i am going to call on this young lady right here. she just lost your question. who has a microphone? >> i cannot believe that we have the president of the united states of america in grand junction, colorado. [applause] we are so proud of you. >> thank you. >> i am a naturalized citizen, and i am proud to be an american. [applause]

as a child, i had polio, and i have had 52 surgeries to correct my bones. between here and the mayo clinic in phoenix arizona, i have been blessed with a good insurance, generally excellent doctors and care. however, my major concern in costs, even with good insurance, and has been high, when i have been gone out of the network. why should our doctors' treatment choice be limited by a geographic area of the state? what kind of competition is

this, mr. president? . decisions are being made by insurance companies. in fairness, we probably could not construct a system in which you could see any doctor anywhere in the world any time regardless of expense. bulb be hard to set up. if you live in maine, you are going to fly into california -- put you up -- you can see, and

i'm not trying to make light of it, but you can see the difficulty. with any system we design, some choices will have to be made in terms of what is going on, etc. that is currently being done in the private marketplace. all we are trying to do is to make sure that those decisions being made in the private market place are not discriminating against people because they are already 66 -- 6 - sick, and making sure they get a good deal. if you go to a hospital, you get one of those operations you discussed, and it turns out that two weeks later, a europe got to be readmitted because they did not do it right the first time, the hospital has to pay penalty,

or at least they are not as much reimbursed. the more we make those kinds of changes, the more likely it is that more americans have more options and they are not being jerked around. it does not mean everything will be perfect, but it does mean consumers have more choices, better options, more security, more protection. that is all we're trying to accomplish, and we're trying to do it in a way to reduce costs overall for families, whether you are getting medicare, medicaid, or private insurance through your employer. i am confident that we can accomplish this, but we will have to work hard and overcome some of the misinformation, we will have to have an honest

debate. nothing will be perfect. we are going to have to make sure -- this is something people need to understand -- even if things go perfectly and we pass legislation, let's say, in october, we are still going to have another three months of debate about this and several years of implementation. it will not happen overnight. we will have to set up these reforms to give insurance, and i hope everyone understands that. we cannot tell companies to take everybody if you have a whole bunch of people who are healthy and young to choose not to get insurance at all. because then, insurance companies will just take people when they get sick.

then it will go into the office, they will say, give me insurance, a the company will lose money pretty quick that way. if we will limit the pre- existing conditions problem, we also have to do that with the coverage problem, so this will have to be phased in over a number of years. the last point i want to make, and this has to do with the budget issue, because we have a huge deficit right now and the huge debt and i think that is coloring how people view this debate. i hear people saying, how can we afford this right now? we've got to use our resources for the deficit. first, i want everyone to understand the source of our deficit, because if you do not understand that, argument will not make sense. when i walked into the white house, i have people waiting for me at the door, a 1.3 trillion dollar deficit. 1.3 trillion dollars.

i say that -- this was not -- and this is not, by the way, entirely the previous administration's fault. the financial crisis was so bad that revenue plummeted and all of this money was spent in making sure that the banking system did not completely collapsed. so all of the actions that have been taken just spite the deficit. but the problem actually is not that -- the extraordinary steps we've taken over last one or two years. the real problem is much longer. even if we had no fiscal crisis whatsoever, we have a structural deficit, we are spending more money than we're taking in, we have been doing it for the last eight years. when we passed the prescription drug benefit for medicare by a

republican congress, they did not pay for it. they did not want to pay taxes, but it wanted benefits. that just went right into our structural we did not pay for. we get a structural deficit that, over the course of the next 10 years, is about nine trillion dollars. i say that, because i want everybody to understand that if you're going to tackle that problem, the only way we can do it in an intelligent way is if we get control of medicare and medicaid spending and some realistic way. if we do not do that, we cannot simply tax or cut our way of the

problem. ask some times in audiences what people think the amount the federal budget is devoted to foreign aid. people say 20%. if we just cut that out, we could eliminate deficit. it is 1% of our budget. 1%. people think it is all this pork project and your marks. 1%. all are spending a social security, medicare, medicaid, interest on the national debt.

every single program you think up that you think of as a government program, it is only about 25% of the budget. the last his social security, medicare, medicaid. and what is really going up fastest is medicare and medicaid. so i want everyone to understand, if you are a fiscal hawk, if you are a deficit hawk and you are tired of this crazy spending in washington and want to finally make sure that we are looking out for the next generation, then you, more than anybody, it should want to reform the health-care system. because if we do not do it, we cannot solve that problem. thank you, grand junction.

