community. you're so close with the kids. everything's great at home. you're making good money. what's wrong? i said you know what it is? i miss getting up in the morning trying to be part of doing something good. i miss work with moral content. as corny as that sound i don't love this. and i know what it's like to have a job you love and it left a hole in me. and so three years later, when an opening came up, i left that law firm, which was a great place. i went back to the government. they thought i need ad psychiatric examination. but i had again a job that i love. and i have lost that one other time. i say that to remind you, right, surely you're not in it for the money, to remind you of how lucky you are and some of you have left and come back understand that in a palpable way. to be able to do work that you love and that you love because it involves doing good. i like you speak to a lot of

kids, high school, college age kids and i have taken to giving them some advice maybe is a little depressing to them but i say, look, i, like you, have seen a lot of pain and a lot of bad things and i know that life is cruel and short and bad things happen to good people. so i say to these young people, look, you need to do the things you're doing, what's next? how do i get into this school? how do i get into this job? sometimes you need to turn the telescope around and in your mind look at yourself from the end, so you're an old man or old woman, god willing, and you look back and ask yourself this question, who do i want to have been? what do i want to have been? i think the answer will be, this is what you want to have been, right? you don't want to have been somebody with a great boat or a great house or a fancy car. i think you want want to be somy who has been part of protecting the innocent, rescuing children, doing all things thaw do. turn that around to try and

guide those choices you're making at the beginning of your life. so i tell you this because i know you've made that choice. so i want to honor you for that choice. also tell you how thrilled i am to be back among the people that made that choice. so i look forward to nine more conversations with you. i'm thrilled and honor to be the director of the fbi and to be your colleague. thank you very much. [applause] >> director comey, thank you for your remarks. we appreciate the relationship we sheriffs had with the fbi over the past. it has been a strong relationship and we mow that will only continue to get better under your leadership. as thanks for being here, we know you've bottom other things to do and you have to leave us but we would like to give you this history book, the history

of the office of the sheriff, national/s association portfolio and a commemorative mug. thank you very much. >> that's great. thank you very much. [applause] s sheriffs and guests please remain in the room as we still have several items to discuss. before we turn our attention to the next item on the agenda we have two drawings for two complimentary registration to the 2014 nsa annual conference in north worth, texas, in june. each prize consist of one full and one spouse registration including banquet ticket and spouses bun. you must be present to win. first drawing is. he is here, i saw him. mark vasolution. come on up.

here's the real test, did i pronounce it correctly? >> you did. >> great, thank you. the next winner. well this will look like a rigged deal. another board member. christopher kirk. all right. [applause] before closing i would like to encourage you, attend your committee meetings. all committee meetings will begin one hour after this session is over. starting immediately after this meeting there's a seminar scheduled on the right to photograph and record in public. perspectives from both sides of the camera. later this afternoon there are two seminars -- >> we will leave this law enforcement conference at this point. we heard from fbi director james comey and his remarks at the national sheriffs' association. if you missed any of what he had to say today you can see it on our website anytime at c-span.org. our live program will continue in half an hour or so with rnc

chair reince priebus. he will address the rnc annual winter meetings. he is expected to get underway at 10:30 live on c-span2. we'll have a speech from south caroline republican senator tim scott. see that at 1:15 on companion network c-span. this ongoing project led by maria shriver on key issues facing women. this looks at economic status on women in the u.s., and estimated 42 million are at risk for falling into poverty. we'll share with you the event over the next two nights starting at 9:00 eastern on c-span. here's a clip. >> what united both of these teams and what united everybody who wrote for this report and who was been working what i call on the front lines of humanity,

is the belief that these women, given the chance can not only lift themselves up but lift up their entire families and putting women at the center of the economy is not just good for women it is good more men and boys and girls and most importantly good for the country. that was the mission of this report to change a lot of old stereotypes. put a new face to this issue and talk about it in ways that people could understand and see themselves. what we have seen and what we've all heard with all the coverage on television and with thanks and appreciation to beyonce who pushed this report out into the spheres that i didn't even know existed and, so many other people is what we have heard in all of the responses to nbc and, is this is my story, this is my story. my story is not about the glass ceiling. it is not about the c-suite.

it is about the foundation and how do i shore it up. it is a story not against men but about including men. it is a story what's good for boys, a story about what's good for girls and what's good for women in particular about the incredible struggles that they face for, to be breadwinners, to be caretakers and to be caregivers. to be good daughters, good mothers, sisters, citizens and workers. >> and we are showing this report over two nights. we showed it last night and again tonight. you can see it beginning at 9:00 eastern on c-span. >> some of you have been marching for over 40 years and have endured many setbacks including the recent expansion of abortion coverage in obamacare. [booing] but it is, important more than than ever that we remain strong

and stand together. we can not allow the opponents of life to continually weaken the moral fabric of our country. they need to know and they need to understand that we will continue to march. we will continue to educate. we will continue to advocate, and we will continue to fight for the unborn! >> despite the fact that president obama is using stealth deception and the coercive power of the state to promote abortion violence, the pro-life movement is alive and well and making serious significant and sustained progress. >> this weekend on c-span the annual march for life rally from the national mall in washington, d.c. saturday morning at 10:00 eastern. on c-span2's booktv, what is the secret to a life of happiness? talk radio host hugh hewitt on

the possible answers saturday night at 8:00. on c-span3 american history tv, from 1964 to 2004 issues and concerns from five decades of state of the union speeches. sunday afternoon at 3:00. >> no matter what party they belong to, i bet most americans are thinking, the same thing right about now. nothing will get done in washington this year. or next year. or maybe even the year after that because washington is broken. can you blame them for feeling little cynical? the greatest blow to our confidence in our economy last year didn't come from events beyond our control. it came from a debate in washington over whether the united states would pay its bills or not. who benefited from that fiasco?

i've talked tonight aboutaf skin street and wall street but the divide between this city and the rest of the country is at least that bad and seems to get worse every year. >> watch president obama deliver this year's address. our preview program starts live tuesday night at 8:00 eastern with the president at 9:00, followed by the response from republican conference chair cathy mack morris rogers and your reaction by phone, facebook and twitter. the state of the union, tuesday night live on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. >> a reminder later today we'll bring you a session from the rnc's winter meeting with remarks from south carolina senator tim scott at 12:30 eastern. yesterday former arkansas governor mike huckabee made comments at the meeting that made news. here is what he had to say.

[applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you very much. you know when reince was giving that introduction and talking about all the things he was doing. i was getting nervous, end of it one of these days he will find something he is good at. [laughing] an honor to be here. and thanks to all of you for braving the weather. he was talking about the musician part of me. last night i was in anaheim, california, playing on stage with new york yankees bernie williams who is an amazing guitar player and skunk baxter from the doobie brothers and i wanted to bring them with me. you would have loved them but then i would have had to play with them and you would not have loved that.

so i'm headed right back there as soon as i finish speaking today. i've got to be back in california this afternoon and then tomorrow we'll be there for some more meetings with an organization that provides musical instruments for children and then i'll take the red-eye from california to new york tomorrow night to do my show at fox. funeral services will be held monday. [laughter] in the course of all this i had an unfortunate incident, i lost my iphone. i don't know if that happens to you but it is just a horrible thing. don't worry, i got it back. i called the nsa. they knew exactly where it was. [laughter] and they even put all my emails back in. it was just very nice of them. [laughter] i can not begin my comments to you today without saying a heartfelt word of deep thanks to chairman reince priebus who showed an extraordinary level of

conviction and courage that i think so many of us appreciate and that is that it would have been very easy for him to go ahead with a meeting yesterday but in a show of true solidarity with so many people in our party who are passionate about the sanctity of every human life, the chairman did a marvlous thing in postponing the event so people could participate. reince, thank you. [applause] i think it's time republicans no longer accept listening to the democrats talk about a war on women. because the fact is the republicans don't have a war on women. they have a war for women. for them to be empowered, to be something other than victims of

their gender. women i know are outraged that the democrats think that women are nothing more than helpless and hopeless creatures whose only goal in life is to have the government for them birth control medication. women i know are smart, educated and intelligent, capable of doing anything that anyone else can do. our party stands for the recognition of the equality of women and the capacity of women. that's not a war on them. it is a war for them and if the democrats want to insult the women of america by making them believe they are helpless without uncle sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they can not control their libido or reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it, let us take that discussion all across america because women are far more than the democrats played them to be and women across america need to sand up and say, enough of that nonsense. i think it is time we lead that

discussion. [applause] i'll be in new york on saturday for a while. as you know i host a television show that is on the fox news channel and we tape it in new york. people ask me all the tile, are you going to move to new york? and i always tell them, even before the governor of new york decided that he doesn't like my kind up there but even before i said, not moving to new york unless they let me duck hunt in central park. so i don't think i'll be going. [applause] i was shocked, i mean andrew cuomo, the governor of new york says, that people who are as he call us, extreme if we believe that every life has value and worth, that we're extreme if we think we should be able to protect ourselves, and not have to hopelessly stand by and hope that the police can arrive before whatever predator breaks down our door has decided to have his way in our lives and

in our homes. and he made it very clear. he said, these kind of people are not welcome in new york. i'm delighted to hear that and i hope he will exempt me from all the taxes that i have to pay to his fine state because every time i do a show in new york they decide that it's worthy of them taking a significant piece of it. so, governor, if you don't mind, since you really don't want me there, i'm sure none of my money would be welcome in new york either. [applause] well, i don't know if you know this or not but we're coming up very soon in just a couple of weeks to the 50th anniversary of an extraordinary american moment and it has nothing to do with politics. it has to do with the beatles arriving in the u.s. and being on "the ed sullivan show." now i want to tell you this little story because there was

an untold story of the battles that you might be hearing about. it was the story of the unknown fifth beatle. some of you are saying but there were only four beatles. it was not intended to be that way. there was supposed to be a fifth one. and the fifth beatle never really got the attention that was deserved but for those of you who are as old as i am, which means old as dirt, you can understand that the beatles coming to america and being on "the ed sullivan show" launched really nothing short of a cultural revolution. a lot of people don't understand why it was a seminal moment in the history of america and for that matter, the history of the world. the country had just gone through a very painful time of mourning, the death of a president who had been assassinated. it was an an extraordinary

