er that rings very shockingly true to the core of what i believe my mission is. but for us as a people, the question is still relevant. what does our nation and what does our country say to those who live with their backs against the wall? last week in charleston north carolina we were reminded what hatred can do. and today we certainly continue to grieve with the lives that were lost there. we will be crying for a very long time. but we also must take this moment cannot just focus on the one who pulled the trigger that day, but on the policies, the people, the structures that are

pulling the trigger daily. [applause] a today we are here for dialogue conversation. is not the be all and end all of all things. we hope that it is the beginning of many conversations that we will have with those who seek to be the leader of this country. in st. louis there really is a tale of two cities. we live in a region that has some of the best education the nation has to offer. and yet in that same region we have children who attend unaccredited school districts. [applause]

children who are unable to read when they should be able to read. in this region we have supreme health care that is known all over the nation, and yet we have failed as a region to expand medicaid so that everyone could just have basic health care. [applause] in this region you can travel a distance of 10 miles and that 10 miles will determine whether you live in a mansion or in misery. [applause] in this region we are 19th in metropolitan size but 43rd in economic mobility. in this region we have community

divisions in the places where we should have solidarity. there should be no question about what it means to protect and preserve no question about what it means to get a minimum wage is there. no question about what it means to have justice in this region. secretary clinton cannot answer all of those questions for us today, but it is important that we don't forget the question. and we are grateful that she has chosen to come here today to listen so that we might be heard, and to give us the opportunity to listen so that she might be heard. i introduce to you secretary hillary clinton. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you so much pastor tracy. thank you for welcoming me to your church, this community and with such powerful words. i am here to listen but also to engage in the kind of open and honest discussion about i hope is happening all across america. last week just a few hours before the massacre at missouri manual ame church during wednesday night's bible study i was in charleston visiting a

technical school meeting students, black, white hispanic, who were pursuing paid internships and learning skills that will prepare them for the jobs of the future. i heard their stories. i shook their hands. i looked into their eyes and i saw the hope and the pride that comes from doing work that is meaningful learning, feeling that you matter and that there will be a place for you. that's the basic bargain of our country and these young men and a few young women were doing their part. ..

the scriptural admonition inaction. isn't it amazing remarkable even when year it out and desire for revenge might have

been good but instead forgiveness is found. although a fun mental part of our job during, its use is the most difficult day we are ever called to do. but that is what we saw on friday would one by one grieving parent, siblings and other family members looked at the young man who has taken so much from them and said i forgive you. wanda simmons greg daughter of reverend daniels and then said although my grandfather and the other big died at the hands of hate, this is truth. everyone plea for your soul she said to the killer is proof that they lived in love so hate while

one in. there are the mercy was outstanding as is that of cruelty. he cannot win. there is no future without forgiveness archbishop desmond tutu taught us. forgiveness is the first step towards victory in any journey. i know it is tempting to dismiss a tragedy like this has been isolated in the event. to believe that in today's america bigotry is largely behind us the institutionalized racism no longer exists. but despite our best effort and highest quote, the long struggle is far from finished. we can't hide from hard truths

about race and justice. we have to name them and all of them and change them. that is why i appreciate the actions yesterday then i'm joined by the governors to remove the battle flag from the statehouse. [applause] recognize it as a symbol of our nation's racist past that has no place in our present or future. it shouldn't live there. it shouldn't fly anywhere. [applause] and i also commend wal-mart for deciding to remove any product that uses that.

[applause] today amazon, ebay and sears have followed suit and i urge all sellers to do the very same. [applause] but you know and i know that it's just the beginning of what we have to do. the truth is a quality, opportunity, civil rights in america are still far from where they need to be. our schools are still segregated in fact, more segregated than they were in the 1960s. nearly 6 million young americans between the ages of 16 and 24 are out of school and out of work. think of god.

neither learning nor working. the numbers are particularly high for young people of color. statistics like these are reviewed to the real process we have made and they opposed an urgent call for us to act publicly politically and personally. we should start by giving all of our children the tools and opportunities to overcome legacies of discrimination to live up to their own god-given potential. i just thought you people attending camp at the church in the basement and i was thrilled to see that because that is the kind of commitment we need more of in every church and every place until every child is reached. i hope we can take that for action. i've learned it's not from politics but for my mother who

taught me everybody needs a chance in a champion. she knew what it was like to have neither one. her own parents abandoned her. by 14 should miss out on her own working at the house made. years later when i was old enough to understand, i asked her what kept you going. her answer was very simple. kindness along the way from someone who believed she matter. all lives matter. [applause] and for her, it was the first grade teacher who saw she had nothing to read at lunch and without an arresting her fried asked her food to share. a woman who is how she claimed to agree to let her go to high school so long as her work at. because those people believed in

her, gave her a chance she believed in me and she taught me to believe that the potential of every american. that inspired it to go to work for the children's defense fund after law school. it inspired me to work for the legal services corporation )-right-paren and the rights of poor people to have lawyers. i saw life change because an abusive marriage ended for an illegal eviction stopped. in arkansas, the law school there i supervise students who represented clients in court in prisons. organize college scholarship funds for single parent, lead efforts for better schools and better health care. so i know what personal kindness, political commitment in public programs can do to help those who are trying their best to get ahead.

that is why we need to build an economy for tomorrow, not yesterday. you don't have to look far from the sanctuary to see why they need it so urgent. but you also don't have to look far to see that talent and potential is all right here if only we unleash it. i believe that talent is universal but opportunity is not. we need to rebuild the american opportunity society for the 21st century. you might ask how we do that. first are looking at the faces on the energy of the young people i just saw downstairs. we have to start early, make sure every 4-year-old in america has not passed a high-quality preschool. [applause] because those early years are when young brains develop on the

right foundation can lead to lifelong success. i am not saying this because i'm now a grandmother. the most amazing brilliant diamond gold in the history of the world. i am saying this because i know what the evidence is. i know 80% of your brain is developed by the age of three. so we have to do more. churches and houses of worship. businesses, charities, local governments all this have to do more to help families be their child's first teachers from zero to five. when i was first lady of arkansas i struggled with the issue and it's all sent south arkansas in the mountains. we will not afforded that point all those years ago the universal pre-k program. we have to do more but we were

never going to do enough. people could run themselves a program designed to help the children of immigrant to israel particularly ethiopia who came with their parents seeking religious freedom. they were ethiopian jewish. they had to escape, but many have never been to school. the secret to the program for preschool youngsters was to teach them other to teach her child. we need to do more of that. i call on all of us to find ways to reach into those families. they will need not omit good education to prepare them but the skills for tomorrow's jobs. we need tax credits for businesses that invest in apprenticeships, particularly providing opportunities to

