos to represent states of washington and idaho in the u.s. congress, and the elections of mr. canseco will be with us on saturday, and bill floris here in the state of texas. so, decisive impacts in 2008. decisive impact in 2010 for voters. let's talk about last year's 2010 census. the population increased by about 10% nationally. yet the latino population increased by 43%, in fact latinos for more than half of the total u.s. population growth. let's think about it this way. i think it helps is remind us about the growth of our community and how much of an impact we're having on the

demographics of this country. the united states grows by a person every 15 seconds. every 30 seconds that person added to this country is a latino or latina. so think about it. we been sitting here in this room for about 20 minutes. do the math. that's how much our community continues to grow and how much we continued to contribute to this country. now, we are also able to prevent net decline in a number of states in the last decade. states like illinois, new jersey and new york would actually have lost population, net population, had it not been for the increase of latinos. but the story of the 2010 census is twofold. the first deadline was the rise of latino south where we saw increases in states such as south carolina, north carolina, georgia, and certainly here in

texas. texas experienced the largest increase of latinos, 4.3 million added to the country -- i mean to this day. latinos accounted for 65% of texas total population increased. the second headline of the 2010 census is the usefulness of the latino population. now, on april 1, 2010, almost 24 young people needing every single american under 18 years of age in the country was a latino. more than half of all the young people in the state of california and new mexico are latino. about 40% of all the young people in arizona and nevada are latino. and here in the state of texas, 48% of every single texan under the age of 18 is a latino. as i keep reminding ourselves, we are not a minority population. we are a future population.

[applause] >> so, the immediate impacts of the 2010 census is the shift of political power. from the northeast and midwest to the south and to the west. and it is i think fairly obvious that states of nevada, utah, arizona, texas, the carolinas and florida all have more clout in congress by virtue of the increase other latino population. and we shortly will hear from my colleagues who are the experts in voting rights law to talk about how we are doing in terms of converting those numbers into political record -- representation. this has now set the stage for 2012. we know we can make a difference in both political parties, primary elections. in a primary system. we know that we can make a

difference in a national election for president. we know we can make a difference in midterm congressional elections. we know that our numbers have increased exponentially from 2000-2010. where one out of six americans, one out of four young people. we are poised now to continue that trend in 2012. so based on what has happened in the past, this is what naleo is projecting for latino turnout next year. national we anticipate that 12.2 million latinos will go to the polls next november. that's a 25% increase in voters from 2008, and we will become 8.7% of the national share of all voters. we know there's a difference state to state. arizona will have 360,000 latino turnout for the polls, almost 4 million latinos we project will vote in california. more than 1.6 million in

florida. we see exponential increases in the states of latino votes. in states like illinois, new jersey, new mexico, new york and texas, our number of voters will also continue to increase. here in the lone star state we project nearly 2 million latinos will go to the polls in november 2008. that's the good news. we will continue to seek historic numbers of latino voters in next years election. we anticipate that the road to the white house in 2012, once again, we'll go through latino communities, that both political parties and the candidates that present themselves to the presidency when the system have to a latino strategy to capture their share of the vote nationally. but a sobering statistic about the work we have ahead of us. so, this one shows the steady increase of latino voters from

presidential elections to presidential elections. it shows how in 2008, nine points among latino turnout at the polls. and our projection of 12.2 million latinos in 2012. which is tracked very closely of the number we project to be registered to vote in next year's election. and how that is tracked very closely. this is the number of latinos who can vote. in fact, the number of latinos who are eligible to vote is growing faster and greater than the number of latinos who do vote. every election we do make incremental increases, but we need to do more to turn out the people who are eligible to vote. by 2012, 2.4 million more latinos will enter the potential electorate at largely based on

the power of latino youth who are turning 18 years of age every single year. we will see nearly two and a half million more latinos become eligible to vote, and people we need to engage. the fact that we are not closing that gap between that greenline and that blue line is our challenge. there are a number of things i think we need to do to make sure that we can make a difference here in these projections. number one, i think we need to change the way we fund, the way we encourage people to get out and vote. we starve the civic engagement infrastructure every off year election. organizations like the naleo educational fun and 2011, we are not able to raise the resources to invest infrastructure, to the capacity to be able to prepare for the elections in 2012. and then come election time and money goes out very close to

election time, you try to mobilize latino voters. we need to change that. we need to defend the funding network whether that the individual phone -- owners or foundations, need to be consistent and persistent throughout every single year. we cannot starve specific engagement system every other year, then throw money at the system every other year and expect us to be effective and turnout the vote. number two, i think we need to be much more direct with latino voters. we need to be straight with them and tell them that it's not just about this one election or this one campaign, or this one candidate for this one initiative. that if you just know this one time in your life will change. it's not going to happen. nothing changes with just one election. we know that. it changes with the consistent and sustained participation of people in the political process.

and that's the message we need to start mitigating to our people. that we need to develop a culture of participation where voting every year is something we do. it's not something we wait for every four years or every two years. it's something we do day in and day out. that's the message we need to change. number three, we need to reach the unengaged. those millions of young people are entering the electorate, the millions of latinos who stay home and don't vote in the elections. that 9.7 million latinos voted in 2008, 20 million latinos stayed home in that election. we project will point to the latinos will vote in 2012, but we also reject another 12 million will stay home. that 12 million, we need to reach out to them. we need to find out who they are. we need to get into the head and convince and find out what messages they listen to, who they find credible, and

determine what will motivate them to vote in the election. that requires investment in civic engagement strategies to convince this population to participate. because a less were able to do that, and thus were able to make more than just incremental increases in out a letter from election cycle two election cycle, we truly will not be able to hold accountable our government for our communities interest. so with that i would like to now invite nina perales to share with us how we're doing in terms of turning these numbers into clout as we're marching the participatory process. thank you. [applause] >> i think is latino justice because i think the powerpoint is up. juan, you are up.