amount of despair, hard break, disappointment. many people forget we were still grieving as a nation because we couldn't belief it was possible for our own president to be assassinated in the streets of one of our cities. and the anxiety of that, coupled with the looming, beginnings of war and conflict in southeast asia left americans with a real sense of despair and pessimism. when the beatles came it was as one person said, so many more people had rather follow the beatles than the baptists because the beatles looked like they were growing somewhere and the baptists looked like they were sorry they had been. [laughter] but there was a young man who saw the battles on ed sullivan, completely taken by what he saw. and so very much said, i'd like

to be the fifth beatle. now there was one problem. he didn't know how to play the guitar. so he began to work toward having a guitar. and for three years he did everything possible to get a guitar and he couldn't get one because he couldn't afford it. after three years this young man's parents were tired of hearing him complain how he wanted an electric guitar and so they ordered an electric guitar from the jcpenney mail-order catalog and presented it to him for christmas. he didn't know it at the time but they couldn't really afford it. they had spent $99 on the guitar and the little amplifier that came with it and he had no idea how much money that represented to them but it took them a year to pay for it. they paid a little bit each month for a year until they got it all paid off but that really

didn't matter to the young man because he knew he was going to be the fifth beatle. he learned to play. he practiced. i mean so much that he would play till his fingers virtually bled. and he got where he was good enough to be in a band. not a very good band but a band. and continued to play, thinking that the day will come when the beatles will say, you are the fifth beatle. well, let me just fast forward and tell you that never happened. the fifth beatle moment never did come to be. the young man was never discovered to be that great a guitar player. in fact he was never discovered to be that great of an anything but he stands before you today because i was that 11-year-old kid who got the guitar and wanted so badly to be the fifth beatle. can i tell you what i believe

happened in 1963? i was 8 at the time when i first saw them. the beatles brought something to america more than music. they brought hope. i have know it may sound sacrilegious to say the beatles bought hope. remember we were trying to get over the assassination of a president and a national psyche that had been deeply bruised. and the energy, the excitement, the youthfulness, the difference that they brought hope which our country desperately needed. and their music was pretty good. today we're in a time when we really need more than we've ever needed an america before, a sense of hope and optimism. a lot of people are discouraged in america today and you can understand why. 92 million americans don't even have jobs. they're not in the job market anymore. they have given up. anyone who said, wow, the

unemployment rate dropped to 6.7%. only because another 100,000 people or so have decided there is no point in even applying for a job because there aren't any. the highest record of americans that have taken themselves out of the job market in the history of our country. the president wants to talk about income inequality. i think we should have the debate. let's talk about it. i heard republicans say, let's don't go there. no, let's do go there. of the let's talk about the fact that the party that has preached poverty and how to fix it has led this country to spend $20.7 trillion in current dollars since the year 1964 when we launched the war on poverty. and today more people are impoverished than we were when we started the war on poverty. i would say the war on poverty isn't going very well and the reason it isn't because with all

due respect to the sincere notion of getting rid of poverty, you can not get rid of poverty until you bring to people a sense of hope and optimism and that optimism can't be artificial t has to be real. and real hope and real optimism comes when people have the prospect of getting an education, getting a job, and going beyond a life that the government wants them to live. our party is not afraid to talk about improving the income quality of people. we just want to make sure that we empower people to dream their dreams and live them. and not be subjected to saying, well, you're going to have to live in this neighborhood because this is the house that the government wants you to have. and this is the school, the failing school that your child has to go to. and you have no choice. we should be the party that unapologetically says that there are way too many people who are

struggling and who are poor. one of the ways that we need to address it, is to build a country whose economy is based on the notion that if you are willing to bork and work hard, you can get ahead. and it is not the government's boot that will be in your face every time you try to get your head out of the hole. there are many of in this room who understand what i'm talking about today. [applause] because many of you grew up like i did. there was no silver spoon in my mouth. i grew up in a home like so many of you with parents and grandparents who had never had a formal education. i'm the first male in my entire family lineage even graduated from high school, much less went to college. but i did have hope. and it wasn't all based on the battles. it was -- beatles. it was based on notion america

was kind of place where i started didn't mean that's where i had to stop. there was something else going for me. there was something that kept me just barely above the poverty line and sometimes not quite. a stable home.

>> in 1964 when he was a young lawyer at the u.s. department of labor, when the unwed birthrate was in the single digits said god help us if this ever goes to double ding jises, because it will create a level of poverty that we cannot possibly sustain. however unpopular it may be, let us not create policies whether they're tax policies or housing policies or education policies that discourages marriage and the family. we ought to be creating policies that encourage the family, that uphold that basic institution of marriage and that makes it easier for people to remain involved in the lives of their families and in their children. we need to empower parents. maybe some people in america

don't agree, but i think most republicans understand that we'd much rather the children of america be raised by a mother and a father rather than being raised by uncle sam. we cannot afford to have generations of children who are under the complete tutelage and care of government when, in fact, what they need are parents who are empowered to make the strong decisions for them as to where they will get their education, holding those educational institutions accountable for the level of education their children are receiving and having the option to put them somewhere else if the school fails those children. [applause] when we don't have those options -- [applause] we leave those children be this a world of hurt -- in a world of hurt. and that's why we've got to begin to come up with some fiscal sanity which we just do not have. think about this, in 1913 the

entire tax code of the united states was all of 400 pages. 400 pages. today the tax code of the united states is 74,000 pages, and that's before obamacare. with obamacare it's probably another 100,000 pages. don't worry, nancy pelosi said we will know what's in it after we pass it. we've passed it, we still don't know what's in this it and, obviously, the people who voted on it -- which was not one republican -- the people who voted on it and pushed it on us, they don't know what's in it either. but we need to remind them this year at election time that it was not the republicans who hoisted this massive monstrosity on the people of america. it was harry reid, nancy pelosi, barack obama. and since there weren't any republican fingerprints on putting it in place, why not give the republicans an opportunity to put some fingerprints on a plan to

replace it, repeal it and get something that will actually help empower families, empower doctors, empower nurses and no longer shackle us to a health care system that is unaffordable because the affordable care act has proven to be anything but. and that's why it's important -- [applause] that we don't take no for an answer. [applause] i think about the $431 billion spent last year just complying with the tax code. didn't produce a thing, except be paper and some accounting bills. $431 billion last year was the cost that it took for americans to comply with the tax code. now, i know not everyone here is a strong proponent, as i am, of the fair tax which would eliminate the tax op our productivity, we would tax our consumption. i realize it's a hard sell, it's

a long slog, but with i'm still believing that we need a fundamental change. we don't need to tweak the tax code, we need to fundamentally unto the mess that -- undo the mess that has been created and start over with something that will help build an economy. and you cannot build an economy as long as you're punishing productivity and rewarding reckless irresponsibility. it makes no sense at all. [applause] i've often said, i've learned a lot by raising my three children, all of whom are grown and now presenting me with grandchildren. when the kids all left, three kids, got college educations, went off on their own, got jobs, it's a wonderful thing. [laughter] two greatest days in parent's life; the day the little guy is born and the day they get out of college and off your payroll and on somebody else's. it's a wonderful day. [laughter] now, something happened in our household as our kids moved away and got off on their own. we'd always had dogs, but we

ended up not with one dog that we'd always had, we got a second dog, then we end up with a third dog. three kids, three dogs. the kids to this day swear that we replaced them with the dog cans. [laughter] with the dogs. they're pretty upset about it. complained a lot. they even said we think you replaced us with the dogs, and we sometimes think you love those dogs more than you loved us. to which we told them, well, the dogs behave better than you guys ever did. [laughter] but i did learn something about, about life from raising kids and training dogs, and it's a simple principle. if there is a behavior that you want her of, reward the behavior. you get more of it. and if there is a behavior that you want less of, consequence the behavior. and you get less of it. you may have to consequence it a

lot, it's a child, but that's how you change behavior. what do we do this our culture? -- in our culture? as it relates to the economy, we created an entire government policy that says that if you're productive, we're going to punish you. if you work and earn something, we'll tax it. be you save it, we'll tax it. if you invest it and it's successful, we will tax it. if you invest it, then you later sell it and you make a profit, we'll tax that. and if you've done well and you've saved through your life and you have something left because you didn't just go blow it all while you were here, even when you die, we'll tax that too. so every aspect of productivity in this country we decide we're going to tax which means that that's when the government decides that what they do with our money is more valuable than what we do with our money. the message we need to send to working people across america, especially those who have been somehow fooled by the democrats into thinking that higher taxes

is a wonderful thing to see, is just to tell them that when the government taxes you, that's the government's way of saying that they don't value the work that you do. they value what they're doing with your money, not what you did to get it. and i know people that come home every day from work bone tired, exhausted. they lift heavy things, they carry loads, their muscles hurt. and the government by wanting to tax them more is essentially saying what you do isn't very important. what we do as a government so important that we're willing to take more of what you do and do with it what we think is more valuable. when is america going to say, government, you don't have much to show for what you've done. you've spent money you didn't have, you've borrowed money you couldn't afford to pay back. we can never pay back what they've borrowed, never pay back what they've spent. and maybe the people who worked

hard and earned the money ought to keep a little more of it. that's the republican message. and it's not a message that i'm ashamed of. and i don't think it's a message that any republican ought to be ashamed of. it's a message that we ought to take to every working person in this country. i'm so tired of hearing that the democrats are out there for the little guy. folks, the democrats have kept their feet on top of the little guy, keeping him the little guy. [applause] i want him to have the opportunity to be a big guy! [applause] and he can with -- he can't with the government on his throat. [applause] obamacare is going to be the issue of this election no matter whether the president wants it to be or not. and it should be. and i can't think of a better opportunity for republicans to take governorships, to increase their numbers in the house and to take the senate and finally make harry reid go sit in the back of the room and wait until mitch mcconnell tells him what bills he can talk about and which ones he can't. [applause] that would be a wonderful turn

in this country. [applause] and the only thing that would keep us from seeing that happen is that we would decide that we'd rather fight each other than we had to fight for the people of this country who deserve a different and better kind of government that barack obama and harry reid and nancy pelosi have given them. please understand that i have differences with other republicans. i don't see everything eye to eye with probably everyone in this room. some of you probably don't see everything or eye to eye with me. i get that. we're part of the same family. and when i think about everyone that's in this room and everybody who goes and votes in a republican primary, be honest with you, if there's, be there's some differences -- if there's some differences, they are minute compared to the differences that i have with those on the other side of the

aisle. after all, there are no republicans who voted to implement obamacare. none. i don't know of any republicans who are advocating that we jack up the federal income tax. i don't know of any. i don't know of any republicans who think that we ought to be a weaker nation and systematically destroy the strength of our military. i don't know of any republicans who think that we ought to unilaterally disarm not only ourselves, but our friends and that we ought to go and ask friendly nations like israel to stop building bedrooms and yet don't even have the guts to tell iran to stop building bombs. i though of no republican who takes that position. not one! [applause] so whatever differences we have compared to the differences that we have with the other party, they're small. and that's why i've asked republicans, let's stop using the term "rino."

