said i wanted to try, and i applied for a government job, and i went to the website and filed my work. then, you know, final exam time, no word back. graduation time came. this is where i wanted to work was my first choice. my parents are saying, you've got to go get a job, do not come home. i didn't have a job. so i took the job from somebody who could offer me a job, which wasn't as meaningful as the one i wanted. then i was six months into the job, and lo and behold, out pops an e-mail from the government saying how would you like ab interview. that just doesn't work for a kid. today's kids especially, because they don't want to live life. the way i like to put it is, they don't like to live a career that's an escalator, get in and takes you up. they want a jungle gym where

they can get hired by climbing around. we need to be part of it. we need to recognize that's the way many people see their lives. they need to be able to see us in that context. so opm to the contrary notwithstanding, i think we can't use that as an excuse. opm. come on. work around it. where we need to change the law, i proposed a number of changes in the law. i think our committees are receptive to change and trying to give them the right ideas, so they can write them into law. there's a lot we can do. you don't take no for an answer. you can't expect this kid to put up with it. you've got to change the way it's done. >> we're at the hour. i have to let the secretary go. i know from the deputy secretary he has to brief him on a meeting you're going to in 15 minutes.

coming up on this spot. transition of government, things fall through the cracks. i think it's up to all of us to sustain on this innovation agenda. this is really the purpose of this conference. we cannot afford to let the agenda slack off. secretary, i want to thank you for your leadership, thank you deputy secretary for leadership, thank you, everybody. >> thank you cis. [ applause ] >> we have to reconfigure the room, a break in the two parallel sessions, so we have about 20 minutes. get some coffee.

>> republican vice presidential candidate mike pence's campaign trail blazers made an emergency landing in new york last night. this is a picture of the destroyed arrester beds that were used to stop the indiana governor's claim after it skidded off a laguardia runway. no one was injured. this morning governor pence making the round of news shows in new york. governor pence said he was grateful by the quick action not only by pilots but first responders. a new campaign plane is being prepared. a new poll in two battleground states, nevada and new hampshire put together by maris institute and nbc news, joining us the director lee

miringoff. thank you for being with us. >> my pleasure, steve. >> let's talk about new hampshire, the presidential race, where is hillary clinton, where is donald trump? a key state for both candidates. >> yes. although it only has four electoral votes, the bottom line, if this is a close election, this one may really end up counting. what we see in our latest poll is that it was pretty much a toss-up. clinton had a two-point edge in our previous poll. right now she's got a nine-point lead and there's several factors contributing to that, not the least of which is a 33-point gender gap. she's carrying women by 25. he's carrying men by eight. so there's this huge, very wide gender gap. she's also getting more republicans than he's getting democrats. so the republican party is less unified in new hampshire around trump than seeing in other states where he does better. right now it's working clinton's

way. >> new hampshire was key to donald trump winning the first in the nation republican primary early this year. are the problems that he's facing nationally kind of a microcosm of what's happening in new hampshire, his inability to expand his base? >> i think that's part of it. new hampshire has, you know, independent strain to it in terms of the voters. right now hillary clinton is not only getting more democrats than he's getting republicans, but also she's got a seven-point advantage among unaffiliated independent voters. the lead she has of seven points is a good lead for her. there is a lot of national polls. some are better than that, some are worse than that. when push comes to shove, we're talking electoral votes. if she can have these four, that's one of the states that she needs to put together to ensure that he does not get to 270.

she may get it without new hampshire but, you know, it serves as a blocking against trump if she does carry that. i might say there's a major difference also in terms of favorability ratings. we hear that both clinton and trump are unpopular. but when lou at new hampshire numbers, clinton has 42% favorability and only 45% negative. so she's pretty even. donald trump has only 29% people. likely voters say they view him positively. 68% view him negatively. this is rough terrain for donald trump. >> lee miringoff in new hampshire is home to one of the most closely watched senate races. the democratic candidate challenging republican senator kelly ayotte. your polling showing this race is too de los call. >> yeah. it's been getting a lot of attention and will continue right to election day.

a one-point difference. makes it a toss-up. what's interesting about this, kelly ayotte is running 12 points ahead of what donald trump is getting in this state. so she's been able to separate from the trump numbers to what she needs. as a result she's competitive. the 48 for her is better than the 36 he's getting. so it's a very close race. this is clearly the controlled u.s. senate may go through new hampshire. if it does, how this race ends up will be absolutely critical. >> another battleground state you've been polling in nevada and right now your poll indicates it's all tied up? >> yeah. this is a fascinating one. 4343. our previous poll had it at one-point difference. this one hasn't moved. when lou at these numbers, almost what we're seeing about new hampshire, just the opposite in nevada. here the independents, instead of clinton having a seven-point

lead among independents as she does in new hampshire, here trump has a six-point lead among independents. and trump is getting more democrats than she's getting republicans. so it's just the opposite, although the gender gap at 26 points is still very, very wide. so this is a state that's got a lot of things going on in it in terms of demographic changes, in terms of, you know, voters. trump does better in states that have more noncollege white voters. not to get too demographic and start carving people up into little categories but this is a state where many of the white voters are not college educated, and therefore a group he's running up a lead of 19 points. so that's very strong for him. it off sets what she's doing right now among latino voters. >> gary johnson, libertarian nominee, a western governor from new mexico. how is he resonating in nevada?

>> right now getting 10%. so he becomes a factor in all this. i must say about the so-called minor party candidates, polsters do it two ways. sometimes they offer the names and sometimes they don't. if you offer the names, as we did in that particular case, the candidates tend to get more than they will when you just don't and somebody has to volunteer the choice. so 10 play be his ceiling. but in the race that's 43-43, anything he's getting should go back to the other candidates would tip the vote that way. >> nevada open seat with retirement of democratic senator harried reid, you've been polling in that race as well. both parties eyeing nevada to try to take out that seat for republicans and keep it for the democrats. >> right now congressman heck is up seven points. that's what we're talking about in new hampshire, he's also

running ahead of donald trump. he's running six points ahead of donald trump and seven points ahead of his opponent. it's interesting, clark county is where a lot of votes in nevada come from. that's a very democratic area, typically. when watching election night, if this is a close state for president, as it is right now, they are going to be looking at the vote from clark county. his congressional seat is in clark county. so as a republican, he's really in an area where he is siphoning off potential votes that might have gone to democrat. this is a very interesting dynamic. it's still close enough it could go either way. but the advantage right now is that senator reid's seat may end up going to a republican. wouldn't that be ironic if that ended up being the deciding seat. >> lee miringoff, director of marist institute for public opinion out with the latest post and "the wall street journal." thank you for your time.

>> my pleasure. our children, they look up to us. what we value, how we treat others. and now they are looking to see what kind of leaders we choose, who we'll entrust our country and their future to. will it be the one respected around the world, or the one who frightens our allies and emboldens our enemies. the one with a deep understanding of the challenges we face, or the one who is unprepared for them. a steady hand, or a loose cannon. common sense and unity, or drama and division. the woman who spent her life helping children and families or a man who spent his life helping himself. our children are looking to us. what example will we set. what kind of country will we be? hillary clinton, because we're stronger together. >> i'm hillary clinton, and i approve this message.

far too many families today don't earn what they need and don't have the opportunities they deserve. i believe families deserve quality education for their kids, child care they can trust and afford, equal pay for women and jobs they can really live on. people ask me, what will be different if i'm president? kids and families have been the passion of my life, and they will be the heart of my presidency. i'm hillary clinton, and i approve this message. what's at stake in this election, it's not just who goes here but who rules here. the justice that guaranteed your right to own a gun is gone. now the next president's choice breaks the tie. four supreme court justices support your right to own a gun for self-defense, four justices would take away your right. >> the second amendment is outdated. >> the right to possess a gun is clearly not a fundamental right.