economically disadvantaged young people in order to create those new jobs we have to attract investment to often ignored or not. whether you live in fergus inner west baltimore cold country or indian country, you should have the same chance that any american anywhere to get ahead and stay ahead. we should reauthorize the new markets tax credit which has encouraged billions of dollars in private funding for community development and small businesses in low income, low investment areas. they should be permanent. a lot of new jobs come from small businesses and we know that women and people of color face extra hurdles become a notch for numerous. it is hard to find the support networks. we've got to do more to knock down the barriers of every good idea that anybody has will get a

fair hearing and a chance to create a new business to employ people and raise their income. we must do all we can to ensure our communities respect law enforcement than one first met respects the community they serve. we need to come together for common sense gun reforms that keep our communities safe. [applause] the key to all this is revitalizing our democracy and persuaded the 50 million american to do not vote that by not voting, they make it possible for people who do not agree with them, do not support their aspirations to call the shots. earlier this month, i went to texas university to speak out

against systematic efforts to disempower and disenfranchised young people poor people, people of color and the elderly. we need early voting and automatic universal voter registration. [applause] i think every young american when they turn 18 should be universally automatically registered unless they say no. [applause] now if we agree stitch the framed fabric of our communities we will only do so if all americans do their part. i grew up in the methodist church. another type sunday school and made sure part of the reason shootout sunday school was to keep an eye on my brothers.

they are supposed to be in sunday school, but you never knew. she was there to make sure they showed up in their classes. she also made sure we heard john wesley to do while the good you can come about the means you can't in ways you can place a sometimes you can see the whole as long as ever you can. that meant more than prayer. [applause] and that we had to step out of the church lola pursley's and get to work. i was blessed with a wonderful youth minister who took some of us into chicago dear dr. martin luther king jr. speak. i grew up in an all-white middle-class suburb. i didn't have a black friend, neighbor or classmate until i went to college and i am so blessed to have had so many in my life since.

but i leapt at the chance to hear dr. king's words. the sermon that evening was titled remaining awake through revolution. dr. king challenged us to stay engaged in the cause of justice not to slumber while the world changed around it. i think that is good advice for all of us today. we should all commit to stay awake and stay active to do our part in our families businesses, unions, house of worship and in the voting booth. never stop working for a stronger, more prosperous more just inclusive america. government has a big part of the responsibility to promote growth, fairness and justice. but soda bottle of ice. in the moments in the days ahead an honest conversation with the

talk about what each of us can and should do because ultimately this is really all about the habits of our hard how we treat each other, how we learn to see humanity of those around us and how we teach our children to see their humanity too. we don't have to look for examples. those nine righteous men and women who invited a stranger in their mid-to study the bible with the. someone who did not look like them when they had never seen before. their example in their memory show us the way. their families, their church does as well. so let us be resolved to make sure they did not die in vain. do not be overcome by evil but

overcome evil with good. thank you. god bless you. [applause] >> thank you for those poignant words, secretary clinton. just so everyone understands how we are going to do this, all my life i wanted to be oprah. [laughter] just kidding. i like my life. reverend karen andersen and i resister churches across from one another. when the call came for us to have the opportunity, it is

important that we do it together. we have invited onto the panel with us while we hope other people who will share a comprehensive view of what is good about our region what is challenging about our region and how they've come up with innovative ways to make a difference. because st. louis is a show me state it wouldn't be complete if we didn't have an opportunity for the audience to also be involved. we passed out cards ahead of time and at the end of the discussion are in the middle how you see fit will choose a card of question and involved that as well. i thought we would start the conversation with dr. jason purnell, professor of social work at washington university. [applause]

as you can see he has a great fan base. he's also the lead author of for the safer, all, which is the comprehensive look at what is challenging in a region. talking with adverse will provide a backdrop for the rest of the conversation. [inaudible] >> it's not on? hello? thank you very much, reverend blackmon. i wanted to share the work we've been doing which started a collaboration between scholars of washington university in st. louis university and just over a year ago we released the comprehensive report looking at health disparities in st. louis through the lens of what we call the social determinant. not just looking at health outcomes but also educational,

economic residential neighborhood fact there is. one of the most striking findings that has been talked about in our region is an 18 year gap in life expectancy between two zip codes. st. louis city north st. louis city put on the african-american and 63105 in st. louis county which is predominantly white. that is less than 10 miles of geography and an 18 year gap in life expect to see. what we unpacked is what is different about various areas what i started calling the geography of inequality. but it's different is the unemployment rate four times as high for african-americans a median income that is less than half for african-americans than it is for white. and the health outcomes that a

company that such as an african-american baby board in st. louis city in st. louis county be more than three times as likely to die before their first birthday, a homicide rate for african-americans is 12 times as high as it is for white in st. louis county. but we are not just focused on disparities. we are also focused on solutions and talking about how addressing social determinants of health and health disparities impacts everyone regardless of their race and socioeconomic status. we have recommendations in six areas including early childhood invest in high-quality early childhood for all children is recommendation number one. creating opportunities for low to moderate income households. investing in school-based health and health care is another

recommendation. investing in the full gamut of mental health services from stigma reduction to awareness to treatment. investing in helping neighborhood so no matter where you live in st. louis you want to find fresh fruits and vegetables live in a safe place, have safe places to recreate. and addressing chronic and infectious disease prevention and management. so all of these factors interact but we believe there are evidence-based and community informed solutions to these issues and we've engaged the community. we've engaged local and state policymakers. we've engaged business leaders than we are currently in the process of trained again the work that we did in the report into a series of discussion

guides in action toolkits, with an organization called focus st. louis to give community members and told us to to the areas of recommendation. we have dr. andersen come out for a community action on health and health care. we are very focused on what can the entire st. louis region due to move forward. >> first of all i commend you on doing this project because i think it is long overdue that we dig into the data to try to understand what the disparities are, what the sources are and what she read the play not as read the plane out of some of the solutions. because that's all we do is complain or criticize without coming up with both a good taste of evidence and a good set of recommendations, and it's hard to build political and public support. i wanted to follow up on something you said because this

is not only true in this region between st. louis city and the county. it is true across the country. so what wash u. and st. louis university are doing this in porch and because we have to put it together from coast to coast. focusing here i think there are a number of strategies that could be deployed would be community-based strategies, neighborhood individual families, churches, businesses and the next step to look at the contribution everybody in the private sector and public sector can make. and then put out what the contributions can be endless people to start making them. for example on early childhood i am a big believer in programs than they can start off as voluntary or supported by the

community organizations, literally visiting the new moms, the new parents of every newborn born in the city and the county and beginning to build a relationship and offering support because so many of these young parents don't have their families nearby they don't always know everything to take care of their baby. they don't have follow up. they are supposed to come back for well child visits and shots. they need somebody who can be and not home a few hours a week to show them what to do. i think we could enlist a huge number of retired moms and grandmothers nurses, people who are still working back against time during the week because they've got to help parents understand they are at their child's first teachers.

they are the most important people, the most important adults in the development. it's not only what we need to do to expand medicaid as pastor tracey said which is so important so people get the health care they deserve to have. the government program, a government choice which i hope to be made here saves the state money and it helps the poorest community and rural hospitals. so it needs to be done. we need to assign responsibilities to every sector of society and work together to get those delivered. thank you for the overview your report gains. >> thank you very much. >> we also have with us today dr. tiffany andersen. she is the superintendent of the school district. you can get out of hand.