>> president obama has wrapped up his third town hall meeting of the week on health care. this one was a high school in grand junction, colorado. he answered over half a dozen questions for the audience. c-span will agree air this in about 3.5 hours and tomorrow at 10:30 eastern. >> sunday, the contributing editor and columnist from "newsweek," on his series, against the odds," which profiles people who have overcome significant obstacles. >> british voters expected to go to the polls on national elections next spring. david cameron on how a tory government would change domestic

policy. british politics, sunday night on c-span. >> this is c-span's "america and the courts." wednesday, president obama held a reception at the white house to honor justice sotomayor, sworn in last saturday, becoming the first hispanic justice and third woman to serve on the supreme court. >> i am glad all of you could be with us today as we honor the newest member of our highest

court, who i am proud to address for the first time as the justice sotomayor. [applause] we are also honored to be joined by justice sotomayor's new colleagues. we have justice ginsberg here, as well as justice stevens. [applause] so i just want to thank both the justice stevens and justice ginsberg, not only for being here today, but for your experience on the court. i know you will give her some good tips. i also want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to bring us to this day. i'll especially want to thank our judiciary committee

chairman, senator patrick leahy. [applause] as well as our senate majority leader harry reid, for their outstanding work to -- [applause] for their outstanding work to complete this process before the august recess. i want to thank senator schumer, senator dole brand, both of them home state senators for sotomayor on behalf of their extraordinary work. i want to thank all the members of congress who have taken the time to join us here at the event and want to acknowledge all of the advocates and groups who organized to mobilize in support of these efforts from the very beginning. your worked maybe absolutely -- your work was critical to our success, so pat ourselves on the

back. congratulations. [applause] to members of congress want to acknowledge, senator bob menendez, who worked so hard on the senate side -- and commerce woman vasquez -- congresswoman vasquez, from our hispanic caucus. i think we all wanted take a moment to recognize the woman who in so many ways made this day possible, justice sotomayor. [applause]

she is here with her husband, omar, her brother, one, and other members of her family who are thrilled they could join us here today. and let me also just thank my extraordinary white house staff, who were able to usher this forward. we are very proud of them. thank you very much. [applause] of course, we are here not just to celebrates our new justice and all those who have been a part of her journey, but we are here as well to celebrate an extraordinary moment for our nation. we celebrate the impact that justice sotomayor has already had four people across america

who have been inspired by her exceptional life story. we celebrate the greatness of the country in which such a story as possible, and we celebrate how, with their vote to confirm her, the senate, republicans and democrats, tore down yet one more barrier and affirm our belief that in america, the doors of opportunity must be open to all. with that vote, the senate looked beyond old divisions, embracing excellence. they recognized her intellect, integrity, and her independence of mind. respect for the proper role of each branch of government, the fidelity in each case.

justice william brennan said that in order to ensure rights for all citizens, they must be attentive to all concrete realities at stake. they must understand the pulse of life that meets the official version of events. the justice understands those realities, because she has witnessed them firsthand. as a prosecutor, a litigator, and a judge, working to uphold our laws, keep our communities safe, and give people a chance to live out their dreams, work she has done with devotion, a distinction, and an unyielding commitment to give back to this country that has given her so much. she understands these things because she has lived these things, because her life is an only-in-america story. raised in the south bronx by a

woman determined to give her every opportunity to succeed, putting in the hard work that would give her scholarships to the best schools in the country, driven always by the belief that it does not matter where you come from, no dream is beyond reach. with her extraordinary breadth and depth of experience, just as sotomayor brings both a mastery of the letter of the law and an understanding of how it unfolds in our daily life. its impact on how we work, worship, and raise our families, and having the opportunity is to raise the families we imagined. that is vital, as justice stevens and ginsburg will testify. as visionary as our families --

founders were, they did not presume to know what new questions fate and history was set before us. instead, they thought to articulate details that would be accommodating of the ever- changing circumstances of our lives, preserved for each new generalization -- generation are morse sacred rights and freedoms. when justice sotomayor took the oath, she took yet another test -- another step towards realizing the ideals. we came another step closer to the perfect union we all seek. because of her achievements, the result of her ability and determination, this moment is not just about her. it is about every child will grow up thinking that him and herself, if she can make it, maybe i can, too. [applause]

everyone looking at her successes, thinking, "i might not have much in my own life, but if i were carter, maybe my kids can have more -- if i work harder. maybe they can have more." if she could overcome so much and go so far, why can't i? nearly 80 years ago, a cornerstone was laid for the building that became our supreme

court. charles evans hughes declared, the public in doors, and this is the symbol of its faith. her rise from humble beginnings to achievement is another symbol of that faith, the faith that the american dream still in divorce, that equal justice under the law is not just an inscription, but an animating ideal of democracy. in this great nation, all things are still possible for all people. this is a great day for america, and i know that all of us here are proud and honored to have been a part of it. with that, i would like to introduce justice sotomayor. [applause]