[applause] let's stop calling each other somehow less republican than someone else. be for the person you're for. but i'm thinking sometimes that in our attempt to fight for some level of artificial purity, i want to ask did the rnc vote on a particular standard that tells us what it means to be real republican? have you guys done that this week? because i haven't seen it in the papers. i'm waiting. mr. chairman, maybe you could let us know if that happens this week, if the, you know, you are elected representatives, after all. each of our states, we elect you. you come here, you represent us as a party, and i don't remember that the rnc has said, now, here is what one must believe to the nth to be a real republican. and anyone not here is a rino. if there is going to be an organization who can set that standard, it's you. you're the official body of

policy making for the party on the national level. maybe you should do that. maybe you shouldn't. [laughter] but i would certainly ask this: that we would accept the reality that if you are with me 90, 80, even 70% of the time, you're still 70% closer to me than i am to nancy pelosi and harry reid and barack obama. [applause] and i'll take you any day, anytime. [applause] this coming monday i'm going to be in a remarkable ceremony at auschwitz in poland. it'll be the 69th anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz.

on that day the majority of the israeli knesset is going to fly to auschwitz, accompanied -- each one -- by a holocaust survivor, many of whom will be going back to those killing grounds for the first time since they were children and when they were liberated from there. it's going to be a very powerful day, i'm sure. and as i think about it and even anticipate what that day is going to be like, i realize that the horrors of what happened in that place where 1.1 million people were brutally and savagely murdered, it all started when people were devalued. when people were deemed less than someone else. when people were deemed that they were not worth as much maybe because they were old, maybe because they were sick and

couldn't work. and sometimes just because they were jewish. we look back on that time in history, and we think how could educated, thoughtful people, university trained, how could a nation like germany with all of its resources, with the vast level of its population with higher education get to a place where they could do something so heinous? that's what happened. and you realize that the only way you can end up there is that when you start with the idea that some people just aren't as valuable as you are. it is why that as a believer the one thing that i have to constantly remind myself is that none of us are better than another. and no one is less than any of us.

and if i accept that for the great human family and i'm willing to value every life as having worth and intrinsic value, then surely i'll be able to value the life of those who voluntarily join me in a party that i joined when i was a teenager. i'm not an independent, i'm not a libertarian. i like some things libertarians believe, i like the spunk of the independents. i don't think the democrats are even wrong all the time. most of the time i think they're wrong. [laughter] not all the time. but by choice i'm a republican. proudly, or gladly and hopefully responsibly a republican. and if i can find value in every human being on this earth, i sure as heck am not going to

somehow devalue the people in the political organization that i have voluntarily decided to affix myself to, be an active part of and have been a part of since i was a teenager. and that's why i ask us, let's fight the real battle. the real battle in this country is joblessness, it's poverty, it's despair. the lack of hope. it's the weakness that our nation will have if we don't have strong leaders who recognize that we are exceptional and that when god breathed into us the life of liberty, he gave us a gift for which we must be good stewards. and if we can join in that, we really don't have time to fight each other. because we've got a bigger battle to fight and to win. on to it and thank you very,

very much. [applause] >> former governor mike huckabee from yesterday's rnc winter meeting session. again, we'll be live in about ten minutes or so with remarks from rnc chair reince priebus. until then, more from yesterday's rnc session. [inaudible conversations] >> with, good afternoon -- well, good afternoon, and i want to welcome you to our rising stars panel. we launched, as you know, the rising stars panel at our last

meeting in boston when we were last together. and so i am so honored to have the opportunity to be here today with our new group of our rising stars. and i'm honored to introduce them to our committee as well as to introduce them to the media and the world. when we look at what we're doing at the rnc, we're looking and reaching out to make sure that we are not just again talking to women, we're empowering women, we are training women, we are going around the country making sure that we find dynamic women that want to run for office like these individuals or run for something again in a stronger position. and we're not just talking about it or talking to them, we're going out there, and we are reaching them, we are training them, we are empowering them, we're working with them to make sure that they understand fundraising, ground room gains, messaging, media events, communications. whatever it may be that those individuals and these young women and more women around the country that share our principles and share our values, that they understand the importance of what we're going

to do together. so when we look at these individuals, we know that you're going to see them in the days ahead as you did our last rising stars. these are the rising stars, this is our party's future, and with that, it is my honor to introduce the chairman of the republican national committee, great partner and somebody that does truly understand the importance of strong, principled and empowered women across the country, reince priebus. >> all right, thank you, sharon. [applause] and as always, appreciate all of your work and our great partnership together. the rising stars program is something that we started about a year ago, and it is part of our effort on top of highlighting different voices in our party, it's part of our more formal effort to have different people and train different people to start speaking for our party. both regionally and nationally. that we show america that we have a party that looks like america. and we try to find dynamic

people across the country that can help us achievement and that goal -- achieve that goal, that want to step up to the plate and lead this country. so that's what this program is all about, and we're really proud of where we're at. i wanted to quickly introduce the folks that you see up here and just give you a little bit of background about each of them. first of all, to my right, to your left, chelsea henry serves as senior adviser to the elected chief financial officer of the state of florida. in 2012 at the republican national convention, she was highlighted in national journal, national review, tv 1 and mtv among others. she was a speaker at cpac 2013, selected for politics 30 under 30 and recognized as one of bet's ten republicans to watch. chelsea is a cereal entrepreneur and says she is a perpetual optimist when it comes to the

grand old party. that's very good, you need to be. [laughter] chelsea holds a jd from florida coastal school of law and an undergraduate degree from the university of north florida. so please welcome chelsea henry. [applause] to the right of chelsea, and as maybe appropriate, i don't know, because you'll see the buy e owe, allison howard is a conservative activist who speaks on pro-life and pro-family issues. allison has appeared on radio and tv outlets across the country including the sean hannity show, "fox & friends" ask npr. she currently serves as communications director for concerned women for america and represents wca at -- cwa at colleges, high schools and conferences around the country. so please welcome allison howard. [applause] now to your right -- notice i avoided the left -- [laughter] to your right, alex smith is

national chair for the college republican national committee. the crs. [applause] making her the first female elected as national cr chairman in its 120-year history. [applause] she's a native of pennsylvania and a graduate of the catholic university of america. she formerly served as national co-chairman during the 2012 cycle as chairman of the d.c. federation of college republicans and as chapter leader for the catholic university college republicans. she's currently a student at see on the hall university school of law -- seton hall university school of law. please welcome chairman alex smith. [applause] and next to her is kimberly yi. she represents arizona's 20th legislative district in the state senate and is the first asian-american woman elected to serve in the arizona legislature. she is chairman of the senate

committee on education. before she was elected to office, she worked for state treasurer dean martin and in the united states department of justice. she also served as a member of governor schwarzenegger's cabinet and on the state board of education under california governor pete wilson. and kimberly and her husband are small business owners and live in phoenix with their young son. leads welcome kimberly yi. [applause] and the best for last, we've got monica youngblood. in her first term in new mexico's house of representatives, she's on the board of the rslc's future majority project and was named as one of the 2013 emerging leaders. she's a native of new mexico and was raised by a single mother this albuquerque. at age 19 monica also became a single mother, but as she says, she was determined to end the cycle of poverty. so she set out give her daughter a better life. monica now runs a successful real estate business and also

works as a marketing consultant. she and her husband, chris, have two children between them. so please welcome our newest rnc rising stars. [cheers and applause] now, we're going to have an opportunity for all of you to get up and ask questions at the mic, so i'm going to ask each of our participants two questions. we'll try to move quickly, and then we're going to open up the mic. so first question is to chelsea. chelsea, you've said that you were the first republican in your family, so the first question is, why? what about the republican party appealed to you? go ahead. >> thank you, mr. chairman. so, again, i'm chelsea henry, born and raised in jacksonville, florida. my mother had me when she was 16 years old. for the first few years of my life, we were on welfare. and so for me growing up i learned at a very early age the value of a dollar. i learned how to live on a budget.

i learned the phrase that we often hear "delayed gratification" and what that means. because when there was something that we wanted, we saved, we planned for i. and so when i think about conservativism and and i think about what we stand for, what we all believe in, or it's less taxes, it's smaller government. and those things resonate with me because i understand with my mom being a single parent for a decade of my life that every dollar this her paycheck -- in her paycheck counted. i understand what it means to go to the grocery store and you want frosted flakes, yet you have to get the generic brand because those 80 cents matter. so i understand the value of a dollar and how it impacts families, how it impacts lives. and so for me, i'm about economic prosperity for all. i'm about a hand up and not a hand out. and so that is what resonates with me when i think about the republican message. it's because those values of what we all believe in, they are

the same values i believe in. and what i was -- how i was raised. and so, yes, first republican this my family. no one else in my family, you know, was a republican, shared anything about the republican message. but what i can tell you is that because of the sacrifices that my mother lived, i understand what it means to be a conservative. and so, actually, since i've been involved the past few years, my mom is now a republican. so the message works. [applause] >> excellent. allison, how can the party better connect with independent women on our conservative principles? >> sure. well, thank you for having me and thank you guys all for being here and bearing the terrible weather to come and hang out in d.c. honestly, i think right now there's an opportunity to reach out to women on issues that really matter to them. women make the majority of economic decisions in their households, and right now they're make a majority of the health care decisions as well.