it is nina? >> i don't have a powerpoint. that was what was causing some of the confusion. thank you very much for having me today. it's an honor. fema thus far, at least from what maldef is observing and redistricting is that there is substantial growth of the latino community, but the government bodies that the redistricting are not rushing to create latino opportunity districts. anybody was done redistricting before a sitting here not particularly surprised. latinas are growing as arturo mentioned in traditional areas, states that have had historically substantial latino populations, including texas, california, illinois, florida, new york. but latinos are also growing in new areas, areas where one doesn't necessary expect to see

sizable latino populations. just for example, kansas, north carolina, georgia. i saw a statistic the other day that there are more latinos in north carolina than there are in nevada. and i found that very surprising. it's not what you would usually expect. as a result of latino growth and other demographic shifts, congressional seats, the seats in the u.s. house of representatives, are shifting towards the west and towards the south, out of the northeast and out of what is traditionally referred to as -- the big winner for everybody here who is a fellow texan was the state of texas with an increase of four congressional seat. california had no loss of congressional seats and i believe that's largely due to the growth of the latino community. arizona picks up a seat. nevada pics of pussy. florida picks up two seats. illinois loses a seat but i

think could have possibly lost more without minority growth. despite the fact that we have sizable numbers in many places, our political opportunities, our ability to elect candidates of our choice are often frustrated and redistricting, in the drawing of election boundaries when the boundaries are drawn to fracture our community. to make it more difficult for us to do with other latinos, to elect our preferred candidate. we still face obstacles that we have faced in the past, including racially polarized voting which is the tendency of latinos to vote for one candidate and the tendency of non-latinos to vote for a different candidate in the same election. still a continuing legacy of the history of discrimination, those of us who are texans know that even up into the 1970s there were systemic and official

barriers to registration and turnout. and that these effects lingered in many latino families. and we have current race-based opposition to creating latino majority districts. and then finally, one of the biggest hurdles that we face is incumbency protection. it doesn't matter whether the lion draws for democrats or republicans. is drawing a latino majority district is going to impinge on an incumbent member of whatever body we are redistricting, we are going to get pushed back, not limited to that person that also some type to the political party as well. ..

in the assembly there are currently 13 latino opportunity district and the commission has created 13 opportunity districts despite maps that show that you can increase by 5 in the assembly. it gets worse for senate and congress. right now we have seven latino opportunity district in the california senate. commission has ruled out maps showing five which is a net reduction of two. we show them they can draw a 10. in congress we have eight opportunity districts. the commission has ruled out a plan with six or seven.

one is difficult to tell who's opportunity district it is. we're looking at losing one or two congressional seats in california. we show you can draw a 11. in texas we have legislative redistricting and that process is winding up now. legislature has passed plans for house, senate and congress and governors in the process of refining them. also in texas latinos are 38% of the population comprising 65% of the growth in the last decade. in the texas house the map reduces by one of the number of latino opportunity district we currently have, creates no gains in senate and no gains in congress. i don't hear you clinking your silverware any more. the redistricting program has a number of factors.

we're focused on these states and redistricting in other states. our program is nationwide in its geographic scope. we have teams based on our regional offices in the west, southwest and southeast. we do outreach and education. if anyone would like to meet with somebody from maldef for a community meeting about redistricting we will get out wherever you are and bring our materials and do community based education wherever we are called to do it. we assist local communities in mapping and offering testimony and we do this not just for the exciting state house or senate or congress but for school boards, county commissions or county supervisors because those redistricting plans have a huge effect on people at the local level. finally if things are not going well we have the ability to litigate.

we are in the midst of redistricting right now so i urge you if you are not already involved to become more involved because this process will end within the next year and we will be stuck with the results for the next ten years. as we transition into the face of drawing maps and adopting maps we are looking at the litigation space. maldef has filed a challenge in texas and we are in federal court with our first hearing next friday. we will be filing challenges in other places if we need to. we urge you to be vigilant, to be aware of what is going on in redistricting. call us if you want to do a community meeting and want to bring a lawsuit. thank you. [applause] >> good morning to everybody.

my name is juan cartanega and are started job two months ago as general counsel of latino justice puerto ricans education fund. the good news is i know the organization very well. i started my career as an attorney in 1991 and regarding today's topic as we discuss these issues, i am happy to say my career actually started with a lawsuit against the city council that resulted in making them fair for african-americans and latinos in the state of new york. this is my fourth round of redistricting. i know you don't believe me because i look so young but this is my fourth round. happens once every ten years.