>> no words can adequately express my feelings. no speech can fully capture my joy in this moment. nothing can convey the depth of gratitude i feel for the council family members, starting with mom and my brothers, and the many friends and colleagues who are here with me, and others were not, who have helped me

reach this moment. none of this would have happened without old you -- all of you. i have the most heartfelt appreciation for the trust you placed in me, and i wanted convey my thanks to the judiciary committee for conducting a respectful and timely hearing, and to all members of the senate for approving the president's selection. i'm so grateful to all of you for this extraordinary opportunity. i am most grateful to this country. i stand here today knowing that my confirmation as justice would never have been possible without the opportunity presented to me

by this nation. more than two to two centuries ago, in a constitution containing fewer than 5000 words, our founders set forth to their vision to our new land. there self-proclaimed task was to form a more perfect union, to establish justice and secure the blessings of liberty. over the years, the ideals of the heart of that document and the word -- they have endured a subsequent generations have expanded blessings. these rights and freedoms go to more and more americans. our constitution has survived domestic and international tunnels, including the civil war, two world wars, and the catastrophe of september 11.

people of all races, fates and backgrounds are drawn together from all across this country who carry its words and values in our hearts. it is this nation's faith in a more perfect union that allows a court to reconsider all from the bronx to stand here now. -- a puerto rican girl from the bronx to stand here now. [applause]

i am struck again today by the wonder of my own life and the life we in america are so privileged to lead. in reflecting on my life experiences, i am thinking also today of this judicial oath of office i first took almost two decades ago, and that i reiterated this past weekend. to judge, without respect to what a person looks like, where they come from, or whether they are rich or poor, and to treat them as equals under the law. that is what our system requires, and it is the foundation of the american people's fate mineral wall, and why i am so passionate about wall -- along -- the law.

i asked not just my family and friends, but i ask all americans to wish me to find guidance and wisdom in administering my new office. i thank you all again for the love and support, and i think president obama and the senate for the tremendous honor and privilege they have given me. thank you. [applause]

>> her new term begins in october officially. justice thomas gave the keynote address for the american s.a. award last march in washington. he talked about what it means to be an american today's society. >> thank you, dr. templeton, for reading all my words. that gives me a pass. and thank you for your kind introduction. i would like to thank each of you for coming out in the middle of the week. this is a rare sighting, for me to be out at this point in the week, certainly during a sit-in week, but this is an important evening. i would like to thank my bride for being here. one great thing about -- [applause]

we have been a team for a while, we enjoy each other a lot, and i must admit, i admire my wife, because she has never lost sight of the principles she came to the city to defend. i would like to take my hat off to my friend, juan williams. i have known him a long time. and the one thing, with all the

disagreements, growth, and issues, he has always been honest. in this town, that counts for a lot. [applause] during difficult times, he was courageous and i admire honesty and courage, especially in this city. we should probably preserve and protect that rare commodity. what i would like to do this evening is to not go on too long, to not lecture you. i told my wife before we came that i had run out of things to say. between the book and opinions and speeches and lectures, there is nothing else to say. and perhaps i was kidding her as

i was writing my book that i was tired of talking about me, and i asked her to talk about me. of course, that did not quite work, but it was work a try. i guess it is not so much that there is a limited supply of ideas, but i think that you have a sense, at least i do, that at some time, people should be tired of hearing from you. i have been fortunate to have been in this town for some time, almost 30 years. i am rounding the last term for my 18th term in the court, and as i was thinking about these young people, i realized that many of them had not been going

when i started there. that is a sobering recognition. i would like to make a couple of points, and then a final point, and make a considerable about of time available for these young people's questions, which are far more important than any of my musings. i think that the framers, especially madison, who give us our bill of rights, and jefferson, who gave us our declaration of independence, understood that for liberty to exist, the populace needs to be educated enough to understand liberty and be able to defend liberty.

they also understood that liberty was not on automatic pilot. it would not exist simply because it was once started. it was delicate, and it had to be protected. the one thing that stood out for me about the bill of rights institute was that it understands that to protect this precious but essential commodity, young people, the next generation, and the generation after that has to understand what they are protecting and why it has to be protected. i have been on the court for quite some time, and i have to admit that when i started this

endeavor, or for some, an ordeal, that you have level understanding of our great document, our founding documents. it is workable, functional, but after you work with that document for so many years, your level of understanding and appreciation gross. it becomes, as i say to my law clerks -- through all the opinions and the briefs and the back and forth, i am more of an idealist about this great document today than i was the day i became a judge. that understanding and passion about the constitution, about

our declaration, about our country and our founding fathers -- they represent the basis for wanting to do the job. they are people we have sent off to war. i have a wonderful opportunity, a little bit what inspiring, to meet young people returning from iraq with very fresh but very difficult wounds. as they were apologizing to me for taking so much of my time, i could not help but think and say to them that it was i who should be apologizing to you, for not giving as much as you have given to stand up for us in our

liberties. [applause] so it is the passion that they have, the commitment that they have about our country in different ways, not in harm's way, that fuels' work not the court. it is not for joy, not for self aggrandizement, not the legacy. is what fuels my wife's passion to do her job. it is the right thing to do. it is the right thing to try and preserve liberty. [applause] and i would also like to say, i am not one of those who will criticize or be on my colleagues

are the institution. we have to preserve institutions, and there's a way to disagree, and these young people will learn it from us, that we can constructively say, "i respectfully but firmly disagree," without acting out a disagreeable attitude and reaction to other people. that is the way it has been at the court. i sat between my to do a friend's, justices ginsburg and souter, for about 15 years, and i was not able to persuade them, but always able to act in a civil and warm matter, for people engaged in a common endeavor to try and find the right answers.

when i go all little down, i go on the internet and lookup wonderful speeches, speeches by douglas macarthur, to hear him give that speech at west point. duty, honor, country. how could you not hear those words and feel strongly about what we have? how could you not reminisce about childhood where you began each day with the pledge of allegiance as a little kid, lined up in the school yard, and then you march in, to buy two, if like a crucifix in each classroom. i think that those things remind me of why it is important to

have that energy to get up every day and look at cases, whether they are the first amendment or the first section, things affecting our country, things affecting the kind of society we want and things that will affect the lives of these young people here. now, on with my few remarks about tonight, and hopefully i will be able to take quite a few questions. i should repeat that i thank all of you look the part of this wonderful event, and all of you who have the foresight and planning and implementing this essay contest on being american. what a wonderful idea. i congratulate each of the young people who are tonight's winners -- i had an opportunity

to chat with them and take pictures, and that is always inspiring. one thing about this job, you get all little tired, and did you go in and see your clerks and you are energized. you see these people and say, this is what it is all about. this is a good part. each of these young people have demonstrated, through their essays and the matured depths of their thoughtfulness and discipline to communicate their ideas effectively. i am sure that they edit it and reedited and thought through and rewrote their essays, or they would not be the 27 young people who want out of 31,000. i assured them i would have been in the 30,000-plus who were left home. you demonstrated one aspect of

what it meant to us to be an american. i grew up during a different time, under different circumstances, in a different era. i will not belabor that. things were not as good as they are today, but they were good enough for me, and they provided the soil, and there was enough of all bus there for me to be here. enough to fuel changes that made it possible for us to be in this room tonight. but recently, a college student asked me what i would recommend for them as our country continues through these difficult economic and financial *. i have to tell you, i was momentarily a loss for words,

and i asked the assembled group of 20 or so college students how many of them have cellular phones, or rather, how many of them did not have self funds -- sell -- cellular phones. no hands went up. they all had cellular phones. none of them had known and life as young adults without that convenience. so you see today, without giving a litany, we have plenty. to some, perhaps too much. in my travels, i have been surprised how many people think that prosperity is a constant, that things are never to be difficult again, never to be great challenges. it seems many of come to think

that each of us is owed prosperity and a certain standard of living. they are owed air-conditioned cars, telephones, televisions. some of us, by contrast, fall that air-conditioning was the ultimate luxury, that having a television was something he saved up and when they could get -- one day you could get, that a car, at least a working one, was something to be happy about, not something that you were owed. i'm one of those people who still thinks a dishwasher is a miracle. [laughter] what a device. and i have to admit that,

because i think that way, i like to load it. i like to look in and see how those dishes were magically cleaned. but in this year up, in the era that many of us grew into adulthood is one where we expected life to be difficult. we expected there to be challenges. we hoped that by living virtuous lives and working hard, all would eventually work out. but there were no guarantees, except the guarantees that we have the right to try. all around us, for the most part, we are in the same boat. there were many challenges, but with all of the apparent and real problems, most are around me, in savannah, in liberty,

believed in the american dream, even though it had either a limited them -- diluted them or been denied them, for countless reasons. i have found it perplexing that so many of the people i knew as a young man and never made it beyond being -- i knew as young man never made it beyond being laborers, clung to the country so that no matter that they had been denied opportunities because of race or education or other circumstances, they passed on the hopes and dreams they once had or that they still had. equally important, they passed on that sense of obligation and

necessary to see the dream become a reality. today, there is much focus on our rights, and there's a proliferation of them. i will not deny that these rights are important. they are. but often i am surprised by the virtual mobility that seems to be those with grievances. it seems to me that more and more, people are celebrated for their litany of grievances about this or that. shouldn't there of least be equal time for our bill of obligations and our bill of responsibilities? what is required of us? i think we have an idea. i watched my grandfather. i think he is the greatest man i have ever known.

i told my wife to yesterday with 26 anniversary of his death. why is it there are certain days we never forget that still bring pangs of either paint or a smile to our face? that is one of those days. but he is the greatest man i have ever known. i remember watching him in the midst of a hurricane in savannah, going out of the house with wind blowing and rain driving down, walking through a foot of water to the corner to clean out the sioux were so our house would not flood. i remember when one of our cousins at his house burned down. he began immediately for plans

how to rebuild another one before the ashes lost their warmth, and we did. in his view, that was required of him as a citizen, as a relative, as a man. when i feel overburdened or put upon in washington, i like to think of those who have made it here tonight as a free people, people like my grandparents, like the man who thought was important to clear this work so that houses would not flood. those who made it possible. our parents, our teachers, and our friends. there are those were not and the

past, who made this country safe and free, or who changed it in so many ways for the better. those who fought and died and gave, and the words of president lincoln, that last full measure of devotion. i have, on many occasions, when things were becoming particularly routine, gone down to my basement to watch "saving private ryan." i cannot tell you why, except that it is about something important in our lives. after some the people had died saving private ryan, and i guess it starts with the mother being informed that three sons had

died, watching out for lady dropped to her knees that she had lost three of her four children to war for our country. but after many had died to save private ryan, he turned and said, earned this. it earned this. and then, private ryan, now an elderly man, turns to his wife for reassurance. and we have heard this -- tell me i have led a good life. tell me i'm a good man. that is a man who is saying, let

me know that it was worth it those who signed our declaration of independence, as dr. templeton noted, could well have been signing their obituary or their death warrant. they were taking on arguably the most powerful man in the world, who was none too happy with them and old their shenanigans, but they were willing to commit all, to put it all on the line. the final sentence of the declaration of independence as doctor templeton take a tone that is so boring, but reassuring, and it bears repeating. but for support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on protection of the dying providence, we mutually

pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. they were willing to give all to obtain liberty. what are we willing to give to retain it? you young students have already demonstrated, at your tender years, that you have an idea of what is most important about being an american, and they are wonderful ideas. you know that it is bigger than us, but also that to build that great bulwark of liberty, each of you, and each of us must live lives were the of the liberties we have inherited and that others have made possible for us. in a sense, we each must hold

ourselves as accountable for our lives as private ryan held himself accountable for his life. many died to save him, and many more sacrificed and died for us, for our liberties. will we one day be able to say that we have earned what they gave us? i congratulate each of these young s.a. winners, and i thank each of you for being here this evening to also congratulate them. i will take your questions. thank you. [applause]

>> justice thomas, thank you for that speech. it was refreshing, personal, and insightful. now, we will go to the face of the evening wear some of the young contest winners will have questions read to justice thomas. let me just say before we go to that, i have a question for you, justice thomas. i understand you are on the supreme court. [laughter] can you handle parking tickets? >> yes, i pay them. >> alright. [applause] [laughter] ladies and gentlemen, tonight's winners -- and suzy asked if we

submitted their questions -- as you heard, justice thomas has graciously agreed to answer some of them. i would like to have two outstanding individuals, brian jones, former general counsel to the department of education, and my friend, judge andrew napolitano of fox news, join me on stage here. they are going to read questions from the young people. [applause] >> you can get in a lot of trouble for fixing parking tickets. here is the first question. justice thomas, since the civil war, what has changed the way americans view the constitution most, and why?

that is not from me. that is from one of the students. >> i would have to say the 14th amendment, for a lot of the obvious reasons. the equal protection clause and the fact it assured the rights for the purpose of assuring their rights to free slaves -- it assured the rights to all citizens and gave dual citizenship. and if you read plessey versus ferguson, read harlow's dissent, it is a fabulous, fabulous short position that i think just nails it. it is wonderfully done. not only does he show how to be a judge by separating personal views, he shows the intent.

the dual citizenship of state and national government, and you have doctrines like the doctrine for corporations. the bill of rights applied to the states. if you look at the constitution, the first amendment says that congress should make no law -- it does not apply to the states. but it does not apply when we know it today. i am sure other things have happened. when you look at the big games and the civil-rights era,