>> please don't refer me to the state department on this. i am asking something about the whitehouse. it is a very basic one -- >> before you ask, i will do my best and not refer to the state department but i want you to remember it is the responsible of the state department and that agency to maintain their e-mail system and ensure their compliance with the record act. >> does the whitehouse think hilary clinton broke the law? >> i am going to do my best to answer. secretary clinton's team said at the request of the state department, they have reviewed her records -- >> i know what the team has said. but does the whitehouse believe hilary clinton broke the law our complied with the law?

does the president believe his former secretary of state broke the law or complied with the law. >> you will have to go verify this but if in fact what secretary clinton's team said they were going to do and that can be verified by the state department that would be consistent with what the federal act requires. i was not in a position to review secretary clinton's personal e-mail. that was the responsibility of secretary clinton and her team. and they said they turned over thousands of pages and e-mails, including many on the state department system and that is entirely consistent with the requirement of the federal records act. >> let me ask you about something said in june of 2011.

jay carney your predecessor, said all of our work is conducted on work e-mail accounts. we are instructed we need to conduct all of our work on government accounts >> he was asked about whitehouse staffers. >> we said u.s. government policy, certainly administration policy, is affect here that we do all of the work on work e-mail accounts. so was the whitehouse unaware house unaware of this? >> there was guidance given to white house staffers consistent with guidance given to employees and that is official work should be conducts on official systems.

when there are situations when personal e-mail is used to conduct use business those e-mails are official government records and turned over to the state department which is what i understand secretary clinton's team did. >> now we know all of her e-mail, personal and official, all of it was done on a non-governmental e-mail account accounts. >> the state department is responsible for maintaining the records. >> we were told government work is done on government e-mails. that is not correct. >> i am saying that is the guidance we give to employees. again, it is safe to accept that federal employees in this administration work hard and the last thing we do is ask them to take an additional step -- >> you didn't take the step up till two years after she left. >> hilary clinton benefits from something most federal employees

don't have which is a team around them who can review the e-mails and make sure the e-mails relating to her government work is sent to the state department to be maintained and preserved >> were senior officials intimate white talk about the president, but were senior officials in the white house aware that hilary clinton was squirting this requirement and using her own personal e-mail -- skirting -- >> i don't think it is pair to word it that way. >> they were told they had to use work e-mail for work business. >> there are situations and when there are -- >> this was want a minor exception. this was all of her work. >> but the point is making sure the records are properly maintained and preserve and secretary clinton's team has taken the right steps -- according to them that is what

they did. >> she was out of office for 22 months before this was disovered. >> but the spect secretary clinton and previous secretary of states have is to make sure they have looked at their personal mail amount collected all of e-mails that relate to official government business because those are then by definition official government records, and those records need to be sent to the state department so they can be preserved and maintained in coordination with the archives and record administration. and i understand the state department has in response to a legit request turned over some of the records to congress. that is the proper handling of those specific government records. they are maintained at the state department and when necessary are used to respond to a legit request. >> is any other cabinet member

using personal e-mail solely for business or is hilary clinton the only one? >> you would need to check with each cabinet agencies. >> you cannot tell me for other cabinet secretary that are using personal e-mails? >> the agencies themselves are responsible for maintaining the record at their agency and the e-mail system. >> have you heard of senior officials at the white house who use personal e-mail? >> i have not encountered that. i think most of us do work on official e-mail and from the rare time we would get it prom a personal e-mail we would respond but make sure it is forwarded to to the official white house government e-mail address so it can be preserved >> did you find it odd to find the secretary of state wasn't doing that? you are diligent. does it surprise you the

secretary of state doesn't do it? >> i am not surprised by too manythi -- too many things in this job anymore. [laughter] >> can you tell us what the prime minister's speech does on the ability to tell this deal on capital hill? permanent sanctions will need something from congress. the republican house is showing support for what the prime minister said today. will that kill the deal if he cannot sell it to congress? >> well no. let me take it in a few parts. the president made it clear when talking about it in the oval office. he is not focused on the

politics or the theater. he is focused on resolving the threat of iran's nuclear problem. he is not going to be distracted from focusing on that threat and he is hoping others will not either. there was a lot of talk from the prime minister criticizing and in some cases ration, condemning a deal that has not been struck. there is ample time between the iranians and the international community. the odds of that happening are at best 50/50. if we are able to reach this path and reach an agreement that extends iran's breakout period and puts in place tough verification measures and then

we can have a discussion and maybe a debate about whether or not the president is making the right judgment when he says that this is the best possible way for us to resolve the international community's concern with iran's nukeclear program. we are confidant if this agreement is reached that is the conclusion fair minded people will reach. >> fair minded people and politics don't mix. >> the transcript will reflect you said that not me >> you are going to be asking republicans to trust president obama's judgment over the prime minister's judgment. can you say you think that is a likely scenario? >> i will say a couple things about this. the president is responsible for looking out for american national security. the prime minister admitted he

was primarily focused on israel's national security. the good news is those interest almost always align but it does mean the prime minister is taking a different perspective. that is the first thing. the second thing is members of congress will have an opportunity to take a look at the agreement that has been reached between the iranians and the international community. and the other thing i think is relevant here is we saw a fair amount of uncertainty about the interim agreement put in place between iran and the united states. so-called japedoint action. and this has been in place while the negotiations are taking place. what the joint plan of action did was ensure daily access to

iran's facilities and it essentially blocked the continued efforts to construct a heavy water pump that would provide a path to plutonem. and it eliminated iran's stock pile of highly enriched uranium and capped the stockpile of low enriched uranium. we have not installed any additional centrifuges and we are verifying they lived up to the agreement. the prime minister was calling this a historic mistake a year

ago but today he suggested it should remain in place. the point is the prime minister and other critics in our way of resolving iran's nuclear program have criticized agreements before they have been struck but once they are in place they tout their benefits. there will be an opportunity for people to evaluate the wisdom the approach the administration is taking on this. and our track record on this truth is is quite strong. >> >> if the president or secretary kerry went back to the table and said look we have to make this deal stronger than i already did? >> the fact is the president is already driving a hard bargain to table. making sure we are shutting down the four paths to nuclear weapon they have available, making sure we have inspection regime's in

place to verify they are living up to the agreement. we are doing this in concert with international parties and the international unity around this is starkly different than what was in place when the president took office. an approach that relied on sanctions with no hope of negotiation negotiations fracttured the international community and allowed the iranian regime to unify that opinion. we have reversed that scenario where the international community is united and we see cracks in the iranian government about the wisdom to develop the nuclear weapons program. >> george? >> can i ask you to elaborate on something the president said. he said foreign policy runs