>> what does the second amendment mean to you? >> not the right of an individual to keep a gun next to his bed. >> and hillary clinton says -- >> when it doss guns, we have just too many guns. the supreme court is wrong on the second amendment. >> hillary has made her choice, now you get to make yours. defend freedom, defeat hillary. nra institute for legislative action is responsible for the content of this advertisement. on election day, november 8th, the nation decides our next president and which party controls the house and senate. stay with c-span for coverage of the presidential race, including campaign stops with hillary clinton, donald trump, and their surrogates and follow key house and senate races with our coverage of their candidate debates and speeches. c-span where history unfolds daily.

live coverage on c-span3 will continue at noon eastern today. state and federal correction administrators will talk about how to bring inmates back into society after incarceration. that event hosted by center for law and social policy to highlight education and training, that starts at noon eastern. and prime time here on c-span3, it's american history tv with highlights until congress rushes after the november election. tonight american artifacts beginning at 8:00 eastern, it's a visit to the flight 93 national memorial visitor center and freedom of information artifacts 50 years after that law was enacted. also visits to battleship wisconsin. tonight here on c-span3. this weekend on american history tv, on c-span3, saturday morning from 9:00 eastern until

just after noon. >> the british empire and its commonwealth lasts for 1,000 years, men will still say this was our finest hour. >> we're live for the 33rd international churchill conference in washington, d.c. speakers including british historian andrew roberts, author of "masters and commanders, how four titans won the war in the west, 1941 to 1945." later on saturday at 7:00, texas governor landoff commissioner george p. bush, state senator jose menendez and phil collins talk about alamo at 2016 festival in austin. >> the memories i had during that period of time was this group of people were going and they knew they were going to die and they went.

or they were there. crockett went. there was something very noble and romantic. i've learned that it wasn't quite as black and white. that's one of the things i think would be good in this day and age, that, you know, we put it into context. >> then sunday evening at 6:00 on american artifacts. >> mcarthur is up front. you also note he was not wearing a weapon. he would often lead an attack carrying nothing but the riding crop in his left hand. men looked at this and said if the colonel and later brigadier, if the colonel can take it, well, i can take it, too. >> we nift mcarthur in norfolk, virginia to learn about the early life of douglas mcauthur who commanded allied forces in the pacific during world war ii and at 8:00. conscious in chief with the highest level of integrity, with

moral comp a true north. we can always count on them to do the right thing when times get tough or no one looking. explaining ten commandments for leadership, what they are and providing examples of presidents who excelled at each one for complete american history stell go to c-span.org. >> education secretary john king said civic education in schools in spires to get involved, talked about education policy at the national press club in washington. this is about an hour. good afternoon and welcome to national press club. i'm jeff ballou, with al jazeera english washington, d.c., and vice president of the national press club. our guest today is dr. john b.

king jr., tenth secretary of he had kagts. i would welcome our public radio and c-span audiences and want to remind you you can follow action on twitter at #npclive. this will be a great time to turn off your cell phones or silence so they don't disrupt our program. if you have any questions for our speaker, right them on the cards at the table, pass they will up to the head table and we'll try to get through as many as time permits or tweet them to the #npclive. now time to introduce our guesses. on your right looking at us, our left, vice president of communications at data quality campaign and vice president of the education writers association. editor of india america today

and white house correspondent. emily wilkins, education, education and labor reporter at cq roll call. emily wilkins, education and labor reporter at cq roll call. amy mcintosh, assistant secretary at the u.s. department of education. carol feldman, director of news operations and finance at the associated press. and also education editor at the associated press. jahana hays, 2016 national teacher of the year. [ applause ] constancia, reporter for bloomberg news and chair of the national press club speakers committee. lisa matthews, vice president hager sharp and the national press club speakers committee member who organized today's luncheon. thank you, lisa. and the chief of staff to the secretary of education. jamal, senior staff writer for

diverse issues in higher education. candice smith, executive director of media relations at the george washington university. and liam roberta, alliance creative communications and involved in the 1979 transition team for the then new u.s. department of education, which was established in 1980. [ applause ] it was just seven months ago our guest was confirmed as secretary of education. but dr. john v. king jr. has been involved in public education all his life. king, a former social studies teacher from new york, is known for crediting the public school tem with his very life. king had a difficult childhood. by the age of 12, both of his parents who were public school teachers had died. it was a rough and tumble time but after school -- after that,

school was his sanctuary. years later, dr. king would go on to lead new york state education department from 2011 to 2014 before joining the department of education. despite his emphasis on making sure all students are receiving the same level of education, regardless of race or zip code, king's tactics have been criticized on all sides. at school districts, at pta meetings, congress. at the same time, he has been praised for understanding the importance of a diverse, rich, well-rounded education. dr. king supported the implementation of the every student succeeds act which replaced no child left behind. he has urged states to use the new federal education law. that's what i get for covering

elections for so long. to expand and focus more on science, social studies, arts and world languages. i like that last one. dr. king has also pushed for higher standards as a stepping stone that ensures all students are ready for what's next. today he returns to his roots as a social studies teacher to speak with us here at the national press club about the role of schools in prepping students to be active citizens. please welcome to the national press club podium, dr. john v. king jr., secretary of education. [ applause ] >> good afternoon. thank you so much for the introduction, and thank you to the press club for inviting me here to speak with you today about a topic about which i am passionate both as a former social studies teacher and as an american, the importance of civic education as part of a well-rounded education. i've spoken about well-rounded

education many times before. i often speak about my teacher in fourth, fifth and sixth grade at ps-276. he made a huge difference in my life after my mom passed away. he made school engaging, compelling and nurturing. we read and discussed "the new york times" every day in his class. performed shakespeare and went to the met and museum of natural history and other cultural institutions. wherever we went, whatever we were doing, he would really listen and respond to our questions and our observations. he made each of us feel valued and unique. last december the president, president obama, signed the every student succeeds act or essa. states are working hard to implementation mental -- implement in the coming years. essa creates an opportunity for states and schools to reclaim the promise of a high quality well-rounded education like the one i had thanks to great new york city public school teachers.

an education that prepares every student regardless of their background to succeed in college and careers. later this week, the department of education will release nonregulatory guidance on one part of essa. a new grant program designed to help schools and communities provide students with access to well-rounded education, to create and safe in support of school environments, and to improve the use of technology. we owe it to every child in this country to provide them with access to music and the arts. world languages. physics, chemistry, biology. physical education and health. coding and computer science. and social studies. geography. government and civics. these are not luxuries. they are essential for preparing our students to thrive in the world they will experience beyond high school. today i want to focus on the importance of civic education and what that might look like in schools and colleges.

when we think about the responsibilities of citizens, we often think primarily about voting. and voting is unquestionably the cornerstone of freedom. the right to vote undergirds all our other rights. to not vote is to turn your back on your neighbors and your community and your country. and throughout our history, people have fought and even died to be treated as full citizens and to be able to cast a ballot. it was 132 years after the ratification of the constitution before women were allowed to vote thanks to the 19th amendment. it wasn't until 1965 and the passage of the voting rights act that african-americans were truly finally guaranteed the right to vote, despite the 15th amendment having been added to the constitution nearly 100 years earlier. it's not ancient history, 1965. congressman john lewis was among

many who were beaten and who suffered as part of that struggle, and some older african-american voters can remember having to take literacy tests before being allowed to register and vote. we need to continue to be ever vigilant to make sure this right is not taken away. however, as i would tell my students, when i was teaching, voting, as important as it is, is only one responsibility of citizenship. the strength of our democracy depends on all of us as americans understanding our history and the constitution and how the government works at every level. becoming informed and thoughtful about local, state and national issues, getting involved in solving problems in our schools, communities, states and nationally. recognizing that solutions to the complex issues our nation faces today all require compromise. being willing to think beyond

our own needs and wants and to embrace our obligations to the greater good. finally, i would argue our democracy, our communities and our nation would be stronger if all of us volunteered on behalf of others. none of this will occur automatically. as americans we celebrate our individualism and our differences. but to remain a functioning society and democracy, we also have to recommend that we are dependent on society and society depends on us. all of us. parents, elected officials, educators, journalists and everyone else must set a good example for our children and newcomers to this society and to make this in lincoln's words, a more perfect union. but today i want to argue that our schools and colleges have a special experience to prepare their students to do so. educating students about their role in democracy is one of the

original goals. and it should remain so today as our nation becomes more and more diverse. and right now, it is clear that our schools and colleges must do more to meet that goal. only 1 in 5 eighth graders and 12th graders have a working knowledge of the constitution, the presidency, congress, the courts and how laws are made. not surprisingly, we're failing. even more of our children of color and children from low-income families. only about 1 in 10 -- 1 in 10 african-american, hispanic and low-income students have a working knowledge of how government functions. only one-third of americans even know that joe biden is vice president or can name a single supreme court justice. those of us who work in washington may think, how could this be? but it is the reality. today all 50 states and the