i am going to go through a couple things we are working on and doing so i will give you examples of the challenges we are stressing in this area as voting rights attorneys, the law constantly shifts on us. the law that allows for equal opportunity in the area of voting under constant attack by a conservative part of the country that believes we have reached a magic mountain top, an era of post racial consideration where everyone is treated equally everywhere they walk in america. we know this is not true. we have quite a ways to go to see that we are fully integrated into the legislature of the united states and in many ways that is a battle. our love to use the label of integration because that is what

we're talking about. integrating our voices in every state legislative body, every county legislative body. this excludes congress, senate and us that when these bodies who represent us speak to our concerns and look like us in in many cases speak to us whether they are of our race or not and we are at a point that we can achieve some progress with the issues that affect us. i will go very quickly. not sure how to work my slides. i will keep that. the eastern seaboard of the united states, florida is where we work on justice and as you know the dynamics of the latino population are different. not completely different from the rest of the country but there are different dynamics.

the latino community is part of the history and our world and the western hemisphere is more pronounced. we are dealing with populations up and down. when you compare the eastern seaboard your looking at population shifts that are coming to the southwest with one big exception and that is where we start and that is florida. florida is a place of economic wealth and population growth. the latino population of all latino groups, mexican, cuban, puerto ricans and dominican. it is centered what we call central florida. orange county and osceola county and those environments. what we're seeing in that shift is an incredible opportunity. florida happens to be in a position to gain two

congressional districts. people are speaking where to put new districts. i have done this for quite a few years. there are few times i had an opportunity to talk to the organizers about creating a new opportunity and new district. most of the time i am dealing with population decline or stagnation. florida is the opposite and to its credit lot of work we have been doing regarding providing workshops and maps, helping the creation of central florida redistricting commission and a number of -- we provide information to and the puerto ricans chamber of commerce and others we're providing information to communities to make sure they are able to gain

one additional congressional seats anchored in central florida. that would provide an opportunity to create additional voices in congress but the issues in florida are very complex. we have population growth in various areas. we have unique population growth demographics of the puerto ricans population. the economic instability, leaving the northeastern corridor going down south because the economic pressures in the northeast in new york so the combination of migration is creating unique dynamics in florida. one of the first questions i want to raise is you talk about redistricting we haven't talked about issues of eligible to vote and that gap between voting age

population and citizenship. citizenship levels are different depending which part of the country we are talking about and different depending the national origin group we are talking about. the issues in florida are unique in that respect and we are in a position of growth in florida for that purpose. in pennsylvania we are doing excellent work in philadelphia to create latino based district and strengthen it up in district 7. i will tell you that if we are successful we will have been able to stop -- should say end the existence of one of the most convoluted gerrymandered districts in the history of the united states. district that meanders all over philadelphia and does incredible things to people who like things to look like boxes and circles. redistricting is one of those

areas of law and we can talk about this for hours where appearances match held districts look actually makes a difference. we will be lucky in philadelphia if we get rid of one of the most gerrymandered districts for that population. in new jersey we had an incredible wave of activity. new jersey like virginia were the first two states to be forced to redistrict state legislatures on a very fast track because bylaw their required to do so when the census data is issued. in november new lines have been passed in both of those states and in new jersey we spent time assisting communities. i am of the mindset that my goal in new jersey is a long-term. new jersey uses a very unique to elect its representatives. 120 people get elected from only

40 districts. 1 20 legislators get elected from 40 districts. every district elect one state senator, two status simply persons. we know what that means in places like texas. we know that means in general the political will of the american minority in each of those districts will always be submerged because districts by definition always submerge the political will of the american minority. 90% of the population is latino in new jersey and we need to make sure the entire structure is revisited. in new york two things are happening. we lost two congressional seats. the word on the street is they went to florida. that makes sense given migration between new york and florida. there's a certain congressman

from new york whose name i will not mention here because he is overexpos. that gentleman and the fact that he is no longer represented provides an opportunity for new york city's latino community to ensure the validity of four congressional districts with latino majority or plurality populations. new york city we don't talk about those things but there are four. two the are held by two long standing representatives. two others have always been large latino population and the departure of the certain congressman who i will not mention gives us an opportunity to shore up those districts in the state of new york and really looking forward to that as well.

the second thing is a lawsuit we filed a couple weeks ago along with many of our friends and partners and it goes to defending a law that governor pettersson signed before he left office and that law basically said the census count of prisoners should be adjusted to reflect the home district they came from instead of the districts in which the prisons are located. for the purposes of local redistricting alone, local redistricting in new york stage should be based on adjusted census data that reflects the home district of prisoners and not the district in which the prisoners are located. there's a short-term phrase,

gerrymandering. that doesn't do it justice. what it really did on this legislation, we are in position to defend it because its constitutionality is questioned. we think it is a very good law but the fact of the matter is prison population throughout the united states have increased. the fact of the matter is where you live should determine the factor where you will be counted. artificial count in prisons and other states where one particular prison town could have half of its total population be prisoners none of which live in that city. and be counted as presidents of that city, that prison location. in new york state criminal-justice system produces

racially skewed outcomes. latinos and blacks in new york state gets stopped and frisked and charged and indicted, denied bail and convicted, sentenced, even when you control the crime and drug use. if you are producing racially skewed outcomes and translate that discrimination and allow it to affect the political process by counting people elsewhere you are losing political power downstate in new york city and that is one of the issues in new york state. massachusetts. here it is. we are doing some good work in

massachusetts to help them create continued opportunities. we are doing some mapping and done quite a bit of work in conjunction with the dominican round table in massachusetts, new jersey and new york. in connecticut we are trying to help the community create its first-ever elected latino to the state senate of connecticut. connecticut has 36 state senators none of which have been latino and trying to create one anchored in hartford. connecticut has 150 state house representatives. they love democracy in connecticut. 150 in the house, 36 in the senate. we are trying to make sure it is integrated fully by allowing them assistance in that state as well. in ireland i have done work ten