through the executive branch; the president. does he view the speech today to use constitutional prerogatives? >> i think it is clear congress in planning this speech tried to go around the executives. this is why the representatives were working with the speaker of house and not informing the executive branch. i am no constitutional scholar but it is clear in the founding documents that the fathers envisioned the president of the united states and commander in chief as being the policy maker when it comes to foreign policy and representing the interest overseas. it doesn't mean there is not a role for congress. i welcome a debate about the proper role for congress particularly when it comes to passing a right size military authorization force against isis. so there is a role for congress to play when it comes to foreign

policy. but we saw congressional leaders trying to to an end run around the executive branch and that is a departure from protocol. >> is he trying to send the message he is not going to stand for that? >> the president was responding to a direct question he received from a journalist in the oval office and it is consistent with the case we have been making that this represents a departure from protocol. >> i would like to ask the question on protocol. didn't you hear the prime minister show respect for the president saying he has done things for israel that are enormous and some are private and classified. why didn't the president showing show the prime minister the respect of a watching the speech or b sending an official of any

level. >> the president wasn't was preparing for and convened a meeting with -- this was a meeting that was in the work for a couple weeks. it was an opportunity for the president to visit with his counterparts in europe about the urgent situation in ukraine. this was an important foreign policy priority as well and something the president was preparing for and leading in the midst of the prime minister's speech. the president did show the respect of reading his speech, talking about it and respond to a question even about it. >> when the president said he heard no viable alternative from the prime minister does that mean the president was expecting a plan for a deal with iran or another way to prevent iran? did he want a plan? >> what the president said was the path we are pursuing is the one that can most successfully address the international community's concern about iran's

nuclear program. if there are concerns about the plan it is not fair to sit on the sidelines and cpomomplain. the president would make the case there is not a better plan that exist. >> isn't it fair to say lay out the details of the plan when you are saying there is no deal and you are worried about leaks and don't want anything to come out so the prime minister and the american people don't know. how can you declare a plan from the prime minister when you don't know your plan? >> this is what is clear. the president has a clear strategy and a plan for resolving the international's concern about iran's nuclear weapons and it would extend the breakout period of 12 months. more than the 2-3 months that

currently exist. and a proposal to put in place inspection measures to make sure iran is living up to their end of the bargain. and that is in the mind of the president the best possible way to resolve the international community's concern for iran nuclear program. if there is anyone a republican, democrat leader within the israeli government, thinks they have a better way of resolving the concerns about the nuclear plan we would like to see that come forward. this is the best policy path and it depends on one thing. it depends on iran and their leadership making difficult decisions to agree to this point. and there is reason for them to not. it is a tough deal.

it requires them to hold back key aspects of their nuclear program and requires them to abandoned what we know has been an objective of some government leaders of iran which is to develop a weapon. and it is a tough deal. there is a reason why some people in iran may say no. but it would clearly be in the best interest of the international community if iran says yes. >> so on hilary clinton, an answer to john where you said according to them these are the e-mails. are you acknowledging this white house has made no effort and is making no effort to determine if the secretary of the state broke the law? are you making any independent effort to determine if she broke the law? >> it is the responsibility of state officials to ensure state employees are complying with the

e-mail act. what the officials have done is ask all of the previous severing secretary of state to forward their e-mails that contain official business -- if they have personal records that contain official business they are official records and should be maintained by the state department and that is what hilary clinton's team did. >> on accountability this administration has been more aggressive for people leaking classified information, journalist published and scene stories, and general pat find classified information and gets off with a misdemeanor and not doing any jail time. what message does that send? you are as a senior leader link information, and you're not going to jail. >> i don't think the justice

department did find he disclosed classified information. the charge was improper handling of classified information. >> cold war spy names, the president's briefs -- that is not classified information? >> the charge that general patreus pled to was related to the handling of the information. that is different. i would refer you to the department of justice for more details. but the president believes it was appropriate for the general to take responsibility for his actions >> and yesterday you got a question about executive action on tax and some people were reading this as you left the door open to the president raising taxes by executive action. is that possible? >> well ed what i will leave open is always the president's ability to use his executive authority to move the country in

the right direction, to expand opportunities for the middle class -- >> i didn't ask you about moving forward or backwards. would the president raise taxes by executive action? >> ed there are laws in place that deal with congress and their power of the purse. and it is congress' responsibility to make decisions about the budget -- that is why we have an ex tensive converition about the homeland security. the president put together a tax proposal on how we can work with congress to close loop holes that only benefit wealthy and wealthy corporations and use the revenue that is generated to create jobs and strengthen the economy over the long term. we are clear about the policies but when it comes to specific steps i will not rule anything in or out. this is related to the president's authority to use his

executeive order to do what he thinks is best tr the country. we have not seen a lot from congress. but maybe with the funding for the department of homeland security they turned a corner. >> hilary clinton is really a world figure. did hilary clinton make a mistake in the white house opinion? did she do a mistake? >> what secretary clinton and her team have done is they have complied with the guidelines of the federal records act. that is what the state department agency is tasked with ensuring happening and that is why they put in a request to secretary clinton and other secretary who have served in democratic and republican administrations but in the e-mail era. they asked them to turn over e-mails in their personal e-mail accounts that may relate to

official u.s. business and asked for the records so they can be maintained and preserved at the department of state. the department of state would be responsible in the future along side the national archives to produce records from responses from congress historians or the public down the road and that is the way the records should be properly handled. that was the responsibility of secretary clinton's team and they have handled the situation properly >> i have a question on the president speaking today. what can you tell us about that? >> the president did con vene a secure teleconference this morning in support of our toned efforts toward to negotiated

solution in ukraine. this includes a normandy group meeting that took place yesterday. and susan rice at the end of last week convened a secure teleconference with her counter parts in this countries and that was the predicate for the meeting at the leader level. it was an opportunity in the context of that meeting for the president to condemn the failure of russia and the separateist they back to abide by what they agreed on. i will anticipate we will have a detailed read out of the meeting a little later this afternoon. it will reflect the views of all six countries that participated so it take as while to get the

read off signed off on. but the state will have more details this afternoon. >> carol? >> i want to clarify did any senior official in the white house know that secretary clinton did not have an official e-mail account? >> what i know is that i know the secretary of state did trade e-mails with some white house officials. >> so there were people in the white house aware of that? >> they were aware of at least one e-mail address she was using. >> but you cannot say whether or not anyone at the senior level of the white house she was soley using a personal e-mail account? >> i would be surprised if anybody did but i don't know the answer. the reason is it is the responsibility of the state department to maintain these e-mails. it isn't as if there is one e-mail system. each agency is responsible for maintaining their own. >> does the white house have the view on if other cabinet

officials don't have official government e-mail accounts? >> the guidance other cabinet officials have is similar to the guidance officials all across the government get is they should use their official government account for official government business. >> that is different than not having a government account. does this whitehouse white house think is okay for any other government officials to not have a governmental account? >> we think if people chose to conduct government business on e-mail they should do so using their official account. i guess if you chose not to do business on e-mail it would be fine not having an account. but the point is ensuring existing records in personal e-mails need to be maintained and reserved and they can do that by sending team the to agency officials who work with the national archives and