so for me, i think it's most important for conservatives to talk to women as the smart, intelligent, purpose-driven women that they are. we care about so much more than the left presents to us. and pandering to us for a vote so easy to see. and women in this room will know that. but if we as conservatives can come around the message of upward mobility and talk about what limited government does for women, talking about what situations they're best in economically, sociologically, psychologically, then i think there's a really, really neat way that we can message to women, reach out to them and tell them that they can do better than this administration has brought to them right now. and i think that we're doing that. i think it's a way forward, and things like this where you're showing up, and you're showing out that you care and you are concerned about so much is really important. >> thank you. alex, why is it important for republican candidates to engage actively with young voters, but

i think most importantly, what do you think some misconceptions are that we tend to have about voters in college? >> thank you so much, chairman priebus and co-chairman day, if for this tremendous honor. you know, these are two of the strongest youth allies that we have in the conservative movement, so i thank them so much for their support of college republicans. you know, i go around busting youth vote myths all day. and, you know, a couple of them are, for example, that the youth vote was an obama phenomenon, that younger voters turned out for the president because he was cool, and they're not going to turn out that way again, so we don't need to pay that much attention to them. that's not true. the unit has grown one percentage point per presidential cycle for the past four in a row. it went up to 19% in 2012. you know, let's not give the president credit for trying to -- [inaudible] under president bush. so, i mean, the youth vote is only growing. it's growing as a percentage of

our electorate, so we need to be attuned to the needs of younger voters. another one is that younger voters will get more conservative as they get older. that's also a myth. we saw that the age demographic, 30-34, was the only age demographic to improve for the president a second time around in 2012. so voters aren't growing up and getting more conservative. they're not going and buying a home, they're not becoming parents, these traditional things that might make one more conservative because they can't afford it. so, again, just being sensitive to that as a political party once a younger voter votes with a national political party twice in a presidential election. they're likely to vote that way percent rest of their life. so we really need to capture them now. these are now two rounds of votes for president obama, so we need to be especially sensitive to that. but finally, the biggest myth out there is that younger voters are liberal. they're not. the crnc did some research in 2013, and we found that younger voters agree with us on size and scope of government.

what they don't do is they don't connect these fundamental values about spending and the size of government to the republican party brand. and so that's where we need to come in, and we need to bridge that gap. [applause] >> kimberly, you were the first asian-american woman elected in the arizona legislature and one of just a few in the entire country. what do you think our party can be doing better to engage more with asian voters across the country? >> well, there are 15 million asian-americans in this entire country, and that number is growing. and, in fact, asian immigrants are the fastest growing ethnic group in the united states. so what we are doing here on this stage today with our rising stars is the best start that we can do which is reach out to these various communities and speak out about the great work that asian-american republicans are doing from community to community across this country. and what's exciting is that when we look at asian-americans, they

are highly educated, they're higher wage earners. and for the most part, they own -- [inaudible] so that message, those principles of our party should resonate naturally with the asian-american population. what we need to do is to go out into the communities to be able to showcase people like, you know, like myself who are in those legislative seats to say this is what this person doing, and they're standing for the very same values that you hold dear in your families. and what's interesting is in 2008 when i was a delegate at the national convention in st. paul, i looked at the thousands of people around me on that floor, and there was no one that looked like me. and that was very telling, because when you look at brand or you look at a group, the person will wonder, do i fit in? and it's a natural response. and so what they need to see this our party is -- in our party is that they can fit in

and, in fact, when they are part of our group, we will embrace them. and we have so much to do for them. you know, part of your strategic initiative is to be able to showcase that great work, and i think we have so many opportunities before us. because these are people that we can bring back to our party. they vote voted, they've voted exponentially higher in the george bush administration, and then they left during the obama run in 2012. so i believe that this is the time where we can bring them back in 2016. >> thank you, kimberly. monica, you talked about the fact that you were raised by a single mom, and you wanted to end this sort of cycle of poverty. where do you see the republican party fitting in in that fight? >> thank you, chairman, for having me, and co-chair. it's an honor to be here. growing up hi mom was always -- my mom was always a republican. i remember her when reagan got reelected, and i didn't understand at the time. as i've grown up, although i

didn't agree with her when i was younger, i understand the republican party to be the party of self-reliance, of personal responsibility, of opportunity for all no matter the color of your skin, no matter where you're from, what side of the tracks you're on. i resonate with republican, with the republican party because i want to determine my worth, and i want to determine my success. and one thing that my mom always -- when i became a young mom which, again request, i was rebellious and didn't want to listen to my mom -- was she told me, monica, no one will ever care more than you do about your success. no government entity, no entitlement program will ever care more about you and your success than you will. and looking back at my community, i see that, unfortunately, a lot of people depend and get caught up in this cycle of dependency and just

never reach the success that they may have dreamed of as a young person. >> chelsi, you talked about growing up on welfare and with government assistance and going through some similar issues. what went -- benefits, blessings, lessons did that cause you to learn from going through something hike that? >> lessons, mr. chairman. and so one lesson i can say is overarching is i how conservative principles work. and i say that and i mean that from the bottom of my heart which is why i'm so passionate about being a conservative and being a republican. because again, every dollar counted when i grew up, you know? when it was dinner time ask we had a long day -- and my mom had a long day at work, it was, okay, do i get two or three

items off of the dollar menu today. and that was my biggest decision of the day. and so those lessons have continued with me, and it has allowed me to want to continue to give back and to be a public servant. in 2010 i had the opportunity to run for for a local seat there in jacksonville. i was elected, became the youngest female elected in my city's history. it was a big deal. because for people in my neighborhood, they actually had never known anybody on the ballot. so when they went into the ballot box november 2010, they were able to check a name of somebody they knew, somebody they remembered, somebody they can call, facebook and get a response to. and so when i think about the lessons, most importantly it's to give back. it's to share our message. because it works. we talk about war on poverty. the answer is the conservative message. it works. [applause] >> all right, thank you. picking up on alex was talking

about resonating on college campuses i know, allison, you work a whole lot on am puss across the country -- campuses across the country. what kind of lessons and what do you think we can be doing better to engage and what's working on your end on college campuses? >> sure. just kudos to chelsi, and that was an amazing answer, and i enjoy hearing even's stories. just like chelsi and alex said, if you walk into someplace you don't recognize anyone that talks like you, thinks like you, you don't feel like you fit in. we've been working on young women for america chapters which are, essentially, college chapters of cwa, college chapters of conservative young women that get together each week. and some of them are like a prayer group with action items. they get together, and they pray for this country, and they tell each other what's going on. because our young people in college are in a bubble of

sorts. so to be informing them, that's what we're here to do, and that's what leaders are doing, moms, dads everywhere, to get together and coalesce around an idea. a lot of them are doing things on their college campuses that i think you'd be really proud of. you know, the left will tell you that millennials only care about same-sex marriage and abortion. that's just not true. we have young women and young men out there that are going and combating sex trafficking, that are going and serving the homeless, that are getting into their communities just like everyone here has outlined and just like i think the rnc is trying to do and conservatives are working on on to be able to connect with those around you and explain to them why conservative principles work. so you can elevate yourself or into a position that you want to be at. and as women, i think we have unique positions as friends, as probably the best talkers, talking gender out there. [laughter] to communicate that we're talking all the time. and what we get to do as young

people especially is talk and use the last forms we have in front of us whether that be social media, facebook, twitter, instagram or the meetings that we have. don't complain about what the pta's doing if you're not willing to go and be a part of it. i can't talk about that if i'm not willing to serve my community in everything i believe in. so college campuses, we're starting to get some of these young leaders, pulling them in under this conservative umbrella and saying it's cool to be conservative,? and they're starting to see that. so if we can communicate that to them, there's a place for them here, we care about what you care about -- student loans, getting a job, what does that really look like? it's hard right now. it's hard for our young people. so if we are able to take this unique opportunity that they're seeing what big government does to their opportunities once they graduate and what they paycheck looks like if they get their first job, then i think conservatives are going to have a group of young people who really are willing to fight with

passion to protect that paycheck and these principles. >> oh, thank you. [applause] okay, so, alex, someone's running for president, and they come to you. they say i want to win over college students. tell me how i can get it done. what would you tell him or her? >> you know, the answer is a simple one, and the one of things that we found out in our research at the committee last year was to go where younger voters are and give them something to share. what does that mean? it means channels and messages matter. channels, i mean online. going where younger voters are, again, going to hulu, going to pandora, going to spotify. if the you're talking to younger voters on television, on radio, through direct mail, you're not reaching them. they're not on those channels. but they are on line, they are consuming content in realtime online, and that's where we need to capture them. i also mean the campus. i always say to candidates when we have the opportunity to speak about best practices and tactics

is that the you're too afraid to go to a campus to -- because of the environmental club is going to come out and protest you or something, a couple of kids with banner, you know, you are leaving the weight of our work as a party on the shoulders of 18-year-old college republicans who have to carry it alone. so candidates must go to campus, they must engage with younger voters, again, where they are. and the messaging matters too. i'll give you a perfect example. in our research what we found was the term "big government" was a nebulous one with younger voters. they didn't understand what we meant when we asked them in our focus groups. how do you feel about a candidate who proposes to fight big government? they're like government, you know, what -- big government, you mean, like the windows? the buildings are too big? what are you talking about? [laughter] problem is, for younger voters big isn't scary. big is this. big is getting a million twitters -- followers on twitter and being able to send a message out to all of them in an

instant. what is scary to to younger voters is an intrusive government. so it's just about the language that we use to describe this. the we talk about reducing government spending, if we talk about fixing big spite element programs like social security and medicare, the things we mean when we say big government; we just say them to younger voters this a language that's relevant to them. what matters the most is just talking to younger voters. i mean, it's just a basic tenet of human/human interaction. if someone's not talking to you, they don't feel like you care about them very much. we need to show them we want to earn their votes as a party. >> thank you. [applause] kimberly, you have effectively used the -- >> we will leave this anc panel at this point -- rnc panel at this point. you can see this and, in fact, any of our c-span programming anytime at c-span.org. we'll go live now to the rnc winter meeting for remarks from chairman reince priebus. this is live coverage on

c-span2, it's just getting underway. >> thousands of people from across the country for the march for life. so before i get to everything else, i just want to say i think this was a very special year to be part of the march. this year's theme was adoption. and i think adoption is something our party needs to talk about more. we're the party that respects life, and we're the party of adoption. every child should have the chance to have a loving family, and every child should have the chance for life! [applause] thank you. this is a gift, this is a gift,

and it's important that as a party we continue to be advocates for respecting and valuing life. now, one year ago we came together and said we were going to do things differently at the rnc. we set out to build a permanent ground campaign to close the digital divide and to engage with voters of all backgrounds. we've accomplished a lot together in just one year. we had our whole field team in town for training last month with hundreds of field staffers over by the dulles airport. it was a real wow moment to see how fast the republican national committee had grown in 2013. we're getting to know communities where we hadn't been for a long time, and we're talking to people who hadn't heard from us for far too long. that's how you grow a party.