years ago in rhode island in the area of providence. in virginia -- i am going fast because i am running out of time -- we analyze the redistricting plan and submitted a comment expressing our concern about fracturing of communities there. i want to touch on two themes that came out before. combination of what nina perales and arturo vargas said are important as we go forward. in some ways they have raised important questions to the wishes of redistricting. first is redistricting is not a cure all. it is not the silver bullet. all redistricting does is give

us opportunities to elect candidates of our choice. if we do this well and take advantage of the opportunity that only occurs in the first couple years of every decade. if we do this well we will create those opportunities districts but by itself that doesn't mean a shift in power because it requires us to mobilize to vote. to mobilize to get good candidates out to run for office and get them financed and to make sure the combination confluence of those factors occurs with a measure of success on election day. in many ways the gap of voting age population and to actually votes and turns out to vote there are many things that can help narrow that gap. we talk about voters who stay at

home. they stay at work. voting in many states is a feature of who turned out to vote in eight to 12 hours cycle on a weekday which is normally a work day for all of our population. the inability of states to enact progressive ways to deal with same day election day registration, multiple work early voting, voting that occurs to maximize the number of people who can actually vote is critically important. and we have voter fraud and demanding citizenship documentation before you vote is is exactly that. it is a bogeyman. [speaking spanish] no empirical evidence indicates what they have been harboring under in the united states in the last four decades. in the last five years this

constant election fraud thrown in our face had no support whatsoever in social science and as a result the progressive reforms in florida and elsewhere is in direct contrast to the major clothes so we have a wonderful opportunity to do this now. wonderful opportunity to assure the district is created with the recognition that that will not result in the shift of power. last time i checked these numbers was seven or eight years ago. nina perales and i did a lot of work. one of the best things that happened to the organization signed by president bush and

white house ceremony we all attended. historical moment for the united states to be able to extend the strongest protections for voting rights. section 5 jurisdictions were extended for 25 years. it was a highlight of our careers. i was working on articles focusing on one particular number. somewhere in the neighborhood of 492,000 -- 490,000 elected officials in the united states from dogcatchers to presidents. let that number sit for a while. 493,000 people were elected in some way.

good work with naleo documenting the number of latinos in the united states. i bet you we could not count more than 1-1/2% of 493,000 elected officials. that is our work. that is our challenge. we get closer to the parity between who we are as a share of the voting age population of the united states and what we are as citizens to fill that gap we will reach the mountaintop are talked-about before. then we will celebrate a lot better. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, extraordinary panel. some of the leaders in this field and we are privileged to have them with us. we will open it up to questions in a few minutes so think about

your questions and we will go around with microphones collecting those. i want to start with you because you talked about a shift in power. i wanted to mention a piece published by bloomberg, widely circulated and talked about chicago. you were quoted in this piece and the headline was black power wanes amid rising hispanic economic clout. the thrust of the article is hispanics outnumber blacks in terms of their representation in major american cities and the african-american community has twice as many elected officials in the house of representatives. there are winners and losers in redistricting. how do we make sure those who have traditionally been our allies in issues around poverty and immigration rights are not the losers in this redistricting

effort? >> in many ways that requires us to create opportunities to select candidates of their choice and represented -- doesn't have anything to do with race. their voting record and track record that we hold up. the first point of business is we have to talk continuously to leaders in the african-american community to deal with a gain and support each other where we can but also to make sure we have relationships to create districts in which latinos are the majority are present. we can take it further. in the northeast you have a dynamic changes and latino populations. we don't have a chance to talk

about these things. you could say the same thing about the puerto ricans population who has a share of elected officials by shifting to more mexican and dominican. the question is the same. the more mexicans come what does that mean for the puerto ricans electorate? same with the african-american. we need to speak on the same things, that is our goal. we can demonstrate unity among issues over substance and immigration reform and strategy, coalition that unity districts where we are better positioned. >> you talk about racially polarized voting as one of the obstacles in redistricting. is that what you are referring

to? >> there is racially polarized voting that impedes african-american ability and racially polarized voting for latino and it depends which area you are in weather latinos and african-americans can band together and elect the first candidate as well. it is critical for all organizations to partner with african-american advocacy organizations so we can anticipate what is coming in terms of redistricting and figure out the features of both of our goals in redistricting and i have to say so far we have not found a zero some game. latino gains in redistricting are not coming at the expense of african-american representation because through patterns of residential concentration. we have had success working in

coalitions and pursuing our agenda in tandem. you ask people to come forward and say we are interested in filing a suit. you have been critical -- is there a suit to be filed? >> there will be lawsuits. that is pretty much what i can say. >> you talked about some of the lessons of the census and two things in particular. the usefulness of the population. this is the future population. all of us would agree that is the mantra about latinos. so goes the future of this country. you talked about the shift to the south and at the same time when you look at the south today that is where the most restrictive immigration policies are coming out of states where you have the largest growth of

white teen no population -- latino population. there is concern there has not been comprehensive immigration reform and without that level of participation may be reduced. how the you put together the rise of the latino style with the impact of 2012? >> it is local incidents. that sees the reaction to change the demographics of the south. it is a result of this historic american discomfort and the immediate reaction is the official language, do what we can to make life as uncomfortable as we can for these newcomers in our midst with regard to voter turnout. what we know is it is more heavily immigrant in the south than texas or arizona or