registry system woo do that >> you are not clear on what is happening in terms of how senior officials throughout the administration are handling their use of e-mail. how does that reflect on this administration's commitment to being the most transparent administration in history? >> well carol, what is important is it is important for everybody in the administration to abide by the guidelines in the federal records act. the president signed into law a business that clarified the guidelines and timeframe in which individuals who have official government records in their personal e-mail how they can make sure they are maintained and preserved in line with the federal records act. that is at the core of it our chief concern; making sure the records are preserved, maintain,

can be used in oversight, used by questions by the public and even historians in the future who are trying to get insight. the presserivationervation of the records is what we are looking for. again, based on what we know about what secretary clinton's team did they made sure the records were probably preserved and maintained and we have evidence to back that up in that hundreds of those records have been turned over to congress in response to legitimate oversight from congress. >> on the prime minister; is there any concern this is such a bilateral fight?

meaning would the white house like the other leaders to back the president up on his view of thf criticism spoke of today? >> to be blunt, no. the president is very confidant in his view and reflects the view of the broader international community. the president is confidant and presented zero evidence to the contrary that strategy he is pursuing is the best equipped to resolve the threat related to iran's nuclear program. the president is confidant in this and looking forward to what he hopes is an opportunity to evaluate the agreement that has been reached between iran and the international community. ultimately it will require iran to agree to very tough things as it relates to rolling back key aspects of the nuclear program and agreeing to the kind of

monitoring requirementing they have previously chased under. so you know -- we will have -- everybody has an opportunity to evaluate the wisdom of this approach for themselves once a deal has been reached and if a deal is reached >> the deal is -- >> it was called an insult into the essential of the united states as part of the plus one and suggested it was con condescending. is she right? >> she is entitled to her own opinion >> was an insult to the intelligence? >> you heard the president's reaction and the president's view is he is not going to be distracted by the politic of the theater he is focused on the goal which is eliminating the threat from iran's nuclear program. >> diane feinstein called it a powerful speech even though she

a agreed with the position you are taking. would you call it a powerful speech? if so will it have an impact on public opinion? >> the president is confidant if we can reach a deal if one is reached, the president will make a case about how lengthening the breakout period and tough monitoring restrictions or very tough monitoring requirements we can make a very good case this is the best possible way for us to confront the threat from iran's nuclear program. if we know what is happening on a daily bases and we know it would take iran a year to break out and build a nuclear weapon we have a result with the concerns of the program. it will require vigilance and international community and inspectors to continue to carefully inspect iran's nuclear

infrastructure. we will have to be vigilant and if we do it will prevent a fuclar arm race in the middle east and prevent iran from using the nuclear weapon to nemesis our strongest ally. >> so a correct summary would be you don't think it will have a negative impact from your perspective, on public opinion, on the ability of the president to sell to congress or the nugotiation nugotiations themselves. >> i think it doesn't change the president's mind about the wisdom of the approach he is pursuing and -- >> he needs to get this done >> and it raises serious

questions in the minds of people who doubt that pursuit because no alternative has been presented. and until there is there is no reason to think the president isn't right when he says this strategy is the best possible way to resolve the international community's concerns about this. >> dave? >> thanks. off the podium there was a report that justice department investigation had found patterns of racial bias in the ferguson police department. i assume the is making comments. do you have a reaction yet? >> i don't know he was. the department of justice in indicated they have been investigating the ferguson police department for a while. i don't know if he was aware of the investigation results.

i have motnot seen the report. so i would be relative to comment on it. >> and about the prime minister's speech. you and the president used the word theater to describe the speech implying entertainment value. is that how the president looks at it? >> i had an opportunity to see parts of the speech and others noticed members of congress were smiling and laughing and applauding along which certainly doesn't seem to be an appropriate response to speech on such a significant topic. i notice the prime minister didn't have that demeanor but i can it contributed to the more theatrical aspects. >> ally good to see you. i read you recently got engaged.

best wishes >> thank you very much. i wanted to talk about the general who pled guilty the charges >> that is really it. for more details i would refer you to the department of justice. jc last one. >> i have been married 20 years to my wife >> congrats. >> changing to isis. the head of egypt, a week ago, recommended a strong coalition of the willing arab nations to combat isis in the region. was there any discussion over the video conference with the many leaders that might be a good idea to join that coalition for a really universal coalition? i don't have a detailed read out of the teleconference but we will have something later this

afternoon. i will tell you as a general matter the president appreciates the commitment we have seen from members of the coalition to this effort to degrade and ultimately destroy isis. it has taken a variety of storms. everything from trying to combat the movement of foreign fighters to countering isis and radical isis across the globe. it included an effort to shutdown sources of funding for isis and included substantial commitment to military resources to fight isis. we are counting on countries in the region to take accountability. and whether that is training local fighters -- we know some have committed to host training programs for members of the moderate syrian opposition so they can be trained and equipped and take the fight to isis on

the ground in their own country. we welcome those contributions in this broader effort. >> thank you. >> thanks everybody. >> emily's list is going to honor secretary clinton and we will hear remarks. more from the white house. the president and first lady launched a new initiative called let girls learn that promotes girl's education world wild. the president's wife will visit japan and camdodia later this month to promote the program. this is 20 minutes.

everybody have a seat. thank you for that introduction and everything you have done to help the girls and the young women in the united states. we could not be prouder -- except for your mom. she is prouder. she is. we know you are just getting started so you will do amazing things in the future as well. i want to thank the members of congress who are here including congress congresswoman kate who is a developer of leading done right. where is kate? she had to run back to vote on homeland security. [laughter] >> i also want to mention

congress congresswoman lita noland who is in the middle of the vote as well. we are looking forward to working with all of you on this initiative in the months ahead. my job is pretty easy. i am here to introduce her. an extroidinary woman. a passionate advocate for girls who the united states, around the globe and in the obama household. michele obama! [applause] >> and in just a minute she is going to announce a piece of this new initiative which is sure to make charleen and the

fellow peace core workers to get back to work. before i turn it over i thought you need a man's perspective. i want to talk a little bit about why we all need to care about letting girls learn. i wish i could just say because they have the same potential as boys. pretty straightforward and we could stop there. this really should not be complicated. wherever they live whoever they are, every girl on this planet has value. every girl on this planet deserves to be treated with dignity and equality and the chance to develop her talent and live the life of her own choosing and chart her own december destiny.