[applause] because a little over three years ago we may not have thought we would've still had a jennings school district. she has come into some innovative work taken the school from an accreditation to exceeding accreditation standards. [applause] and she's done some wonderful innovative work and we have asked her to share some of that today. >> it is so wonderful being in a place of worship. let me start off sharing a few things we do. i must first say i think god for being here next to all these wonderful people today and just having a listening ear about what we really deal with. so often we are invisible and what we have to offer, but this moment truly tells you you are not invisible in her presence. clearly.

clearly. you all know i'm a preacher's daughter but i will be very sure with what i have to say because there's a lot of people on the panel. anyone who's driven down with crossing guard duty because to do this work and make the changes you have to make him you have to be willing to be in schools and remember schools are now the center of the community. we all should be a church but not every parent sends their child to church. when you remember that, you realize you have to do it this he says. i give them some practical examples. i will say because every child loves to show off their children we do year-round school. one of the only places that does that. so if any of my students are in the audience, stan really

quickly so i can see you. i told them they couldn't leave until 2:30. they're probably standing outside. with that in mind, we are 100% free lunch 98% african-americans. three years ago you have to be 70% to be accredited. right around 56 57 we are now at 78% as of last year. so i thank you give him a share some things about how we got there. the first thing you have to know is you have to serve the whole child. when they tell you some things and it's important for you to know this because we've got to be the highest minority poverty in the area. with that in mind, we have one of the smallest budget and the

lowest expenditure as well because resources are low standards are high standards will always be love. what i share with you is replicable. the first thing i want you to know in terms of health care with the eye exam in your exam, you really should have as well mental health screening when you come through the door. so every one of our schools has a mental health therapist. it is part of what we do. we are now in partnership building the first hospital clinic. you can take those classrooms and turn it into a hospital. we help pay for the construction that open in january. that means we have a pediatrician on staff. not only will they serve students, but they will serve anybody because it doesn't matter. your child is my child.

we are all interconnected in this vein. preschool funding is pretty much nonexistent. most of the districts do not have preschool. cost 60,000 to 80,000. i have one assistance superintendent. no central office which is why i do the crossing guard duty. by doing that, the money i save i'm able to have a preschool in every school. you must do that. you must do that. my hope is that we'll start being funded because the progress we made was being innovative on a shoestring budget. you shouldn't have no central office and large class size. i love doing that, but that shouldn't be the norm. i give these two other quick

examples because i truly believe the curriculum is what changes the district. an oliver schools schools we have a washer and dryer. in exchange for one hour of volunteerism. you will see a packed pco. matches for the washer and dryers. we have the only school-based food pantry. there is one that just opened up in the st. louis in the given about 8000 pounds of food a month. they said they jennings. dirty% of our staff and i'm just going off the list because we have a lot of folks here. 30% of our staff hired our parents and alumni. economic recycling. when you say i have to help the whole child, unless you are sad and help them have those pieces, you are not going to achieve.

i've given you a few examples. all of you are invited to comment any time and volunteer while you are there. you heard what she said. the last thing we actually track our children from birth all the way to cradle. i don't care if your private charter, every school went to new york, and so we have -- unfortunately our funding was cut so now i'm a certified parent going through my training in a couple weeks and then we have another staff member. when you're pregnant, you may put us and then you have your parents and teachers training. come to one of our preschools.

can introduce kindergarten curriculum and preschools. when you finish, this is not a page news. we have 100% placement. every one of my babies have graduated are either placed in post secondary for a job in either counts are the follows them all the way through college. that is what it takes to make a difference. [applause] >> secretary clinton, may i said just dr. tiffany anders sandberg vice president. [applause] >> what i was going to say they didn't we've got three open up there. but i'm so glad she talked about

the whole child and working with the whole family and providing opportunities for parents to be involved said that they are partners and teachers. boy you just said in the results you are getting should be a wake-up call about what is needed and i would hope that you would get more financial support for pre-k, more financial support that is making a difference in these children's lives because you've earned it and shown what it means to take care of her kids. [applause] i want you to know i thought dr. andersen would be perfect for this because of the work she's done. we have many, many teachers in saint louis who are just as committed and dedicated and that story doesn't get told. one of the things that strikes

me is when i called her about this panel. you don't find it telling, do you? she doesn't live here. she lives in kansas. and drives to take care of these babies. when i call at 6:00 in the morning she said i've been on the road since 2:00. at the dedication we have here. [applause] >> it is almost impossible to follow that. you are going next chris. i'm just glad i'm not you. i'm glad i'm just introducing you. just amazing.

it is my pleasure to introduce chris craig meier was beyond housing. and he is beyond housing. they don't just create affordable housing, but they do a comprehensive community development. if there is a single thread running through each of these persons, we cannot silo people. we can't put things in a box and only address one issue. we have to look at what is impacting communities and individuals and families. we want to share that 241 initiative that looks at the whole family. >> thank you. it's an honor to be here and a note to myself to never follow dr. andersen again. thank you for collected stories about our work here. i think you said earlier we have a lot of solutions and how we take down the scale.

we are a development organization. our places nestled between jennings and ferguson. an initiative called 241. we believe in the notion that all matters into his home is a place where you come home every night. home is a life in around where you live that feels and draws the best are the people who live there. if we take care of families and children we have to recognize what happened outside of the house as well. we think you should focus on housing, health, jobs, economic development and education. to say how they connect. you heard dr. andersen talk about points of conductivity about the whole child and how you support the family as well. we believe what we've done with our residency in communication delivered by 24 small cities we've heard about in the news. we work to help them get better. what we've said is we are driven by your voice.

we believe in the revolving circle of ask the lion act. the community has the answers. all we have to do is align resources and get the work done. we've done a variety of different things. we've invested $50 million in the housing talk in our community. was build new homes to add to our rental portfolio. we thought existing homes and some others who had served until portfolio. can we change the environment? can we get people's attention by fixing up homes and getting attention. my neighborhood is getting a little better. even more than that the housing is important but that's all we do. let's look at economic development. four years ago the community told us to have a grocery store for 50 years. we love grocery stores. four years ago we were able to build using new market tax

credit. i can tell you the average increase in sales year-over-year over the four-year period is averaging 9% per year and what is important is the average increase in all the other stores is less than 2%. so our folks no good, healthy affordable food is good and folks have to eat. they come to the grocery store and they do wonderfully successfully. we have a movie theater under construction. you can snap from the movie theater. that is good. i'll invite you to the grand opening in october as well. the exciting part about the movie theater is a lot of times in her work in communities we struggle with the basics. important but that not what it looks like. you have to have other things like entertainment. in october will open a movie

theater. right next to that where the building to provide primary health care services and retail opportunity. how do we build a sense of community. how do we drive resources in a specific place. the partner with the normandy school district. we've done a couple things in the pre-k space. we worked with another organization called united for children. they work with 15 of the 35. our goal is to give them resources to say to mom and pop providers how can we help you provide better services for little ones. how do we make sure they are ready for the first year of kindergarten. but all the research we've need. invest in the little ones early and often and they will be successful. when they get to kindergarten come every kindergarten or has received a $500 savings account.