california but you have less of an electorate in the south. that is a population that will eventually mature through a generation as young people who are born here reached voting age and we engage in naturalization campaign. the need for immigration reform is as paramount in the south or more so than in any part of a country. it is not just immigration when it comes to mobilizing the electorate. if you are eligible to vote you are a citizen. it is not a personal immigration issue. on your mind issues like the economy and unemployment and underemployment. the war in iraq and afghanistan or you have family members--all these issues that all americans are dealing with are issues that

latino voters are dealing with. we need to make sure national candidates speak to latinos about these issues as well. >> any thoughts about the rise of restriction policies out of the south and as a civil-rights lawyer? >> it is one of our biggest challenges but nothing to do with the history of the united states. issues of immigration and other restrictions that occur in times of economic crisis these things have been with us for a long time. in the 1920s it was the eastern europeans who had anti-immigrant hysteria. 30,000 people were arrested for speaking a language other than english. the ku klux klan in the 1920s.

the point is many of these who are in position of power need to be reminded of anti-immigrant hysteria visited upon them. latinos share it the same as anyone else in the immigration process to support our families and what makes this country great. the challenge we are facing not only with these policies on the local level but a shift in how courts looked at these issues. we have a court that is a lot more conservative. and the most innovative way to go to court. >> you mentioned there are

490,000 elected positions and less than 1-1/2% held by latinos. is there a target? is there a number? something more reflective that we should be considering as an ultimate goal? >> when you are so close to the bottom -- [laughter] -- my point is this. lawyers don't have the opportunity to go to court and say new jersey has 90% latino and we want 90% of all -- we don't have that option. the law does not require proportionality. it prohibits the notion to enter -- it is not just for the court room. but the american public.

having a legislature that reflect the racial class or working-class of any community. how is it possible that the legislature is so overrepresented? by the majority population? that is what we're talking about. america should reflect the diversity in school boards, the white house and congress and everywhere else. we should have a better proportionality. that has limits. we now have -- >> i didn't realize we are almost out of time and the want to come to the audience. if you prepare your questions, want to ask about california in

particular. there is a republican commentator tony quinn who said the work of the redistricting commission may not have intentionally set out to disenfranchise latinos but that was the result. it was a nefarious effort that people who didn't understand the demographic changes and this came from a republican commentator, tony quinn. how do we make sure those responsible for drawing maps understand we don't need to litigate, we have a process that recognizes the diversity and the sorts of gold being articulated? >> i'm not sure what is going on in california with the commission but they are aware of the demographic information they need. they had plenty of testimony and they are designed to be aware and take those things into consideration. they have attorneys advising them about their obligations

under the voting rights act. the statute that created the commission created a series of priorities that includes compliance with the voting rights act at the top with compliance with the constitution and they have information. they have training and lawyers and a mandate with the voting rights act. it is inexplicable to me that they could have come up with first draft plans that are so tremendously disenfranchising of the latino community. >> i will turn to the audience. any questions of the audience? stand up and i will repeat the question. introduce yourself if you don't mind. [inaudible]

[inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible]

[inaudible] >> so her point is it is not just about numeric representation. it is about having people who can actually put forward better government and better governance. that is why people are here to do that. there is another question right here. if you could make these questions please. [inaudible]

[inaudible] [inaudible] >> for those of you who couldn't hear. it is a question about insuring we represent the diversity of the latino community including salvadorans. >> let me take that on. that is one of the greatest travesties happening in california where the single largest concentration of salvadoran americans located in

los angeles franchised by the maps by the independent commission. there is a neighborhood in los angeles -- the neighborhood where i grew up is where that national office is located. that neighborhood has been removed from a latino majority district and placed in a district with beverly hills, belle ayr, tell me. if congressman received a call from a salvadoran immigrant near macarthur park, korea donor from beverly hills who gets the call returned? that is the push of economic gerrymandering this commission is proposing. there is a large salvadoran population in the san fernando valley. we hope the district that gets restored in 2011 that was drawn in 1991 and taken away in 2001

will provide the community -- in maryland, virginia and washington d.c. the second largest contribution of second -- the kind of work being done that we can configure those districts because we are not a monolithic country. we are incredibly diverse. many of these groups want to ensure they have a voice in the process. >> back to one point because we are almost ready to wrap up. you made a point that it goes well beyond immigration into economic development and job success. when you look at the numbers there's -- i come out of business and we look at this community and you say this is the future for anybody in business today not only because

of the demographic trend but $1.2 trillion in buying power in the hispanic community. it is a group that has the fastest growth in small business startup and yet we also have the highest unemployment rate. we have the highest dropout rates, work force training programs don't meet the needs of the work force as it relates to latinos. you do a lot of work in this area with the enormous opportunity being demonstrated by these macro trends but on the ground we are not preparing our population to be competitive as we move into the future. what sorts of things can be done? maldef is involved and naleo and latino justice. what do we do to close that economic disparity gap? >> the most important thing and i'm sure you will agree deals

with investment in young people and that means investment in education. [applause] i moderated a session sponsored by the hispanic caucus focused on latino population and this was held in california. people were bemoaning the fact that just at the moment latino youth were becoming the majority, the majority in texas they are the majority in new mexico, 40% in arizona and the list goes on. at that moment the same moment we make these drastic cuts in education so i asked the question is it a coincidence? is it a coincidence that we are disinvesting in schools and education? that is the challenge for all of us to hold accountable our

government to insure we do not this invest in the education of america's young people no matter who they are. >> very good. we have run out of time and come to the end of our session. i want to mention a couple things. we were not able to hit every topic we wanted but this is about turning numbers and precisely the issue we are articulated is where we need to focus. is around redistricting and the legislative battles in front of us and also ensuring we elevate the turnout rate that people who are eligible to vote -- i want to pick up on something arturo vargas said and take this with you as we move to the next session. he talked about sustained civic engagement campaign that goes beyond years when national

elections are held. this requires us to create a culture of participation. i would hope all of you understand the value of that. we will work to make sure we have those outreach efforts into our younger population to make sure we do change the course of those two lines and begin to close the eligibility and turnout numbers. i want to thank the panel. very informative. three national experts available after the session. thank you very much, everybody. [applause] >> we are at the gay lord national resort in washington d.c. where the department of education is about to kick off a three day conference in creating

stimulating environments of learning. we expect remarks from education secretary arne duncan, leaders of mental health, violence prevention and emergency preparedness. the speaking portion will begin in just a moment and we will join as it gets underway. mean, look to the other program and we have coming up on the c-span networks. on c-span3 the u.s. ambassador to the democratic republic of congo will talk about the november elections. that is hosted by the woodrow wilson international center for scholars in washington at 10:00 a.m. this morning on c-span3. president obama is heading to virginia to announce new fuel efficiency and pollution standards for heavy-duty trucks. he is making that announcement at the interstate moving service company in springfield, virginia. the administration has announced two new fuel standards for cause

-- cars and trucks. you can see the president's remarks beginning at 11:00 a.m. eastern on our companion network, c-span. the u.s. senate is adjourned for august recess and booktv is in prime time on c-span2. family stories with national history. at 8:00 p.m. luisa thomas's conscience. the two soldiers and a family. at test of faith in world war i lead at 8:45, peterson on her book family history of african-americans in nineteenth century new york city. at 9:50 ron reagan talks about my father at 100:a memoir. that is prime time of this month on c-span2. every weekend american history tv on c-span3. forty-eight hours of people at

the events telling the american story. what personal interviews about historical events on world history. our history book show features the best known history writers. revisit key figures, battles that events during the 150th anniversary of the civil war. visit college classrooms across the country during lectures in history. go behind the scenes at museums and historic sites on american artifacts and the presidency look at policies and legacies of past american presidents. get our complete schedule that c-span.org/history and set it up the habit he mailed to you by pressing the c-span alert button. >> we are live for a three date department of education conference on stimulating learning at the gala national resort outside washington d.c.. education secretary arne duncan one of the key speakers. his remarks will be carried live at 1:30 eastern on c-span.

this will get underway at 8:00. they're running late. we will have live coverage as it gets underway. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. the program will begin in one minute. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the academy leadership program and remain standing. >> forward march. [silence]

>> detail halt. [silence] >> present arms. ♪ [the star spangled banner] ♪

♪ ♪ [the star spangled banner]

♪ [applause] >> right turn, march. forward march. ..

♪ [inaudible] [background sounds]

[background sounds] >> ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the stage acting assistant deputy secretary william -- [inaudible] [applause] [background sounds] >> actually, it's not my turn yet. [laughter]

[background sounds] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage the urban nation hip-hop choir of washington, d.c. [applause] [background sounds] ♪ i'm a be, i'm a be, i'm a be, i'm a, i'm a, i'm a be. ♪ i'm a be, i'm a be, i'm a, i'm a be.

♪ i'm a be on the next level, i'm a be rocking o over that bass remember the l. ♪ i'm a be up in that -- doing one-handed flips ♪ ♪ ♪ [cheers and applause]

♪ ♪ baby, look at me, tell me what you see. ♪ you ain't seen the best of me yet, give me the time and i'll make you forget the rest. ♪ i've got more than me, and you can set it free. ♪ i can touch the moment in my hand, don't you remember who i am? ♪ remember my name, fame. ♪ i'm going to live forever, i'm going to learn how to fly. ♪ i, i see it coming together, people will see me and cry.

♪ fame, i'm going to make it to heaven, light up the sky like a flame. ♪ fame, i'm going to live forever, baby, remember my name. ♪ remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember. ♪ baby, look at me, tell me what you see. ♪ you ain't seen the best of me yet, give me time and i'll make you forget the rest. ♪ i've got more than me, you can set it free. ♪ i can touch the moon in my hand, don't you know who i am? ♪ remember my name, fame, i'm going to live forever, i'm going to learn how to fly.

♪ i, i feel it coming together, people will see me and cry. ♪ i'm going to make it to heaven, light up the sky like a flame. ♪ fame, i'm going to live forever, baby, remember my name. ♪ remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember. ♪ fame! [cheers and applause] ♪ now i see -- i can fool the world, but i cannot fool my heart. ♪ but somehow i will show --

what's inside my heart. ♪ i'll be loved for who i am. ♪ who is that girl i see staring straight back at me? ♪ when will be -- who i am inside? ♪ who is that girl i see staring straight back at me? ♪ when will my reflection show who i am inside?

♪ when will my reflection show who i am inside? [applause] ♪ ♪ one singular sensation, every little step she takes. ♪ one thrilling combination, every move that she makes. ♪ one smile and suddenly nobody

else will do. ♪ you know you'll never be lonely with you know who. ♪ one moment in the -- in her presence and you can forget the rest. ♪ so do i really have to mention, she's the one. ♪ one singular sensation, every little step she takes. ♪ one thrilling combination, every move that she makes. ♪ one smile and suddenly nobody else will do.

♪ you know you'll never be lonely with you know who. ♪ one moment in her presence, and you can forget the rest. ♪ more than second best to none. ♪ so do i really have to mention, she's the one, she's the, she's the one. ♪ one singular sensation, one thrilling combination. ♪ one singular sensation, one thrilling combination. ♪ one with singular sensation, one thrilling combination.

♪ one singular sensation, one thrilling combination. ♪ one singular sensation, one thrilling combination. ♪ one singular sensation, one thrilling combination. [applause] ♪ one singular sensation, one thrilling combination. ♪ one singular sensation, one thrilling combination. ♪ one singular sensation, one thrilling combination, one ♪ [cheers and applause] ♪

♪ 525,600 minutes, 525,600 moment like this. ♪ 525,600 minutes, how do you measure, measure years? ♪ in daylight and sunsets, in moonlight and cups of coffee. ♪ 525,600 minutes, how do you live the life? ♪ how about love, how about love? ♪ how about love, remember love.

♪ remember love. ♪ 525,600 minutes, 525,000 -- ♪ 525,600 minutes, how do you measure the life of a woman or a man? ♪ -- for the times that she cries, or the way that she dies. ♪ it's time now to -- celebrate -- ♪ oh, remember the love, remember the love. ♪ you've got to, you've got to

remember the love. ♪ remember the love, measure, measure your life's love. ♪ love, remember love, remember love, love muck many. ♪ ♪ [applause] ♪ [cheers and applause]

♪ ♪ >> and before they get away, let's give them another round of applause. [cheers and applause] i didn't know whether to walk up here or dance up here. [laughter]

actually, i want to start by saying, well, good morning. and before beginning i want to say thank you very much to the nation hip-hop as well as to the friendship public collie g8 academy program who did the color guard. thank you, give them a round of applause too. [applause] i also want to take a moment here, a moment of silence to honor those who recently lost their lives in afghanistan. one of the special forces troops that was killed on the weekend was a brother-in-law of a former staff person we had in the office of safe and drug-free schools, so let's take a moment to honor them. thank you very much.

my name is bill, and it's the honor, i have the honor of myself as well as my staff to serve as your host for this conference, and a big conference it is as you can see. the we could get the slides -- if we could get the slides to work with. nope. nope. nope, nope, nope, nope. [laughter] there we go. all right, thank you. by the way, the video that you had up there, that was relevant to what we're going to do, so we're going to get back, you know, the person jumping on the bed, that is very relevant. i've got to get back to that a little bit later. but this is a large conference, you know? we have nearly 2,000 registered which is amazing for the times that we're in, to have 2,000

people break away from their summer vacations. some of you already started school. and to come here for this conference. all 50 states, the district of columbia, puerto rico, we have people from our northern provinces -- not from our northern provinces, but from the northern provinces of canada, columbia and new brunswick, british columbia and new brunswick here. eight of the ten largest school districts, 15 of our programs and 30-plus different professions and occupations. and i think that's what really makes our conference unique. this is not, this is not only about teachers, this is not only about, you know, those serving any specific occupation. we have teachers, we have counselors, risk managers, emergency management specialists, nurses, psychologists, and i passed the raise your hand as we went down

here, but i could hardly see all the way back there. parents, personnel, specialists, probation officers, law enforcement, substance abuse specialists, food service specialists, community organizers, after school coordinators, physical education instructors, and by the way that was an excellent example of what we should be doing in schools to get kids energized. [applause] can you imagine if we did that in schools how many more kids would join up and volunteer to take part in exercises on a daily basis? so that was great. this is the second time we've been at the gaylord. and, let me see, how many of you have been here before at this wonderful hotel? those of you who with have been here before, welcome back. to those of you who haven't been here, welcome. you know, this is a very interesting place. i, first, want to say that there are a lot of people who confuse this and say this is part of washington d.c. i think for tax purposes people

in washington, d.c. would wish it was in d.c., but it's not. it's a very interesting place and quite interesting if you're a historian. and since we are part of the department of education and our main purpose in education is education, i thought i would pick out a couple of points of historical -- how shall i say, historical interests about not the gaylord because the gaylord wasn't here, but about the location that you're in. you know, if you were standing on the shores over by where the gaylord is and you looked up the river and across the river about three or four miles over, you see old town alexandria. and in may of of 1861, it was the day after the virginia legislature voted to secede there the union, we had our first casualty of the civil war. it was a gentleman by the name of colonel elmer ellsworth.

he was a close personal friend of president lincoln. he served in his law firm, he came to washington when lincoln was inaugurated. he actually lived for a time in the white house. he was a very close friend of lincoln. and from the shores of the washington, d.c. you could look down the potomac at alexandria, and on top of one of the buildings in old town there was a confederate flag that was still flying the day after virginia seceded. and colonel ellsworth took a group of soldiers and went over to alexandria to take that flag down. and as he was walking up the steps to take the flag down, the gentleman who owned the hotel was walking down the steps, he had a gun, and he shot and killed colonel ellsworth, and that was the first casualty of the civil war. he stood out there nine months later, you could see hundreds if not thousands of troop ships leave the ports of georgetown and the banks of the potomac as

troops sailed down the potomac river to the battle of the peninsula. three years later you could stand on the shores and, again, watch as abraham lincoln himself, president lincoln went down on a cruiser to richmond to watch the cappal of the -- capital of the confederacy fall. and from april 15th you could see literally hundreds of warships sailing up and down the potomac trying to stop john wilkes booth from crossing from be one side to the other. so while we can't trace our history to 1867, we can't trace it back to 1987. and we've sponsored conferences, about 20 of them, since that particular time. how many of you have been to ten or more conferences sponsored by the office of safe and drug-free schools? the raise your hand.

okay. how many of you have been to five or more sponsored by us? how many is this your first conference? oh, great. well, thank you. we have some excellent feedback from those who have attended previous conferences, and we've taken most, i want to say most of that feedback into consideration in the hopes of making this conference even were the than -- even better than our past efforts. i should say here parenthetically, there's a note to all of you filling out survey forms or evaluation forms, use the kiosk on the outside. and the note is please note that we, meaning the office of safe and drug-free schools, the staff don't control the temperature of the room, we don't control the quality of the food, we don't control the food portions, we don't control the amount of calories in the pastry or the

price of of the drinks at the bar. [laughter] i think if there's something you want to criticize us from, go out, gaze over the window at the wonderful view of the potomac, and you could criticize of us of the wonderful view. the feedback does say something to us, and i think that there's a constant. as you look back over 20 years of doing these conferences, there's a constant. and there's what i call three key principles that people keep on saying this is what they like about the conference, what we sort of build the conference around. one is the desire to bring the most up-to-date information on programs, policies and practices. and to do it with the best experts in the country. i think we've done that consistently for 20 years. two is the desire to answer questions accurately. now, i have to say that in these days and times the answers you get may not be the answers you want, but nevertheless, we want

to answer any question you have and try to answer them as accurately -- we will answer them as accurately as possible. but, again, maybe not with the answers you want. and lastly, and i've said this for many, many, many years, i think it's absolutely critical and important that when you leave here tomorrow, you leave here with a host of new friends. part of what conferences are for is not only to come and gain new ideas and new understanding of problems that exist, but new friends. we're in difficult times, we're in times that, basically, we need each other to help solve the problems of the day. and i want you to take a minute out, look either at your table or at another table and, basically, take a minute and introduce yourself to somebody you don't know. go ahead.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> thank you very much. one of the things i didn't plan for is it's getting out of control. [inaudible conversations] thank you. you know, over the years we've tried to make the themes of the

conferences to one or more of the major issues that confront us. you know, 2003 was meeting the challenge, the science and practice. you know, we tried to, basically, do the bridge between research and practice, tying it all together in 2005, coming to the understanding that when we are developing programs for schools, violence-prevention programs, that they had to be comprehensive programs such as safe l schools, healthy students initiative. 2007, 20 years after we were at a program trying to reflect back and looking not only at the past, but looking ahead. looking back, what had happened over the last 20 years, and where are we going over, hopefully, the next 20? 2009, the power of change and how we understood in 2009 that things were changing and what we needed to do to get in front of the curve to insure that we were ready for any change that came about. 2011 we decided to select the

theme of making the connection, creating and maintaining conditions for learning. .. >> while not all of us are involved directly in creating good teachers, there are some teachers out there, good curricula. there may be some curriculum writers out there, or quality assessments. most, if not all of us, are involved in activities that make

teaching and learning possible. let's go back to that clip. >> at basf, we don't make the mattress, we make it softer. we don't make the houses. we make it livelier. we don't make the snowboard, we make it stronger. at basf, we don't make a lot of the products you buy. we make a lot of the products you buy better. basf. >> the asf as you is an international chemical company, and the message they're trying to get across up there is that we don't make the products you use, we make the products you use better. office of safe and drug-free schools, we don't teach, develop

curricula or conduct assessments. we make these actions possible. the conditions of learning possible are made by our programs. you, all of you, help create the conditions necessary for learning. you create environments that make it possible for students, regardless of how they look, what religion they practice, sexual identity, the size or shape, the possibility of learning. you dissuade students from using alcohol and drugs. you provide students with necessary skills to avoid violent or self destructive behavior. you provide needed health and mental health services. you provide mentors to those who need adult role models. you instruct students on good character, and what it means to be a good citizen. without these conditions, learning, especially to the highest standards that we expect of all schools, can't take

place. educational goals and expectations for students can't be achieved. one condition that i left out of the list is one that ensures that every school in the country, big and small, rural, suburban, private, public, has a plan for dealing with emergencies that occur in schools on a daily basis. you know, in the field we say that it's not if the school will face an emergency, but when. and as you know schools face emergencies on a daily basis. and those that have planned for dealing with emergencies, are able to hit what i call the reset button and get back onto learning a lot quicker. today, to start the conference off we've invited for leading experts to discuss how government, schools, the communities, and conditions change, and are likely to change again after one of the worst

disasters that our country has experienced. as you know, in a few short weeks we will celebrate, i should say commemorates, the homage to the victims of 9/11, the 10th anniversary of the events of 9/11. while those events occurred in places, new york city, shanksville, pennsylvania, and arlington, virginia, the entire nation, not just those three cities, were impacted. here in the united states, 9/11 impacted education in many ways. for us and what we found is that we had new and expanded agencies and partnerships. the department of homeland security which didn't exist before 9/11. the national counterrr