now, the truth is this work is never done. it's a permanent operation. that's the new normal at the republican national committee. to win, it has to be this way. on the tech front, we've basically had a start-up running inside of the rnc. and big reforms are coming to our presidential nominating process. reforms that put republican voters -- not the liberal media -- in the driver's seat. [applause] this is about getting better debates, but it's also a way to put a check on -- [inaudible] last time we were together we took a stand against nbc and cnn, and we said if you want to run your hillary films, no debates for you. [applause] now, a little while later, a little while later they backed down.

they canceled their tributes to hillary clinton. the rnc isn't going to put be up with the same old weightings. we're going to set a new standard. and finally, i want to draw everyone's attention to our fund raising. i'm proud to report that we raised well over $7 million in december alone, and we easily outraised the dnc this 2013. -- in 2013. not only that, we ended the year debt-free. [applause] now, it's very significant that we outraised the party many power. -- in power. i don't even know the last time the party out of power outraised the party that has the white house. and it's important, because we're making investments early. it's not good enough to be the party that shows up once every four years five months before an election. that was the old way. again, we have to set a new standard.

we've done a lot, but the truth is the rnc can't do it all. it's up to the other committees as well. and, of course, the candidates have to do their part as well. but our example matters. i've said many times before that the policies and principles of this party are sound. however, as we look to grow the ranks of our party, we must all be very conscious of tone and choice of words when we communicate those policies effectively. [applause] we should set the standard, we should set the standard for future rncs and also set an example for other republicans. we all know the gop has to get out of our comfort zone and go to places where we haven't been for a while anden gauge and -- and engage and welcome new voters. we can't do all the work ourselves. but we can show what a difference it can make.

let me tell you a couple quick stories. the first one some of you have heard before. at the anniversary of the march on washington luncheon last year, we had hundreds of people show up. it was a great overflow crowd. and, you know, a couple people came up to me, ask they said you know what? -- and they said, you know what? we're here, but, you know, we're democrats, but we're here because we know that if both parties don't fight like crazy for black voters, the other side will take our votes for granted. as a party, we believe it's wrong for anyone to be overlooked or taken for granted in our political process. and even a simple act can send an important message. this fall i went up to detroit to announce our michigan black advisory council and to welcome wayne bradley aboard as our state director in michigan for african-american engagement. i was amazed by how many people

came to take part. we had business leaders and community leaders who were ready to stand up and make a difference. we did a pretty simple thing by just showing up. but it's having a big impact in place that desperately needs a new direction, fresh ideas and more opportunity. so i'm glad to see friends like rand paul going to detroit and showing up toport the party's efforts -- to support the party's efforts there. likewise, i'm glad to hear marco rubio, paul ryan, rand and others taking up difficult issues, sharing republican ideas on how to fight poverty in this country, a problem that has got p worse under democrat leadership of this administration. they each have their own approaches, but at the end of the day, expanding opportunity is always the focus. and that's the way we will stand together as republicans. this issue of income inequal the

city is best addressed by insuring equal opportunity for everyone in this country. the president is now preparing speeches on income inequality. i believe he should give those speeches while standing in front of the mirror, because under his watch everything has gotten worse. he should talk to himself, because poverty, food stamp dependency is worse. and more people have given up looking for work under barack obama's watch than at any time that i can remember. when the federal government tries to equalize outcomes, we're all going to end up equally worse off. but when we make sure people have equal opportunities and in education, in the job market and health care, we're all going to be better off. that's the right approach.

and that's what's fair. i think that's what americans expect from their leaders, fairness. and we're about that as a party too. it's not fair to voters when leaders they trusted lie to pass their agenda. it's not fair to the working mom who loses the insurance she liked because the president didn't like it. it's not fair to college grad who already has a mountain of student debt, and he also has to shoulder the cost of government's debt, of obamacare, of a wad economy. it's not fair that disadvantaged, inner city students are forced to go to bad schools and not the schools of their choice. and it's not fair that a young child that government benefits are structured in a way that penalizes his parents when they get married. none of that is fair. be but that's what democrats stand for. republicans are going to stand for fairness, freedom and equal

opportunity for all americans. [applause] now, before i close i want to share with you a very short video about what's been going on in the field and some of the great stuff that we're doing at the republican national committee. >> over the next two days, we are going to be talking as a group on how to accomplish our mission. ♪ ♪ >> my name is becca. >> my name is chris young. >> my name is nicole. >> hi, i'm jill. >> [inaudible] i want to meet some people from other states. >> i'm from north carolina. >> i'm from alaska. >> i'm from california.

>> from louisiana. >> i'm from colorado. >> [inaudible] everywhere from -- [inaudible] to right here in virginia, and our goal was to get everybody together about how we're going to run our operation and also put names with the faces of people you've been working with across the country in the past, in some case, almost six months. really exciting to see everybody. ♪ ♪ [applause] >> i want you to know that i want to make you proud of this party, and this is a huge team to have this early. i want to tell you thank you. i want you to know that you're a total blessing to us and our party and what we're trying to get done and that every today's a challenge and every day's an opportunity. >> in north carolina we're working on recruiting precinct leaders to get out there and work at a community level building those neighbor-to-neighbor, peer-to-peer relationships. >> we have to -- [inaudible] voter by voter, identify them,

know where hay stand and then turn them out on election day, and with the new data, we're able to do that. >> it's an exciting time embarking on this new trajectory for the ground game, and we're connecting with new people, new committee members as well as flourishing new long-term, genuine relationships with them. >> the values of the republican party are core as in my life and are core to the success i feel of the country. i'm doing what it takes to support it. >> we've already recruited 7,000 precinct leaders across the country. these staff are going to go back to their states, work with those precinct leaders and in january and february those precinct leaders will start going door to door, learning more information about their neighbors, gathering more data, putting all this practice to use as we start to learn more about the voters, how to communicate with them, how to turn them out to vote. ♪ ♪ >> i'm an rnc field staffer. >> i'm an rnc field staffer. >> i'm an rnc field staffer.

♪ ♪ [applause] >> when you look at, when you look at something like that, you realize what we're doing is a big deal. so, obviously, it gets frustrating sometimes when people try to attack our work or create dissent or the appearance of dissent. every once in a while you read or hear about even some of our own friends attacking the rnc. and attack what? but, you know, it reminds me that we need to tell people more of what the rnc does. the rnc builds and pays for the infrastructure that all of our candidates need to be successful. there's nothing to attack. attack what? a permanent field operation that we're paying for? a multimillion dollar technology upgrade that our friends are going to be able to use? engagement with hispanic and

african-american and asian-american communities, conservative groups, faith leaders and youth? a ground game that will help governors like scott walker and rick scott and all of our senate opportunities across the country? data and digital directors working with state parties and volunteers in the field? a tech office right in silicon valley to recruit the best talent in the world. hundreds of of staffers and thousands of precinct captains and tens of thousands of resint team members getting to know voters neighborhood by neighborhood. everything we're doing is about one thing: getting more republicans elected at every level of government. and all of it's essential for winning ask helping this country. and anyone who opposes that isn't looking out for the good of our party or our country. i now, we're doing something unprecedented here.

when in the history of our party has rnc been able to completely transform our approach to politics in less than one year? you know, the great vince lombardi, former coach of my green bay packers -- [laughter] once said, and it's a good one, the only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. [laughter] our work isn't done. in fact, it's only getting or started. so the close -- to close, i have two challenges for us in the coming year. as we keep up the work, let's set an example for our fellow republicans. a standard for the future of the rnc. thank you very much. [applause] god bless you, have a great rest of our meeting. i appreciate it. thank you. [applause]

and now it's my pleasure to introduce my partner and co-chair, sharon day. >> thank you. [applause] >> finishing up with chairman reince priebus' remarks from the rnc winter meeting. we will have more from the annual gathering later today. we'll have a speech from south carolina republican senator tim scott. he is expected to start at about 1:15 eastern. you can watch that live on our companion network, c-span. >> some of you have been marching for over 40 years and have endured many setbacks including the recent expansion of abortion coverage in obamacare. but it is important more now than ever that we remain strong

and stand together. we cannot allow the opponents of life to continually weaken the moral pack rick of our country -- fabric of our country. they need to know and they need to understand that we will continue to march, we will continue to educate, we will continue to advocate, and we will continue to fight for the unborn! [cheers and applause] >> despite the fact that president obama's using stealth deception and coercive power of the state to promote abortion violation, the pro-life movement is alive and well and making serious, significant and sustained progress. >> this weekend on c-span the annual march for life rally from the national mall in washington d.c. saturday morning at 10 eastern. on c-span2's booktv, what's the secret to a life of happiness? talk radio host hugh hewitt on

the possible answers saturday night at 8. ask on c-span3's american history tv, from 1964 to 2004 the issues and concerns from five decades of state of the union speeches. sunday afternoon at 3. .. didn't come from events beyond our control. it came from a debate in washington over whether the united states would pay its bills or not.

who benefited from that fiasco? i talked tonight about the death of trust between main street and wall street, ma but the divide within this city and the rest of the country is at least as bad. it seems to get worse every ye year. >> watch president obama deliver this years address. live tuesday night at eight eastern with the president at nine. followed by the response from republican conference chair and you'll be action by phone, facebook and twitter. the state of the union tuesday night live on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. >> recently the atlantic magazine and the center for american progress hosted a daylong forum discussing the fight of the latest shriver report. this ongoing project led by maria shriver aims to ways -- raise awareness facing key issues facing women.

a conclude an estimated 42 million women are at risk of falling into poverty. this portion is just over three hours. >> today we'll be discussing those issues with the foundation of the third shriver report which is a woman's nation pushes back from the brink. across the the we'll hear from maria shriver and others as we talk about the fundamental question, why are millions of working women in america more economically vulnerable than ever before, and what can we as a nation do about that? i'd like to extend a very special thank you to you all for joining us here at the museum to answer it such a gloomy day. i would also like to thank those of you who are watching us online. you can join us and i get a special welcome to c-span to tour with us here today. many thanks to those who organized the shriver report come in particular a woman's nation team and the center for american progress.