62,000 girls who should be in schools are not. that is the direct result of barriers large and small, that stand in the way of girls who want to learn. in some cases family can't afford the fees in some cases the only local school there is no girl's restroom or the rusk of being kidnapped or killed by men who will do anything to stop girls from learning, maybe they are not in school because they are expected to become mothers and get married while in their teens or earlier. in too many parts of the world girls are valued more for their bodies than their minds. that is not just a bad strategy for any country serious about growing their economy or

promoting stability. it is just plain wrong and we have to do more to stop it. i am proud to say the united states already does a great deal to support girl's edgeucation around the world. what we do doesn't get a lot of publicity. and what we determined -- what she determined -- what we all determined is that we have to take this work to the next level. and tie all of our different programs together in a single coordinated strategy and that is what this is about. our diplomats and development experts are hard at work and we are making it clear to any country that is our partner or wants to be our partner they need to get serious about increasing inthe number of girls in school. we are looking at every opportunity to business our ngo's to work on behalf of girls

everywhere. this is a focus of the first lady yes but also a focus of the president of the united states and we expect results because this matters to all of us. [applause] >> and just to be clear, i come to this issue as a concerned citizen, but also as the leader of the world's largest economy and commander and chief of the world's most powerful military. and i am convinced that a world in which girls are educated is a safer, more stable more prosperous place. and the evidence -- [applause] >> -- the evidence is compelling. we know when girls are educated they are more likely to delay marriage. their future children as a

consequence are more likely to be healthy and better nurished. and national growth gets a boost as well. from a political and security standpoint places where women and girls are treated as full and economic citizens tend to be more stable and democratic. so this is not just a humanitarian issue. it -- i will confess come at this as the father of two fabulous women who have a lot to offer to the world. and what we know is that everywhere there are girls just

like my two that are funny, caring and strong and heads are buzzing with ideas. and they are constantly changing their mind about what they will do when they grow up because there are so many things they can do and want to explore. what a privilege it is to be the father of those two girls and watching them learn, grow and become strong and capable women. and i want to make sure no girl out there is denied the chance to be a strong capable woman with the resources she needs to succeed. no girl is prevented from making her unique contribution to the world. every child is precious, every girl is precious and every girl deserves an education. that is the message we will deliver and sustain over the next two years and beyond. let girls learn! now, to say more about how and

why we are going to do this, let me step aside for a very strong and capable woman, first lady of the united states michele obama. [applause] >> thank you all so much. thank you. you you you you guys, thank you. we are excited. this is good stuff. i want to thank the president for that wonderful introduction. he doesn't always get to introduce me a lot so i like to watch him say good things about me. the really nice things.

but as you can hear from his passion i am just so grateful that he is such a champion for our girls; all of our girls. not just our two but every girl and she does it every day as president and he does it even better as a father. and i am proud of him. i also want to recognize ambassador rice and representatives granger and low who had to leave and valerie jerrett for her leadership on this issue. i want to thank charlene for her great work. just an inspiring young person doing terrific things and an example of why this initiative is so important. all of work she is doing to give girls the education she deserves. i want to thank you for the work

you have done. you have have been working at the grassroots with one community, one girl at a time and you have been driven about a believe of how change happens. a belief we share. that true change doesn't happen from the top down. it happens from the bottom up. and as i travelled the world over the past six years i have seen time and again how our young people particularly our girls are pushed to the very bottom of their society. and everywhere i go i meet these girls. and they are so fiercely intel intelligent and hungry to make something of themselves. they are change makers and future doctors and teachers and they are visionaries who can

take the world. just take mala. all it takes is 30 seconds in a room to know she is a blessing in the world. and she will be the first to say she is not unique. there are millions like her and they know they have the spark but it is sparked out by the circumstances of their birth or norms of the community. and that is where this issue becomes personal for me and for my husband. i see myself in these girls. i see our daughters in these girls. and like all of you i just can't walk away. i cannot just sit back and accept the barriers that keep them from realizing their promise. i know i want to use my time and platform as first lady and beyond to make a real impact on

the issue. i want to lift up the work all of you have been doing before i came to this issue and bring new resources and partners to this effort. and in recent years i have worked with my staff, we have consulted with so many of you to ask how i can be most helpful. and folks from care and brookings and the global partnership for education the national peace cor association and so many others have stepped in and time and again you have told me that whatever these obstacles the girls face, whether it is fees or cultural beliefs girls are not worthy of an education, you said these problems will not be fixed from on high. they are community challenges that call for community solutions. and that made a lot of sense to me and made a lot of sense to my husband because that is the work we did long before we came to

the white house. back when we were a community organize and i was running a non-profit in chicago. with the help of many of you in this room and collaboration with the peace core i am thrilled to announce as part of let girls learn we will launch a new community focus girl's education initiative across there globe. it will draw on the talent of the nearly 7,000 volunteers of the peace core serving in 7,000 countries. they will support community projects to help girls go to school and stay in school. everything from after school mentoring, to girls leadership camps, to projects like bosh-bosh that charlene talked about and many more. these programs will be community generated and commune led and

based on solutions devised by local leaders, family and yes even the girl themselves. you can learn more at letgirlslearn.peacecore.gov and they will train all of the volunteers about gender and girls education. so even those focused on health care and agriculture can help support girl's education on the ground. peace core will bring leadership on girl's education into every single community they serve. while the focus of this effort will be local because of the work the scope is global and the impact will truly be generational. if you think about what the peace core means to so many just think about the many leaders in developing countries. business women, politicians,

activist who can trace their journey back to a peace core volunteer who inspired them and invested in them. and think utabout the kind of daughters these leaders are raising. think about the other women and girls these leaders are inspiring. that is impact this initiative can have. i am excited to kick it off later this month with a trip to japan and cambodia. i will start with a visit to the wife of japan's prime minister who serves our passion on girl's education and is eager to partner with us. and i will meet with the ambassador of japan caroline ken

kennedy. i want to be clear this isn't just about improving girl's education a broad. it is about reminding the young people the hunger they should be feeling about their own education. through let girls learn i hope more of our girls, and our boys here in the united states will learn about the sacrifices girls worldwide are make to get their education and pushing forward in the face of poverty, violence death threats and other horrors. i want our young people to be awed by these girls but more importantly i want them to be inspired and motivated by the girls. i want our kids to realize while their own school may be far from

perfect and believe you me this guy is working hard to fix that they still have an obligation to show up every day to that classroom and learn as much as they can. i want our kids to understand the transforming power of education. that is something we understand from our own experience. that is our life story. how a good education from lift you from the most humble circumstances into a life you never could have imagined. and finally i want our kids in this country to be sitcitizens of the world. i want them to connect and learn from kids in every corner of the globe. that is why when i travel abroad i use technology and social media to reach back here at home and i will be doing so during my trip to asia working with pbs, girl's rising and girl

scouts -- yay. so many other great partners because i want our young people to learn about the world and dream of being peace core volunteers and diplomats and international business leaders and more. i want all of our young people here in the united states and around the globe to dream big dreams for themselves. i want them to have big ficheuturefutures and i know that is possible because i have seen it again and again in the most unlikely places. the martin luther king's secondary school have visited last year in sin gall is a wonderful example. concrete flooring and desks with a few faded posters. but the girls were fierce

confidant, and they had serious dreams from a their future. one of the girls wrote a poem about those dreams. and she said it was about a world free from pollution and global warming. a world where violence and wars would be replaced by mutual acceptance, tolerance and love. it ended with this line: i have a dream that one day the martin luther king school my school, will be as prestiges as harvard and other schools. i am so proud to join this movement. ...

[applause] >> hi i'm rebecca winter. i'm the director of the center for universal education at the brookings institution and i am incredibly pleased to be part of this initiative. more importantly i am so happy

that president obama and the first lady had taken up the issue of girls education globally. this is an incredibly important issue and their strategy of mobilizing communities around the world in some of the hardest to reach places is exactly the right strategy that we need to tackle this incredibly difficult issue. i'm joined by a bunch of wonderful partners who i know will share their information with you. so thanks. >> hello. my name is julia gillard the former prime minister from australia so i'm a little bit cold right now but i'm here in my capacity as the chair of the global partnership for education and i'm joined by the ceo of the global partnership for education alice albright. the global partnership for education is the founder of education in developing countries. we are working and 60 developing countries and we are here to give the warmest welcome

possible to the initiative announced today by the president and by the first lady. educating girls is one of the issue of our time by ensuring that girls can go to school safely, that they can complete school and they are not forced into early marriage and they get a quality education and all of the lives of options and choices that come with that. we are very pleased to join with the president and first lady in this campaign to increase the number of girls who are in school and the demonstration of faith that it has for children around the world including children here in united states of america that so many children around the world fight so hard to be educated. we want to be there right alongside them. i will turn to the ceo alice albright for comments. >> thank you julia. let me for start by saying how wonderful it is the present is the present in the first lady to be focusing on this issue and i congratulate them for the

attention they devoted to a particular given the challenges are in the globe today. i think a president or first lady are absolutely right to point out how critical foreign-policy issue education is and if you look at many of the challenges we face today at the heart of many of them are the inability to educate our young people globally particularly girls. i've seen is certainly in my tribals -- travels greatest part of the first lady the first lady jefferson will stand and help them in any way that we can. thank you so much. >> hi. i am howling gale president and ceo of care and international humanitarian and development organization with a focus on ending extreme poverty. we are so proud today to be part of this partnership and stand with the president and mrs. obama and their commitment to educating young people particularly educating empowered girls around the world. as both the president and the first lady said today in their

remarks introducing this initiative if we really want to have a safe stable and prosperous world educating girls is core to that. so we are very proud to be part of this initiative. it's also for care. we take particular pride in partnering in this initiative with the peace corps. when the peace corps was first started back in 1964 carol was the organization that was asked to come in and do training for the peace corps. so today we are pleased to be part of this initiative where we are going to be working with the peace corps giving training to help volunteers to be able to work with communities around the barriers that keep girls away from accessing education and tapping into their own leadership potential. so we are so pleased to be part of this initiative that takes us back to our roots and back to our initial history with the

peace corps and training and working with communities to find solutions to break those barriers that girls can have the opportunity for an equal access to education. we are standing with our other partners, pleased to be here today. >> good afternoon. my name is andrea's chavez and i'm the national ceo of girl scouts of the usa. i'm proud to be part of a global movement. we have girl scouts in over 90 countries around the world and we have 2 million girls who have taken on leadership roles all over the globe. we are proud to stand with the president and the first lady with her national honorary president and of course with the true leaders in our organization, our girls. it is my honor to introduce kathleen hannah and it was her national board president of girl scouts usa and whether we are excited to be here to launch an initiative within girl scouts to support this global education

initiative. >> good afternoon. just a not to be here today that this important event in traveling around the world than seeing the need. it's so incredibly proud for me to see the president and the first lady really leading on this initiative and investing in girls, investing in our future. our girl scouts are very much focused on having an impact not just in the u.s. but around the globe so i'm going to turn it now to some of our girls. >> hi. i completed my goal to work this past fall so i know first-hand what these new resources that this global option program will help with completing a goal to work in partnership with the peace corps and with everything that has been going on today. it's just such an honor to be here and be a part of girl scouts. >> hello. i am really proud to be here and honored to say that a lot of

girls around the world don't have the tools needed to have a great education and i'm actually thankful that i am able to have an education and able to study things and learn new things every day. >> hi. i am at the end i think the people in the u.s. especially girls are so fortunate. my great aunt helped to start an orphanage in kenya and she helps to save girls who are basically taken off the streets and given education and now they are actually in the u.s. and going to college. so i think that this peace corps and girl scouts partnership they can -- though it will help a lot of people. >> awesome job, girls. our commitment to this great initiative is that we are going to provide girls k-12 that are active in girl scouts the ability to use their goal to work project which is the

highest award you can win in girl scouting and also they can win the global impact badge. with that they will not only understand the issues impacting girls in other countries but taking action using their cooking proceeds to help girls all over the world. we know when we put that leadership in the power in girls hands that they change lives for everyone. thank you. >> hi. i'm a listener with girl up at the united nations and we are thrilled to be partnering with the first lady and the peace corps. i have a special team leader here to tell you more about girl up and our partnership. >> i'm a team adviser with girl up, a campaign by girls for girls around the world and we support girls in developing countries such as liberia and guatemala to become world leaders like girls here in

america have the ability to do. >> thank you. >> we are almost done. i am holly gordon the co-founder of girl rising a global campaign for girls education. >> and i am also with girls rising former journalists. >> the most important fact about you is -- a girl rising we are thrilled to be a part of the first lady's initiative led girls lead. every day at screenings we hear one question which is what can i do to help? how can i get involved in this is a particularly pertinent question here in the united states to be able to connect young advocates here with peace corps workers around the world who are working on girls education initiatives on the ground. so we are thrilled to be a part of this initiative. we are thrilled action component

that allows for connecting young leaders here with peace corps volunteers around the world and we are thrilled because the community lead change aspect of this is the part we seek constantly with girl rising. communitywide changes the only pathway to sustainable change. >> as a storyteller there is a great story that's being told in leading girls lead. when president obama spoke i particularly -- the opportunities they have in this country are opportunities girls around the world should have so it's a great opportunity. thanks. go back inside. >> good afternoon. my name is charlene espinoza and i'm a return peace corps volunteer. >> good afternoon i am the

person of the national peace corps association. we are the alumni network of more than 215,000 individuals who have experienced the peace corps in one way or another and we say once a peace corps volunteer always a peace corps volunteer. through this organization we support this important initiative of president and first lady led girls learn. by involving our community peace corps volunteers like charlene and others who are entrepreneurs who are public servants and practitioners and individuals who continue to be involved in a global communities we look forward to this initiative and applied it on bad for the piece of pork -- peace corps committee. >> thank you very much and it's really an honor to be here and to be part of such a huge movement which is girls education and i'm extremely happy and very proud to be a part of all of this. i'm very happy for the president and the first lady to take

action and to step up and say it's time to pay attention to this important issue. when i was in library i lived there for three years as a peace corps volunteer and i started along with my counterpart a local schoolteacher, local organizations called bosch bosch. it's a liberian ngo. what we do is our main mission is to help women and girls restore community so they can restore their own country. we make and sell products out of different fabrics bear and resell them so we can get funding so we can provide scholarship for girls and pay for their tuition fees and in their school uniforms and textbooks. our main mission is to educate all the girls involved in the community. it's been such an amazing experience to be a part of that. i am so honored to do that so thank you. >> thank you.

>> thank you. >> the emily's list organization is holding its 30th anniversary gala in washington tonight and the event includes former senator and secretary of state hillary clinton who is accepting there we are emily award. this is live coverage on c-span2. >> last year's rising star award winner stacy abrams. [applause] a positive. >> thank you, thank you. we have heard a lot of folks talk about the extraordinary place and people that are emily. fundamentally emily is about belief. it's about ellen malcolm believing that something as fundamental as money and is profound as you can do it can

transform a nation. it's about a country that did not look at his politics the way it felt about its people. emily's list is nothing more than the profound and fundamental belief that women change the world. i stand here today because last year they decided to -- down ballot. they decided it wasn't enough to simply elect the first woman president of the united states. it wasn't going to be sufficient to populate the senate and congress and that they had to reach down to state legislatures and city council races that they had to touch every facet of this great country of ours. they believe in who we are and who we will be because we are all emily. i'm here tonight because i have had the honor and the extraordinary privilege of receiving the first gabrielle

giffords award which is about nothing more profound and belief. this is a woman who faced death and stood taller and prouder than anyone has before. someone who with her husband captain mark kelley said they were not simply going to shy away from one of the most intractable issues of our time but they were going to rush headlong and say no to guns, no to violence and no two lobbies that markets our families. [applause] gabrielle giffords has a name that only resounds with power and strength, and resounds with promise. when you name a rising star after that gabrielle giffords that we have all gotten to know you are saying that there is nothing too big for you to accomplish. there is nothing too grave for you to challenge and there is

nothing better than giving it your all. now i have had the opportunity to spend some time with gabrielle giffords and her husband captain mark kelley and i found out that she has not only been this way in the last few years but for most of her life especially when they first met and got married he said he had never been closer to heaven and put an astronaut says that you know it's true. [laughter] but the most important thing that i think we can learn from the life that gabrielle giffords and mark kelley me together is that she has known from the very beginning the lessons that ellen malcolm has taught us about emily's list because when she asked him if she was her biggest fan he said yes and she said good you are now going to be my first maxed out donor. please welcome to the stage captain mark kelley. [applause]

>> thank you stacy. thank you for the introduction. i know gabby was really honored last year to present you with the first ever gabrielle giffords rising star ward. i wasn't able to be here that night but i talked to gabby afterwards and i said gabby what did you think about stacy? how was her speech and gabby just lit up and said awesome. and i think that about sums it up. stacy, thank you for everything you do. [applause] and i know that gabby is really excited to present you with the second ever rising star award in just a few minutes. i know that she has been touched by your commitment and hard work for some common sense solutions

that will make our communities and our country's women and families safer from gun violence. like gabby, you have made history in your campaigns. you have fought for women and families and you have shown a lot of grits. i know that you are all here tonight to hear from a really incredible group of women and you are probably asking yourself, why is there some bald guy on the stage? i am here, well let's be honest i'm here because my wife gabby told me that i was coming. [laughter] but really i am here because i want to support my incredible wife and say thank you to all of you here tonight for being such a great supporter of emily's list. i want to thank stephanie and everyone at emily's list for always and i mean always being

there for gabby. as you might imagine gabby and i have learned a lot over the last four years. one thing we have learned a lot is what a friend really looks like and believe me emily's list has always been a friend to gabby. emily's list was there when she ran her first campaign for the statehouse statehouse. emily's list was there for gabby when she ran her first race for the state senate and emily's list was there for everyone of her campaigns for the united states congress. and by the way gavi won all of them. [applause] and i know gabby will always be there for emily's list too. it isn't easy as it once was for gabby to speak to this great group of women leaders to but take it from me my wife gabby is

really tough. she is the most determined and courageous person i know someone whose whole life has been about serving others and empowering women, someone who shows us what real courage looks like. and someone who is really excited to present ayanna presley with the second annual rising star ward so please welcome my incredible wife congresswoman gabby giffords. [applause] [applause] [applause] [applause]

[applause] >> annelise list reminds us when women run, women win. [applause] strong women get things done. [applause] we lead, we collaborate and we lived results. [applause] city halls state congress in the governor's mansion in congress and maybe soon in the white house. [applause]

i am gabby giffords. thank you very much. [applause] >> now please join gabby and me in welcoming a real leader and the true definition of a rising star the second ever recipient of the gabrielle giffords rising star award boston city council council -- counselor ayanna presley. [applause] [applause] ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ [applause] [applause] >> wow. to have my name even mentioned in the same sentence as gabby giffords would be an honor. but to share a stage and to be the recipient of an award bearing her name, gabby giffords giffords. thank you for your strength of conviction, for your daily acts

of courage for your grace and civility. one more time. [applause] to step in a sharia's list at a time when our rights are daily being threatened and attacked and eroded at city halls and statehouses throughout our country your commitment to and support for state and local officials is profoundly important. to the other finalist, christina, sure now, betsy, tina and michelle you are phenomenal public servants. your constituents in our country are so very fortunate to have you. i'm proud to know you to call you friends and to partner with you in this meaningful work. what a journey. yes, please. [applause]

what a journey it has been to arrive at this moment in time. it has taken a village. there are so many people in chicago illinois, in washington d.c. in the great commonwealth of massachusetts and in the city of boston that i could and should thank but i have only got eight minutes. and since i lived with him, i want to thank my husband. conan harris, for being my rock. i'm tempted to say i'm not sure he knew what he signed up for but the truth is he did. someone who had a dream for me and my life told him. i am here tonight because of a single voice, that of my mother's sandra presley.

it was the voice of conviction that told a black girl growing up on a tough block in chicago that she had a right to a life of her own choosing, of her own design unshackled to the stereotypes or stigmas society would reflexively assign her. it was the voice of comfort for a little girl whose father was stolen away by addiction and incarceration. a little girl whose vulnerability of was exploited and violently preyed upon as a young woman. it was a voice of protest of defiance, of democracy that echoed in the little girls ears as she was carried in her mother's arms. from protest marches to organizing meetings to political rallies to the voting booth that voice made sure the little girl understood not just her rights but her responsibilities.

it was a voice that was opinionated, unapologetic and unafraid. it was a voice that told me of shirley chisholm, barbara jordan celebrated women like jan schakowsky and carol mosley braun. [applause] even now four years after her passing it is her voice that still drives me that guides me that comes to me when the walls close in and when the critics are the loudest and the doubts are the greatest. what i didn't realize growing up up, what i kind of realize growing up was how rare it is and how unexpected it is and how unsettling it is for some people when a woman has a voice. [applause] audra lord once said women have

been taught that silence will save us but it won't. we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. i could have succumbed to fear many times in my life including when considering my first run for office. the history of the city of boston no woman of color had ever been elected to the city council. it was and still is a city struggling to come to terms with its racial history and here i was i am a presley native chicago one single black woman with a penchant for red high heels and notes that -- outspoken progressive politics. [applause] ready to launch a campaign with a platform centered on advocating for girls and women. now i made the obligatory rounds to kingmakers as a first-time candidate and was promptly discouraged by most of them. to say they didn't get made

would be an understatement. when i explained that i was running for office to save girls because whether the city for or the girls knew what they needed saving i was informed that is not the job of the city counselor and certainly not a winning strategy to get elected. when i explained i wanted to address issues that stabilize families in communities like poverty, and violence in all forms they recommended they be nonprofit work was a better path for me. their message was unapologetically frank voters don't care about those issues. i am not don't talk about girls and women. he will pigeonhole yourself. i am a don't talk about struggles the impact of incarceration and abuse on you and your family because you will stereotype yourself and it will turn off voters. a lot of times i got that look, you know the look this poor

girl just doesn't get how things work look. i got that look of love of god. when it finally came time to introduce myself to voters across the city and neighborhoods still scarred by busing i thought about what the experts had told me and completely ignored them. [applause] i told my story, the whole story all of it to every voter and we won. i knew something the pundits and so-called experts didn't read my story wasn't my own personal truth but it didn't belong to me alone pick it was and remains the story for too many. it was a relatable and sadly universal story. these challenges don't discriminate. they transcend neighborhoods race, socioeconomic status and

gender. though i had made no secret of why i was running for what my agenda would be if elected many seemed uncomfortable and even surprised. it was at the moment on i am sure many in this room have experienced. on the campaign trail i can talk about girls and women. it is part of my marriage, my story. it's an election. it's politics but it tends to govern on behalf of girls and women and people get uncomfortable. i pushed the boston public schools implement a comprehensive sexual and health curriculum and make available to high school students. [applause] i pushed to strengthen our pathways graduation for pregnant and parenting teens in the boston police department to rethink its approach to combating trafficking and exploitation.

[applause] i pushed the city to listen to families who lost loved ones to violence and demand that they address their trauma and i pushed to bring more women into the trade so they could support their families. despite my efforts or perhaps because of them when it came time to -- for my next election i was considered former bull by pundits and likely to lose my seat. i was too provocative too polarizing. the experts determined that a low turnout election i have little chance to match the success of my first campaign. now since we are all family i'm going to translate that last sentence to you. what the pundits and experts were really saying was that there was no way a black female candidate whose record included sex education, in school and teen pregnancy could win it a down and dirty boston election. [applause]

and they were right. i did not match the success of my first campaign. i beat it. [applause] with an unprecedented coalition of support from across the city and became the first person of color, male or female to top the ticket city bike in the in 30 years. [applause] it turns out voters do care about girls and women. they do care about poverty and violence and trauma. they do care about seeing themselves reflected in their government. my voice is the greatest gift my mother ever gave me. to moderate it, to stifle it would be a betrayal of her.

[applause] and that is why this award means so much to me. it would be a lie to suggest their times and being quiet and avoiding the spotlight is appealing. i'm sure everyone in this room has felt that way. but we have that luxury. we have a voice. there are countless girls and women across this country who have no voice. girls and women who live silent existence in homeless shelters and suburban split-level homes. girls and women who have had their voice stolen away by violence and exploitation. earls and women who have had their voices legislated away. during my elementary school here teachers would, to my mother i am a struggles to user inside voice. [applause] what can i tell you?

this is still true even today. so thank you. thank you emily's list for celebrating this raised a voice for girls and women. and thank you sandy presley for giving me my roots my wings and my voice. [applause] [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen please welcome to the stage u.s. senator from minnesota and honorary emily al franken. [applause] [applause]

>> first of all i apologize for being a guy. [laughter] i may not be as inspirational. i just want to say what a delicious dinner and let's hear it for the waitstaff and everybody in the kitchen. [applause] what a beautiful delicious meal. [applause] also i just want to congratulate emily's list on 30 years come. we saturday night live veterans think it's just adorable that you have been around for just 10 fewer years than our show. so again congratulations to you all. [applause]

it is my honor and it's really an honor to introduce stephanie sher yawk the president of emily's list. [applause] before i do i want to say how much i'm going to miss barb mikulski. not right away, she's going to be here for two years and she said she does not want to spend the next two years raising money. she wants to do it raising hell and i am looking forward to that. [applause] [applause] and i'm really going to miss her because she is the only member of the senate who calls me franken. get out of the way.

[laughter] and i've got to say something about hillary. i have just got to say something. you know she and her husband both came to minnesota during my first race in 08 and hillary claim -- came twice. they both came this time and actually the president came right after about a week after their granddaughter was born and i have a grandson. this is a great club and my grandson is now 20 months old and i've been trying to figure out -- i told the president this that i've been trying to figure out what he should call me. i call my --

i had one grandfather and i called him grandpa but i decided it would be fun and it would be funny if you called me senator. [laughter] don't you think? so i was trying to think a granddaughter calling her grandpa mr. president is wrong. so i said to the president potus. have her call you potus and that might be a good name for hillary too. [applause] so, schriock. let me just say if it were not for stephanie schriock i would not be standing before you as a

united states senator. [applause] as you know probably stephanie was my campaign manager for my 2008 historically close race in minnesota. very few people gave us a chance against a very well-funded incumbent senator who was a career politician. and it was my first time running as a candidate running for office, for public office. that was after 37 years as a comedian and a satirist which as it turned out created some unprecedented challenges. [laughter]

all of which stephanie had to deal with. my number one strength i believe as a candidate was that i knew what i didn't know which was pretty much anything about running for office and my job was to be the focus of being a candidate. that's hard enough as it is so i needed someone whom i could trust to put together and manage a huge team of human beings and manage all these moving parts including people and resources and you could make the day-to-day tactical decisions which can be the difference

between winning and losing a race. and when you win by 312, believe me i think about many of the decisions that stephanie made and went oh boy, thank you stephanie. she was absolutely amazing every step of the way. schriock exudes calm authority commanding instant respect from anyone she deals with. i was so proud of our campaign because everybody works together seamlessly under her direction. everyone on our team worked tirelessly, were happy went ahead, worked every day as hard as they could until that election day and then for eight more months.

[laughter] and we won and here i am. [applause] now stephanie after was finally over stephanie went back to work on capitol hill as john tester's chief of staff and you may remember in 2006 she ran tester's campaign and he defeated the incumbent republican as well. [applause] so then stephanie came back to washington and was tester's chief of staff and at a certain point he was generous enough to lend stephanie to minnesota for my campaign which lasted a lot longer than anyone wanted.

[laughter] so then she goes back to work for tester as chief of staff and just a few months later i get this call from my staff that says ellen malcolm is going to call you and ask you about stephanie. and i went about running emily's list and taking over emily's list. so allen allen calls me and i said, she asked what you think of stephanie and i said if i were tester i would tell you she is just awful. [laughter] but of course john is a standup guy and stephanie took over emily's list and again she has done a magnificent job. look at this room, look at this

room. [applause] now what if i told you that in the five years that stephanie has been president of emily's list, that she tripled the membership of emily's list. [applause] tripled. well it did, a tripled twice. emily's list is now six times bigger than it was gwen stefani took the reins six years ago. [applause] admittedly she had some help from todd akin and rush limbaugh and countless other meatheads around the country whose view of

certain gender issues are somewhat at odds. [laughter] with ours. but six times six times the membership. that comes from masterful strategic work. but that kind of growth, with that kind of growth you might expect record fund-raising in each conceit -- consecutive cycle. you might expect that any would be right. in each of the three cycles emily's list has set record after record after record. that is stephanie schriock. now i'm not going to name all the women that emily's list has helped get elected since stephanie took over. i will give you one example of

someone that stephanie recruited recruited. sarah elizabeth morgan. [applause] of massachusetts. that was stephanie. stephanie is leading emily's list into its fourth decade stronger than it's ever been. that is why she has the respect of virtually everyone in this city and why she is a rock star. ladies and gentlemen i give you stephanie schriock. [applause] [applause]

[applause] >> thank you. oh my goodness. thank you senator al franken. [applause] it was worth all this extra month to get those last 312 votes senator. thank you so, so much. what a night. look at this room. thank you so much to our millions of members across the country. what a great celebration. thank you to the great leader, nancy pelosi. [applause] for all you do, thank you so, so much and miss his take a moment.

at emily's list we believe that it is the bravest thing you can do to put your name on the ballot. i want every elected woman and man and anybody who has run for office who has ever put their name on the ballot please stand up so we can thank you. thank you for your time. thank you. [applause] and now we are going to do the opposite. now i want everyone to stand up so we can properly salute barbara mikulski do with her shoulder square and her lipstick on shows with strong women's leadership looks like. barbara mikulski, thank you. [applause]

[applause] and thank you to the woman who made this all possible, our founder and my friend ellen malcolm. [applause] [applause] i would also like to knowledge one more person who is with us tonight. he grew up in minnesota left

his family in montana and now lives in kansas. he said grandpa, vietnam veteran a proud gun owner and i do mean he owns a few guns. but you must be surprised that he is a democrat. i know i was and that's saying something because he was my dad. [applause] dad thank you for being here tonight. thank you. thank you. [applause] my parents had a very strong sense of what they wanted for me me. they raised me to take risks and to dream big and believe that nothing was off the table. nothing was impossible. not every young girl gets to grow up like that but more do today than ever before and we

have helped make that happen. [applause] for 30 years now family's list has been electing pro-choice democratic women working for an american which women have an equal stake in our democracy, an equal say in the decisions we make as a country. a generation of young women and men that have grown up watching leaders like geraldine ferrero and barbara boxer and elizabeth warren and barbara mikulski and hillary clinton make their mark on history. [applause] and by the way we are just getting started. just imagine when we will be able to celebrate at our 60th anniversary gala. imagine what that first emily's

list generation will be as sons and daughters. imagine working to elect the third and fourth women presidents. [applause] so we should be proud of the last 30 years and excited about the next 30 years. but tonight i want to focus on the work i had a bus over the next 20 months because the way we at emily's list make an impact, the way we keep moving our country forward is by winning elections. when we win we get leaders to listen for the voices that don't usually get heard in washington. we get leaders who understand, really understand that equal pay and paid sick leave and access to contraception aren't women's issues, they are economic issues

that affect every single american family. [applause] we get leaders with the common sense to know that yes, climate change is real yes. early education makes a difference and yes our economy does work best when we invest in the middle class. [applause] we need more leaders like them leaders who will stand up to the republicans when they try to play politics with our families lives. leaders who will make america more free and more fair and more progressive. leaders who will get results and let me tell you that sounds like a job for a whole bunch of pro-choice democratic women.

[applause] because here's the truth. it's inspiring when women run and it's exciting when they win but what really matters is when they get a chance to govern. it also matters what republicans do when they get a chance to govern. so after 2012 we heard a lot of talk about republican rebranding. no more todd akin's they promised us and that war on women was just in our imagination. we held a couple of media trainings and looked for candidates who didn't talk about rape so much. they came up with some phony sales pitch about over-the-counter birth control and then when they won full control of congress what did they do? in their first three days they

introduced five new anti-choice bills. they even started talking about women. folks, make no mistake, this is your father's republican party. this is the exact same ultrasound republican party we have been fighting for 30 years. [applause] shame, shame on them for trying to pull women and shame on this this -- us if we let them get away with it. they don't support women. they don't trust women. they don't respect women so don't tell me that there is no war on women and don't bother asking for the truth. we didn't start this fight but mark my words we are going to win it.

[applause] but if we don't show up to this battle and 2016 we will pay the price for a generation to come. just imagine what a republican president and a republican congress would do. actually you don't have to imagine it. just look at what republican governors and republican legislatures have already done. they will raise taxes on middle-class families and cut funding for public schools to fund more tax breaks for the wealthy and we know they will do it because they have already done it in kansas. and they will strip away basic bargaining rights that help working men and women secure fair treatment in the workplace and we know they will do it

because they have already done it in wisconsin. [applause] and they will mandate that a woman seeking an abortion undergo an invasive ultrasound against her will and we know they will do it because they have already done it. in texas and north carolina. so we have already seen what republicans will do when they have full control over our states. what do you think they will do when they give full control of washington? what do you think will happen if they get their hands on medicare or social security or the environmental protection agency or the department of justice or the court's? a republican president and a republican congress would mean the end of the affordable care act the end of roe v. wade

the end of every right we have one through struggle and sacrifice, every opportunity we have fought so hard to burn so we could pass a bond to our own daughters and sons as their birthright. give them a chance and they will destroy generations of hard work just like that. we can't give them that chance. [applause] ..

and that has to be us. so get ready. the next 20 months are going to be some of the hardest we've ever