district of columbia make some civics instruction a graduation requirement. over the past couple of years, 14 states have begun requiring students to pass a version of the citizenship exam to get a diploma. that could be a good start, but it is civics light. knowing the first three words of the preamble to the constitution or being able to identify at least one branch of government is worthwhile, but it's not enough to equip people to carry out the duties of citizenship. everyone above a certain age who watched saturday morning cartoons remembers how a bill becomes a law from schoolhouse rock. but that doesn't help them evaluate different positions on issues such as immigration or climate change or taxation. so today i ask our nation's schools and colleges to be bold and creative in educating for citizenship. make preparing your students for their civic duties just as much a priority as preparing them to succeed in college and in their careers. and i ask educators to work from

the broader definition of civic duty that i've described. i ask teachers and principals and superintendents to help your students learn to be problem-solvers who can grapple with challenging issues such as how to improve their schools, homelessness, air and water pollution, or the tensions between police and communities of color. it is also critical that these conversations not be partisan. civic education engagement is not a democratic party or republican party issue. solutions to problems can and should be rooted in different philosophies of government. we have to make sure classrooms welcome and celebrate these different perspectives. i recognize this could lead to uncomfortable conversations and that teachers will need support and training to foster these conversations in productive ways. principals will need to be courageous and back their teachers up. superintendents and school boards need to make sure their communities understand what they are trying to accomplish.

i know from personal experience that these issues are not always easy to talk about. i have two daughters. one in elementary school and one in middle school. over the past year, we've had to talk to them a lot about the fact that the vast majority of police officers are dedicated public servants who are doing their best to keep people safe. and at the same time, the reality, we've got to talk as a country about systemic issues of racism, prejudice and bias. and how they affect the relationship between police and communities. also made the same point when i was in st. paul, minnesota, earlier this year meeting with families and staff members at the school where philando castille worked. philando castile was a man who worked at a school in saint paul, cafeteria supervisor. beloved by the faculty and kids

and parents at the school. he was killed in an intersect n intersection -- interaction with rivers in falcon heights, minnesota. and i went to mourn with the families and talk with the families. talk with the reality that castille was stopped more than 40 times by police before the incident where he was killed. i urged the parents and educators i met with not to sink into despair but instead to work with others in the community to make sure that an event like that would never happen again. i wanted them to act on the same belief that i want my daughters to understand. that these issues can be resolved, but that it will take concerted efforts at all levels of government. national, state and local. because reality is that for many of the biggest issues, including tensions between police and communities of color, they're not going to be settled solely by decision by the president or congress or even a bill passed in a state legislature. the department of justice can monitor policing, can identify

violations of civil rights and can order changes in practices and policies to prevent these violations. that's a start. but what's also needed are citizens who will work with others and vote strategically to demand changes in police training to include bias, cultural competencies and ways to diffuse tens situations in their police interactions. and an end to racial profiling, to demand an end to discriminatory practices by prosecutors and courts that have a dire impact on poor people. the same activism beginning at the local level to make the difference in the creation of jobs, better housing and improved mass transit and so many other issues. but this won't happen unless people have the knowledge, skills and inclination to get involved that can be learned in school. i know there are schools around the country doing a good job of this.

there are also nonprofit research and advocacy groups such as icivics started by supreme court justice sandra day o'connor to get more schools involved in civic education. i want to applaud those efforts. one organization that's helping to make this happen is the james madison memorial fellowship foundation which was established by congress in 1986. when i was a teacher, i was fortunate to be a madison fellow which allowed me to take classes on the effect of teaching the history of the constitution and participate in a community of talented and passionate social study educators. generations of madison fellows selected from all 50 states are in classrooms throughout the country ensuring their students have a good understanding of the foundations of american democracy. one person who is doing this kind of work extraordinarily well is johanna hays who is a high school social studies teacher in waterbury, connecticut, in addition to being the 2016 national teacher of the year. she's passionate about teaching

her students at kennedy high school about history and the importance of community service and their obligation to improve the human condition. she's the adviser to the school's helping people out everywhere club. she and her students participate in the annual walk for autism and rally for life and have raised thousands towards cancer research. she points out that students want to help but they need role models to show them how. we need more teachers like johanna and more schools and districts to support them. so what are the elements of a robust and relevant civic education? first, students need knowledge. they need to know the constitution and the legislative process. they also need to understand history. our students ought to be truly familiar with the primary sources that have shaped our nation's history, with the declaration of independence and constitution. and with the ain't i a woman

speech, and dr. king's letter from a birmingham jail, to name a few. it's not enough to be able to quote from these documents. they need to know why they remain relevant today. they need to put themselves into other shoes and to appreciate the different perspectives that have shaped our nation's history. we should teach students that's slavery is not just a scar on our national character erased by the civil war. we should teach them technology and wrestle with the way that ugly legacy continues to shape our country and helps explain the treatment of people of color in america today. the way the new national museum of african-american history and culture on the national mall tells this story is both powerful and unforgettable. i visited and was filled with horror as i read the bill of sale -- bill of sale -- for a 16-year-old girl names holly. i gazed upon a statue of thomas jefferson with the names of the human beings he owned inscribed

on a stack of bricks behind him. as i stood in front of what was once emmett till's coffin. that's not the only story the museum tells. it also tells the story of resistance and dignity in the face of oppression. from turner, harriet tubman and frederick douglass to the tuskegee airmen. it's a wonderful new resources for the nation and educators. students should understand the constitution protects the right of nfl quarterback colin kaepernick to protest during the national anthem and why players across the country, including high school students, are doing the same. and they should also understand and be able to explain with evidence why some people are offended by that decision or would choose a different way to express their views. civics shouldn't be an add-on. it can be made a part of every class. not just social studies and

history but reading and writing, science and math. studying climate change in science class can be broadened and made more relevant by asking students to find out whether their local government is prepared to respond. math can be made more engaging by having students research the ratio of liquor stores to grocery stores to population in various neighborhoods. and then asking the mayor why that is the case. beyond knowledge, students need civics skills. they should be able to write persuasive letters to the editor or mayor or member of congress and learn to speak at public meetings. in addition, they should have opportunities to do democracy. when i was teaching, i had my seniors do research projects tackling local problems in the community. i can recall students who worked with a local non-profit to end the dumping of garbage in their neighborhood. to support urban agriculture projects and advocate for more affordable housing.

they learned they could make a difference and that there are many ways to serve. join the military is certainly one way to serve. but so, too, is assisting the homeless, or fighting sexual violence, or tutoring younger children. by getting involved in real issues, students learn it's not enough just to shout about their disappointments and criticize the ideas of others. they need to offer solutions. they have to work together to advocate for those solutions to push to make sure solutions are implemented, and they have to understand that change takes time. i'm proud we as a nation provide opportunities through americorps to support people who want to spend a year or more giving back to a community in need. we currently have 80,000 folks serving in this program. over half supporting our public schools. and we should have far, far more. when i was an undergraduate, i taught civics one day a week in a school that served largely low-income students of color in boston.

i also tutored young people in the mission maine public housing development and the roxbury section of boston and ran a summer camp there. with my fellow harvard undergraduates, we live for the summer in the community in the mission main housing project which sadly at the time was rife with crime and drugs and violence. but also rich with hope and resiliency and tenacity. we learned about those challenges and those commitments in the community in a way that i will never forget. in fact, those experiences helped shape my decision to pursue a career as a teacher and a principal in the very same neighborhood where i volunteered as an undergraduate. we also want our students to learn to look beyond their own interests to their enlightened self-interest in the common good. i recently visited flint, michigan. while i may never live in flint, i recognize that

it's in my interest to make sure that children and families in flint and every other city in the country have safe water to drink and an opportunity to fulfill their potential. service both helps students understand the challenges in the community, helps them understand themselves and also helps them understand the importance of the common good. colleges also have an important role to play in preparing young people to fulfill their responsibilities as citizens. back in 1947, the truman commission on higher education for democracy concluded that educating for democracy should come first among the principle goals for higher education. should come first among the principle goals for higher education. that is just as true today, but this goal too often has been forgotten at times. and at times education policymakers, educators, students and families have approached colleges if its only worthwhile goal was a means of

success to the competitive job market. it has to be about more than that. but it's k-12 education or higher education, we have to see it as preparing students, yes, for college and careers and, yes, for civic participation. for citizenship. for caring about the common good and contributing to the common good. the good news is that this kind of civic education, civic education that digs into challenging issues and teaches knowledge, skills and inclinations to serve actually works. it changes students behavior as adults. research compiled by the campaign for the civic mission of schools shows that students who receive effective civic education are more likely to vote and discuss politics at home, four times more likely to volunteer and work on community issues, and more confident in their ability to speak publicly and communicate with elected officials. this type of civic learning can prepare students for demanding careers in a globally competitive labor market because they'll learn to think

critically, to write clearly and persuasively and work with diverse groups of people. but the biggest and most important outcome of all is high-quality civic education prepares students to help the nation solve difficult, challenging, complex issues to make it a better, equitable place to live with genuine opportunity for all. civic education must be an intention part of a well rounded education. it must be at the foundation of the future, not only of our economy but of our democracy. thank you for this opportunity to talk with you. i look forward to your questions. [ applause ] >> thank you, mr. secretary.