our gathering today is make possible the generous support of her underage but i would like to give them a special things as well and they're presenting underwriter the american federation of teachers and are supporting underwriters abbott laboratories. many thanks to them for helping to make this gathering possible. [applause] >> as all of you know, i hope, for 155 years the atlantic has been covering the largest societal issues facing america. in earliest year, 1857, we were very much on issues of slavery and part of the early abolition movement. we've written about women's suffrage, civil rights, including publishing martin luther kings letter from me in jail and we've written more recently but issues such as same-sex marriage. this is very much our charter and that's appropriate that maria shriver and her team approach the olympic. we're honored to have them here, but also for the coverage on the

report and related materials on our website, theatlantic.com. you will find a terrific piece that marie offered called the female face of poverty. you will find also other strong women's voices on theatlantic.com, particularly owner chan which is called sexes which was launched in november of 2012. that is a digital form for conversation ranging from gender dynamics in the workplace the power shifts in dating, pregnancy and parenting and portrayal of men and women in pop culture. i would invite you to look at that site. also in the atlantic's magazine you'll find lots of strong female voices and terrific coverage, including major cover stories that have changed the nature of the american conversation about women and their role. to you will probably remember our why women still can't have it all by anne-marie slaughter, and the peace called the end of them. both of those women will be with us here today along with many other strong speakers, men and

women including senator kirsten gillibrand, democratic leader nancy pelosi, and tony porter. our format across today will be keynote interviews, panel discussions and video presentations as we discussed public and private specter practices that are intended to prevent american women from living on the economic edge and allowing them to achieve long-term financial security. a few housekeeping remarks before we get things underway. says where light string would ask to please silent yourself over to be some opportunity for q&a across the day. if you're interested in posing a question please raise your hand. we will bring a microphone to you. keep your questions short and questions. we asked you follow along with us on twitter and offer your comments there. you can follow at shriver report and use the hashtag what women need. you will find a comment card on your seat and we would really

welcome your feedback on today's program. with all that said i would like to welcome to the stage the president of the center for american progress and was one of the leaders in creating "the shriver report." just marketing president of the center, he was ceo, operations and fundraising. served in both the obama and clinton ministrations esoterics present to campaigns and working think tanks across the. previously served as senior advisor for health reform at the department of health and human services advising secretary kathleen sebelius and work in president obama's health reform team in the white house. in 2012 she was named one of the most influential women in washington by "national journal" which is a sister publication to the atlantic so we're delighted to be working with the center for american progress and neera tanden. [applause] >> thank you, elizabeth, for the very kind introduction and for the great partnership of

atlantic. we are excited about this day and atlantic brings so much to our ability to communicate these ideas but also brings such a new and innovative ideas. so thank you again. at the core of our mission is expanding opportunity for all americans. we believe with all americans have a fair shot we are all better off, and that is why the work we have done with maria shriver on this book and this project has been so important and so critical. because ensuring that women who are one paycheck away from poverty, or already in poverty themselves, ensuring that a real opportunity we believe will ensure their families to better, our country does better, our communities do better, our businesses do better, and that we are really again all better off. we really honestly believe as a

guiding principle that just because you're down doesn't mean you're out in america. that is a critical principle, something that guides our work but is also very personal to me. i grew up in a suburb of boston, the child of two immigrants who came from india decades earlier. we lived in a house in bedford massachusetts which was, which is a middle-class typical town. when i was five my parents got divorced and my dad left. my mother was on her own, and indian immigrant. she never worked, never held a job before. and she faced a really tough choice of going back to india or going on welfare here. she had two children to support. it was a very tough choice, that she knew it she went back to india she and her children would face stigma for the rest of our lives. back then really nobody got

divorced in india. really they don't get divorced that often have. she made this very tough choice to stay in this country and go on welfare. so we were on food stamps. we cut section eight housing. but we were lucky. we are able to stay in bedford and i was able to go to bed for schools. my mom eventually got a job as a travel agent, and i remember very well days in which i got sick and had to go to school because she couldn't risk losing her job. sometimes there were days when i came home from school and just at home in our apartment because there was no one there, but she couldn't leave her job. i am very, very proud to say that after a few years she got a string of better jobs, and by the time i was 11 she was able to buy own house in bedford,

massachusetts. i am incredibly proud of her. but i know it's not just heard that got us through all that. there are a variety of programs that were available to us. .gif to help us but to help us get out of the problems we had. there were people who believed and expanding opportunity for all americans. help people like me be here today. and so i am so thrilled that we've been able to do this work together because i feel like opportunity has been there for me and it is so vital that we expand the circle of opportunity to more and more americans. when you read through the materials, you read and listen to these women's stories, all

that want is a little help to do right by their families. they just want -- they don't want us to do the work for them. they are working pretty hard. they just need that extra help, and in a country as great as ours, it seems like that's an easy ask. so we at the center for american progress are thrilled to be joining maria in this effort. we have a fantastic team at the center who have been working, seems like decades, but it's been two years on this project. we honestly believe that the book, a woman to nation, will be an important contribution not just the conversation but real policy change. the family leave, paid family leave to increasing the minimum wage. we hope this entire initiative

will move from important conversations to real policy change to that place that hopefully is clearing out which will be able to see today. this project would not have happened without the incredible vision, foresight, leadership of maria shriver. as i said, and her spirit is in his book every way. thinking of new and dynamic ways to communicate to people but also visionary ways to lift these voices out. all of these women have a friend and leader in maria shriver. she's been a great partner, a great mentor to so many people, and we are thrilled to work or whether. it is my great honor to introduce maria shriver. [applause] >> proothank you, neera. good morning, everybody.

every morning as my kids know, i start with a moment of meditation, and i won't walk through what i said but there's always two lines and it says, i say to myself, made today made it be peace within. may i trust where i am cycle right imminent to be. i believe i am exactly where i am meant to be right here this morning with everybody who's made effort to be here today, with the atlantic who has been such a great partner and with the center for american progress and neera, listening to you, standing a. brought tears to my eyes. neera's story about her mother first of all to the courage to tell that story, to tell it about her mother, to tell it about her family, and that she stands here today as the leader of one of the great think tanks in this country, doing such incredible work is a testament

to her mother's will, her mother's courage, and her own. she stands here and representing the 42 million women who are represented in this report, the 20 million children who depend on them. they are not statistics. they are not crass. they are human beings with real stories, real hopes, real dreams, and that really was the mission of everybody who worked on this project. there's an incredible team of people have been working for years led by karen skelton and olivia morgan, backing them, roberta hollander, daniela, melissa, the center for american progress, obviously neera, and, obviously, this event today, all of whom held have worked so hard at all of whom share the same mission. what united both of these teams and what united everybody wrote for this report and who's been

working what i call on the front lines of humanity is the belief that these women, given the chance cannot only lift themselves up but that the their entire families. and putting women at the center of the economy is not just good for women, it's good for men, it's good for boys and girls, and its most importantly good for the country. that's the mission of this report was to change a lot of old stereotypes, putting a face to this issue and talk about it in ways that people could understand and see themselves, and what we've seen and what we've heard with all the coverage on television and with thanks and appreciation to beyoncé who has pushed this report out into spheres i didn't even know existed -- [laughter] and so many other people as what we have heard in all the responses to you, nbc, this is my story. this is my story.

my story is not about the glass ceiling. it's not about -- it's about the foundation and how do i shore it up. it's a story not against men but including in. it's a story about what is good for boys, what's good for girls them what's good for women, in particular about the incredible struggles that they face to be breadwinners, to be caretakers and to be caregivers. to be good doctors, mothers, sisters, citizens and workers. i want to thank all of you for coming here. it means to me he had the interest in this subject, that you believe we can be a more compassionate, conscious, caring country. i really believe that. we have tremendous power, each and every one of us, to move this nation and move that he'll. and i think we're in a unique moment in our country, 50 years after the war on poverty when lyndon johnson gave the very

famous speech, anyone -- a call that my dad and said you're going to lead the war on poverty? what is that there gives a don't have any balls? just giggling. this report took a lot of balls from one generation to another. [laughter] here we are. and i believe so much of what daddy and so many others did still works and has a neera said, did workers to work. yet there is to work to be done, things to modernize, things to evolving things we can do better because the american ms change. we talk about that in this report. one of three women living on the economic brink, 70% of women not having one sick day. we can do better. we will do better. i have no doubt about it and we start here today. i don't want to spend a lot of time i want to introduce this video that we did for the report

called she's the one. it really is the one. millions and millions of women are starring in it. look, a picture of me with president obama up there. [laughter] that was really exciting. if you said yesterday i'm sympathetic to these issues, i understand these issues, and i want to make a difference on these issues, and together we will. so i want to once again thank you, deep gratitude. i hope you all still believe that you're exactly where you meant to be today. i hope you have peace within and hope you'll be able to take in all of this material in your head, in your heart and that you leave here today believing you are part of the solution. so may i introduce she's the one? [applause] ♪

♪ there are 42 million women like this one, and this one, and this one. you see her every day. one house down or one desk over. the one teaching your children or going back to school herself. she works hard to hold down a job or even two, to provide and parent, also without a partner, to juggle the needs of young children and elderly parents, be the backbone of her family. she's the one doing it all because she has to.