come on and join us. we have over 800 kids with college savings accounts already. after the next school year we will have 1000 children, $500 growing in their name and you can go to college. it's a matter of where you go to school. let's figure that out along the way. we also have a program called vikings advantage with the financial opportunity jason talked about. we match you with great to pay for college. 200 kids participating. some of them graduated from college. i don't have 100%. we are 85% persistence rate. we at 85% of our kids going through college to graduate. how do we drive is in a very attention away to say you can

degrade a tear drains the next patient and our job is to support you along the way. we do a program with 300 people participating and walking clubs, running clubs recognizing you can change behaviors and get healthier. if you don't feel good the rest of life is complicated. how do we get people to be healthier and provide opportunities for people to say i want a better life in something better for me and my family and how can we invest. we like to get stuff done, like to build things. at the end of the day we want to provide programs and support programs. we have a fantastic program and we are proud to be the only freedom school providing great opportunities for children. at the end of the day we believe this notion that community building happens at the speed of trust. how can you be in communities

over and over again. and be with folks are in the good times and not so good times. ribbon cuttings and groundbreaking's are great. the world work happens in between. day in and day out when they're there to take them out. the world work happens when you say the idea of kindness that we are here for you no matter what it will take and we are going to stay with you and make sure your life is successful in your child's life is successful. [applause] >> i am certainly picking up the theme from our panelists here and that is we need comprehensive approaches to these issues. if we continue to sign the people and continue to just work in certain channels without branching out and trying to have a more holistic approach, we are

not going to be as successful as we could be. as you've heard from the diagnosis and recommendations from the study to what is being done in one school district have faced a lot of challenges to community building which is at the heart of what were doing. sometimes people when they hear our panelists, they get excited, but then they say to themselves who was going to do that and that is complicated. how do you break down the bureaucratic carriers and get more people involved to produce these outcomes. that is a challenge. i'd be the first to say that. it is clearly insurmountable challenge. if more developers cared more about communities inside of buildings we would have more people doing exactly what you're doing and what we need to do if

i'll be in effect apostles, missionaries for this viewpoint and get more people to think and then to try to take it to scale. if it works in jennings, ever works in normandy and the surrounding community, let's make sure it keeps working but then let's move from there to provide more support for more people tried to do exactly what you've heard. this is very exciting to me. before i came this afternoon i didn't know about any of this. that is why this kind of important whether you run for president or just being a person you actually listen and learn from people on the frontlines doing the studies, doing the hard work making a difference. i have to thank you for giving me a lot of great ideas about what others can do as well.

[applause] >> secretary clinton, along that line -- [inaudible] [applause] in the city of st. louis, she has developed the same type of college savings plan that chris talked about. every child entry kindergarten in the city of st. louis will receive a college account with $50 given by the city as the new program she is in charge of and i'm going to quote her from the face of together yesterday. she said of st. louis can find the millions of dollars necessary to build a new football stadium -- [cheers and applause] for a team that doesn't even want to be here then we

certainly can find the money to support our children. i want to salute her as well. [applause] they gave me a little leeway with these first three rows so i patted them with brilliance. >> can i just have one of the recommendations is universal child development accounts for every one born in st. louis county. we know from experimental work of the children who have discounts a better social emotional functioning of children or don't. lower levels of depressive symptoms and higher expectations for their children. we've been working very proud of the work she's been doing. we want to make this universal and like you said opt outs elaborate childcare space. you have to asked not to get it. we are going to work towards

them. [applause] >> i think it is important to look at what cities like st. louis under the leadership of the treasurer is doing and what some states are doing. i've traveled around the country talking about universal pre-k. i get to a point in my present haitian where i say probably this state that is leading the country and providing universal pre-k is oklahoma. i am not talking massachusetts or california. i'm talking about as we say in politics a deep red state and therefore it seems to me it is a good idea to talk to political leaders and business leaders. my goodness, if oklahoma can do it, certainly missouri can do it as well it seems to me.

[applause] >> it was important on this panel that we not gloss over the fact that we have some serious challenges here. in my opinion those challenges are rooted in a fun nation most than that this nation which is racism. racism showed its ugly head in a different way at august 9th when michael brown junior died. our next panelist brittany pac-man is the ceo of teach for america here is st. louis. hsia is a progressive fighter for justice and a knack for this on the front line. because of her position in bear she was chosen to be a part of the president task force on policing. so she can speak on many things i'll ask her to speak to this divide in the need for police and community reform. [applause]

>> so i greatly appreciate the opportunity and the invitation and i will willingly say that the seat i occupied could be occupied by many and this movement and in this work. young people in particular. i want to acknowledge that because i can't see above the lessons i've learned on the streets and through the lens of ferguson and in classrooms and also some ideas. the first lesson i learned was that clarification for me about what leadership is. i was able to codify the definition paying close attention to again people didn't ferguson. i figured out leadership is proximal that in its closeness to the issue without fear of richard duchenne or danger, that it is can distantly truthful about the stakes truthful about the facts that it is consistent that true leadership keep showing up regardless of

how danger it is. and lastly it is unapologetic and we know what is right and we continue to fight for it. so i will say as i have audience with you that not only is it the kind of leadership at scene of ferguson of west baltimore and cleveland all around the country. that is the leadership or continue untreated community will demand from public servants. what it is also critically important to need to recognize that an educator is when young people showed up and displayed that leadership with all due respect it didn't require a programmer organization to do that. cayard possesses assets and if we look at our young people as whole beans of a great deal to offer the world instead of thinking i would would need to give them and what they have to give us, we can learn those

kinds of lessons. so community programming is important. church programming is important. organizing is important that we cannot have children out of poverty. if we could we would still be in the situation. so i can't see with the last sentence i want to make sure we are also having a policy and structural conversation about what is necessary for marginalized communities. untold policy decision match the effort on the stage and all across this region we are actually not going to get free. the other thing that i know that august night confirmed for me is kids can't learn and so all the conversations we have about education are for not because they end up like proud, to mayor rice, ayanna jones. as much as i will have a

conversation rooted in my experience as an educator it is also rooted in what i've learned from ferguson and the idea anybody who touches the life of child, teacher were police officers need to see their own humanity and that younger person. [applause] three very quick things. the first is an idea that education circles recall leadership. it is the idea you are seeing a child is her south but also recognizing assets they break into the classroom given their background. the child is from ferguson, jennings, bosnia or mexico, they bring unique skill set in a viewpoint on the world and that is how we should teach. layered on what officers do we have this conversation about anti-bias. when you talk about being a culturally responsive leader and public servant, we are not just talking about mindset.

