disabilities. later, the annual state opening of the british parliament including the queen's throne speech. at the white house today, the president honored 17 americans for achievements in science and technology. recipients received awards for ground breaking research and invo nation in genetics,

manufacturing technology. this is a half hour. ♪ ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. ♪ >> thank you so much. thank you. thank you, everybody. please have a seat. welcome to the white house.

today, i have the privilege to present our nation's highest honor for scientific and tech know logical achievement. the national medals of science and the national medals of technology and innovation. the amount of brain power in this room right now is astonishing. [ laughter ] >> but, when you talk to these brilliant men and women, it's clear the honor has not yet gone to their heads. they still put their lab coats, one arm at a time. joining us to celebrate these achievements are members of congress, secretary of energy, a good scientist himself, my science adviser, the director of the national science foundation, the director of the u.s. and pat tent trademark office and the

national medals and science technology foundation. i want to thank them for all the work they do each year to help us organize and honor the scientists and innovators in this great nation of ours. now, we are engaging in a lot of science and tinkering here at the white house. we've got atronmy night, hack-a-thons, science fairs, maker fairs. it is fun. i love this stuff. i get to test out some of the cool stuff that ends up here in the white house. this year's science fair, one 9-year-old named jacob, turned the tables on me and suggested we needed to start a kids advisory group so that young people can help us understand what's interesting to them when it comes to s.t.e.m. education,

which i thought was a good idea. today, i can announce we are launching a kids science campaign for young scientists and innovators to send in suggestions of what we should do to support science and technology and inspire the next generation of scientists and innovators. those young people out there listening, go to our website, we are looking for advisers, some advice. the real reason we do this, as i said before, is to teach our young people it's not just the winner of the super bowl or the ncaa tournament that deserves a celebration. we want the winners of science fairs. we want those who have invented the products and life saving medicines and our engineering our future to be celebrated as

well. emerging young people in science, math, engineering, that's what's going to carry the american spirit of innovation through the 21st century and beyond. that's what the honorees here represent. many of them came from humble or ordinary beginnings. along the way, someone or something sparked their curiosity. someone brought them their first computer. someone introduced them to a lab. a child in their lives needed specialized medical help. and because they lived in america that fosters curiosity and invests in education and values science as important to our progress, they were able to find their calling and do extraordinary things. so, their few better examples for young people to follow than the americans we honor today. just to take a couple of examples, shirley ann jackson,

who is part of my science advisory group grew up here in washington, d.c. hers was a quiet childhood. her first homemade experience was collecting and cataloging bumblebees in her backyard. two events happened that would not only change our country's course but shirleys. the supreme court handed down a landmark that they are unequal and the soviets launched sputnik up in the sky, sparking a space horse. as shirley put it, those two events in history changed my life for good. she became the first african-american to receive a dock rat in physics at m.i.t. over the years, dr. jackson has revolutionized the way science informs public policy from rethinking safety at num lar plants to training scientists

and engineers that look more like the diverse and inclusive america she loves. then you have mark, who immigrated to the united states with his family when he was 9 years old. when his diabetic grandmother lost her vision, he began studying to become an ophthalmologist hoping to save the sight of others. mark helps create a bionic eye that restored vision to patients who have been blind up to 50 years. he says the moment when he witnessed someone seeing light and shapes, someone experiencing the miracle of sight for the first time in decades, those moments have been some of the happiest and most rewarding of his professional career. in his words, and i think no pun is intended, there wasn't a dry eye in the operating room. [ laughter ]

>> growing up in chicago, mary claire king's dad would sit with her in front of the tv for cubs and white sox games. [ laughter ] >> and make up story problems for her to solve about the players on the field. she thought that's how everyone watched baseball, which explains why when a college adviser encouraged her to take a genetics course, she said i couldn't believe anything could be so fun. every single american should be grateful for mary claire king's path. we are glad she thought it was fun. at a time when most scientists believed cancer was caused by viruses, she pursued her hunch certain cancers were linked to inherited genetic mutations, this self-described stubborn

scientist kept going until she proved herself right. 17 years later, she discovered a single gene that predisposed women to breast cancer. it empowered women and doctors to understand the choices they make when it comes to their health and their future. so, these are just three examples of the remarkable stories that are represented here today. they illustrate why this is such an extraordinary moment to be a scientist in this country. america's progress in science and technology has countless revolutionary discoveries within our reach, new materials designed atom by atom, forms of treating cancer, organ transplants, private space flights, a planned human mission to mars, a nasa probe that broke free from the solar system three years ago and kept ongoing.

that's some of what america can do. that's why we are constantly pushing congress to fund the work of our scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and dreamers to keep america on the cutting edge. as president, i'm proud to honor each of you for your contributions to our nations. as an meamerican, i'm proud of everything you have done to contribute to the spirit of innovation. it doesn't just benefit our citizens, but benefit the world. we are very proud of what you have done. congratulations to all of you. with that, let's read the citations and present the awards. [ applause ] >> national medals of science, armond paul --

[ applause ] >> national medal of science to armond paul, university of california and lawrence berkeley lab of california for foundational fields in nan know science, development of nanocrystals and leadership in the nanoscience community. [ applause ] >> michael arton. [ applause ] national medal of science to michael arton, massachusetts institute of technology,

massachusetts. for his leadership in modern algebra geometry including three places of work. [ applause ] >> albert bandura. [ applause ] >> national medal of science to albert bandura, stanford university, california for the

understanding of social learning mechanisms and self-thinking processes in motivation and behavior change and the development of social cognitive theory of human action and psychological development. [ applause ] >> stanley fauco. [ applause ] >> national medal of science to stanley, stanford university school of medicine, california for monumental contributions to understanding how microbes cause

disease and inspiring mentorship for molecular pathogen sis. [ applause ] >> shirley ann jackson. [ applause ] >> national medal of science to shirley ann jackson, new york. for her insightful work in condensed physics for science rooted public policy achievements and inspiration to the next generation of professionals in the science, technology, engineering and math fields. [ applause ]

>> rakaesh jane. [ applause ] >> national medal of science, har vard medical school general hospital massachusetts for pioneering research at the interface of engineering and oncology including drug delivery, imaging and ground breaking discoveries of principals to the drugs for treatment of cancer and noncancerous diseases. [ applause ]

>> mary claire king. [ applause ] >> national medal of science to mary claire king, university of washington, washington for pioneers contributions to human genetics, including discovery of the brca-1 gene for breast cancer and genetic matches for victims of human rights abuses with their families. [ applause ] >> simon asher lavin. [ applause ] >> national medal of science to

simon asher lavin, princeton university, new jersey for international leadership in environmental science straddling ecology and applied mathematics for conservation. for his impact on a generation of environmental scientists and contributions to ecology, epidemiology, applied mathematics and evolution. [ applause ] >> geraldine richmond. [ applause ] >> national medal of science to geraldine richmond, university of oregon, oregon for her landmark discoveries of the molecular characteristics of

water surfaces and how her findings affect environmental, chemical and technological processes around the united states and the globe to promote women in science. [ applause ] >> national medal of technology and innovation. joseph desimon. [ applause ] . national medal of technology and innovation to joseph desimon university of north carolina at chapel hill north carolina state university and carbon 3-d california for materials science that led to developmental technology from manufacturing to

medicine and innovative and inclusive higher education and entrepreneurship. [ applause ] >> robert fish el. [ applause ] national medal of technology and innovation to robert e. fishel university of maryland at college park, maryland for invention of novel medical devices used in the treatment of illnesses improving the health and saving lives of millions of patients around the world. [ applause ]

>> arthur gossard. [ applause ] >> national medal of technology and innovation to arthur gossard university of california santa barbara, california for innovation of artificially structured ultrahigh performance semiconductor technology used in today's infrastructure. [ applause ] >> nancy hope. [ applause ]

>> national medal of technology and innovation to nancy ho, green tech america incorporated and purdue university, indiana for the development of a yeast based technology to co-ferment sugar and optimizing this technology for large scale and cost effective production of renewable biofuels and chemicals. [ applause ] >> chen ming hu. [ applause ] national medal of technology and

innovation. university of california, berkeley, california for pioneering innovations in microelectronics, the first industry standard for model circuit design and the first three dimensional trance mitres for technology. [ applause ] >> mark s. -- [ applause ] national medal of technology and innovation to mark s., university of southern california, california. for the invention, development and application of bioelectronics in medication

including a retinal prosthesis improving a patient's quality of life. [ applause ] >> cato t. laurenson. [ applause ] national medal of technology and innovation university of connecticut, connecticut. for seminal work in the engineering of musculoskeletal work and extraordinary work in promoting diversity and excellence in science. [ applause ]

jonathan mark rothford [ applause ] >> national medal of technology and innovation for cat lizer corporation and yale school of medicine, connecticut. commercialization for dna sequencing technology making access easier, faster and more cost effective for researchers across the world. [ applause ] >> let's give another big round

of applause to our honorees. [ applause ] >> let's give a big round of applause to my military aide who had to read those citations with complicated phrases in them. [ applause ] >> you were practicing weren't you? [ laughter ] >> well, it just goes to show, we can all learn science. science rocks. so, thank you very much, erveds. please enjoy the reception. congratulations to our honorees, have a wondserful afternoon.

thank you very much, everybody. [ applause ] ♪ c-span's washington journal, live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up friday morning, fawn johnson, policy director will be on to discuss the labor department overtime rule issued on wednesday. john, the policy director for the sun lite foundation will talk about the deal between the rnc and trump campaign to fund

raise. he will discuss sources saying mr. trump is aiming to raise $2 billion. leo shane the reporter for military times will break down the national defense authorization act passed by the house on wednesday night. watch c-span's washington journal 7:00 a.m. eastern friday morning. join the discussion. book tv has 48 hours of non-fiction books and authors every weekend. here are some of the programs to watch for. this saturday morning at 10:00, we are live for the gaithersburg book festival "why the right went wrong." annette gor dan reid and peter on their book, "most blessed of the patriarchs." juan williams with his book "we the people." james risen on his book "pay any

price" kristen green and "something must be done about prince edward county" joe an vanburger with her book, "love her, love her not" john norris on mary mcgrory" and marlene talking about her book, "fair labor lawyer" the life of a new deal attorney and advocate. on sunday night, at 9:00 on after words. >> for me, the worst thing i have ever done, um, was committed a murder in 1991. i shot and tragically caused a man's death and is by far one of the worst things you can do. you know, i made that unfortunate decision at the age of 19 and devastated a family, you know, took somebody's

husband, a son, brother, father. you know, it's one of the things to this day -- the reason i do some of the work that i do in the inner city. i never want another child to grow up with that type of burden. it's a burden that never goes away. author of "righting my wrongs" discusses 19 years in prison and life after. go to booktv.org for the complete weekend schedule. a house hearing looked at parts of the 1990 americans with disabilities act dealing with public accommodations at retail stores, rental housing and public establishments. witnesses accused the attorneys of abusing the law to file frivolous lawsuits. we hear from business owners who were sued for a.d.a. violations. it's an