♪ she is one missed paycheck, one sick child, one broken down car away from losing it all. you might notice wife. she might be a lot like you. she could be looking to shatter the glass ceiling, or just trying to stay on her feet. ♪ a note this one, and the millions like her, make up the foundation of our country. ♪ ♪ she keeps our families moving, our communities ar going, and or economy growing. she's the one, 28 million kids depend on. we can't afford to let her down or count her out so let's help lift her up. we are the ones. to add your voice and share your own story visit shriver report.org. ♪

[applause] >> please welcome to the podium sister joan. >> what do you and i do with what we just heard? the only task worthy of our efforts is to construct the future. and that is exactly why you and i and all of us are here today, to talk together about what each of us can do, to create a new future for women. why? because even now in 2014 women are still being made invisible everywhere. women are being denied the resources they need to become the fullness of who they are. so you see the world is being denied the resources of women. they are vision is still being ignored. their wisdom is demeaned, and

their ideas are both unheard and unsought. as a result of that worldview, today two-thirds of the hungry of the world are women. and two-thirds of the illiterate of the world are women. and two-thirds even here of the poorest of the poor everywhere are women. and that can't be an accident. that is a policy and that policy must change. because someone somewhere has decided that women are worthless, and women deserve less. but you and i must begin today by remembering that the world was not made as it should be. the world was made as it could be. the great spiritual task we face today is how to complete what creation began, a world of bounty and not for everyone.

a world where justice is defined by equality, not by gender. and the world where none of us can ever be home until we respect and enable the lives of the rest of us. what women need is for us today at this moment here, at the top of this mountain, to shout to the world a new and holy truth, that every law passed, every national time spent, and every public project launched must be evaluated as much through the eyes of women as it has been through the needs and ambition of men. you and i must take responsibility today for saying that it is done. an ancient story makes that task even clearer. before the holy one on their prayer rug came the beaten and broken, great god, the prayer

cried, if you are a loving god, why don't you do something for these? and the answer came back from the heavens. i did do something. i made you. yes, it is true that nothing we do changes the past, but it is also true that everything we do changes the future. we are asking ourselves today for the sake of our daughters, for the sake of the world, we must do something, each of us, alone when we leave here, to construct a better future for women everywhere so that all of us can become what we are truly meant to be, men of conscience and women of courage to guess that is what today is really all about. [applause]

>> please welcome to the stage, barbie, christina, michelle. [applause] >> my name is barbie. this is my story. i'm a mother of two who knows what it's like to go to bed at night without a new because we didn't have anything for them. five years ago i was living in the house with no heat, and because of the frigid conditions my son was going blind. i was constantly in the emergency room with him, and when i would go in the emergency room, always a lady would come in and ask me, do you have a working stove? dft in gnome? each time she would ask me, i would say nothing. until the day came that they told me my son would need

surgery, and that would require a needle to go into his eye to try to salvage his vision. on that day i told that woman how i had no heat in gnome. i told her how his father was in jail, how i was in an abusive relationship. i told her things that i had never told anyone before. a few days later i met a doctor. she offered me a free camera and asked me to take pictures of my life. what started off as just me later turned into two of my friends, then 40 women, throughout philadelphia and is now all over the country. she called the project witnesses to hunger. our mission was to let senators, lawmakers, legislators know exactly who their decision are affecting and what it's like to be a woman of low income. through witnesses to hunger not only was i featured in a documentary about hunger in

america, but i also got a job at the coalition against hunger. [applause] so here i was, this woman of low income, receiving welfare and now i was on the other side. it would have helped many fans who need assistance. today, i'm a full-time college student on a full scholarship. [cheers and applause] >> and this is my dream. my dream is to finish college with a masters degree. and start a nonprofit organization for victims of crime to try and turn their struggles into success. [applause] >> hi. my name is marissa, and this is my story. i grew up in bayview houses,

eight section eight development in the middle and continued in brooklyn, new york. i grew up there my whole life. i married my high school sweetheart and join the military. once we were there, we decided to start a small family. i took early discharge from the military and we came back stateside. we moved on act to brooklyn. and later divorced. in that time i had to look for housing, indeed upon social services, and basically had a really, really hard time finding a place to stay on a very fixed income. i couldn't get a job for the simple fact that i had no place to stay. it was more important, and they didn't have childcare but it was more important to have a place to stay and look for work until i could stabilize my life. once i found a place to stay, it made things easier.

it brings a lot of emotions up, i'm sorry. anyway, basically what happened was i took two years to find an affordable apartment. i used to ride the subways, the elevated trains to look out into the neighborhoods to see if there was someplace i wanted to raise my children. i would ask total complete strangers what is this david likes? is it okay? is it safe? is a decent? everyone told me you don't want to live here. and i just, i couldn't find a place to stay but it took two years, and i stumbled onto section eight housing which helped to stabilize my entire life. i was able to get a job in my neighborhood. i've been working in my neighborhood committee-based nonprofit for the last 20 years. i currently serve on several boards that advocate for affordable housing. for women's rights, for advocacy. and yes, social services has

been there for me, still to this day i live in subsidized housing but i can put the whole time and my assistance has shrank since i've been living there. my dream is to be able to run for office so that i can help other families to put them in a position where they can be self-sufficient and become stable fo for for themselves ane able to for themselves and able so that it don't have to struggle the way that i did. [applause] >> hello there my name is christina. this is my story. i grew up in a single parent home with my mother, and we went through many struggles. i eventually left him at a young age, and by 17 i was a man to be the. i became depressed and alone, and iran the street. i lost everything and everyone around me. i had my first child, my son, omar, at 20.

we lived with his father's family in a house with no water, no electric. a year later i was seven months pregnant with my daughter, angelica. we went into a homeless shelter. the father of my children turned to drugs and had no choice but to leave him. i had no home, no family support. i literally had nothing. i've put -- they offered me a job as a classroom aide. and they paid for my schooling and eventually i became a group teacher. i got my first low income apartment at that time. i answered, a dollar to dollar program and eventually it led me to homeownership. and even though i was classified in high school as a remedial student, in may i will be

graduating with my bachelors degree from wilmington university in behavioral science. [applause] i am now a homeowner of seven years, and i work in a doctor's office. my dream is to further my education and received a master's degree in social service and help women have struggled the way i have. [applause] >> this is my story. i was born in st. mary parish louisiana the 11th of 13 children, the parents who may get off of a seller of $27 a week, for two weeks in a local nearby sugarcane field. i've always wanted to go to college but i kept taking detours. after a shotgun wedding to my husband, gabriel, an army veteran, i had my first child at

age 17, and for more after that. gabriel also dreamed of going to college, but with a wife and five children to support, he found a job at the local shipyard instead. then when the shipyard shut down, gabriel found work as an auto mechanic making less than minimum wage. it was at that time that we knew we were in trouble. now, for the longest time we tried not to go on public assistance, not us. but one day i found myself at the kitchen stove trying to stretch a little pause to in tomato sauce, and i swallowed my pride and applied for food stamps. it was at that same time that i heard about head start. at first i must admit, i thought, head start? isn't that the poverty program for low income families?

now granted, we were at the worst times in our lives economically, financially. so then we went to head start for help, broken and ashamed, and enrolled our second born into the head start program. i enrolled in college, and i can remember my first essay was woman comes alive at 35. [laughter] fabian eventually got his masters degree, and on that same day i received my bachelor's degree. [applause] this triggered a chain of educational events that led to my children, some of them receiving college degrees, certifications, finding jobs, and for me, i earned two masters degrees. head start works. i know it works. because of all of the families strengthened tools that he gave my family for a lifetime.

this is my dream. i dreamed that my children and grandchildren would reach their fullest potential. i dream that every low income family in need, particularly women living on the brink, would receive the comprehensive services that head start offers. and i dream that head start, this national treasure, god's gift to the country, be shared with the world. [applause] >> please welcome to the stage steve clemons, rosa delauro, barbara ehrenreich and carol gilligan. [applause] >> greetings, everyone. [inaudible]

>> i want to touch us before we start on this great panel with three phenomenal women on the subject of why women are on the brink, just commend the speakers we just had up here on stage. [applause] >> those of us who live in this town, we live around a lot of rich people, working media, there is a proliferation of the most powerful women conferences out there, but it's very rare that you get people who just see a different side of life. these are powerful women that we just saw. very powerful women. so congratulations to all of these people dealing with some very tough circumstances. we have rosa delauro here was just a wonderful force in congress. 12 term congressman. she been working with nancy pelosi on a fantastic women's agenda. we have carol gilliland, professor at duke university for

30 years taught at harvard was the first gender studies professor at harvard, and i'm huge fan of barbara ehrenreich, wrote recently for the atlantic in the january issue of the atlantic on -- i remember exact title basically people can't afford to be poor but it's just too expensive to be poor. i want to just open it because i was so irritated the other day when it opened "the wall street journal" and i thought, while not, maybe ari fleischer and i agree on something. he had written a piece looking at we have 42 million women who are in poverty or on the edge, and i said, there is recognition that there's a problem out there, and the solution he suggested, they just need to get married. that was the headline. i just want to start with that because was speaking to maria shriver and she said in her comments this is both a hard and they had issue. i am just wondering where the hard element is in some of the

-- i want to start with you, rosa, on the whole issue of how have we constructed a society that is so hostile to women in general, but particularly women who are resource challenged? >> first of all, ari fleischer is absurd. the article is a demeaning to women. the fact of the matter is that i married women, single, widowed, divorced or separated and that's what we found out, they are living on the edge and on the brink. and i think what we are to do is to challenge ari fleischer on what you said and i intend to do that. it's just nonsense. whatever data i could get and write about i would do that. i think it's interesting, the circumstances that women find themselves in which i don't think the environment has been deliberately hostile, though i

listen to sister joan and with some of things that she speaks about and the lack of economic opportunity or political opportunity for women. but the fact is women have entered the workforce with a vengeance. we are one half of the workforce. we are two-thirds of women are primary or co-breadwinners in their families. and that trend of single headed households is accelerating at a great rate. we also know that women enter this workforce at occupations that pay less. two out of three women who are working at minimum wage jobs. you then couple that with the discrimination with pay equity. women are getting 77 cents on the dollar, women of color are getting paid less. add to that what society expects of women in terms of being home, being homemakers, of having the predominant role for caring for

children and for elderly parents. and then you add another layer which is speed not to interrupt but there's a point in the book, if you get "the shriver report," there's a little punctuation point saying that women contribute 110 million hours a year of free support in these areas that you just outlined. >> and there are no support services. where's paid sick days? wears pay equity? where is paid family and medical leave? where is affordable childcare? where his pension protection for women? retirement security for women? it's not there. if you take a look at wages, when i talk about and i say this to ari fleischer, you know what's at the root of this? let's take a look at what is driving poverty and income inequality, it's low-wage jobs. we have a majority that doesn't want to increase the minimum wage. college women are doing better but that gap hasn't made but i

made women, those non-college educated and women who are widowed, singled, to force, separate our struggle. i'm pleased you mentioned that we have in the house of representatives crafted, leader pelosi and myself and the women of the house have crafted a women's economic agenda. it's women and families and it says, if women succeed, america succeed. it's all about pay equity, all that work-life balance and it's all about childcare and actual pieces of legislation, which turns that hostile invited around and give women the kind of support that they need in order to be able to realize the women who stood here earlier realize their dreams and aspirations. women have dreams and aspirations for themselves and for their families. and today we are a society which is not allowing them to be able to realize it. >> rosa just mentioned