we are also talking about knowledge and skills. .. so when we talk about getting

beyond can't we talk about knowledge and skills. so knowledge is actually decibel by emerging. we're in the fifth week of teaching there not only are they advanced teaching, teaching summer school right now in st. louis public schools and giving very on the ground rigorous training are also sending them to on home visits sending them down killer app held and people spent entire lives and laboring for this community. if we ensure knowledge comes not just from a textbook or from a police academy or from a college of education but immersing ourselves and learning from the people who to hold the knowledge, the people than continuing to build that community, we can build that knowledge. the last piece is a skill. skill has to continuously be developed. it's not enough to do antivirus training, not enough for that to be hiring standard, it has to be

we are evaluating people based on their skills, based on the evidence we see from their operations. when it teaches doing well in the classroom they should be rewarded. when a kid is not doing that well they should be coached to figure out if they can do well. if they can't been there lots of different occupations that you can engage in. the same with an officer. the same with an officer. until we have very clear data about officers records in the communities in which they said it's impossible for us to make that decision. [applause] the second point and i appreciate that you've started continued a national conversation about the industrial complex, if we're going to dismantle that we have to go back to its roots which is what happens when our young people are criminalized. [applause] and so not only can we create national level policy to incentivize the teachers and

police officers during a talk about, we can incentivize the decline of despairing school discipline issues. we know is about if your first interaction with an officer is negative and your first interaction with the officer is negative and happens when you're very young, you have now learned the lesson that i should be internalizing i do something is wrong, i'm a criminal come, always wrong, always in trouble. well then, we know what will happen to you. i was a third grade teacher if my children were not on grade level in reading there was a jail cell waiting for them. we should never be dooming children to a future of criminalization when they're only eight and nine years old. [applause] again policy structures and incentivizing our giveaways to actually support issues in school. so would we change punitive measures in school too much aligned with restorative justice by mark the children out of work out their own niche issues so they can people are now to

channel their anger and actually move through the world in a thoughtful and professional way then we're not only empowering them to escape the life of crime were also empowering them to be productive full citizens. [applause] the last piece that i was is that this work is unfinished. so i was a member of the president's task force. i am a member of the ferguson commission. i'm a proud member of the activist community, upright educator. and yet until these things go from being on paper to actually being a living breathing constitutional rights of every citizen in this country and the laws that are passed and protected by government we will cease to change. so for all the things i just discussed we still need special prosecutors of special investigations in issues of officer involved shootings. we need police departments and government to acknowledge the trust that is continuously been broken in communities because we can't move forward unless you

acknowledge the harm that's been done. we cannot move forward unless we consistently incentivizing coldly responsive leadership training, for people of the building to touch impact the lives of children. i appreciate the opportunity and i appreciate so much the effort that has been made in the community with our teachers last on average they made one and half years of gross in reading and math interest is going to us because as clearly said lester classroom is academically rigorous and is also culturally responsive that you're not meeting our standard and therefore, we have some work to do. and so we know the proof is in the pudding and my hope is that policy and structural solutions to match the good work that you have seen and heard from here today. >> excellent, excellent, excellent. [applause] >> we intentionally asked some

activists and some people and then on the ground to be with us today. would you please stand? if you are here and you have been an activist. [applause] >> and i ask them to stand, secondly so that you could see unlike what the media often represent, that we are intergenerational. it is faith people and people who are not of any faith, all different races. we are in this together and we are not going away. [applause] >> well, i would expect nothing less. and i so appreciate brittany's

very important statement about structural and policy differences. because this does have to be approached on many levels, but you also have to embed a structural and policy changes and support systems so that when you go one on one, whether it's with teachers or law enforcement officers or any other member of the community who has a lot of contact with and power over their fellow members of that community, you can do it to great success with a cadre of people. but if you don't continue it, if it's not sustainable if the same lessons are not passed down year after year, then in 25 30 years you are right back to where we are today. i am more hopeful right now than

discouraged. i know how hard this is. i thank you for serving on the police commission appointed by the president and i know certainly he is doing everything he can to try to put the policy and the appropriations power behind incentivizing these changes. but it has to continue. one of our challenges in our country right now is because of our differences political for sure, partisan for sure but geographic differences, experiential differences. we have a lot of different communities around the country who have different needs different perceptions, different experiences. we are not as good as we need to be on persisting and continuing changes that we know work. so you know, brittany, from your experience as an educator, you can turn a school around. but unless you change the

mindsets, the behavior, the knowledge, skill of the people who will be in that school after you leave, it doesn't have staying power. so our challenge is number one, to be will work to create better outcome, to share that and to scale it into sustained. and you can't do that with a system and policy changes and without incentives. and goes back to the point about the neighborhood building. for new market tax credit is something my started when he was president. it has revitalize poor and distressed communities. it has made a huge difference and the congress let it expire. so it didn't matter how much evidence there was that this was a tool that could help people in st. louis and many other places around the country unless there is a strong base of support, political support, vocal support to keep things that were, then we're just on

the hamster wheel going around and around. i think what you heard from the panelists and the pastors is we have a moment of opportunity. and shame on us if we don't seize it and we don't support those who were on the front lines of change and we don't make the structural and policy changes in order to support them and those who come after them. that's i think we could be doing right now in america. [applause] >> thank you. i'm looking for greg. i need a time check. how many questions can we take? [inaudible] >> oprah is smoother than this but this works. how many questions? [inaudible] >> the first question asked, consider the monumental impact the criminal justice system and

mass incarceration have has had on families and communities throughout the united states what policy changes will you pursue to reverse the current trend, and how could we be to healing past injustices? >> well, it's a key question when it comes to not only justice but also family and the strength of families. one of the four pillars of my campaign is to do all i can to strengthen families because with a strong families you're not going to have a strong america. and one of the key problems facing families come and particularly african-american families, is the disparity in sentencing, is the mass incarceration for nonviolent offenses and other minor problems that should be diverted away from the formal promote justice system. i gave a speech about this a few weeks ago in new york. i'm very committed to this.