even before the lunch, there's a lot of interest. there are cards coming up and stuff coming on twitter. we try to be in the 21st century with our questions. just to tack on to the end of your speech. you engaged in a lot of wonderful, soaring rhetoric where we should be in the civic space in terms of education and talking about current issues. it's one thing to talk about it and another thing to implement it. how do you implement it? >> three thoughts on that. one is later this week, we'll put out guidance on title 4, which is a funding stream as part of the every student succeeds act that states and districts could use in support of civics education, social studies education to provide professional development to teachers to create communities of practice around issues of civic education. two is schools and districts need to make the decision that this is a priority. and one of our challenges during the no child left behind era was

that in some schools and districts, the focus on english and math was so narrow that it crowded out social studies, science, computer science. and we've got an opportunity with every student succeeds act for students and districts to revisit that and to think about what is an excellent education and to ensure that includes social studies and civic education. and the third piece is to lift up teacher leaders like johanna. all over the country, there are great -- there are great -- it's well deserved. >> she's blushing. >> there are great social studies educators or great civic educators. sometimes they aren't even social studies teachers. sometimes it's a science teacher who cares about issues of environmental protection. sometimes it's math teacher who is deeply concerned about economic opportunity in the community. but there are educators in every school and district who could be empowered to lead within their school communities around civic

education. >> a couple of follow-ups to this. here's one. and i think this goes to current events. tonight, of course, is the final presidential debate. there are a couple of questions on that front. do you think there's been an increase in bullying in schools due to the tone of the race? the the presidential race. >> you want to ask them together or -- >> let me just throw one other in here. no, go ahead. that suffices. >> look, i can't comment specifically on the 2016 election, but what i can say is i worry intensely about ensuring every school is a safe and supportive environment for every child. the first thing i did at the first day of secretary, beginning of january and the last thing arne did on his last day as secretary at the end of december was to sign a joint letter to school districts and

school communities about the importance of creating environments of religious tolerance because there's no question we've seen over the last few years an increase in anti-muslim bullying in schools. we also worry intensely about the issue of bullying of students who are immigrant students. and i think we have a challenge as educators, to make sure school is a safe place for all kids. i think it is possible to have constructive conversations about issues of civic engagement and about political debates and at the same time have as a nonnegotiable principle that school has to be a safe free from bullying. >> one quick follow-up on that. i know you can't comment on the race in depth but have the debates and the race said anything about our civics education since you dove so deeply into it? has it opened up a scar and just what's lacking? >> i think there's a danger

always in this conversation about civic education to focus just on immediate events. i would say if you look broadly at where we are as a society, we've got a lot of work to do to make sure our young people are prepared to engage as citizens. part of why i raised the issue around the relationship between police and communities of color is that we've got to make sure that young people who are rightly very concerned about what they see and scared and parents who are scared understand how we use the levers of government to try to tackle those challenges. that we can talk to the mayor and the city council about the kinds of training that are provided to police officers. that that's something we can impact if we engage at the local level. so, you know, i don't know if -- there may be reasons in the current discourse. there's more attention on this issue, but i think it's deeper than that. we've got to ask ourselves as a

society, how do we do better preparing all of our citizens for citizenship. the president was at a local high school and touted the high graduation rates in high school and test scores. but one thing that this questioner asked, it comes against -- excuse me. higher graduation rates but in some cases, lower test scores. the questioner asked whether or not students should be more college ready when they graduated from high school? you said at the beginning of the administration you believe high school and college career ready standards must be a reality of students for all students. how do you bridge that gap between these record high school graduation rates and in some schools record low test scores in critical areas like math and science and so forth. >> we worry a lot about that. if you go to any community college around the country,

particularly high needs communities, you'll find 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% of students who are entering required to take remedial courses. essentially high school classes while in college for which they and so we've got to figure out how we ensure that graduating from high school really means ready for what's next. ready for college and careers. it is encouraging that 40-plus states have been deeply engaged in the work of raising their standards. the every student succeeds act requires every state commit to college and career ready graduation standards such as their students will graduate from high school ready for credit-bearing course work or good jobs. so i think we've made progress over the last eight years in bringing attention to this work. and there's professional development that's happening for educators. there's work that folks are doing on teacher preparation and teacher support. but there's clearly more to do. and one of the things we've been careful to say is, y we're very

proud the graduation rates have gone up significantly and very proud they've gone up significantly for african-american students, latino students, low-income students. groups who have historically had large high school graduation dwapz. but we've got to stay focused. at the state level, district level in ensuring all students graduate ready. the every student succeeds act creates plans that will achieve that. and one of the things we've tried to make clear is that states have a responsibility to make sure those plans ensure opportunity for students in every community. can't just be in some places kids get access to college ready course work and others they don't. can't be that in some places kids get advanced placement or individual baccalaureate. some places kids can take as we see chemistry and physics and algebra 2 and other places they can't. states have a responsibility to ensure all students have access and the implementation of every student succeeds act, one measure of its success will be, are we able to close those equity gaps?

states seem to be vigilant about that and the department needs to be vigilant about that. >> this raises the very act you cite. recently in fact, over the summer, you've had breakfasts with various colleagues, including some members of the club here. you were talking about new regulations you'll be promulgating in the coming days. promulgating. this is met with stiff resistance. you want to bridge this funding gap, level the playing field and there are members of congress who are saying you're breaking the spirit if not the outright intent of the brand-new law just signed in december when you are trying to implement these regulations, trying to level the playing field. how do you answer those charges? >> so as a high school social studies teacher, let me give the history and historical context on this question. so when the original elementary and secondary education act was passed, it was passed as a civil rights law intended to address gaps in opportunity. one of the things the naacp and

ldf found was that districts were actually taking the money that was provided for esca and intended to benefit the highest students and using that's to backfill local and state obligations so students in high-need schools were still getting significantly less. they were not getting the money intended to support them through the original esca. and at that time, language was added to the law around supplement not supplant. this is a 50-year struggle to ensure the federal dollars are, in fact, sup elemental. not used in a way that supplants local and state obligations. what we see is still today, 50 years later, there are communities where you can go, same school district, ten blocks. a school that serves affluent

kids spending 25%, 30% more than a school ten blocks away serving high need students. that's clearly a violation of the very words of the law. supplement, not supplant. it's a part of the every student succeeds act. there were some changes to the language around supplement not supplant that require us to regulate and make clear how we're going to finally deliver on the words of the law. supplement not supplant. and our regulations that are now out for comment are designed to do exactly that. to ensure that the federal dollars are genuinely supplemental and ensure the resources that are intended back in 1965 to get to the highest needs students actually get there. there are folks calling for ignoring the supplement not supplant provision. they are saying, no, no, don't try to ensure that the law is followed. now on the other hand you have

senator murray and congressman scott who have been clear that supplement not supplant is in the law and that they see our regulations as implementing the very words of the law. and so we're taking public comment. we will respond to that public comment in a final rule, but we're clear that the purpose of this law is to get resources to the highest needs students. >> you aren't overregulating? you're upholding the law. >> exactly right. >> let's see. speaking of inequality, how should educators address the tack -- tackle the issue of growing economic inequality in the united states and what's the role of financial literacy? >> one of the most encouraging things about the improvement in graduation rates is we know students who graduate with a high school diploma are much better positioned for the economy. but the reality is that the

fastest growing areas of our economy require post-secondary education. one thing the education sector can do to address income inequality is to ensure more students are prepared for college or careers that provide family sustaining wages and ensure that students don't just get to college but through college. that's k-12 and in higher education in terms of the support students need to actually finish while they're there. from the beginning, when the president was working on the stimulus and responding to the economic crisis that he found when he arrived at president, from the beginning, the president was clear we need to take emergency steps to get the economy become on track but also need to make smart, long-term investments in our future and that education was central to that. that's the reason behind race to the top, behind the large investment we made in the school improvement grants and improvements in our struggling high schools in particular and struggling schools generally. so we believe that improving the quality of education is inextricably linked to improving our economy and ensuring opportunity for all people. the other thing i'd add is the president's proposed something

call preschool for all. we'd ensure that all 4-year-olds would have access to pre-k from low-income and moderate income families. we've got to acknowledge that given the brain science, a lot of learning takes place in 0 to 4 and our failure to invest in universal access to pre-k, ultimately for 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds, that's a failure to invest in our long-term success. so we've got to sudden the work to strengthen k-12 and higher education. it's also time for an investment -- a big investment in early learning because we know it will have a long and large long-term return. >> that raises an interesting follow-up. you want universal preschool. in fact, i believe you were at a forum earlier this week where you talked to melissa harris perry about this. but if you want more funding for

schooling, how does that work when trying to put forward these new regulations which are upsetting congress who is holding the purse strings? it's going to blow back at you. how do you deal with that? >> ultimately these things are interrelated in that at the end of the day, we've got to realize as a society, this is true for all of our elected officials, that we have a stake in the civic other people's children. that we have a stake in the success of the kid in the neighborhood down the road in the city down the road in the rural community down the road living on a native american reservation in the next state over. we have a stake in the success of every child. so when we say we want to continue to direct resources that should be going to high need kids and affluent kids, we're undermining our long-term future as a country. we say we can't afford to invest in early learning, we're making a very shortsided decision because the research evidence shows that early learning has an 8-1, 9-1 return on investment if it's high quality.

if we invest in high quality early learning we'll save money later on prisons, on the cost of social services that result from students not having the skills and opportunities they deserve. >> you mentioned prisons. you rolled out a new program in trying to partner with a lot of universities, with those who are incarcerated. for a long time, people could get geds, high school degrees, other degrees while incarcerated. what's significantly different and new about this program versus what's been available within correctional institutions for decades? >> the history on this is that in the mid-'90s, congress made a terrible mistake. they banned access to pell grants for folks who are incarcerated. prior to that if you're incarcerated you were able to use pell grants if eligible to support higher education.

when congress banned pell grant access for folks who are incarcerated, many prison education programs are providing higher education opportunities shut down around the country. what we've done is through the president's experimental authority, the experimental authority under the higher education act we launched a pilot. they are providing what will be 12,000 students with the opportunity to pursue a higher education while incarcerated. we know from the research evidence that those who get an education while incarcerated are less likely to return to prison. a study that showed a 43% reduction in recidivism for participation in any educational program. so this is another place where it's a smart investment because we reap the returns in folks not going back to prison, folks leaving aside crime and focusing on supporting themselves and their families. and i've had the opportunity to

visit some of these prison education programs and what you see is the folks will tell you, part of how they ended up there is either the educational opportunities they didn't have, the first chance they didn't have, or the educational opportunities they didn't take advantage of. but they recognize that through higher education, through acquiring skills, they can change their lives. and this is a place where as a country, we want to undo the damage of mass incarceration. one place to start is ensuring access to educational opportunity for folks who are incarcerated. >> this goes back to funding. so how do you navigate that congressional land mine field when deal with the regulations piece, preschool piece. how your going to fund this ideal program? >> on second chance pell we know from the history of when pell access was available to folks

incarcerated, it's actually very, very small. i think it's about 1% of -- or maybe less than 1% of pell spending. we currently have a pell surplus. the president proposed in the 2017 budget, which is a budget that respects the constraints we need to given our broader fiscal challenges as a country. in his 2017 budget he's restored pell grants for those incarcerated and within the pell budget. this is a place again where we risk as a society being penny wise and pound foolish. we spend much more over the long run if a person leaves prison, commits further crimes and returns to prison. >> different subject. common core. since you have addressed standards. the question, you and the president have praised schools for achieving common core standards but school districts

and politicians on both sides of the aisle have called it a punishment-driven shotgun approach to achieving high education standards. they want better testing stomach system -- systems, curriculum support. some parochial schools say common core standards are incompatible with a catholic education and called it a federal overreach which is not education but rather the training and production of workers for an economic machine. and the standards treat student as nothing more than human capital. do your critics have a point? >> lead me start with the historical context on this. so the role of the federal government is not to tell states what their standards are. what we've said and what essa actually requires is that states have college and career ready

standards but they determine the content of those standards. some states have chosen the common core. those states did so after the common core developed by educators and governors and state chiefs working together to develop those standards. those were state developed, state chosen. and so sometimes folks get the history wrong on this. our position has always been college and career ready standards. it's up to states. what the content is of those standards. that said, adopting college and career ready standards is just the first step. states then have to follow with professional development support, with training for teachers and principals. and we're seeing many states engaged in that work. many states have used federal resources whether it's race to the top or dollars to support strengthening teacher preparation and professional development so that they can successfully teach their students to college and career-ready standards. we've got a ways -- how to get

there is ensuring the standards that students are appointed towards from k to 12 is college and career readiness. >> that helps close the 18% gap of students that are still not getting out with the proper skill-sets and so forth? >> that will help, but it's not -- there's no silver bullets in education. so standards have to happen alongside other steps that we need to take. mentioned early learning. we know that schools that pay attention to chronic absenteeism and the kids who, because they're chronically absent, we can see that something else is going on. and ensure they get counseling or mental health services or help for their families. they've been able to improve their graduation rates. we know that schools that are diverse and that are intentionally diverse that bring together students across lines of class and race perform better. we have decades of research evidence that's suggests

low-income students who have the opportunity to go to schools with affluent students will not only do better academically but they and their peers are better prepared for the diverse world we'll inhabit. we just had a two-day convening at the department. anyone who says just change this one thing and everything will be perfect, that's clearly not right. we've got to do multiple things to close that graduation rate gap and to ensure that when kids graduate they graduate ready for what's next. >> charter schools. you have said what i worry most about is we have some states that have done a really great job with charter authorizing and so have generally high quality charters and have been willing could close ones that are underperforming. on the other hand you have states not good like michigan a history of a low bar for getting a charter and willingness to hold charters to high standards. what's your view on where charter authorizing should be by

the time you leave office and how do you plan to get there, as someone who cites your own education in north for saving your life and trajectory and what of non-charter public schools, for sometime one of the arguments against charters was over resources, charters getting better resources than public education and there's a second question sort of tied to this. few days ago the naacp's national board called for a moratorium on new charter schools until laws are revised to make charters as accountable and transparent with public schools. do you agree charter schools should meet the same standards of accountability as public schools. if you do, will you stop funding the charter schools as they recommend? >> so let me start with this. we are fortunate, i think, as a country, to have some high performing charters that are doing a great job and providing great opportunities to students, charters that are helping

students not only perform at higher levels academically but go on to college at much higher rates than demme dpraskally similar students and succeed there. we should have more schools like that and i think any arbitrary cap on the growth of high performing charters is a mistake in terms of our goal of trying to improve opportunity for all kids. that said where states are doing a bad job on charter authorizing, that has to change. i talked about the example of michigan, we have states that have set a low bar for getting a charter and then charters perform poorly they fail to take action to either improve them or close them which is the essence of the charter school compact. the charter schools were supposed to be a compact more autonomy in exchange for greater accountability. yet some states have not followed through on that compact. that is a problem. now, those decisions are made at the state level, based on state law. what we've done in the administration over the last

eight years is two things. one is we provided resources to improve charter authorizing in states and worked with states to strengthen their practices around reviewing the quality of charters, reviewing the quality of charter applications, and two, we've invested in increasing the supply of great high performing charters. but to the extent that what folks are saying, they want states to do a better job on charter authorizing i agree but where we have states doing a good job on charter authorizing and charters doing great job for kids that want to grow, they should be able to and i think this is an issue where we've got to put kids first. what's best for the student, students and parents. as ernie would point out, students and parents aren't concerned about the governance model rather is my child getting a quality education. we have to be focused on that. which is why i think arbitrary

caps don't make sense. we shouldn't limit kids' access to great opportunities. >> a loft teachers have been writing. what do you propose to do about the equality of pay between teachers and administrators, for example, like yourself? one teacher says i worked 12 hours yesterday, didn't have time for lunch. did you have time for lunch? i make $47,000 a year. how much do you make, which of course is public record. i can't go to the bathroom when i need to. can you go to the bathroom when you need to, and please, don't talk about how great teachers are. we don't need empty rhetoric. we need resources that help us teach, not help profiteeres. pretty upset teacher there. >> look, i think we see across the country, we see states that have not made the investment they should in their education

system. we did a report earlier this year, the department looking at the difference in state investment, in prisons versus k through 12 education, and what we found is that we see over the last 30 years rate of increase in investment spending on prisons three times as high. that suggests to me as a society we haven't put our resources where we should. are there states that should be spending significantly more on teacher's salary, absolutely. should we be paying more to teachers especially teachers willing to serve in the highest needs communities and the highest needs fields where we have real demand absolutely and the president proposed $1 billion for an initiative called best job in the world that would support professional development, incentives, career ladders for teachers who teach

in the highest needs communities. so we agree about the need for more resources and focusing those resources on teachers. one of the places i learned more about is early learning, we did a study on pre-k pay and in many communities around the country pre-k teachers are making half what they would be making if they were working in an elementary school, which again suggests that our priorities are not right. so this is a place where i agree with the questioner, we need to invest more resources in educators. we should pay our teachers very well, because we know that teachers are essential to the future of our country and we need to make sure the working conditions are good. it's not just a question of teacher pay. i think of a place like detroit, if the water is leaking from the ceiling and there are rodents running across the floor, those working conditions are not ones that are going to make teaching a profession that people want or a profession people want to stay in over the long-term. and so we've got to make sure

that working conditions are strong, and the final point i'd make is this is one of the reasons supplement not supplant is so important because if you consistently underresource the highest need schools the result will be poor working conditions in those schools and the inability to retain the great teachers that our highest need students need. >> running quickly out of time. had an issue with one of your senior staff, who had to resign over waste, fraud and financial abuse. have you been able to clean up the issues in the inspector general's office? >> so this is about an employee in our i.t. department who made mistakes and was accountable for the mistakes, chose to resign,

not with the department. we have a strong team around our i.t. and we're very focused as folks are across the administration on continuously strengthening cyber security. this is cyber security awareness month. we're making sure our i.t. systems are as strong as possible that we protect the security of data and that we ensure we are providing good services. so for example, collegeoscorecart.ed.gov is a tool we built and through investment in the strength of our i.t. systems and work across the administration to leverage technology on behalf of taxpayers and students, collegescore.ed.gov allows students to find out information about every clem, about their graduation rates, how much people make who have graduated from that school, how folks are

able to repay their loans. it's a great school that we've made available, and it is continuously evolving to try to provide services so i.t. is really a strength now of the department, but you know, as is true across, for any employer, there are sometimes employees who make mistakes and we have systems in place to ensure that's still there. >> almost in the home stretch here. before i hit the last question, a couple of announcements. tonight's debate night watch here at the national press club at 8:30 in the reliable source. we have an upcoming luncheon on november 21st with epa administrator gina mccarthy and the head of metro general manager paul wilyafeld we'll need an update on him on various issues that happened in the subway system in washington, especially after the nats game.

final question. before i do that i have to present you with the traditional national press club mug. >> thank you. [ applause ] very quickly what advice would you fife to a 12-year-old kid raised on public assistance who wants to be you? >> two things. one is to have faith in what's possible, you know, i'm only standing here only alive today because of what new york city public school teachers did for me. one of the reasons the president, first lady care so much about education is they know the difference education made in their lives and the opportunities they've been able to have, so one thing i always try to say to young people is to have faith. sometimes as a young person it can feel like this is the only

way it could ever be. they see so much violence and become hopeless in their future. one is to have faith it's possible and see in my example, the president's and first lady's example what education can make possible. two is to work hard, to work hard in school, education is the best path. look, there's this debate in american life about, well, is it poverty that matters or schools that matter? the reality is both matter. schools are embedded in communities, so schools can save lives but schools also face the challenges that exist in the community. i was trying to say to young people school can be the difference. it can be the path. it can be the thing that gives you the skills and the opportunities to have a different life and to have life be different for you and for your family. can't solve everything, but it

can be a path and so those would be the two thing to have faith and to work hard. >> thank you, mr. secretary. for future information on national press club programs you can go on to www.press.org. we are adjourned. [ applause ] >> thank you very much.

republican vice president candidate mike pence had an emergency landing in new york. this is a picture of the destroyed arrester beds used to stop the governor's plane after it skidded off a runway. this morning mike pence is headed to pennsylvania to campaign there. the plane is an eastern airlines plane, the once international airline is now a charter service. live coverage an c-span3 will

continue at noon eastern. state and educational facilit e facilitators will talk about how to bring inmates into society after incarceration. it highlights education and training that starts at noon eastern. prime time american history tv with highlights until congress returns from the next election. and freedom of information artifacts, 50 years after the law was enacted and visits to the battleship "wisconsin" the moses myers house, pierce mill and the hart senate office building on capitol hill. american history tv in prime time tonight here on c-span3. this weekend on american history tv, on c-span3, saturday morning from 9:00 eastern 'til just after noon --

>> the british empire and its commonwealth last for a thousand years. men will still say this was their finest hour. >> we're live for the 33rd international churchill conference in washington, d.c., focusing on the former british prime minister's friends and contemporaries, speakers include british historian andrew roberts author of "masters and commanders: how four titans won the west 1941-1945" later on saturday at 7:00, commissioner george p. bush, senator menendez and musician phil collins talk about the alamo at the 2016 texas tribune festival in austin. . >> the memories i have my impressions were this people were going and they knew they were going to die but they went or they were there. crockett went, but there was

something very noble and very romantic. i learned that it wasn't quite as black and white and that's one of the things i think would be good in this day and age that we put it into context. >> then sunday evening at 6:00, on american artifacts. >> macarthur is up front and notice it's not wearing a weapon. he would often lead attacks carrying nothing but the riding crop you see in his left hand and the men looked at this and realized, hey, if the colonel, and later the brigadier, if the colonel can take it, well, i can take it, too. >> we visit the macarthur memorial in virginia to learn about the early looif of douglas macarthur who commanded allied forces in the pacific in world war ii. the highest level of integrity, with their moral compass locked on true north so that we can always count on them

to do the right thing when times get tough or when no one is looking. >> author explains his ten commandments for presidential leadership, what they are and provides examples of presidents who exceled at each one. for our complete american history tv schedule go to cspan.org. vice president joe biden delivered remarks on the cancer moonshot initiative he's been leading in his final years in office. he spoke at a national cancer research conference hosted by the cleveland clinic. this is about an hour. [ applause ] >> thank you very much, doctor. thank you for the introduction, for your leadership of this incredible institution as well as sponsoring this important summit. it's good to be back in cleveland and although we're not at the clinic, involved with your clinic.

every fall for 14 years the clinic has brought together top ceos, investors,ette prenuurs, researchers and doctors and so many experts to answer a simple question. how can innovation and science, medicine and technology transform the health care system to deliver better care and to save lives? i know that question can be asked across the entire health care spectrum but i'm here to try to answer it as it relates to our fight against cancer and i don't presume to suggest i have all the answers. i've identified a lot of the problems, but i think we have some answers. as every family facing a cancer diagnosis does, our family, the biden family, learned as much as we could about the cancer our bo fought from diagnosis to the very end, and what we learned from the world's best nurses,

physicians and researchers is that even if we couldn't save our son, the science, med sip, technology, they're all advancing faster than ever before, so that we will save your sons and daughters, but basically, the way i phrase it is we've reached, i learned, an inflection point about six years ago. let me explain. as little as six years ago oncologists weren't working them routinely with immuneologists, viroologists, chemical engineer, biological engineers and so many others that you are now, many of you in the audience as i speak. new technologies, immunotherapy are targeting cancer cells using our immune system. some progress, a long way to go,

but promising. in doing so in immuno therapy if it works and it does somewhere we've had some successes so far, transforming many types of cancer in a chronic and manageable disease ten years ago, they were a death sentence. because of technological advances, and analyzing cancer genes and proteins called proteo genomics we're closer than ever to understanding the holy grail, what causes specific cancers, and how to attack them. why does one treatment work for you and not for me. i know you all know these things. the public doesn't know yet and today there's a recognition that by aggregating and sharing data of millions of patients, genomics, family history,

lifestyles, treatment outcomes, by using super computing power that we didn't have five years ago, today we can do a million billion calculations per second and before if you have a child in high school, before they graduate, we'll be doing a billion, billion calculations per second. we can find new patterns and causes, and successful treatments of cancer. as this conference knows probably than any other group of people that can be assembled in one room, the health care industry, especially, needs accuracy and forecasting, not soon but now. if we could gather data from multiple sources and merge it, allow correlations, a new mckenzie study report says we could guide doctors in diagnosis and treatments and boost

productivity by 0.7% every year. the mckenzie report went on to say and with the inclusion of big data analytics the health industry would generate $300 billion of value per year, and lower health care costs by 8%. it matters. not just for the health of the american people, but the health of the system. when president obama asked me to head up the cancer moonshot, and sometimes i wish we had given it a different name, because when john kennedy went to the moon, there was one moon. we now know there are 200 cancers. in his state of the union, he said "biden will be mission

control," and there are a lot of skeptics out there. maybe there still be. maybe with good reason. it was here we go again. nixon already declared war on cancer in 1971, but when he did, he had no army. he had no resources, and he had understandably no clear strategy to win. because of many of you in the audience, after 45 years of progress of funding research, training scientists and physicians, treating millions of patients, we now have an army, and very powerful new technology and tools that we can bring to bear. and the moonshot i'm always asked by the press, what's the moonshot about? well it's fundamentally about two things from my perspective.

it's about injecting the urgency of now into this fight, not tomorrow, not in two hours, now. it's about changing the culture, coming up with a new strategy for this fight. not the strategy left over from 1971. the strategy we're following in all our institutions today, though, is equivalent to fighting the last war. let me explain. the model of scientific breakthroughs through most of our history was the model of individual achievement. jonas salk creating the polio vaccine. there was little, if any, sharing among hospitals, researchers, and little ability to share when the first moonshot was declared. rosalyn franklin didn't share her x-ray image of the double helix structure of the dna with

watson and crick. they snuck into her office and took a peek. funding model at the national institution of health, the national cancer center, primarily followed the old model. some of you guys and women don't like me saying this, but your young researchers and scientists understand it. we know now as we see everywhere that collaboration is the key to innovation. think google, facebook, which can wikipedia, i could go on but our systems are ill-equipped to reward collaboration, to reward team science, to give credit to everyone involved in a publication. this shift from institutions to

collaboration and team science, in my view, is critical to the success of our fight against cancer. i don't know that the science like you know but i know bureaucracies, and i know how to knock them down. the president authorized me to head up white house cancer task force to reimagine the federal government's role in the fight against cancer. it's made up of the heads of over 20 cabinet and subcabinet agencies and white house policy counsels. everyone from the national institutions of health to the defense department to va to nasa, to epa, the white house, domestic policy council, national economic council, the office of science and technology policy, omb, i charged each of them to find new partners within the government to advance

research, to determine how to improve and accelerate their contribution to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and to eliminate any roadblocks that exist at a federal level to accelerating progress. and for the past nine months, i've traveled the country and the world, touching major nerve centers, not only here in the fight against cancer, but throughout the world, meeting with thousands of patients and their families, physicians, researchers, philanthropists, technology leaders, heads of state, even pope francis. at the u.n. general assembly a month ago, we signed ten memorandum of understanding with seven nations. you can't sign with taiwan as a nation. we signed with three of their institutions, to share data and

research relating to cancer. earlier this year we put together a first of its kind cancer moonshot summit, with all the cancer stakeholders. 7,000 people from out in the country met simultaneously. it was the first national collaboration ever. out of that an additional work came another 70 new private and public actions that are under way in order to meet our mission of reimagining a system that saves lives. i understand leaders from ibm are here today. your ceo came to us and offered watson, a supercomputer, to partner with the department of defense and the va, the largest hospital in the world. now, a veteran, diagnosed with

cancer, getting his or her cancer genome sequenced or tumor sequenced at walter reed, and then watson will search how specific therapy that will target that particular cancer and watson will provide recommendations to the physicians and tumor boards to use in choosing the right treatment. i understand leaders from amazon and microsoft are here as well. both your companies have stepped up with the national cancer institute to use your cloud computing capabilities to store genomic data tens of thousands of patients. that data has already been downloaded millions of times, and this is just in the last several months, and work streams from this group every week and the task force met every two weeks, and i committed to the president in january that by

year's end, the task force report, a blue ribbon commission report, made up of outside experts, and a vision statement is what i suggested should be the course of federal government encourages for the next several years. last week, i presented these reports to the president. in the end, the task force laid out over 50 actions, ranging from realigning research incentives, to be able to move quicker, and promote team science, to insisting that all these agencies share all the information they have with one another, breaking down silos that existed at the federal level as well, that impede innovation and collaboration and progress. you can read all of them by going to

whitehouse.gov/cancermoonshoot. but let me give you a few examples. the nci know gnomic data conference we launched this year with the university of chicago brought together cancer sequencing data and related patient information from tens of thousands of individuals.togeth and related patient information from tens of thousands of individuals. growing toward millions. it's totally open sourced. anyone can access it for their research. that data has already been accessed, it's just been a couple months, over 5 million times. the reason this is so copse consequencial now, the genome map didn't exist in 1971, in 1971, we didn't have the computing capacity to look at all this aggregated data but we do now, and it holds enormous

potential. but so much more has to be done. we're reducing bureaucratic delays, to speed up imknow vasion through the fda and college center of excellence, which brings together the fda cancer expertise to more efficiently review all cancer-related progress from diagnostic devices to therapies. here's the problem we're addr s addressi addressing. science is generating, you are generating a plethora of potential products, diagnostic devices and therapies but different divisions of the fda have different levels of oncology expertise. with this new center of excellence, all cancer products will be reviewed by oncology experts. in addition, the fda is setting up one point of contact for any hospital, doctor or therapist to request access to an experimental therapy to be used for what they refer to as compassionate use, last resort.

we also transformed access to cancer clinical trials. you all know better than i do, only 4% of all the people diagnosed with cancer ever become part of a clinical trial, which may be, may be the only possibility of saving their lives. why? previous systems weren't helpful. most patients, even doctors, didn't know where to go. and it's a problem for drug companies because they don't have enough patients to generate research, find new breakthroughs and deliver them to patients. so we engaged the president's innovation fellows, some of the brightest young minds from silicon valley, who have come to work for a year in rotation in the federal government, to help us modernize. they work with the national cancer institute to develop a website that's as easy to use as if you're trying to find out what movie is playing nearby, as

you pick up your iphone to determine it. anyone can go to cancer -- excuse me, can go to trialcancer.gov and type in real words, like breast cancer, or leukemia, a zip code, an age, to find the list of clipical trials near you or your loved one that previously you could not easily find. and all those oncology docs out there from butte, montana, to other areas of the country not near great institutions like the cleveland clinic, those doctors can find out what trials are available for their patients. this is about the urgency of now. in addition, we set up a blue

ribbon panel made up of top experts, some of you in the audience, outside of government, from a range of backgrounds, given an express purpose. i asked them to identify the scientific areas that had the greatest possibility for the earliest breakthroughs. one example, launching 3-d cancer atlas, which can image and track tumors' development and responses to treatment. we have 2.5 pettabytes of data, enough to fill a half a million dvds for 33 different types of cancer now. as i'm constantly saying to anyone who will listen, if everything is equally important to you, nothing is important to you, as my father used to say. everything requires prioritization, and that's what

the blue ribbon panel has done. you can also read their report on whitehouse.gov/cancermoonshoot. and finally, i was tasked by the president not only to reorganize the effort inside and outside of government, but to focus on what we can do going forward in the future. last week i suggested enhancing prevention. when thinking of prevention everyone thinks of tobacco cr s cessation and exposure to the sun and lifestyle habits. that's all part of it, but there's a lot more to it as well. making the existing imaging technology available to neighborhoods and people who don't have access to it, people without health care, only something like 18% to 20% have access to it.

it all relates to prevention, earlier detection, likelihood less consequence. there's an entire new range of research capabilities that go to early detection from blood biopsies to -- that's why we wrought in nasa, by the way. radiation, no one knows more about radiation in the world than nasa. everybody asks why did i bring in nasa? they're figuring out how to use different types of radiation that will not do damage to healthy tissue. i know this is a huge priority for the clinic university hospital and especially metro health, which sees most of the underserved vulnerable in this city. dr. cosgrove raised the important intervention at the roundtable in davos in january. through the moonshot he and many

others have made prevention the top priority. in fact i was in cleveland in june at the longston hughes community health center and education center where i toured mobile dental units screening for oral cancer, in communities that are in need, like also mobile mammogram units that we have in delaware and other parts. as you know, by some estimates 50% of cancers could be prevented and that, as i said, prevention falls in three categories, personal actions, lifestyles, avoiding risk behaviors, responsibility to government, and industry, reduc reduced carcinogenic particles in the air, the food we grow and the soil, and make existing tools available to communities because we know, as i said, detecting earlier increases outcome likelihood.

and fourth, outcome, where there's potential for new breakthroughs in technology, entirely new diagnostic tools, noninvasive blood biopsies being the one most people are working on. you all know the answer, there's markers in the blood that tell you whether or not you have or developing particular cancers so say you have a tumor in a place that's too dangerous to go in to excise. you can find the by-product of that tumor in the blood and you can sequence that, and you can determine then the stage or malignancy of that cancer without being more intrusive. in cases where young people get colon cancer, or other cancers, we can test the rest of the family for something called lynn syndrome, a genetic condition that causes these in young people. if you have the gene for the n syndrome instead of waiting until 48 years old to get your

first colonoscopy before you can catch it, do you it when you're 18-year-old or 14 years old. for a non-scientist like me i find it incredibly exciting what you're all working on. other areas i focused on were engaminging more patients in research to increase the percentage of patients enrolled in clinical trials. cutting the time and cost of these trials, expanding criteria for those who are eligible to be in the trials, expanding access to care and cutting costs by reaching communities across the united states with the newest breakthroughs to our outcomes where they're not wholly dictated by your zip code. forging a worldwide commitment to the moonshot. we've already signed ten memorandum of understanding from asia to the middle east to europe to north america, to share more genomic and protein data on hundreds of thousands of patients. i might have been able to summarize more rapidly if i had just quoted dr. brian bolwells,

chairman of the cleveland clinic's cancer center's six major points. he says the six steps to achieving the moonshot include increasing federal funding for cancer laboratory research which i promise you i will do this year. the only bipartisan thing left in the united states of america is the fight against cancer and you think i'm kidding? follow me the rest of the week. some of the leaders are republican members of the house and senate. two, fund basic research screening for early detection. three, open up access to state-of-the-art centers, four, rationalize the cost of cancer drugs. five, develop better coordinated care systems, speed up sharing of electronic medical records. the president and i thought we were pretty smart when we did the recovery act, and again, he put me in charge of, joe, just spend $840 billion in 18 months and don't waste any of it.

well, every outside report says we raised less than 0.2% of that money. we wanted to keep us from sliding into depression as the chicago school of law and economics has acknowledged we did, but also changed the way we govern. all of you had told us years ago that if we had electronic record keeping we could drastically reduce costs, save lives, and improve care. well, we put $35 billion in that recovery act. it ended up in five companies bidding for it, legitimately, spending all 35 billion. we have six really great systems, knowledge of which talk to one another. i'm vice president of the united states. my son was dying. he was at jefferson hospital. he was treated at ebony

anderson. they did a trial of one, weren't even sure it was a trial of one, anti-pd1 and adeno virus directly into the brain to the tumor requiring tumor requiring constant mris, get it back but he wanted to be home near his children. so he's at jefferson. you heard from mr. crine, his brother is my son-in-law, a leading surgeon in the philadelphia -- in the delaware valley at jefferson. you know what we ended up having to do? going in with a cell phone taking pictures of the mri to send to m.d. anderson. there's no way to get them down. can you imagine any other company in the world working that way? you badly need an innovation

conference here. the moon shot is about all of us doing our part. cancer patients and survivors learning how they can access their own records and files and consider sharing that medical data with institutions in order advance research and help patients. researchers who receive funding for clinical trials, keeping their commitments where they do not now to make available immediately the results and failures of those trials. as i said, the president gave me authority over them. i suggested that he sign from now on the 60% of you who don't share this data on time you're going to get fined $10,000 a day. that's a promise. $10,000 a day. that's unconscionable this information is not shared as required it's been estimated only 10% of clinical research studies are properly reported.

which slows progress. it's counter to the urgency of now. drug companies, some of you are here today collaborating us and the government to make treatments, so much of which are incredibly costly -- more affordable, more accessible and explaining to us how one treatment that is life saving, or more than one, is at a -- starts off at $149,00049,000 a d now is $120,000. nothing's change. my brother has an expression, "go figure." well, we're going to figure. and most of all, the moon shot is understanding the emergency and need to reimagine the flight of the 21st century. it's the spirit of discovery

that defines this country and it gives me every confidence we're going to make enormous progress. those involved in cancer research are among the brightest most dedicated decent committed people in the world. there's one other reason why i said what i said when i announced i wasn't running for president is that it disturbs me that for the first time in my career there are a lot of people in this country who no locker believe we, america, can do anything. think about it, folks. i'm not talking democrat, republican, i'm not talking politics. i'm talking about the attitude of the american people. 25 years ago, 30 years ago to today about what was within our wheel house, what we could do.

well, we can do virtually anything. we have enormous talent in smo small part because of immigration we have incredible resources and we have the commitment and the capacity to do virtually anything. within the next ten years or so, you'll be flying at 22,000 miles subsonically per hour. the changes that are taking place in digitalization and artificial intelligence, i need not tell some of the people, are mind blowing. so run of the reasons i picked cancer is not just my son but the progress we'll make in the next five years i believe will regenerate a new sense of optimism and commitment in this country. your children are going to see more progress in the next 15 years than we saw in the last 75

years. but every single day guys and ladies millions of people are praying we sook seed, praying for hope, for time. not someday but now. those of you that are clinici clinicians, how many times you get a patient lying to you on the bed and saying "doc, can you give me just two more weeks? i want to walk her down the aisle, doc. just two more weeks." can you give me another month? she's graduating. she's graduating. my daughter is about to deliver her first grandchild in the family, god, doc, let me see it, please let me be there to see

it. they're not asking to live, they're not asking to be cured, they're asking for one more moment. they're not asking to be cured and it matters a lot. every damn moment counts and every moment we delay matters i recently spoke to about 4,000 people at rice university at the baker institute. almost to the day john kennedy stood there and announce the moon shot at that very space. and describing sending humankind to the moon, he talked about the commitment of a nation, a nation, he said, that was "unwilling to postpone the

effort." unwilling to postpone. in our collective fight against cancer we have to be unwilling to postpone a day, a week, a month, if there wasn't one single new discovery collaborating by changing the structure that existed in '71 to meet the capacities of 2016 we could save a hell of a lot more lives. seems to me that's why you're all here, not just for cancer, other diseases as well. i'm speaking only of cancer. so let me end where i should

have begun -- by thanking you there's more collective gray matter in this auditorium than probably any other place assembled in the world. you are an incredible group of women and men with enormous enormous potential. and the whole world is looking to you, not just the united states, the whole world is looking to you so i thank you for what you've done. i thank you for your dedication, for the tens of thousands of hours you put in getting the education and the work you've done because i'm convinced, i am absolutely convinced that when we set our mind to something there's nothing you can do to stop us.

so thank you in advance, thank you all, may god bless you and may god protect our troops. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> on election day, november 8, the nation decides our next president and which party controls the house and senate. stay with c-span for coverage of the presidential race, including campaign stops with hillary clinton, donald trump, and their surrogates. and follow key house and senate races with our coverage of their candidate debates and speeches. c-span, where history unfolds dai daily. after i came up with my idea of reproductive rights, i went and researched and with recent events i've heard about in our news i knew i could find information on that and that would also help me figure out

what points i wanted to say about it and how to form my outline for my piece. >> i don't think i took a very methodical approach to this process which, i mean, you could if you wanted but i think with the piece as dense as this i would say it's really just the process of reworking and reworking so as i was trying to come up with what my theme was. i was going research at the same time and copping up with more ideas for what i could film and i'd come up with an idea and say "that would be a great shot" then i would think about that and that would give me an idea to focus on and do research about that. so the whole process was building on other things and scratching what doesn't work and you keep going until you finally get what is the finished product. >> this year's theme? your message to washington, d.c. tell us, what is the most urgent issue for the new president and congress to address in 2017? our competition is open to all middle school or high school studentsde