essentially minimum wage and low income, and you of this fascinating exposé, so powerful i really recommend people look at it, not just because it appeared in the atlantic but aren't essentially on what a trap essentially the minimum wage low-wage work that so many women have. can you share with us your thoughts on the expense of being poured? >> yeah. just one quick observation though about the marriage solution that ari fleischer proposed low-wage is applied to men men, too. especially men of color. working-class men coming, college aged and sometimes too. when you say to a woman, you even get out of poverty just by getting married, my question is, how many men does she have to marry? [laughter] because marrying a $10 an hour

man gets you nowhere. [laughter] you really need three or four. [laughter] which brings its own problems i'm sure. but anyway. i mean, i'm just so tired of that explanation. once you're in a low-wage job, what i found and what people tell me is you really don't have a lot of freedom anymore. you can't say, i think i'm going to quit this job here in the big box store because it only pays $8 an hour ago to look for something better, or think of something better. you can't do that because you would lose about two weeks pay minimum in making the transition. now, that's two weeks pay you can't do without. so you get kind of stuck and you're very vulnerable in that

situation. >> carol, you've written about gender and women's issues for a long time. we were just talking in the green room about the fact that there needs to be a switch that goes off, that we are not hearing women's voices. and i asked you was talking to barbara and rosa about whether which is organize a society which is just fundamentally hostile to women moving forward. and whether you're on the upper in our lower end. anne-marie slaughter will be here today and she's calling and "the shriver report" for a more caring society. youth and women's voices aren't heard and a look here what you share with your audience what you meant by that. >> well, i mean, i'm fascinated by "the shriver report" saying that women are, and we are, the majority of voters, the majority of wage earners, the majority of caregivers, the majority of college degree recipients.

and i have a very simple question. particularly, you know, you've heard this incredible voices this morning, where are women's voices? in other words, we as women in a democratic society in fact have the power to change the situation. so i cut my peace in the shriver report when we were nine we were honest. because i think if we could all do sort of a magic thing and go back to ages nine and 10, we would change the whole thing. and i took my granddaughter, maxine, to the saudi arabian film about the 10 year old girl wants a bicycle. enter comment afterwards was, if there are more women in the world, why don't women have rights? and so i think -- i said to steve, there's a voice inside all of us. and it was there, it was outspoken when we were little, i

would say all the things that all of these wonderful women here, including my two panelists, have said, which is, this is an absurd situation. so i think we have to have -- have asked how we turn on the switch is how do we bring voices for? and one thing i know is you can't do it alone. you have to have a resonance. with a woman says something that she knows is true because she's speaking from her experience, someone says something that encourages her to say more so she doesn't feel she's crazy or she's wrong or she's back. or the word that came up all the time when i interview women, which is selfish. that if the woman says what she sees, what she knows, what she wants, that's called selfish. where if she speaks for someone

else, then, does what other people want or what other people think she should do, that's called good. and so there is a huge force in society, in the name of morality that encourages as women us. that voice is there. >> what kind of role model do you think would've done that? we're talking about this and it occurred to me again, if you read any of the major sort of pop hits on women's issues right now, they all say there's something to misbehaving. that in corporate culture for instance, if you're not at the lower end, you're at the upper end and your outspoken or your progressive. they are used as criticisms of women. what are the role models that you think can help undo that kind of gender trap?

>> take a look at the women who smoke appeared this morning. >> that's exactly right. >> and i think, first of all, let me just step back for a second. because i think that "the shriver report," the voices of women are now becoming a part of a national discourse. and when you we've the pieces together as what we tried to do in the house of representatives, leader pelosi, myself and others, what we try to do is are listening to the voices of women out there. is to say, let's just not talk about wage inequality. let's just not talk about child care. those things are used against us, it'd once -- one against another. when you talk about pay equity for the is that that's not true. women to self select to make less money. hello?

women self select to make less money. not true. so what i thought was and what "the shriver report" does come it galvanizes and makes it a whole that becomes part of a national discourse. what's being done here today was atlantic, and those women who speak out, were able to get the kinds of assistance and the support they needed, either for famine or for institutions, who are willing to get out, tell their story and speak up, coupled with both getting business in 10 with the direction that we need to go in, and stopping the selfish as they have been, some of them, and government. >> but you don't have to provide programming that allows women to seek the opportunity. >> the human scientists now say what used to be seen as women's qualities being compassionate, caring, these are human strengths. and so one of the questions is

not simply, you know, where all the role models for women. one of the questions is, what has happened to the community of men? because it's not a women versus men issue. i totally agree with barbara. >> i just want to say, on the speaking out thing, just reminder that the institutional setting that many low-wage women face, their workplace, for example, you speak out, you're fired. that's it. you've gone because you got a bad attitude, insubordinate, whatever. is not just that women hesitate out of our goodness and switches and everything. but because this kind of passivity and silence is imposed. >> it's also rewarded spent not rewarded very well. >> no, no, no. but in school if a girl says what other people want her to say or the way you'r you are sud

to read this book with what you're supposed to talk about whatever, there's a lot of reward for it because, what i'm trying to say is i don't think it's just low-wage women, although i understand the situation. i think this goes across and i think the division among women are one of the things that keeps us from actually using -- i mean, the point is there better -- there is balance. >> the switch can be turned on. >> is there. and whether it's low income women are whether it's working women or middle-class women who are working. part -- barbers point is that people are concerned with the economic challenges in their life. >> we're talking about poor women, low-wage women and we have to understand though that the constraints and the kind of almost dictatorial situation

they face, both at the workplace and institutions that supposed to help them, and that's why it's so important that other women who are not that gullible, who are not that constrained stand up and support when they speak out. >> that's exactly right. [applause] >> let me just read real quickly speeded remember seventh grade and the pressures for women and girls that time to divide? because i think your absolute right. i think we have to resist that. >> i want to read, this is a very, very powerful opening that maria shriver has in her article, in "the shriver report" called the female face of poverty. she writes let me state the obvious are i've never lived on the brink that i've never been in foreclosure, never applied for footsteps commitment to choose between feeding my children are paying the rent and never feared i would lose my paycheck when i had to take time off to care for sick child or

10. i'm not in crisis what if i have to pay a parking ticket or if the red goes a. if my car breaks down my wife doesn't descend into chaos. you spent a lot of time being to channel for many of us into that world that maria says she is not part of. that's what we are really talking about. you are really a social anthropologist. you've been deep in the muck of the reality of all of that. what do you think i'm just in terms of lessons of what we can do, we have a major legislator, a democratic member, what are three or four key things in perspective that you think we need to fix and digest to right the ship if you will by women who are living the life that maria outlined? >> i usually defer to rosa delauro on this. when it gets practical. but yes, child care has been mentioned. it's essential. we need to see the minimum-wage bill up, and -- somewhere a

little bit closer to a living wage, which even $10 or $15 an hour isn't. i was reminded by a friend who worked with me on some of these issues sometimes, need to bring it also sensitivity of violence. that women to face certain kinds of situations that are very different. usually -- i don't know if that's part of your agenda but i think in general rosa will figure it out. i'll sign on. [laughter] >> to add to that, one has to take a look and be focused on what government is doing or not doing. it is raising the minimum wage. quite frankly now what we need to do is just extend unemployment benefits. that ought to be the first order of business, which we then exposing. minimum wage, paid sick days. you know, almost half the

population has no -- women don't have one paid sick day. it's unbelievable. paid family and medical leave. i've been able, i joined with its sandy gillibrand and introducing the family act. family and medical leave was great but it doesn't take it. this commission against pregnant women in the workforce that we have to acknowledge their being able to make child care more affordable. food stamps. several people mentioned food stamps were up her this morning. we are in an environment in the house of representatives and in the senate where it doesn't seem to matter that we're going to look at cutting, potentially, $20 billion in food stamps in this economy. where is the outrage of that? >> that's the question. >> what is the outrage? not just by women but men and women in this society today that we are not responding to these

needs. that's what we need to speeded i was just going to ask something along those lines. give us a snapshot of what some of your opponents in congress say about these things when you are raising the. i'm going to make a question in just a minute to think of a question. we will get a couple them. when you look at this question, when you read anne-marie slaughter's article on why women still can have it all, what she is really saying i think is that if you had a place in which there was more of a rulemaking system, when society organizes itself, women's voices and the flex about childcare and others with built-in we would have a much more fair, caring society, what does the other side say when you bring that up? >> first of all they don't, ari fleischer. you know? you want to solve this problem? gay marriage, you know? for some reason i always thought marriage was based on a different premise.

[laughter] but they will just say there's no need to increase the minimum wage, but businesses out of business to extend the unemployment benefits. people are lazy. that's why they don't have a job. if you reward them with benefits, they're not going to look for a job. food stamps, one of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle said that if you don't work, then you shouldn't need. i mean, this is real. that is the environment in which we are existing. and yet they will talk about how they want to do something about any called it. you can't do that unless you're willing to face and focus on these major issues that we are facing. >> let me open up. [inaudible] >> the mic is not on. folks, make sure the mic is on.

great. >> is that better? good morning. my question is, do you see a change in a statement or stereotypes surround the single parent, the single mother? and what are the ramifications if it does or doesn't change? >> i worked in the senate for jeff bingaman in new mexico, and our biggest supporters were hispanic single head of household, multiple child, working two or three jobs. so not only were they carrying the load for their families, that there was enormous stigma attached inside, the political scene except from our office. how do you deal with that issue? >> i think the data, the research that was done for "the shriver report," if you dig deep into it you will find that there isn't a moral judgment as a single parent but the view has

changed to say that what we need to do is to provide the support services that people need in order to be able to get ahead. there wasn't a moral -- >> there is a real stigma though in our society. we have picked various sorts of people to scapegoat. like the racist overtones of so much discussion on poverty. you know, it's like, they are lazy, they have too many children, et cetera, get their act together. at a certain point though, in the '90s, around the time welfare reform legislation, the stigmatization focused on single women, single mothers. and this became, this is like, this is who they go after. this is the punching bag. these are the bad people that are causing poverty. >> i think things are changing [talking over each other]

>> but i think also when you look at them and you mentioned this, the 70% of single women were basically a big force in the election of obama. that i think in fact the attitudes towards single women are changing in single women's voices, in fact, are having an effect and, therefore, there is more pressure to reinforce the stigma because if these women speak out, things are going to change spend i hope they speak out and are empowered. ..