because when you look at the numbers, they are daunting. it is clear that there is disparity to go back to brittany's point disparity in identifying children starting from the earliest ages with the heavy prejudice against black children. so you've got two kids who were acting out in school. and asteroid remember, it was sometime ago kids act out in school, all kinds of kids act out in school. the challenge is how do better change their behavior and support them and get them on the right track. so when you start at a very early age, labeling kids as troublemakers, as problems it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. so we have to do more at the earliest stages. we had to get back to me to juvenile justice system as

opposed to what we now have which is really just another file into the adult system and into the adult prison system. we have to do more to set up the criteria so that african-american men are not sent to prison for doing the very same thing at a white man of the same age the same background, the same jurisdiction does -- [applause] -- and you know, i believe we can do all of this in a way that still keeps neighborhood to see. i've had a couple of people say to me, well if you don't see a lot people of jill we'll get back having a bad crime rate? no, that's not the way it works. we will keep people who are too far gone too dangerous. we'll keep them out of society no matter who they are where they come from their race ethnicity, age. we will do that. but we cannot expect to avoid the consequences of mass

incarceration at the rates we now have and supported by an industry that makes money off of mass incarceration. [applause] as well as making money off of immigrant incarceration. pairs two different parts to this industry. so i just want as to have a very honest, candid, open conversation. look at what's working in some places and begin to use of the federal government as an incentive to make people in local, state jurisdictions change the way that they go about imposing criminal justice. so it's going to take, i mean i know everything we're talking about a. takes time come it takes patience, persistence but we've got to start somewhere. i intend to tackle this problem because i think it breaks up

families. it prevents the formation of families. it causes great hardship for so many communities, and it's not there. i think we can do better on all of those. [applause] >> tying this all together, i just want you to be aware that as a part of the ferguson commission we get quite a lot of data and one of the things that has kept me up at night is the data that says in 2014 there were 1100 black children sent from schools to the juvenile system. msn you're their only 63 white children -- in that same year there were only 63 white children the same result. i will say this is a race issue even though we don't want to talk about it. which brings me to the next question. [inaudible] >> cannot add a page which dissent when it comes to education in terms of that? because all these other school

to prison pipeline, really things like there was a big report in the post to talk to suspensions. in large numbers are i probably couldn't put the statistics properly but the rate of which african-american students are suspended and put out of school as early as kindergarten. literally, i mean, in fact it was a preschool, some districts suspended for preschool. then some of the rationale the winter with things like i can't afford and other alternative and other things like that. it does become a mindset peace because personally that is not a place i have that you should ever put anyone out of education. it's the only thing they should not be taken away from you. that becomes a mindset in terms of how you adjust the adult behavior. so the cycle of oppression is so ingrained that people naturally do those kinds of things. we have an in-school suspensions

in every school, so you will go there. when students come out of jail there really is no come our juvenile, they come right back to high school. there for nothing in between, no counseling. so we have what we call -- they go to first, mental health counselor, you can stay there for you. then they transition back to the school. giving the support and the resources, unfortunately again, a mindset peace for our teachers, for our leaders, that has to change. that's just to me, that peace is huge. when we start talking up what needs to change. for us like you, brittany come with our teachers the very first day they going to visit undertrained. that's part of what to do. but for our leaders we get the dismantling racism training. i would just to you what for every school principal it should almost be required. schools should have training. not a that occurs so if you

don't do it as elite it just will not happen. >> could i add, when you talk to which are done in jennings and you mentioned that you have mental health and other health care programs, i think that is really key. because a lot of teachers, you know, i agree completely that race is a big part of that in some communities is also economic disparities. they have been poor, they will always be poor and they are behaving poorly so we don't want them. we know that. people carry those prejudices within. but also think it is fair to say that a lot of our kids are coming to school with heavy challenges. poverty is toxic. family disruption is toxic. violence in neighborhood is toxic. a lot of little kids have

developed all kinds of anxiety and depression and all sorts of problems that are not being attended to. so you have provided your teachers, indifferent to the training and a candidate that you want to invest in them if also provide them with an alternative. so if they see that child acting up, acting out unable to sit down, unable to behave, rather than sing as a behavior problem see it as a health problem, see it as an apartment the problem. because i'll tell you one of the other problems maybe to have as much in st. louis but it's still a big problem on the east coast is that paint poisoning. we have so many kids who are so affected by the time they're in third grade, or iq has been dramatically reduced it has they have led in their brains. and some this has to be looked at as you've looked at it in a

very broad way. you've got to provide alternatives. and the numbers, pastor, you just gave the disparity is truly a wakeup call. there will be kids of all races who, the best of intentions, the best training for teachers, they will have a problem with. but the vast majority of kids need something besides being thrown out of school or being referred to the juvenile justice system. [applause] >> this turns out not to be our last question. greg didn't want to say that out loud but he is over there telling me. but all of these questions are important to. so i'm going to ask if i put them in an envelope, will you promise to region? >> i do. >> at some point during this long journey that you're on addressing. i think this question is appropriate to close. america has tremendous capacity

but it often lacks the will for change. can you reflect on how we can inform a better will for a better america? >> that's a profound and really important question. we could probably stay here until sunday service talking about it. let me just offer a few reflections. i want to start with something i said in my remarks that was his phrase habits of the heart. you know i believe in policy changes, structural changes systemic changes. i believe in all of that and i will promote it as i have about my career, and certainly as president. but i also believe we need to confront the deep-seated biases and prejudices that still live within too many of us.

and it is something that is hard to talk about. and also i think the vast majority of all of us to pass lie detector test if we're as. we would say of course not, i don't have any prejudice or bias, but we did and we know we do if we are really honest with each other. that's why i'm hoping it will be a lot more conversations like this across the country where people sit across the table or in the living room or in a church basement and really honestly talk. because you here you here that voice saying but what about x, y and z, then you can refute it and deal with it and confront it. but if you don't have a conversation, everybody just ask like things are kind of okay and they are not. that's number one. number two i believe that we have a lot of good solid information about what works. so when you say where the

capacity, we not only have the capacity, we have the evidence. we know what you were doing in jennings really, it's so admirable, and she should have a lot more help than you currently have, and there should be a lot more ways to take what you're doing and spread more broadly than it currently does. what a brittany is doing on training teachers and urging that people in law enforcement really be given a much more knowledge-based, skills-based training so that they can learn more about themselves what they see, how they react so they can be more aware and try to be better at serving the communities that they pledge to protect. on health disparities, but we know that if you live within 10 miles of one another, you may live in a community where the life expectancy is 18 years

less, or even more because that's happened all over the country. so what is the problem and how do we solve it? rather than just say that's just the way it is that's the way it's always been. that's not true. medicaid would make a big difference for a lot of people. 16 million people now in america have health care, thanks for president obama's willingness to really put will behind capacity. [applause] but it's not going to be people good in here if they can't access it. so there's a lot we know about what to do and how to do it but i will tell you when it comes down to it i don't want to sound like a civics teacher 101 but this is how i feel. if people voted for people who would represent them about these interests, that's the way we

run. it still is not going to be easy but it will be a whole lot easier if you elect people who actually are committed to addressing health disparities can providing more resources, to struggling schools, supporting developers who want to build communities, not just buildings. standing up to the best possible training for teachers and law enforcement. that should be a given but when people don't vote because they get discouraged, that only encourages the lack of will. because people who have no intention of changing over to see the reason to change, they say, well people had a chance and they didn't come out. the hardest thing to do in a campaign is to convince people to actually take the time to vote. so i think that's the clearest way to get the wheel. because if you're elected to deliver on these issues, then you can be held accountable.

but if you don't even have to go to the communities that are making these demands because you know they're not going to vote and you don't have to pay attention to them, then nothing changes. so let's remember, capacity based on evidence for solutions that work, systemic change deep deep changes of the habits of our heart working with one another to try to support these changes over time and then turning out to vote and holding public officials accountable for what they do or don't do. that to me is how we translate it into will. [applause] >> i want to thank you for your time today secretary clinton and thank everyone on this panel, just a slice of the brilliance that's in st. louis. [applause] now, i must take my oprah hat

off and put on my pastor had because at the drop of a dime are people that i'm privileged to serve your prepared this place for you. the christ the king will you please stand? [cheers and applause] >> they never complain, at least not so i can hear it so thank you for being you. reverend karen is going to closest in prayer. >> and we do want to take this opportunity to thank you secretary clinton for coming. before i part of think about reverend traci begins with a quote from howard thurman. and there's another what i like that comes from his book, the creative encounter. and he talks about meeting people at the place of their ashtray. in other words you come to where they are.

you figure out what's important to them. and then you enter into a relationship and you begin to build a relationship in which things can change, where we can begin to change mindset which change culture which then begin to change behavior. so i want to thank you for coming and sitting with us at the place of our ashtray. we realize it's only the beginning and we've only scratched the surface the government others have so much more that i want to contribute, and my prayer is that this will not be the last time that you come to this area. [applause] >> let us pray. god, we thank you for this time. we thank you for the willingness of everyone to share from their hard --

>> if you missed any of this meeting with hillary clinton you can see it anytime on our website. go to c-span.org. over to the u.s. senate today. senators continued work on trade promotion authority to a vote is counted for 30 p.m. eastern. live now to the senate. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal lord god, sustainer of nations, continue to heal our land. we claim your promise that if people of faith will humble themselves and fervently seek you in prayer as they turn from evil, that you will hear their

intercession, forgive their sins, and heal their land. use our lawmakers as instruments of unity. as they model the bridge building necessary to bring harmony and healing to nations may their positive example transform lives. lord lead our senators in righteous paths that will keep our nation strong. equip them to conduct the work of freedom with justice and humility. teach us all to disagree without being disagreeable, to seek to

understand before being understood, to plant seeds of love to counteract hate and to sow seeds of hope to eliminate despair. we pray in your sacred name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

mr. mcconnell: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. mcconnell: yesterday's t.p.a. vote with the long overdue victory for the american worker and the american middle class. it wasn't easy. many thought it would never happen. we even saw corks pop in the facts optional lobby a few weeks ago, but that proved to be premature because here's what we've always known about the legislation we'll vote to send to the president today. it's underpinned by a simple but powerful idea, for american workers to have a fair shot in the 21st century economy it just makes sense to remove the unfair barriers that discriminate against them and

the products that they make. some may disagree. they certainly weren't quiet in voicing their opinions. it's okay if they don't share our passion for ending this unfair discrimination against american workers. it's okay if they would rather rail against tomorrow. but a bipartisan coalition in the house and the senate thought it was time for forward progress instead. we were really pleased to see president obama pursue an idea we've long believed in. we thank him for his efforts to help us advance this measure. we thank all of our friends across the aisle for their efforts too. senator wyden most of all. over in the house i commend speaker boehner and chairman ryan for everything they've done. it hasn't been easy, and without them it wouldn't have been possible. and of course let me thank chairman orrin hatch for demonstrating such patience,

persistence and determination throughout this process. he never lost sight of the goal, never gave up. the people of utah are lucky to have him. the senate's work on trade doesn't end today. i said the senate would finish pursuing the rest of the full trade package and it will. we'll take another cloture vote today to that end. that process continues. but the key victory for american workers and products stamped "made in the u.s.a." comes today. the bill we're about to pass will assert congress authority throughout the trade negotiation process. it will ensure we have the tools we need to properly scrutinize whatever trade agreements are ultimately negotiated and it will make clear that the final say rests with us. we had plenty of bumps along the road. frankly, a few big potholes too. but we worked across the aisle

to get through all of them. that's an example of how a new congress is back to work for the american people. i thank everyone who helped us get where we are. now let's vote again to support the american worker and american middle class by approving the bipartisan t.p.a. bill. so mr. president on another matter here's a headline from an associated press article that ran yesterday. federal agencies are wide open to hackers cyber spies. that headline is scary enough, but read just a little further and it gets even worse. "passwords written down on desks, outdated antivirus software perceived ineptitude in nfg technology -- information technology departments. the federal government which holds information of hundreds of

millions of americans has for years failed to take basic steps to protect its data from hackers and thieves records show. in the latest example the office of personnel management is under fire for allowing its data bases to be plundered -- plundered -- by suspected chinese cyber spies in what is being called one of the worst breaches in u.s. history. o.p.m. repeated lid ne gected to i am -- repeatedly neglected to implement basic protections its internal watchdog told congress." mr. president, let me repeat that. one of the worst breaches in u.s. history. if you're looking for something scary to tell the kids around the camp fire tonight i'd suggest reading the rest of the article. it gets a lot worse. to call this alarming would be quite an understatement.

so when the head of the agency that allowed that big breach to happen testified before a senate committee yesterday you'd think -- you'd think she would have come with a detailed action plan. you would think she would have announced that heads were rolling. you'd think she said this could never ever be allowed to happen again under her watch. that's wheat american people expect -- what the american people expect when a breach happens and information is stolen. why shouldn't they expect as much from the public sector? but what did we hear instead? world-class buck passing. world-class buck passing. a complete lack of accountability and urgency. the tired and predictable excuse that the absence of leadership can be solved by throwing a few more dollars at the problem.

well congress can certainly look at the funding angle -- and i know we will -- but as we learned yesterday it wasn't just the old stuff that was breached. it was the new stuff too. more money isn't going to solve a management problem either. and let's be honest. this appears primarily to be a management problem. this appears primarily to be a management problem. here's what the american people were really looking for the o.p.m. director to address. accountability. accountability. a plan for the future. confidence in the ability of the bureaucracy they hire. and rarely, if ever, can fire to break out of the stereotype and show they can put the people's concerns first. ithank chairman boozman for holding that hearing.

we learned a lot but it's not the end of the story. the o.p.m. director will testify tomorrow before chairman ron johnson's homeland security committee. i hope she'll better address the legitimate concerns of the american people. that means mr. president a resolve to get to the bottom of what happened. that means giving the american people renewed confidence in a creeing bureaucracy. and that means pledging to work with policy-makers to enact real real reforms rather than simply accepting failure. whatever happens tomorrow, one thing doesn't change. the need for the intelligence committee's cybersecurity bill we tried to pass earlier this month. i'm going to continue working with my colleagues toward that end. in the meantime, i look forward

to seeing what happens in tomorrow's committee meeting. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the democratic leader. mr. reid: the senior senator from kentucky is certainly right that we need to move on cybersecurity. i've known that for many years and we have tried. why haven't we done something on it? because of filibusters by the republicans. we had a bill that had been worked on for years we brought before the senate. but instructions were given from the chamber of commerce and the republicans dutifully walked down here and voted "no" stopping us from moving forward on the bill. the chamber said -- and obviously republicans agreed -- this isn't something for the

government. it should be done in-house. well mr. president my friend, the republican leader, rails against a government, but he should also understand that this is a situation that involves the private sector also. we could name 25 companies 50 companies, 100 companies that have been hacked and hacked very badly. not the least of which is sony, target. it is hard for me to comprehend that my friend, my counterpart is here talking about the need to do something for cybersecurity when he is the leader of the -- when he as the leader of the republicans has stopped us from doing this. i would hope there is a bill, it's not a perfect bill, it's far from it; bipartisan bill, has the support of the chairman

and ranking member of the intelligence committee. we can get to work on that right now, and we should do that. i repeat, it's not perfect legislation but it's certainly a step forward. and my friend said he wants heads to roll. if that were the case, then let's a lot of heads to roll, i guess, in the private sector, public sector because they don't have the tools to do much about this hacking going on. we need to help them with appropriate legislation and i hope we can do that and do it very, very soon. i remain committed to considering cybersecurity as soon as we can. we need to get that done and i hope we can get that done. mr. president, on that issue, we could go to that legislation right now but you know why

we're not going to go to it right now? because the republicans have holds on the bill. so we'll have to likely file -- the republican leader will file a motion to invoke cloture on moving forward on this legislation. we're ready to move on it now. again, the problem is on the republican side, not our side. mr. president, our great country faces yet another manufactured crisis. in just a few weeks from now the end of july -- and that's coming quickly. on july 31 the authority for the recent extension for the highway trust fund will expire. the united states department of transportation won't be able to make payments to our states for highways bridges railways, all transportation agencies would likely postpone or can sell road work during the busy construction summer season. why? because they have no money.

they know that the highway program surface transportation program, has been stymied as a result of 33 short-term extensions forced upon us by the republicans in the senate. 33. how can these agencies plan ahead? they can't. before this crisis becomes full-blown democrats want to work with republicans on a long-term reauthorization of the highway program. i know there are members of the majority who want to do something about this. the presiding officer has a plan to take care of highways. is it a perfect plan? of course it's not perfect. but it's sure a good step forward to do something about this program, something that's long term. this crisis is about jocks

hundreds of thousands -- this crisis is about jobs, hundreds of thousands if not millions, of high-paying construction jobs across the country much that's why we challenge the majority leader to move forward with a long-term surface transportation bill ahead of this deadline. i'm pleased that republicans have joined with democrats to schedule a markup -- in fact, it's going on right now in the environment and public works committee on a six-year surface transportation bill. this of course is authorization only but what terrific work done by senators boxer and inhofe. they're an unmatched pair, usually on all issues that come before this body, but on this legislation, they're a matched pair. i admire and appreciate what they are going to mark up in just a few minutes. it's an authorization but a big step forward. but next comes the need for funding that they authorize and maybe a little more.

their legislation will modernize our nation's crumbling infrastructure. the bill that the e.p.w. committee will consider is $275 billion. that includes modest increases in funding over the next six years. but modest increases more importantly, won't allow us to make the investments investments that our transportation system really needs. every day we learn of new examples about the state of disrepair of our roads bridges our highways, and of course our transit systems. the highway trust fund is no longer sufficient to fund invests we so desperately need to rebuild them. why? because people's habits have changed. vehicles have changed. people don't drive every car they have -- every car they have isn't a gas-guzzleer. we have electric cars. we have cars that run sometimes on gasoline, sometimes

electricity. we have cars that run on gasoline all the time, but they don't burn much gasoline. so the trust fund, which was set to take care of all the road needs we have -- surface transportation needs -- we don't have the resources. so we have to look for other resources because the highway trust fund is no longer sufficient to fund these investments we so desperately need to rebuild them. we know this because over the past few years congress has transferred billions of dollars to shore up the shortfall in trust fund revenues. today it is important to thank senators boxer and inhofe for their leadership in marking up this bill. i hope the chairman of the banking committee and finance committees will demonstrate the same against of urgency for their portion of the surface transportation. despite the common knowledge about surface transportation

funding, republicans have delayed the important work of writing a bipartisan bill for far too long. our good citizens don't deserve another exercise in crisis management like we are seeing this week on the export-import bank. democrats have laid out a clear timetable and process for bipartisan negotiations, so long-term robust kill can pass before the august recess. to recap we requested a number of things, but let me meption just -- but let me mention just a few of them. hearings in the authorizing committees by june 23. we know how that's already passed. bipartisan markups in all authorizing comes by july -- committees by july 10. increases in highway transit and of course all kinds of new safety programs and maintain those that we have. basically a long-term bill on the senate floor by july 20. if the republican leader continues to avoid conducting

business on fridays, we have knoll 15 session days -- we have only 15 session days in the month of july. is15 days to address our country's basic transportation needs and help our struggling economy by providing lots and lots of jobs. it was said last week, "as chairman of the finance committee, i intend to solve this problem." well i a appreciative i appreciate that very much. senate democrats are ready to work with republicans to grow, not cut you are our transportation funding. i say to the senior senator from utah please -- please do something that is more than another short-term extension. we need a six-year bill. every state in the union needs that. we've had them in the past, but now the republicans learning how to filibuster, they've stopped basically everything we've tried to do in this regard. we cannot -- i say to my friend

from utah, we can't have another extension. i repeat, this will be the 34th short-term extension. enough is enough. we need to move with a plan that funds our nation's infrastructure creates jobs and supports our economy creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. americans rely on a strong transportation system to travel. they do this to commute. also, of course, to move goods across the country. this program is the brainchild of dwight d. eisenhower, president of the united states when he called upon his experience as a young military officer in trying to bring military equipment and men across the country. it was very, very difficult so he said as a young military officer, someday if i have an ability to change this, i will -- and he did. the national highway system is eisenhower's highway system.

this is not a program that was developed by anyone other than dwight eisenhower. so temporary funding for the highway trust fund leads only to uncertainty, slowing -- uncertainty, slowing construction and hurting economic development in our nation. the republican leader should act now to avoid this looming deadline and support long-term investment into our nation's crumbling infrastructure. mr. president, i see no one on the floor so i would ask what the business of the day is. the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order the senate will resume consideration of the house message to accompany h.r. 2146. mr. reid: i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: house message to accompany h.r. 2146 an act to amend the internal revenue code of 1986 and so forth and for other purposes.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: