incidents that don't much sense, like a study that really wanted to show, where is it women are not -- are underrepresented to the federal government? and that study really found out that women are underrepresented in four industries and i want to remember two. besides the one that traumatized me.

fantastic thats women can compete on themselves. if you are a woman business owner, that to a bus company, which is fair. we want to compete. but we want to make sure that is a level playing field. it is groundbreaking. we have been leaving for seattle to announce this, and women are extremely happy that we are just asking for our fair share. 5% toomey is low. -- to me is low.

women will be able to compete for federal contracts as well. we're really happy about that. >> we have time for questions from the floor here. i think zandi will help us with a microphone. raise your hand and now try to do a fair and balanced job of calling people. >> if you could state your name and association. >> first, i am what the national women's health network. i want to thank you so much for the report of having an evidence-base area for our health is important. we have been working to raise awareness for women about the benefits to women and working with are raising boys his campaign for the 1-year anniversary.

we have launched another campaign so we are rangy -- awaiting the decision on those no-cost contraceptions. this report raises the question of the impact of this -- you both mentioned the ability of women to go and increase education. that impact on economic well- being and preservation of the work force in packs all aspects of women's lives. if you could comment on this, we are all awaiting them. >> i can start. we are also awaiting a. for those of you familiar with what the process, within the affordable. care act -- within the affordable care act, in the prevention services role, there is funding as says that those

kind of prevention services identified as -- they must be provided at an insurer at low cost or low pay. right now, that includes the well baby care, well child care. and for adults, paps mirrors, carbazole -- pap smears, garvisil. there is not a comprehensive women's standards right now. there are bits and pieces like pap smears and mammograms, but nothing comprehensive like contraception, and reproductive care is not fully and completely represented. the interest in medicine, you

can undergo a scientific analysis and their urban public hearings held on this. to develop that standard on a scientific basis. the report is do you around august. the secretary of hhs can take the finding of those that is to make a determination as to what part of the standard, what is an accepted standard will be applied in this prevention services prepare. we are awaiting this. economist want talk about child spacing. >> in terms of the process, in some of these studies i look get labor supply and women's earnings. one of the pivotal moments in terms of having control over their employment and their careers was the introduction of the birth control pill which allowed people for the first time to be able to plan those

education and careers and to a higher degree of certainty than they could have before that. if you care about women being able to plan their careers and time their families as to when that makes sense for them, then you have to care about birth control with large. -- writ large. i would think that it went under preventative but no one is asking me. >> this report shows that america is becoming unmarried nation. we are getting married later, having children later. these are necessities, not only about women but as men -- about men as well. >> this is across class, that everyone needs access to. if professional women who want to get their ph.d. s and put off having children down and two women are starting to date and these are things that you need across class and across age.

>> a question all the way of back -- in the back. >> my name is anna belle, a professional training clinician. my question is two parts. how large was your sample? and when you looked at women in the workforce, did you take into account the men and women who are coming back from the wars in iraq, iran, and afghanistan, which has absolutely change their family situation, financial situation, and the needs -- because that is really quite important to look at -- they may have had both parents working, and now things have changed. the second thing i would like to ask with regard to domestic violence, because i have worked with women with domestic violence, and i am glad it is then put into place, but there

are now more women beating up on men but it is not the pc thing to discuss and talk about. i noticed it is not appropriate for this conference, -- i know that it is not prepared for this conference but it is reversed. there is more domestic violence among women and i think that that is interesting. >> i enjoyed seattle. hello to gary ross. >> each of these charts has a matching sections independence of the report. you can look up with the data comes from. this is the opinion of what the sources. there are representative of all the trends that we show here, the requirements for statistical

significance are we would not have included it. with regard to veterans, we do not have anything here. but there is information on the website that frida talked about. >> in in my new role, the substance of your question, returning veterans, and regarding reserve an active military or current serving, the particular administration interest of the first lady, i think we can look in the next month to a renewed and expanded initiative that we will be announcing specifically to support our military and are returning veterans and families and spouses. and we hope you'll join in with us. >> thank you for your question. this is an important issue to understand. data from the fbi tells us that

85% of the victims are female. it is up crime that disproportionately affect women. particularly if you look at partner homicide. those are women killed by male partners. there are some men affected. equal acts of violence, but when you put those in context, and you survey id you ask women what was happening, you find that many of those acts are committed out of self-defense. it is a complicated picture to understand but it is important to put the context around that. in the fall, the center for disease control in the national institute of justice will be releasing new data from the national domestic partner violence and help survey, i think that is the name of that, where they will let it exactly that. they will look at the context around the violence. when women experienced pilots, let me say at this way -- what we know, mutt -- what most

research tells us is that men are more likely than women to use violence as a system of maintaining control within the family. if the violence is only what you see. you might see the black eye and a broken bone but it is usually a part of the system of coercive control, intimidation, threats, economic control, women are driven into poverty with their expenses -- experiences. when you put it in that context, you see a different picture than just measuring actual acts. and we also know that women are injured -- seriously injured at seven times the rate of men. while it is important to understand the full picture, and that is what we need to do, understand the full picture around families are experiencing violence. i can also say that we know it would complicate things more come gay and lesbian families as

well, a complex picture. but from a public policy perspective, it is very important that we note that these crimes disproportionately affect women. >> standing in the back right there. >> thank you for addressing women's about his. that further picture, when we improve this society, whether we really improve the families, and a for instance, if you're talking about that that act, whether it is reliable or you could look more about the data. for instance, i have looked into the data of the researchers and also as a patient's and as a spouse. i just found out some things

that are immoral and unlawful. in domestic violence, you can see the real cost of the violence. it is ruining their families. they are really abused, both men and women. that is why we have to look into that. so that we can really improve. and about small business, i have a small business and everything you think a woman should have, i think i do. the problem is, in this society, [unintelligible] whenever you borrow money or you have your own savings, i but pretty soon it will be all done.

no one will protect you, even when you promote a woman [unintelligible] they are not going to have women either. we have to really investigate all of those. >> thank you. i think the issue of debt as a starting point for looking at a broader range of policy issues is something that we talked about in the panel. we see the report pointing to questions of policy question for deeply, to get data and context. lin has pointed this out, and a little more deeply at this. so thank you. i question right here? >> my name is stephanie clark, and i'm the national director for products in mom's worldwide. thank you for everyone who contributed putting the study together.

my question is, i reviewed over the past year several studies released that had been focusing and researching the economic realities of single mothers in this country. unfortunately they are the same as what is revealed in this report. as far as the disparities, the continue to be consistent and the bleak economic realities of single women raising children on the run. -- on their own. i had an opportunity in 2009 to attend the president's fatherhood initiative at one of his summits in chicago. my question is, as we see studies like this continue to reveal the plight of single mothers in america, are there any discussions around possibly doing a specific initiative to really address the statistics in

helping to approve the quality of life for single women and their children? such as creating some kind of initiative from the white house to really explore and bring to the table the women who are brain impacted by these realities -- for being impacted by this realities as opposed to having decisions made on our behalf by people that truly understand why single mothers in the and the situation that they are and? -- who end up in the situation that they are in? >> this is an important point, and an import statistics, something that we're very concerned about. i will say that one illustration of a policy, the broader policy concerned with this population, even most recently in the tax package that was passed, at the end of the year, an important part of what president and his economic team

fought for to include in the tax package, the headline went to the continuation of the entirety, but for much -- but much more important was women and children and to be stimulated to the economy as well, but not only the extension of unemployment, but the continuation of the child tax credit. and lowering the eligibility of that coming down the $3,000. a huge benefit to single moms in particular with children, the earned income tax credit extension as well, and heather can explain this better than i can. on those levels, i can tell you that we are very concerned and very focused on this population is evidenced by those policies. a lot of what we are trying to do with small business administration, focusing on of

entrepreneur ship and annie talked about a pathway. >> it would benefit women, single women. also encouraging companies to invest in small companies, which to me was groundbreaking. it is forcing companies to seek the small ones, but definitely those policies are coming together. it might seem disjointed, but they are looking at the comprehensive package, and it would actually benefit. for example, all the deductions for health care expenses of a woman that has around business, all that will become a more complete package. >> i am so glad that you raise that question. those statistics are sobering and they are largely unchanged. when we have seen this pattern for decades, the worst single

women have poverty rates two times that of others. this is a deserving problem. but we are not political contest right now in terms of what is going on in congress, -- we are in a political context where we are on a strong defensive to fully fund or even maintain the level of funding that we have right now. a lot of the social support mechanisms as single women rely on for themselves and for their children, just have a basic level of quality of life. to the degree that single women can band together with other people who are experiencing economic difficulty and decide to say, do not forget about me -- the reality is, that at that time where we are focusing on the issue of deficit reduction, the reality is that we are still on a society where we experience the highest level of poverty that we've seen as a nation

since the statistics have been recorded, the highest level of food and security since the statistics have been recorded. -- food and security -- insecurity since the statistics have been recorded. i think we need to really be concerned about quality of life and single mothers and children, one main area that we need a lot of help. >> to add to that, i think the ministers and focus on providing opportunities through community colleges -- the administration's focus on providing opportunities through community college for education for the population as a whole prison some good opportunities for single parents. my organization as a new initiative called the student apparent success initiative that is trying to look at how institutions of higher lining can provide services and support single parents so that they can prove -- pursue higher credentials to support their

family over the long term. we think the long-term economic impact. -- we think that will have a long-term economic impact. [inaudible] >> ally like to share with you some of our efforts. >> for those of you who are not signed up with the white house council on women and girls come and you can go on to the web site at whitehouse.gov and click over to the women and girls page. you can sign up for that information. senator kaplan is right there alan hall wayne, -- right there in the hallway. >> thank you very much. john michaelson. i have not heard a peep about in

the report, speaking of quality of life, the environmental issue. environmental habits, women working in green businesses are starting green businesses. i am wondering if you have any of the research are where we might find it -- or where we might find it on women's habits specifically in this, is a more common among certain income groups, moms, more common among certain regions of the country, for example, california is popular. we hear about it there but that does not mean that statistically that is what is going on. especially in support of the president's initiative to create a green economy, we need to know this data so that we can boost the green economy. >> there's still some is that we need to know, given that these industries are newly emerging in many cases. but the u.s. department of labor

women's bureau has done a great job of the putting information on its website. that is emerging industries, it presents us with a new opportunity to not to make the same mistakes all over again about leaving women out of high- paying, high-quality job opportunities. here is a very important issue that think we all need to pay attention to it. >> nicole mason, if she could stand up. her group produced a report that dealt with that issue is initially. p.m.,re coming up on 1:30 and we want to once again thank you for leading the charge on this. an amazing report. i open my remarks by failing to in knowledge the person who really was responsible for bringing us together.

the president, i have to say, his vision and his commitment to women and children, and it is infused throughout the administration. that is how we got here today. i am so proud of him and i think all of our panelists and our host. the center for american progress for hosting this year, and for all the good work that you do every day in promoting a robust and really informed dialogue on this important issue. thank you very much and thank you all for coming. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> next, president obama presents the national arts and humanities award.

and then the national press club awards dinner. then a portrait unveiling of senate majority leader bill frist. tomorrow on "washington journal," frank luntz talks about his book about taking your business from ordinary to extraordinary. from the american federation of teachers, a discussion of collective bargaining and the affect of cuts on teachers. and then the groups and individuals donating and spurring political movements and advertisements around the country. washington journal on c-span. >> i find more and more of the behavior of professional sports owners to be unseemly in the sense that they want hundreds of millions of dollars from their communities, and yet they do not really participate in the

problems of those communities. >> this sunday, best-selling author and washington post sports reporter sally jenkins. >> over 1000 middle and high school students entered this year's documentary competition. that theme, washington, d.c. through my lands. bridging lenses -- through ninth lenses. >> president obama handed out awards wednesday for lifetime achievement in the arts and humanities. honorees include producer quincy jones and jazz musician sonny rollins. the national medal of arts and the national humanity metal are presented each year. this is about 30 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president and mrs. michelle obama. [fanfare surrounding]

["hail to the chief" playing] >> thank you very much, everyone. please have a seat. hello, everybody. it is wonderful to have all of you here. i want to make mention of some folks in particular that have helped us to celebrate the arts and humanities for many years. first of all, if i am not mistaken, our democratic leader in the house of representatives, nancy pelosi, a great champion of the arts, is here. there she is.

the chairman of the national endowment for the arts, rocco landesman is here. the chairman of the national endowment for the humanities, jim leach, is here to. the two most powerful people in the white house, jill biden and michelle obama, are here. and two recipients who were unable to be here, but who we love, i want to make sure they are and knowledge. meryl streep and harper lee could not be here today, but they will be receiving their awards as well. so please give them a round of applause. i was just told by my wife that i went off program, because

originally we were supposed to get everybody seated and i was supposed to come in and then make my formal remarks. and i bulled my way through to go ahead and see the honorees before they came out here to sit down, because these are extraordinary people. one of the great joys of being president is getting a chance to pay tribute to the artists and authors, the poets and performers, who have touched our hearts and opened our minds -- or in the case of quincy jones and james taylor, set the mood. [laughter] one of the people that we honor today, joyce carol oates, has said, "ours is the nation, so rare in human history, of self- determination. a theoretical experiment in newness, exploration,

discovery." that is what we do. and for more than two centuries, this experiment has been conducted by revolutionaries and pioneers, by immigrants who braved hardship and inventors who tested new ideas, soldiers who fought for our freedom, and ordinary citizens who marched for their rights. but we are here today because these men and women were not alone in these struggles. with them were the stories that sparked their imaginations, the poetry and music that inspired their causes, the works of art and literature that spoke to their condition, and affirmed their desire for something more. and i speak personally here because there are people here whose books or poetry or works of history shaped me.

i have got these thumb-warned addition -- thumb-worn editions of these works of art and these old records when they were still vinyl, sonny, before they went digital that helped inspire me or get me through a tough day or take risks that i might not otherwise have taken. and i think what is true for me is true for everyone here and true for our country. the fact is that works of art, literature, works of history, they speak to our condition, and they affirm our desire for something more and something better. it was the writings of thomas paine that general washington ordered his men to read before

crossing the delaware. it was spirituals sung by slaves are around a campfire that helped to keep hope alive. we can think of the protest songs that tell the story of the civil-rights movement, the photographs from the great depression that showed how folks were suffering but also how they were striving. time and again, the tools of change, and the progress, of revolution, a fermenta -- of ferment, they are not just pickaxes and hammers and screens and software, but they have been brushes and pens and cameras and guitars. and the arts and humanities help us to the hard times and they remind us of what make as -- what make the good times worthwhile. the gold is not always have to be so lofty. sometimes we just need a break,

a chance to laugh, or escape from the moment. so all the individuals that we honor today are part of this tradition. we can point to their performances on stage or on film that we carry with us forever because we have been so moved. he can think of the novels that have chronicled the american experience, from the streets of newark to the courts of alabama. how many young people have come to see the senseless cruelty of racism and the importance of standing up for what is right through the eyes of a girl named scout? how many young people have learned to think by reading the exploits of portnoy and his complaints? [laughter]

we also remember the art that challenged our assumptions, the scholarship that brought us closer to the events of our history, the poetry that we loved -- or at least the poetry that we might recite to a girlfriend to seem deep. [laughter] of course, we still hum the great songs by the musicians in this room, songs that in many cases have been the soundtrack of our lives over decades. and that is why i'm so proud to have this opportunity to celebrate the contributions that all of you have made to our country. it is why we have to remember that our strength as a people runs deeper than our military might, it runs deeper than our gdp, it is also about our values and our ideals that each

generation is called to uphold, and that each artist helps us better understand. and it is also about the capacity of the arts and humanities to connect us to one another. in a nation as big as ours, as the verses hours, as full of debate and consternation as it sometimes is, what the people we honor here today remind us of is that kernel of ourselves that connects to everyone else and allows us to get about -- get out of ourselves, to see through somebody else's eyes, to step in their shoes. and what more vital ingredient is there for our democracy than that? in 1962, in the last months of his life, the poet robert frost

was dispatched by president kennedy to visit the soviet union. it was a gesture of goodwill. frost traveled and gave readings, filling venues all across russia. what he really wanted to do was to have a chance to talk to khrushchev. frost was a poet, but he was also a pretty tough guy. it was not until the end of the trip that the meeting was arranged. and when they met, even though frost was frail and sick, he decided he had to speak his mind to the soviet leader. and frost stood up and he said, "a great nation makes great poetry." and then he told khrushchev that he should reunite east and west berlin. a great nation should make great poetry. like so many artists and musicians and writers and poets before him, and so many that came after him, and robert frost was not afraid to say his piece or speak truth to power. he was not afraid to tell what

was on his mind. it was an held back by convention or what was considered normal or acceptable. -- he was not held back by convention or what was considered normal or acceptable. and that is an incredible power, an incredible resource. and that is what we -- and we are seeing that power all across the world today. that is what challenges us and pushes us to be better, to be more faithful to the sense of humanity that so often they can be lost in the experiences of our daily lives. pissarro once said, "blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places." that is the blessing of those that we honor here today, and we are blessed that they are able to share what they see and what they hear. so now what is my privilege to present these medals to our recipients in both the arts and humanities. [applause]

>> the 2010 national medal of arts recipients -- robert brustein. the 2010 national medal of arts to robert brustein for his contributions to the american theatre as a critic, producer, playwright, and educator. as the founder of the yale repertory theatre and the american repertory theatre and institute for advanced theatre training, and as the former theatre critic for the new republic since 1959, mr. brustein has been a leading force in the develop of theatre and theatre artists in the united states. [applause]

van cliburn. the 2010 national medal of arts to van cliburn for his contributions as one of the greatest pianists in the history of music, and as a persuasive ambassador for american culture. since his historic 1958 victory at the first international tchaikovsky competition in moscow, mr. cliburn has reached across political frontiers with the universal message of beautiful music. [applause] mark di suvero. [applause]

the 2010 national medal of arts to mark di suvero for his achievements as one of the most prominent american artists to emerge from the abstract expressionist era. exhibited throughout the world, mr. di suvero's exemplary sculptures depict a strong political and social vision, demonstrating the power of the arts to improve our world. [applause] donald hall. the 2010 national medal of arts to donald hall for his extensive contributions to

american poetry. through an illustrious career and as a poet laureate of the united states from 2006 to 2007, mr. hall's work has inspired americans and enhanced the role of poetry in our national life. [applause] accepting for jacob's pillow dance festival, ella baff. the 2010 national medal of arts to jacob's pillow dance festival for contributions to the development of dance in the united states. as america's longest running international dance festival, thousands of people of all ages

from across the united states and the world have jacob's pillow to thank for opening their horizons to dance. [applause] quincy jones. the 2010 national medal of arts to quincy jones for his extraordinary contributions to american music as a musician, composer, record producer, and arranger. as a master inventor of musical hybrids, he has mixed pop, soul, hip-hop, jazz, classical, african, and brazilian music into many dazzling fusions, traversing virtually every medium, including records, live performances, movies, and television.

[applause] sonny rollins. the 2010 national medal of arts to sonny rollins for his contributions to american jazz music. widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians of the post- bebop era, mr. rollins' melodic sensibilities, playing style, and solos have delighted audiences and influenced generations of musicians for over 50 years. [applause]

james taylor. the 2010 national medal of arts to james taylor for his remarkable contributions to american music. his distinctive voice and masterful guitar playing are among the most recognized in popular music and his expansive catalogue of songs has had a profound influence on songwriters and music lovers from all walks of life. [applause] the 2010 national humanities medal recipients, accepting for

daniel aaron, anna mundow aaron. the 2010 national humanities medal to daniel aaron for his contributions to american literature and culture. as the founding president of the library of america, he has helped preserve our nation's heritage by publishing america's most significant writing. [applause] bernard bailyn. the 2010 national humanities medal to bernard bailyn for illuminating our nation's early history and pioneering the field of atlantic history. dr. bailyn's two pulitzer prize-winning works, "the ideological origins of the american revolution" and "voyagers to the west," have

opened minds to the story of our country's earliest days. [applause] accepting for jacques barzun, marguerite barzun. the 2010 national humanities medal to jacques barzun for his distinguished career as a scholar, educator, and public intellectual. one of the leaders in the field of cultural history, dr. barzun's decades of teaching and dozens of books have engaged countless readers across our nation. [applause]

wendell e. berry. the 2010 national humanities medal to wendell e. berry for his achievements as a poet, novelist, farmer, and conservationist. the author of more than 40 books, mr. berry has spent his career exploring our relationship with the land and community. [applause] roberto gonzalez echevarria. the 2010 national humanities medal to roberto gonzalez echevarria for his contributions to spanish and

latin american literacy -- literary criticism. his path-breaking "myth and archive -- a theory of latin american narrative" is among the widely cited scholarly works in hispanic literature. [applause] stanley nider katz. [applause] the 2010 national humanities medal to stanley nider katz for a career devoted to fostering public support for the humanities. as president of the american council of learned societies for more than a decade, he's expanded the organization's programs and helped forge ties among our libraries, museums and foundations. [applause]

joyce carol oates. [applause] the 2010 national humanities medal to joyce carol oates for her contributions to american letters. the author of more than 50 novels, as well as short stories, poetry and nonfiction, ms. oates has been honored with the national book award and the pen/malamud award for excellence in the art of short story. [applause] arnold rampersad. [applause] the 2010 national humanities

medal to arnold rampersad for his work as a biographer and literary critic. his award-winning books have profiled w.e.b. du bois, langston hughes, jackie robinson and ralph ellison, and he has edited critical editions of the works of richard wright and langston hughes. [applause] philip roth. [applause] the 2010 national humanities medal to phillip roth for his contributions to american letters. mr. roth is the author of 24 novels, including "portnoy's complaint" and "american pastoral," which won the 1998 pulitzer prize, and his criticism has appeared in our leading literary journals.

[applause] gordon wood. [applause] the 2010 national humanities medal to gordon wood for scholarship that provides insight into the founding of our nation and the drafting of the united states constitution. dr. wood is author and editor of 18 books, including "the radicalism of the american revolution," for which he earned a pulitzer prize. [applause]

>> i think it is entirely appropriate for all of us to stand and give a warm congratulations to the recipients of these awards. not the recipients -- you do not have to stand. well, congratulations to all the recipients. we're going to take some quick pictures with them, and then usually we have a party around here. [laughter] our marine band is very good and the food is pretty good around here, too. so it store yourself -- so enjoy yourselves and thanks again for helping us to

celebrate these extraordinary men and women of letters and the arts. thank you. [laughter] [applause] ♪ "your smilings

face" playing] >> nevis, the the national press foundation awards dinner. then the weekly address with president obama and representative diane black. then a portrait unveiling of former senate majority leader bill frist. harold rogers, chairman of the of house appropriations committee talks about the debate over the federal spending and budget negotiations over funding the government until march 18. >> in my t american history professor pualine maier on both tv this sunday. her latest book is

"ratification," published last year. join our three-hour conversation with your thumbs, e-mails, and tweets on c-span2. watch previous programs at our website where you can also find the entire weekend schedule. >> the 28th annual national press foundation award dinner was held earlier this week at the washington hilton hotel here in the nation's capital. among this year's honorees, andrea mitchell of nbc news, and dana bash of cnn, and politicos and metalworker. bridging matt wueker. this is just over fourth -- 40 minutes. >> i get the easy part because i grandfather to we did meet this morning. [laughter] -- my grandfather to we did meet this morning. -- tweeted me this morning.

he wanted you to pay attention over how congress was battling over the national debt. let's listen to the tape. >> now before congress, here is another request. we have one last year. we had to three the year before. they want to raise the public debt to $352 billion. this was the only time that we had a public debt was in the days when andrew jackson was the president of the united states. but other than that, i have no recollection that we have been without a debt. but never of this colossal proportion as the debt that we have today. we have a temporary debt

established last year, that was $328 billion. they want at $4 billion to that limit. the actual limits as of this moment, i think, is about $319 billion. but you see, we have an actual limit. we have a temporary limit. and we have a permanent limit. if congress did nothing about the debt, if the debt level would go back to $285 billion, that is the permanent debt ceiling, if we did, we would be so far shy of what we actually zowe that it would constitute a repudiation. and i dread to think what happened in the money markets, the bond and stock markets, not only in our country but another country as well.

so now we are confronted with this new request to raise the public debt, your public debt, by another $4 billion. [laughter] [applause] is change the numbers and the story is the same. it is your dad, and it is our debt, and congress is deciding what to do with your debt and our debt and our money. nothing changes except everything. our first winner tonight for best reporting of congress is brody mullins. [applause] brody is from the "wall street journal," and when i say nothing has changed but everything has changed, he won the award four years ago.

so much has changed, but that times, nothing has changed. it's an interesting conundrum. and as you all know, brody is from the "wall street journal," writing that number of stories about what lawmakers do traveling overseas on official business. brodie? >> in his home state, alabama. >> they're going to do their speech together. tim farnam wrote the series, and you're all familiar with that. [applause] tim and brody can give you a

much better understanding of what they did. but i salute them for excellence in journalism and covering congress, which is what we try to make this a war about, the best reporting of congress this year. -- this award about, the best reporting of congress this year. congratulations. >> thank you very much. tim and i want to thank the national press foundation for this honor. we would also like to thank the mayor who is here tonight for providing us with transportation. [laughter] in a beautiful black navigator. [applause] it is really surprising that on

such short notice he was able to comply with our requirement for a great interior -- gray interior. [applause] this is the second time i have won this award. i cannot help but think about what has changed in journalism and the media world in the past four years. for example, just four years ago, marcus broccoli was overseeing the decline of one of the most prestigious newspapers in america. now, just four years later, he is overseeing the decline of one of the most parties is newspapers in the country. -- one of the most prestigious newspapers in the country. [applause] >> peake e-mail inside scoops to

his closest friends -- i am sorry, french sources. four years ago, the bureau chief of the wall street journal was gery. four years ago, the newly elected chairman of the oversight committee was investigating allegedly improper e-mail's set by republican staffers. [applause] four years ago, the washington press corps was a self-absorbed, and secure bunch to only cared about hobnobbing with the political elite. that was before emily miller got her press passes. >> for me, personally, a lot has changed. last time i was standing up here i propose to been bradley. he said no. apparently i am not a money- making, for-profit company. mr. bradley, sir, i did not

write or approve of that joke. [laughter] despite all this dramatic upheaval, one thing has not changed -- good, old-fashioned, a tenacious reporting is alive and well in the washington. [applause] everyone in this room helped make that happen. >> i would like to thank my wife for her support. it is said that behind every successful woman -- every successful man -- it is said that behind every successful man there is a surprised mother- in-law. [laughter] thank you for being here. all of like to thank my parents who are in the caribbean. >> i would also like to thank my parents who are here tonight from connecticut and california. my parents are great. they told me i could do anything i wanted and, tonight, i realized that they might have

nicely meant it. >> we also would like to thank a few people at the wall street journal who helped make this happen. these two great leaders immediately saw the importance of our work, the value of the national debate, and they definitely and fiercely put peace award winning stories on to page a-3. [laughter] >> i would also like to thank all my colleagues in the washington bureau for their support. without your guidance, kelso, and wisdom of a lot of these stories and many others -- i'm not knight had been able to get a job at the washington post. -- i might not have been able to get a job at the washington post. >> we will like to thank our

colleague, john. he is always in our heart. the inspires us every day to try to match his standards. >> to win this award, we investigated how members of congress travel overseas. what we felt would shock you. on the taxpayer funded trip, lawmakers were eating fancy meals and drinking fine wine, rubbing shoulders with influential leaders and dignitaries at exclusive events, and receiving all sorts of other guests and a cash stipend available to them only because they held public office. >> to recognize for this award tonight, while eating a fancy meal and drinking fine line for free, rubbing shoulders with influential leaders and dignitaries at this exclusive event, wearing fancy tuxedos paid for by our expense accounts, and walking away with free gifts and cash seems a

fitting award for a job well done. [laughter] [applause] thank you. >> thank you. >> i think you have a hard act to follow. [laughter] as you all know, dana bash has won the award for broadcasting. she took a special interest in the arcane practice of senatorial holes on -- holds on administrative appointments. it was good tight coverage of congress. it showed us how the system works. dana brought to our attention

like no other reporter i know. it is not a new practice, but the way you put it into words and into video and audio was astounding. i have watched it for decades, probably since i was 10, on held leaseholds have taken place. i think you have done the best job ever in explaining how that happens. the american people can understand it, not just those of us in washington. congratulations for earning the dirksen award tonight. [applause] we have a video to show before dana gets her big check. here is the award and now we will watch the video.

>> 8 refilling tanker -- long overdue for retirement. the senator was the replacement made in his home state, alabama. but richard shelby says the air force competition is a sham. in protest, he did something drastic. he blocked most of president obama's nominees to an array of federal agencies that had nothing to do with the issue. you bought nearly 50 nominees. what did you do that? >> i did it to get the attention of the administration. >> did he ever. he made headlines in makemie symbol of gridlock. in his first tv interview on the subject, he makes no apology. >> what it sounds like you're trying to do is put money and put jobs back in the state of alabama. >> ultimately, i am etc. from alabama. but there is fairness, the jobs

will go there. >> shelby eventually lifted all of this holds a separate three nominees. cnn was told that without the highly qualified professionals, they are not firing on all cylinders. >> de think the nominees are qualified? >> i have no idea. >> it is part of life here in the senate. it is not in the official rules, but by tradition, any senator can put a hold on any public -- on any presidential nominee for any reason. a democratic senator held up by george w. bush nominee. >> which senator? >> senator obama. >> a little teaser for you there. thank you very much. i am grateful to receive this prestigious award named for your grandfather.

i thank the national press foundation. i want you all to know that when they do not do shtick, said he will not get that here tonight. i believe that congress is the best beet in town. it is one place where a reporter can ask questions directly. you can oppress john mccain and not know if you get that familiar smile or that familiar snarl. you leave his office tried to figure out just exactly what he was trying to say in that press conference he had. i still pinched myself over the remarkable access that we get. it gives -- some lose their lives over the basic freedoms we take for granted. tonight is especially troubling. it is the second time i have received this award. i see him as the business has changed since 2002. i broke the news that the

government had intercepted communications the day before 9/11 that were never translated. clues that the attacks were coming. i was a producer then. our national security reporter at the times took the news to air. tv was pretty much our only outlet for getting the news out. that was a 0.5 years ago. mark zuckerberg was just starting out at harvard then. there was no facebook. there was definitely no such thing as twister. today, i would have written it tweeted it, and posted it on facebook. i still believe there is a desire and need for reporting that takes more than 140 characters, especially in explaining the workings of congress. [applause] i am delighted the national

press foundation recognized the story of senators up holding nominees. it is not a new concept, but it is nice some took the time to see and hear centers in rare moments of candor fessing up and explain what they do that. the same goes for a story we get about centaurus -- senators taking money for pet projects. it is hard to believe that one year later after we get that story, leaders in both parties are promising a more earmarks. the late great dirksen is quoted as saying -- the only people who did not say -- change their minds are those who are incompetent and can't, and those in cemeteries. i am lucky to work with a stellar team at cnn. i want to recognize and

indefatigable source of putting these stories together. evan glass who worked on countless stories with me. the countless reporters i am privileged to work with in our capitol hill unit. the camera crews who should always get applause, i think. our fearless leader whose commitment to journalism is practically unparalleled. i also want to thank my cnn bosses who are here. crosses for coming. other colleagues who are here tonight. my incredible parents are here. they met at a chicago station nearly 45 years ago and they gave me the journalism gene. they have always been my sounding board and by cheerleaders.

my brother david for being so supportive and coming as well as france hear from near and far. i would be remiss if i did not acknowledge some of the people on the day as a i am lucky to. al hunt and andrea mitchell -- thank you -- congratulations on your award tonight. judy woodruff has always been a mentor to me. when i was offered the job at cnn, she is when the first people i saw. i asked her for advice. she told me not to worry, i would be fine. speaking of spouses, i want to thank my husband to is the journalist i most admire, but also the person ickes me grounded it reminds me of what is most important. he is the one who tells me, "honey, but the but very down. -- put the blackberry down."

>> now for a moment that is especially important. as you can imagine, there are many cool things about being chairman of the national press foundation. the coolest one is that each german is given the opportunity to present an award to someone he or she thinks has provided a seen a bigger role in the news gathering process. we move through our careers and stop and say there is somebody along the way he made all the difference for us. for me, that person is al hunt. not just for me, but for lots of us in this room. first is my colleague at the wall street journal and later at a bloomberg news, he has tutored a whole cadre of journalists in how to cover washington and cover it right. he has demonstrated that it is essential to bring fairness, accuracy, balance, toughness,

and analytical insight into the coverage. those were the standards he set and that he continues to set and the ones he conveys to those of us. he has been a pioneer in showing it is possible to move from eight stained wretch to television star and not lose your standards along the way. if you get confused with newt gingrich from time to time, it is a small price to pay. [laughter] anybody who knows al fet a friend in a pinch, you call on al hunt. [applause]

>> thank you. it is a real honor to be here tonight. in watching the academy awards sunday night, i saw my wife's reaction when christian bale seemed to forget his wife's name. let me begin by saying, thank you, judy, for being so supportive, understanding, patient, and letting me keep my maiden name. [laughter] i cannot tell you what an honor it is to be with every other recipient here tonight. you all actually earned it. i just got it. i want to take a point of personal privilege to talk about a person will fall in may, andrea mitchell, who is our daughter's godmother.

every kid ought to have a jewish godmother. [laughter] she is the hardest working and most versatile report i have ever known and one of the kindest and most generous friends. we spend every christmas morning going on a quarter- century with andrea. you notice we always tightened in january. we have had wonderful find. they had been dear friends who shared many painful moments in our lives any choice once. you get honors like this when you are old. formate, it always seems to be connected to jerry. about a decade ago i received an award at the university of kansas. talents and his expertise are amazing.

nobody can do everything that he can do. i am going to tell you however about a time he was eclipsed. when he and his wife covered egypt for the wall street journal, he was the backup. i remember several things about that william allen white award including the fact that the first recipient half a century earlier was one of my mentors, james reston of the new york times. as a college junior, i was a stringer in winston-salem. wallace carroll, the editor of the local paper and a former new york times executive, brought his good friend down for three days of lectures to the community. i covered him. it was one the most exciting moments of my life.

i remembered what was supposed to be his next-to-last night, in an interview with them. it was november 21, 1963. he said to me, "you have asked me lots of questions. what are you going to do with your life?" i said i was undecided between law school in journalism. he said that was easy. as i was saying at a lunch last week, in journalism you only meet interesting people. some are good, some are bad. they are all interesting. that is to makes news. if you do it well, it matters. there is a lot of anxiety in our business today. we have seen the diminution of great media enterprises. but amid the gloom, there are more than a few glimmers of

light and hope. bloomberg news is one. we are only a little over 20 years old, but we are blessed with resources, journalistic integrity, commitment, and a soaring ambition. these days here in washington and around the globe, issues are really complex. consensus is elusive, and change is on the present. what more could journalists ask for? what a time to be covering the news. if we do it well, as mr. reston said, it matters. whatever the short-term prevails, the marketplace and an satiable public thirst on reliable information and accountability in producing a new journalistic golden age. that is why it is exciting to go to work everyday. in closing, i want to thank

several people. first, my close friend of the late tim russert. i change jobs every 39 years. after being offered a job at a bloomberg in 2004, i thought about stretching back to 40 years. one november morning ,tim russert came over for breakfast. he heard me talk about my reservations. he said, "you are crazy. what do you mean you are undecided what you're going to do? take it. for god's sake, challenge yourself. do it. do it." and i did it. thank you, tim. the bureau chiefs know more about washington than anybody i know and make me look like and what i am doing.

i appreciate that. raquel is my assistant who knows and understands what i name rather than what i say. [applause] norman was my boss in the '80s and early 90s. he received the been bradley award in 1989 and then he took a small risk bite for a time and joined bloomberg in 2008. i remember thinking it was like being on the chicago bulls a decade ago and michael was back. we agree that we are working harder than we did 35 years ago, and we are a hell of a lot older. it is every bit as much fun. last but not least, my editor in chief. i have read that matt can be

demanding, even difficult. i can just tell you my experience. when he hired me six years ago to run the washington bureau, his instructions were simple. he said, "make it the best." we are still a work in progress, but we have come a long way and i would not trade it woman for a moment or man for man for a place else and every step of the way, matt winkler has been encouraging and supported. there is no one who does not bear the name of the company to has been more important to the extraordinary success and reach of bloomberg than matt winkler. i thank him for the opportunity in enabling me to feel young again. it is a real honor to receive this award from this foundation that has done so much good work.

i feel terrific about our business. i feel terrific about you all. i feel terrific about tonight. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you, al. al has answered our question tonight which was held journalism matters. >> this is why journalism matters. scottie would have treated eight response. probably not, actually. our next award is for excellence in broadcast journalism. the founder and publisher of broadcasting and cable magazine is a member of our board and a passionate defender of first amendment protection for broadcasters. the judges were unanimous in suggesting andrea mitchell and cnn as the winner. andrea is donating her award to the university of pennsylvania.

go quakers. here is a brief video about her career. >> it is fine. this job -- i love it. >> andrea mitchell is one of the most indefatigable reporters i have ever known. >> you have a connection to haiti. what does it mean to you? >> ander yet is as dedicated a reporter as i know. >> the government was so anxious for this experiment to succeed, that they were willing to overlook some things. >> when i think of the news, i think of her face. she is one of our constant. she is one of our north stars. >> the u.s. is on a worldwide alert. but officials guard against another attack by bin laden. unless saddam hussein backs

down, he will be hit and it soon. >> she had a great curiosity and was always looking for a new story. >> it was not easy for andrea or any other woman of her generation. andrea aren't hurt way. -- earned her way. andrea was their morning, noon, and night. she took whatever job was available to her. >> food and drug officials predict that congress will intervene. >> she is a real pioneer. she is fearless, but her depth of knowledge is what comes through. >> nicaragua exports drugs to us. >> you're calling her husband terrible names. little dictator in the green fatigues. how do you deal with her? >> she is a model in many ways for not just young women across the country, but for aspiring journalist. it is hard work. no one does it with more elan or enthusiasm.

>> any world leader who has encountered andrea will not soon forget the encounter. the yearly have the scars to prove it. >> for the sake of argument, who else? [laughter] >> when people see andrea, i it was fear come into the eyes of a political figure of some kind or the subject of one of her cross-examination. >> no matter what someone has done -- can you explain that for us? what is the reason someone would be sentenced to stoning. >> i would not want to look up at the television and see andrea no way that i had to compete against her whether she was playing for another team. >> if you think the issue of this child will become a permanent obstacle between the countries? >> she is tenacious. that there is a battle, i will side with andrea mitchell because she is going to win.

house democrats say you sold them out. >> if you sat down with mitch mcconnell. you cut a deal with the republicans. >> she will be tough, but she will be fair. the people who she covers completely understand that. >> do you think that you and george bush have left america not only stronger militarily, but with a better reputation abroad? >> mr. president, you seem to be having some difficulty with the pentagon. >> we all knew that andrea craved air time. she loved it. she liked to be on as much as anybody. on this particular day, she was complaining that she had only been on nightly news twice that week. oh, the horror. the problem was, it was wednesday. if there had only been two broadcast that week. >> their parties were a source or she would meet somebody. there was a great dedication in all of that. >> i loved having entry mitchell -- andrea mitchell on our team. she is a great friend.

she takes care of all of us. she is part den mother, a orbital sister, part big sister, -- part little sister, part big sister, part mother in this family of ours. >> she has our radar on all the time. >> she does not have they quit button. she does not have been off switch. -- she does not have an off switch. she is the most remarkable, self propelled force in journalism and life i have ever seen. >> ladies and gentlemen, andrea mitchell. [applause]

>> i am actually without words. to my colleagues, thank you for that tour of the hair styles. [laughter] to jerry, bob, and all my colleagues -- to al and judy, nothing could be more meaningful. have you arranged this, i do not know. to be honored along with al and judy. a story some may know is there was a time in april of 1981 when i was basically banned from the scenes of nbc by the then president of nbc news. there were a lot of reasons for that, but basically i messed up on the today show.

who knows what else happened. judy raised her hand and said, "send her over to us." i became be back up to the backup to john and judy. they basically, quietly, mostly without letting me know yet, but -- looked for ways to rehabilitate my career. story by story, a finding today show or weekend stories that they could pitch to the kid who had a lot left to prove. in so many ways, judy and al have been part of our lives. al mentioned some of the most meaningful. i cannot tell you what it means in my heart to be with you tonight. tom in that video mentioned in

the early years. here with the national press foundation and all of the great work you do i get all of the -- in all of the media platforms -- media platforms around the world, i thought it would be a useful reminder to talk about one of your antecedents, no longer with any connections with the press foundation. but looking back, 40 years ago this very week according to the washington post the jerry rodi trio serenaded the national press club to the tune of "thank heavens for little girls appear -- four little girls of." -- for little girls."

"those little girls included francis from the philadelphia inquirer. she was among the first women, 24 of them, to become members of the old national press club. before 1971 the biggest breakthrough for women reporters in this town had come in 1956 when elizabeth carpenter forced the club to let women assigned to a story to cover news maker luncheons at the press club from the balcony where they often could not hear the speakers whom they were covering. they were certainly not permitted to ask questions, but could look down on their male colleagues who were eating their lunch. at the time, i was a radio reporter in philadelphia covering a very controversial mayor. the advice that news makers are always interesting for good or ill certainly applied. i was dreaming up covering my first national political

convention which i was able to do the next year in 1972 in miami. today, i am living the dream. encouraged by an amazing news organization. through all of its many evolutions, this news organization has allowed me to work among the greats of our profession for more than 32 years. none of this would have been possible without the nbc news president, brian williams, and tom brokaw, the executive vice president. they had the vision and the commitment and they had expanded nbc be on the network to other -- beyond the network to other platforms, becoming a leader in cable and giving me the opportunity at msnbc to have a daily program and to work with so many colleagues.

now to be able to work with our new colleagues and collaborators at comcast represented here by david cohen. here tonight, might tenacious, -- my tenacious, unstinting executive producer and the heart and soul of our little team, michelle perry. here with us tonight, our bureau chief and nightly news producer. they lead us every day to greater achievements with my good friends, pals, and colleagues. of course, are rooting for me every day in every possible way, the most patient man -- allen. through every adventure and

every phone call -- i have a today show assignment, i will be home some time. heat up some dinner. thank you for this honor. it means more to meet then i can ever express. to our most loyal viewers -- and trust me on this -- there are no new more loyal viewers than the mitchells. they notice everything. [laughter] for many, many years but for too few, my days would begin every day with that voice urging me on saying, "mitch, what do you know?" he is a former winner of this

very award back in 2004. timmy, this one is for you. thank you. [applause] >> in his weekly radio and internet address, president obama urges congress to agree on a budget that cuts government spending without sacrificing immediate investments in education. he gave his remarks at a high school in miami worries but to students and faculty members. -- where he spoke to students and faculty members.

a tennessee senator gives the republican address. >> i am talking to you from miami, florida, where i am visiting miami central high school. the school has turned itself around. i came here with the former governor of florida, jeb bush. we share the view that education is an american issue. it is not a partisan issue. this is a moment when we all have to do what the students and teachers are doing here -- we have to step up our game. our top priority has to be creating new jobs and opportunities in a competitive world. this week we received very good news. we learned the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in nearly two years as our economy added another 222,000 private sector jobs last month. we have a lot more work to do for the millions of americans who do not have the right jobs or the work they need to live out the american dream.

the progress we are seeing -- there is something about the determination and ingenuity of our people and our businesses. we are helping fuel the economic growth with tax cuts that democrats and republicans came together to pass in december. tax cuts that are already making american policy paychecks bigger and allowing businesses to write all their investments, freeing up more money for job creation. just as both parties cooperated on tax relief that is fueling job growth, we need to come together to write a budget that cuts spending without slowing our economic momentum. we need a government that lives within its means without sacrificing job-creating investments in education, innovation, and infrastructure. the budget i sent to congress next these investments. it includes a five-year spending freeze that will reduce our deficit by $1 trillion and over the next decade. because i propose will bring --

the cuts i propose will bring annual domestic spending to its lowest share of the economy under any president in more than 50 years. for the last few weeks, members of congress have been debating their own proposal. i am please democrats and republicans came together a few days ago and passed a plan to cut spending to keep the government running for two more weeks. but we cannot do business two weeks at a time. it is not responsible. it threatens the progress of our economy has been making. we have to keep the momentum going. we need to come together, democrats and republicans, around a long-term budget with sacrifices that do not sacrifice the job-creating investments in our future. mike administration has put forward specific cuts that may professional republicans halfway. i am prepared to do more. we will only finish the job together by sitting at the same table, working out our differences, and finding common ground. vice president biden and the rest of my administration will meet with the members of congress going forward. getting our fiscal house in

order cannot be something we used as cover to do away with the things we do politically. -- we dislike politically. it cannot be about how much we cut. it has to be about how we cut and how we invest. we ought to be smart. if we cut back on the kids in that year and their education, we would be risking the future of an entire generation of americans. there is nothing responsible about that. we have to put america back on the fiscally unsustainable course and make sure that when it comes to the economy of our 21st century, our children and our country are better prepared than anyone else in the world to take it on. our future depends on it. it is not a democratic or republican challenge -- it is an american challenge. i am, and that it is one we will -- i am confident that it is one we will meet. crosses for listing. >> hello. i am in black. i am a small-business owner and

i taught at a local community college. i am also a mother of three and a grandmother of six. just two months ago today, i had the honor of being sworn in to serve the people of tennessee's 6 congressional district as part of the new republican freshman class in the house of representatives. my colleagues and i know that we were not sent to washington to set on our hands are to find new ways to avoid work. -- or to find new ways to avoid work. we were set by our constituents to help but an anti-washington policies that are making it harder to create jobs and threatening our nation's future. job creation has to be the number-one priority for both parties. the policies of the past have not worked. despite some signs of life in our economy, the unemployment rate is still far above the level that was promised when the stimulus bill was signed into law. we need a new approach, a path to prosperity begins government

out of the way by cutting unnecessary spending and removing barriers to job growth. we need to unleash our nation by three economy instead of burying -- nation's economy instead of burying it under a mountain of regulation, taxation, and debt. since the moment we were sworn into office, this has been our focus. whenever i tore my district and i ask small business people what i can do to help, they tell me to get government out of the way. they will create the jobs on their own. this is why our new majority is taking a complete inventory on washington's rules and regulations, looking to root -- root out l.p. ones that make it harder to -- root out the ones that make it harder to create jobs. we have to find things that it could have been discovered in washington had been doing their

work in an open and transparent way. there is no better example of this than the 1099 paperwork in obama care. the house passed a bill this week to repeal it. soon we are going to vote to cut wasteful mandatory spending programs, not just in obama care, but also in the dodd- frank regulations bill. we also have our eye on epa rules that are hurting job creation and creating a higher gas prices. it is just not be overreaching that has to stop. it is the overspending, which many economists agree is a barrier to job creation. it has now been just two weeks since the house passed a bill that makes much needed spending cuts and keeps the government running through the end of the fiscal year. unfortunately the democrats to run the senate have not allowed a vote on this bill or any other bill that would cut spending and keep the government running long term. you may have heard president

obama say that we need to make sure we are living within our means. he is right about that. unfortunately his budget does not match his words. it continues out of control spending, it adds to our $14 trillion debt. it adds to the uncertainty that makes it harder to create jobs. maintaining the status quo in refusing to offer a credible plan to cut spending is inexcusable. it is unacceptable. again, we were not sent here to sit on our hands. the american people want us to keep the government running by cutting its costs. republicans spearheaded the passage of a short-term measure that cuts spending by $4 billion. that is $4 billion of your money that would otherwise have gone to earmarks and other wasteful programs. it is a start, but it does not nearly enough.

by enacting this bill,we a provided another two weeks for our democratic colleagues to pass hr1. or to pass a credible alternative that meets the people's priorities. doing nothing is not an option. after two years, we know the government does not create private sector jobs. it is small businesses and the people behind them that do. that is why our majority is focused on getting government out of the way and charting a new path to prosperity. it is what our constituents sent us here to do. it is what we need to do for the future of our children and our country. thank you for listening. >> next, a portrait unveiling for senate majority leader bill frist. then, a discussion of the progress women have made in america.

after that, the supreme court arguments in ashcroft versus al- kidd. >> beef anniversary of president lincoln's address. we will go to f street in washington and visit the home of woodrow and edith wilson. an author talks about dwight eisenhower, the cold war, in the buildup of our nuclear arsenal. american history tv on c-span3. get the complete schedule on- line at c-span.org/history. >> as cabinet secretaries meet

with members of congress, what's the hearings on line at the c- span video library. search, watch, clip, and share. it is washington your way. >> on wednesday, a painting of former senate majority leader bill frist was unveiled. we will hear remarks from senate majority leader harry reid, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, and former president george w. bush. this is 40 minutes. >> i have been asked to request that everybody turn off their cell phones and that your minds and hearts be turned on. >> we are here for a very special occasion. on the top of the washington monument is an aluminum, beautiful shaped

[unintelligible] and there are two words printed on it. they are in latin. they are actually seven letters. "praise be to god." is it not marvelous that we are here in this historic chamber this afternoon and 555 feet above us is this declaration of praising god for all that we have and all that we are? let us pray together. almighty god, we thank you that we can come together to praise you. we are so thankful for our history as a nation -- one

nation under god -- and we are reminded again that to praise you is the antidote to pride. admiration for your wisdom is the key to magnificent accomplishments. gratitude for your business is the real secret to greatness. this afternoon we honor senator william harrison frist, a cherished friend, benchmark physician, surgeon, a distinguished senator and former majority leader. we salute this man for all seasons, who is motivated by the best all reasons, to glorify you. we are stunned again by the multitude of his accomplishments in medicine and government and in addition to

all he has done here, we thank you that you have a simplified your grace and mercy in those many trips to africa to bring his surgical and healing skills to the most remote areas and do the most destitute and neglected people. thank you for his leadership and efforts to relieve suffering in haiti and in other distressed places in the world. thank you for his very generous philanthropy. so many of us gathered here together this afternoon have our own personal stories of bill's attentive, caring for and -- carried in french it shipped to our personal needs, but no one here could forget that afternoon and the shooting of two capital guards when dr. frist picked up his bag and ran to help.

on 9/11 when he was a source of comfort and advice and insight, the anthrax attack, the countless, demanding challenges of senate leadership -- lord, we know that of all your blessings to the senator, he would be the first to say that the greatest art his beloved wife, karen, and his three sons, harrison, jonathan, and brian. we thank you for is leadership here in the capital, encouraging friendship among the senate spouses. now as the senator's portrait is unveiled and hangs year in the capital, may it be an information of his continued -- information of his continued influence in our time and the

impact of his life on american history. together we say with them, "praise be to god." amen. >> it is a pleasure to be here with president bush, senator frist, and all of you. i have been in public service for a long time. i have worked with a lot of public servants. i am glad to say publicly what i have told him privately -- i have never served with someone who cared more than someone who so clearly cared more for other people than bill frist. he spent his entire life making other's lives better. he served his community in

surgery. when he realized he could pursue the same passion on a larger scale, he helped so many more. he chose to represent his stake in the united states senate and his state twice chose him. he chose to represent his peers in the senate leadership and his peers emphatically chose him. they elected him to that role after he had served fewer years in congress than anyone ever elected to the senate. he may have retired from the senate, but you never retire from service. 12 title changes in his career. -- through all the title changes in his career -- physician, a politician, a businessman, father -- bill frist has never forgotten the importance of the individual in the work he has done. he has never forgotten that our nation's security and our solemn responsibility to the world.

is knowing how compellingly we can prevent pain and relieved it. though he was trained at our country's most spritz aegis school and learn from the finest thought, senator frist did not confine his skills to be world- class hospitals. he performed surgery on the fort -- on the front lines of some of the world's most dangerous places. he has helped lives in places like sudan and haiti. dr. frist's bravery knows no borders. his commitment to service is beyond limits and pierre. i know he appreciates the title of humanitarian more than the one for which we honor him. because he does, we appreciate him. above my desk in my office down the hall from here, i keep a

portrait of another great man from tennessee and another former member of congress, andrew jackson. jackson once said, "one man with courage makes a majority." my friend bill frist is a man with infinite courage to make a fine majority leader. he held the same seat that jackson held two centuries earlier and now both of their portraits hang near each other in this great building we call the united states capitol. bill frist help choose the artist for commissions like this one here we are here to see today. as we will soon see when we unveil this work of art, michael has wonderfully captured senator frist's lightness for prosperity. dr., senator, mr. leader, bill

-- congratulations to you and to karen and the boys, harrison, jonathan, and brian. before we hear from senator frist, please join me in welcoming the president. the first i had the honor of serving with. it is my honor and pleasure to introduce to you the 43rd president of the united states, george w. bush. [applause] >> thank you. please be seated. thank you. please be seated. it takes a really good friend to get me to come back to washington. [laughter]

i am to real to be here. laura sends her love to karen and bill. bill was wise enough to marry a texan. i am proud to be here with senator reid and senator mcconnell. they represent the present. i represent the past. [laughter] i welcome those who have served in the past. i can assure you, bill, that we are delighted to be here to watch you find. -- watch you hang. [laughter] not exactly. i appreciate bill frist of lot. i appreciate the fact that he loved and respects his wife. i love the fact that he always talks about his son's. sometimes you probably tested

his patients, but you never able to break is love. i admire the fact that bill served during tough times. but he led the senate in a gentlemanly way. i appreciated the tone he set. there he was willing to be inconvenienced. he is a man of accomplishment. he did a lot. i think when people look back at your record, bill, they will say, well, you did a lot of good stuff for america. i appreciate the fact that bill frist lived by that call by to whom much is given, much is required. someone told me in the oval

office, you're not going to believe this, senator frescoes that africa to save lives what other people go on the campaign. this guy is saving lives on the continent of africa. you get god-given talent that he was willing to use on behalf of those who suffered. i said, you mean senator bill frist? he said, exactly who i mean, bill frist, during the senate recess, takes time out of his life to save lives. i thought that was an awesome example of what it means to be a public servant. i am delighted to be here to introduce to you the man -- that's up the portrait looks like him, and too -- [laughter] it would be a rough moment if the unveiling and he goes, who's that? [laughter]

the portrait we are about to say, a great man, a great american, bill frist. [applause] >> thank you, thank you. thanks. norman shot way -- wchumway was smart. peering over an open chest

cavity, with a heart from the side, and guiding my novice hands at the time as we said in -- sewed in a vibrant young hard to save the life, he said, remember, what ever you are doing, you never a moment. you're only renting it. -- you never own it. you are only renting it. thank you, mr. president, for your remarks, for your being here today to be with primarily the pressed family. a big family, the frist, and many of your admirers and supporters over the era that we

served together. your dad and mother, the relationship between laura and karen, your siblings and my kid siblings, i feel a kinship and our families. mr. president, sunday's -- someday there just might be a george bush forrist. [laughter] a little scary, but if you had run for election and this guy right here, harrison, had not chosen to meet rigid work in relation, and then meet that girl, and then five years later, at the top of the capitol, gotten engaged in recently married, we simply would not be here is a family.

it is frightening, george bush frist. golly. mr. president, we and our your post-presidential grace and i had the opportunity of seeing it on the ground. smiling, having a good side, but it is kind of sad. we are in there -- they are out there, and we're in here. you will see the interlocking relationship. at that point in time, president bush and president clinton locked together. two days later house on the ground with others who had been doing so much and had the opportunity to spend time with john frist who is doing surgery, seen response to one of the

worst earthquakes in history. then president bush and president clinton getting together, raising a huge amount of money, invested, not throwing money at haiti, invested in creating hope for the future. you demonstrated so many ways that life outside of washington gives us opportunities to participate and lift people up in so many ways. i applaud your work in haiti. if had the pleasure working with you there. to my colleagues, harry reid and mitch mcconnell, the leadership -- the portrait is nice and i am honored, but it represents an era. note to senators both past and president who did not more to shape that arab and harry reid and met -- than harry reid and mitch mcconnell. i enjoyed working with you, and

though our opinions diverged naturally, and being in different places at different times, you're always forthright in your conviction stand tall and we all admire that. mitch mcconnell, so many days and some of the senators both recently retired and current senators would come in, and we would be right behind that door because that is where the majority leader office is. the trust, the sharing, the real intimacy of human relationships all in the interest of the country, sometimes it is really tough an agonizing, if playing out under the leadership of mitch mcconnell. he and nine words together day in and day out. to all my other senate colleagues, but president -- past and present here today, i think this represents a time and a moment of repose but also a time of reflection.

your dedicated work -- you realize it more after you leave then when you are here -- provides that real pulse of our democracy that is there. you almost taken for granted why you're here because you're fulfilling the responsibilities. but once you leave, you realize that pulse every day continuous, sometimes faster, sometimes lower is provided by you. dr. ogilvie who you heard, is a doctor ogilvy for the lord speaking with that voice? every day, and those you from national and tennessee, thank you for coming, but every day the senate would not open, we were not new that nation's business until the chaplain of the senate, lloyd cole will become a gave that guiding message. -- lloyd at ogilvy, gave that guiding message. a lot of our staff that had been

with me over they years, you cannot help realize that once you leave the senate, those relationships never end. i am reminded of formal service and then things continued happened. with other senators, with staff, with people who use these halls together, and i am reminded about two years after i left the senate, and after lloyd ogilvy had left the in the senate chaplain, i remember of glorious yellow-orange sun rising over notion with crash -- and coercion with crashing waves, and karen and i had our feet in those waves, and this was after the senate, but lloyd ogilvy was out there advertising a member of my family. baptizing a member of my

family. the relationships are organic and they continue to live forever. karen and brian and harrison and i, we shared it with some many of you who came up from tennessee in 1993, the don quixote-type journey, because i was out transplanting hearts, and they said, have you lost your mind to go to the united states and in? and maybe karen thought we had initially. the boys did not really know. but once we made that decision, and i say this to karen, once we set -- once we decided to come to the united states senate, karen looked back. and she never wavered in terms of support and sacrifice that all the senators and the spouses who are here know that you have to make. and i thank you for that.

with harrison and jonathan in bryan, in 1993 you do not know what to expect, but it is tough. they came here as little boys in the left as grown men. and that is the greatest gift, that children can give their parents, the fact that they grew out of that adolescent period, lots of ups, a few downs, but grew into outstanding young man who they themselves are committed to lives of service, the greatest gift that children can give to their parents. my four older siblings are there. very rare that we are all together, even though mom and dad died a couple of years ago, we are all over the country. i am the youngest of five children, the baby of the family. and i address them, i think and

we all think of mother and dad, two unbelievable people. most people think that -- think that about their parents. but they have the basic tennessee valley is that they did the best to pass on to us. you know that they are up there smiling. this is what they wanted, what we drove about, to have the five of them together, help the and living out their dreams like this. the healthy and living out their dreams like that. the matriarch of the family here today, the grandmother out there, the matriarch, and i thank you for bringing your family with us today. the historic chamber -- was just talking to the president. many have not been in this chamber, this is where all the great debates took place, all of the great debates. honestly, you do not hear it did

great webster debates, the clay debates, they all took place in this historic chamber. as i mentioned, the majority leader for the republican leader office is right on the other side of those stores. and you hear the hundreds of people coming in here every day, because it is the door, the hallway, and the door at the desk. as you are working through the day, as mitch knows, if you hear all data hundreds of people coming in here, and thousands over the week, to pay their respects to this room. the seat of democracy, the upper level of our congress, to represent freedom are around the world. and they remind me of the staff. the team of people who give of their time, very quietly, silently, tirelessly, to serve not just a leader but to serve their country. the same tradition that is

represented by this room here today. the staff are the bedrock of this institution. to each of them in this room and listening elsewhere, you play the unique role in history. friends who are here, who came up, your sacrifices in contributions and support are what got us here. we have been blessed to know you. shane, why don't you stand up? have your family stand up as well. karen and i have looked forward to this day for many months. we had a wonderful time literally -- shame, you cannot have to keep standing. literally working with my three boys on his portraits and other portraits. michael shane knows our entire family personally. there were seven or eight years

ago where i had him stand again as we unveil the vanderburgh portrait in the senate reception room, and permanently painted into the wall there. he is one of the great portrait artist of our time. he loves the institution of the united states senate. he passionately loves american history. he is a warming, caring individual. i have witnessed in be a great father integrates bows. he is a man whose work you can on a judge. i asked him to make a little thinner, a little younger, and we will see if he pulled it off. the un to melanie and your children, we thank all of you for being here today. i will speeded up, mr. president. [laughter] i can just feel it. let's go, let's get it moving. it is nice to go back to texas and nashville, isn't?

one of the things -- i do not have any message today, but one of the things that you do hope to do, even if you are just renting space like we as senators and members of the house do, you leave something here, a hint of something that makes it a little different, shapes in a way, maybe makes it better. and what i hope that karen and i have done is left the senate with a mere suggestion, a hint of a return to this concept of the citizen legislator. of someone who comes to the senate from a regular job -- i do not know of heart transplants are regular job, but they are not a political job. [laughter] they come here for a period of time with no intention of

making a career out of politics , and the doctor as we were selling in that hard, you are renting time. you never own it. and then voluntarily leaving and hopefully enter a more productive phase of your life. i don't think we live too far away from the non-career politicians. all sorts are reasons for. from 1810-1859, when this was used as the senate, this is an example of decisions -- doctors. there were 17 doctors are elected to the united states senate over that 15 years. that would come for a period of time and then they would go home and practice. over that 50 years that i was -- the 15 years, there were 17 back in this room, there was one

doctor and that was me. it does not tell an exact story, but it says that we need to go out and give people with real life experience and encourage them to run. i hope that our service says that you can do it, maybe not purposely, but -- perfectly, but to the best of your ability. financially it may hurt, but your family can stay intact and you can live a better life. and inspire others to do it. i have never served in public office, never run for office in the past. voluntarily coming and voluntarily leaving. in closing, one individual not with us here today who could not travel, but who i talked to and who sends a letter as well. one who has had the distinct privilege of representing the great state of tennessee, a great volunteer state, and thank all of you who have been to

represent tennessee today. and also had the privilege of serving in that office as majority leader of the united states senate, and that is howard baker. it was he who was the first to decide whether or not to run and pointed out that the great people debating in here, henry clay, daniel webster, john c. calhoun, indeed they were not career politicians. in fact, it was rotational at the time and they would come in and run and then they would go back home and do what they were doing and then they would come back for a period of time. henry clay served as a senator on four different occasions, rotating through in going back home between 18 06 and 1852. howard baker is the epitome of what i think it takes to lead the united states senate. we love you and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for that very early encouragement to take a doctor to yes was out there treating

patients one on one every day, to run for the united states senate, having never run for public office, having never served in public office. if it was not for that simple inspiration, that encouragement of someone who had been at this podium and in this chamber, we simply would not be here today. thank all of you for sharing the special that. -- this special day. it is not a portrait or my family, but it really represents the respect of the greatest and most unique of all institutions in the world, i truly believe, the united states senate. god bless you all. thank you. [applause]

>> it is wonderful to see you again. mr. president, nice to welcome you back to town. my friend and colleague, harry reid. and of course, are hungary today, bill frist. -- our honoree today, bill frist. you have heard how he has touched all lot of lives. i will share my favorite. fort campbell covers the border of tennessee and kentucky. the post office is in kentucky so we claimant. [laughter] there was a young commander of the 101st airborne who was observing a live fire exercises. a young shoulder -- soldiered

tread and discharged his weapon and shot him right in the chest. it was pretty clear pretty early that this fellow was in trouble. we got him on the helicopter and flew him down to nashville. a young surgeon, bill frist, save the life of general david petreaus. and so the influence and the good work of bill frist is far and wide. it is fitting that we are here today to honor this good man. i want to welcome as other haves the members of the thrust -- frist family. it is indeed a large one. a lot has been said about this good man. i would like to add a brief word of my own. when you come across a man like bill frist, you cannot help but wonder where does it all come from.

no one doubts that it takes a lot of natural talent to become a top transplant surgeon. no one doubts it takes a lot of hard work to switch careers in the middle of one's life. and then in your new career, flourish and rise to the top as quickly as bill did. those accomplishments are so singularly impressive, if you suspect there is a little bit more to it than that. i think that bill provides an answer himself in the book he wrote about his own life. there he recalls that as a child growing up in nashville, you grew accustomed to the sound of his father's car pulling out of the driveway in the middle of the night to make a house call. how he got used to being pulled aside by strangers come up

making him for something his dad had done for them. and he recalls that when it came time to say his prayers at night, he did not want to n kneel, and he asked his father if he did say his prayers in his bed instead, his father said, bill, the lord does not answer a lazy man's purse. [laughter] he talks about the goodness of his wife, and his grandfather who single act of heroism nearly a years ago continues to inspire the frist family to continue to serve today. it is clear in other words that bill frist has had the benefit of a good example. examples that all of us in turn have benefited from as well. there are association with him, and like his father, has provided -- combined public

service with a doctor's concern for other people. he has shown all of us here and many others what it means to serve. and that is a legacy that any man would be brought up. and not -- would be proud of. and now i would like to ask his family to come to the easel for the unveiling and that all the rest of you are invited to the mansfield room shortly after now for the reception. [laughter] [applause]

[laughter] [applause] >> lloyd, come over here. [laughter]

[inaudible] >> thank you all, thank you so much. [applause] ♪

>> next, a discussion on the progress women have made an american. after that, a supreme court oral argument on as croft v. al-kidd. tomorrow, frank luntz talks about his new book on business. the president of the american federation of teachers discusses the issue of collective bargaining in the impact of budget cuts on teachers.

and the executive director of the center for responsive politics identifies the groups and individuals donating and sparring political movements and advertising around the country. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c- span. >> i find more and more the behavior of professional sports owners to be unseemly in the sense that they want hundreds of millions of dollars from their communities and yet they do not really participate in the problems of those communities. to get this sunday on q&a, sally jenkins on the intersection of sports and public policy on "q&a." >> avenue white house report says that women in america are using 75 cents for every dollar earned by men. the report also says women are on pace to make up 60% of college undergraduates by the year 2019.

there is no new research in the study but it does bring data together from across the federal government. administration officials and women activists talked about the report and a forum hosted by the center for american progress. this is one hour and 20 minutes. my name is heather boucher. i'm senior economist at the center for american progress and it is my honor and privilege to introduce and welcome you all to this event this afternoon. i have to say as an economist, this is commiped of event. i'm so excited about this report about the conversation we're going to have today. and we're so honored to be co-hosting with the white house council on women and girls. i hope all of you enjoy it as much as i intend to. we at the center for american progress and i'm sure many of you in the audience greatly appreciate the support this administration has given to advancing the cause of women and girls not only in the united

states but around the world. that's what we're talking about today. the cause of women and girls has been a priority from day one when the president, one of the first bills he signed the lilly ledbetter fair pay act. in last year's budget and this year's budget, the administration has tried to put its money where its mouth is and try to invest in programs that affect working families including funds for stites start up pay family medical leave program and impended care tax credit. where those play out in terms of we're appreciative of the administration's hard work on those efforts. today we're not hearing so much talk about policy but we're here to talk about a new report which i already dog eared with a lot of colored sticky. called women in america, indicators of social well being. this report documents the enormous progress and, of course, where there's ample room for improvement for women and their families.

i want to take a moment before we get into the nuts and bolts of the report to talk for a second about how the ability of this report to be wring is because of the important work that all of the statistical agencies of the u.s. government do that allows those of us like myself, economist, researchers, all of us who play with data all the time tell us what's going on in our country, how it's affecting women in our families. without access to the data, we would not be able to tell you much about the world when we were working on the shriver report a couple of years ago, we made so much use of government data. through that we were able to document that women were half of all u.s. workers on u.s. payrolls and increasingly becoming breadwinners for their families. without the work done year after jeer in the statistical agencies to tell us, we wouldn't know. that is why this report is so exciting because what it's done is pull together data from a

whole variety of agencies to tell us a story about what is happening to women in america. now i want to introduce the first presenter and then go on to painl where we're going to accept some of the fundings and i do not have the opportunity to introduce the whole panel and note it was a distinguished group so we will hear more about that in a minute. first the author, first of all, it is just plaveragee to introduce becky blank. she's one of my favorite economists, role model for us in the field. right now she's a long title -- accounting deputy secretary and undersecretary for economic affairs at the department of commerce which she overseas the 12 bureaus and functions as chief operating officer and head of the economics and statistics administration where she oversees the census bureau and bureau of economic analysis.

i know that i sleep together at night knowing becky is in charge staft 'tis cal agency. thank you and we appreciate your service for all of us. prior to joining the administration, she was dean of the gerald f. ford public policy school of michigan. this is, of course serksd stint here in washington or at least may have had read about this morning where she was on prn's council of economic advisers and we're very pleased to her joining us today. next the general counsel and senior policy adviser in the office of management and budget. she's been referred to as a legal superstar by "the new york times," which is very impressive.

she has been actively involved and previously served on the national women's law center, and national center for research on women. thank you. we're so excited to hear about the report. finally, it is also my honor toint deuce tina chen, executive director of the white house counsel on women and girls and chief of staff to the first lady. over the past couple years, i have gotten to know tina a little bit at various meetings and she's often the one we all yell out for more things that we want. i love the fact she also takes it with smile and says yes, that's great. so it's just been a delight to know you over the past few years. she's one of the most visible faces at the white house and she works very closely with all federal agencies tone sure increased focus on government programs serving the needs of women and families. prior to a role at the white house, tina spent 25 years at a lawyer in chicago with the same firm as prita, which i get to

say the name again, standard, art, pfleger and slcum and a variety of corporate clients. tina was also an active support every of women's rights and played sathe role to push illinois to ratify the equal rights amendment and wrote a log spanning -- well, we will note, a illinois definition of rape that includes sexual abuse. help me give a warm welcome to our presenters this afternoon. thank you. >> thank you. it is great to be here today. i appreciate coming out to hear a little bit about this report. the reports we're talking about, women in america and social and economical well being provides a statistical portrait of how women are faring in the united states today and how their lives have changed over the last several decades.

the report itself focuses on five key areas and goes through areas one by one with a number of kai areas in each area -- families in income, education, employment, health and then crime and violation. in each area the report highlights some of the most critical information on outcomes among women compared to men. as hedge nortes, this comes together because it's all data from the federal statistical agencies by bringing this data together, you can go and find pieces of the data on one website and pieces on another website. our purpose is to be a comprehensive source of information on will's lives today. in fact we believe this is most sensible report issued since 1962 whether the commission on the status 0 of women, established by president kennedy and coshared by eleanor roosevelt, had a report on the conditions facing women. some of you know there's quite a bit of press on this report. i'm really pleased it's one of the few cases i veen where there's actually two co-chairs to this early report that keeps

getting mentioned and the man is just never mentioned. richard lester, famous economist, for those of you who know him. this reflects on the department of o.m.b., department of commerce and five of six federal statistical agencies. i want to thank valerie jarrett and tina them, council on and co-chairs and others who make the results of this report known. prieta and her office at o.m.b. worked with a number of folks to conceptualize what this report should contain and the folks in my office really put the entire report together. they had a lot of help. staff from six to eight agencies helped identify the data and documents the trends. i want everyone who worked on the report, wave your hands, stand up. i would like to give you a round of applause. identify yourselves.

thank you all. so i want to highlight just aa few pages from the report and what i would like to do is whet your appetite through report in a lot more detail. this is amazing. let's turn to the section on families. we have a number of drafts here. what i'm showing you is age of mothers by first birth. you can see how age of first birth is changing in different age groups over time. and it's important to know the age of mothers has gone up quite steadily over the 40-year time period. share of women in their 30 ds giving birth the first time risen from 4% in 1970 to 22% in 2007.

at the same time the scher share of births steadily declined. this is good if you think women need more education now than ever before. the share of mothers whose first birth is over 40 is actually noticeable. you couldn't see it in the earlier years. so the series of pitchers and charts and pages that look at the most traditional lives of women around marriage and children, together with this page, tell the story of how the lives changed incredibly over 0 the last 30 to 40 decades. women delay birth. they delay marriage. the number of children that they have as a result is less than it used to be. so we have all of these trends interacting to the education employment trends that are discussed later in the report. women increased education spening more years in school and increase labor market worker, two of the reasons why age of first birth is delayed.

just get a sense of how traditionalized women changed over time. if we move to the education section, here's an area where women are actually rapidly surpassing men. as this figure shows, it show u.s. the percentage of women and men ages 25 to 34 who have earned a college degree and women are the yellow line, men are the blue line. women in this age group, younger women more likely than men to obtain college degree and you see that very steep upward slope in the likelihood of women finishing college where men quite honestly have been virtually flat since the mid-1970's. those trends are similar whether you look at black women, hispanic women, american indian women. in all cases you see very strong increases in education that are not matched by cases of all men and men are more likely to get college degrees than men. on the one hand it's good to see

education increasing. jobs of the future need more educated workers. on the other hand the male/female divergence and particularly looking aat men, future earning prospects for less educated men and implications of this trend for marriage behavior in the future. these improvements in education have not led to closing of the age gap. in part this is because women focus educational training in area that's tend to pay less. lack of women in the so-called stem areas, science, technology, engineering and mathematics is one concern. since they pay for and it is provided for america to stay at the forefront of education. and it's why america ab tracts more students or particularly wix in stem-related field. we can turn next and talk about earnings but i suspect what i know about this crowd and i recognize a good number of you you're pretty familiar with the fact there is a wage gender gap out there and that women make

less than men. rather than focusing on the earnings issue i will encourage you to look at that and many of the news reports focused on earnings i will turn next to help. -- health. this is one of the many charts in health that looks in chronic health conditions. 'don't typically do health-related work but as you know a lot of this is about how long people live and big health issues like heart disease and cancer. what this report shows to a whole series of charts is one of the disproportionate gender gaps is all about chronic health issues. 1 yes, women live longer than men that.s0 gap hasn't narrowed recently in recent years but what distinguishes women from men are variety of chronic problems. women have more more billty issues, as this chart shows you you they're more likely to experience arthritis, asthma, chronic bronchitis. they're more likely to survive

cancer. these issues tie in with other issues we discuss on further pages. women are more likely to be obese and engage in less physical exercise. they are more likely to experience depression. while women live longer, they face greater chall emplings on these medical issues and quite strikingly if you care about the health insurance agenda, managing these sorts of chronic health problems really requires regular and good economic care. i'm not going to talk about any of the data in the violent crime section. this is on time use, comparison of how men and women spend their time. this shows a variety of selected activities and let be clear about who's on this graph. looking at weekdays, monday through friday, no saturdays or sundays and looking at married men and women who both work. we try to take a pretty comparable group of people and say how different a very comparable group of people and

how they spend time. there are gender differences. men spend more time in market work and no such women spend more time caring for other family members. men spend more time at leisure and sports and women actually have a little bit more sleeping time but women spend more time in own activities. 9 next page after this looks at volunteer work. it turns out women spend more time volunteering at a wide variety of organizations. on the weekdays it matters men and women if you add market work and nonmarket work spend about the same amount of time working. if you add the weekend, that isn't trufmentely let you know who's on top on the weekend spending more time on nonmarket work and caring for the household. overall this report is designed to do two things -- first pries a portrait of women's lives and how those lives are changing,

giving you the most updated information in america. i think the whole report is a series of good news and bad news illuminating areas where people made substantial progress over time but illuminating area where's women face challenges and policymakers and advocates might focus their efforts. i hope you find this report as interesting to read as we found to put together. i know simply reading the facts about what's happening in people's lives is not a substitute for action but faced by women of all ages and background but facts deeply important to paint a picture, of how lives of american men and women are changing over time and pointing to actions and policies that might be useful. better understanding women's economic and social well being will help us all understand awe need to do in the years ahead to make the future look better than it does today. thank you.

>> for the first time o.m.b., department of commerce and statistical agencies work together to put all of the vast resources of the federal government, data resources, on to one site as they relate to women. i should start by saying this, o.m.b. has among our divorces kathy wallman, who i want to recognize the chief statistician of the federal government. she worked with the agencies to come together and conceive of this report. let me just --ly direct you to the website. it is found on women and girls page and you will find the data on women link, which is right here, will take you to the

report and underlying data. this outlines the report and five areas in it. if you click on any one area, it will take you to a description of some of the reports summary or more importantly i think and for purposes of the website, additional -- substantial additional information so it directs you to the actual agency, federal statistical page that collects the data about women noor statistical agency. under each there's substantial additional resources. so, for example, this is the demographic page. if you start going to the drop-down things, you will see noigs what's in the data report, you have population beige and size, a lot of indicators. these come from a number of statistical agency without respect to each of the areas. the demographic information is department of commess but there's labor sta 'tis 'tis ticks, age of information relating to the age of first

marriage, children. on the demographic side i want to highlight one point and i want to you go through this website yourself. i think you will see a lot of information there. but i want to highlight one thing that's not in the report among many on the website, family status and household relationships. if you click on the first link, cohabitation link, it takes you to the data agency's page. this is the first time all of this data on women across the federal government has been assembled on one site. it will take you directly to this other site. that was working main ago that.s0 study talks about cohabitation. the 2002 report is currently being updated but that suggests more men and women cohabited before get married. 23% of women and 18% of men

married without cohabiting. interesting facts like you you will find interexperienced throughout the report. all right. i don't know how to get out of this now. this is the back. sorry. all right. can someone -- can we get out of this if you go up, each of the five

areas of the report have a different statistical compendium. as far as the education report, again, you see the links to the data agencies, especially nces, national center on education statistics or national science foundation which had a lot of the data on the stem-related issues. they have a few reports that are related to women and really, really extensive listings of additional data that's available. one thing i want to point out on the education plate is on the financial assistance point, women, it turns out, whether pursuing undergraduate degrees they're more than likely to receive financial siftance as they're pursuing those degrees. but in the science stem areas, the reverse is true. if you flick on the charts, that information becomes apparent. on the employment-related charts, the department of labor has for decades and nearly a century, more than saintry, collected really extensive data and ott labor market and jernter

participation in the labor market. i'm just giving you a flavor of the vast number of links available. butly not go through this one in particular. i think the same thing on health. principal source is c.d.c. and the national center for health statistic within c.d.c. so here we have a lot on life expectancy, mortality, fertility and mortality i think under the fertility and nay tallty page you will see a lot of information about birth rates, breastfeeding, average age of mothers giving births, health conditions. i encourage you sfoned time going through this. there are really interesting statistics here on mental health. crime and violence, extensive set of indicators, drop-down from here. most from the bureau of justice

statistics. a loff of information about victimization. the cost of violence against women. you will see the use of health services, by use of violence and sexual assault. a lot of information from various sources, both from the health side as well as justice side on both kind of statistics. in any event the purpose of the broad data report, not just the report but underlying website is to further president obama's commitment to evidence-based policy making. right when the council on women and girls was formed at the beginning of the administration, o.m.b. with cath yill wallman and function within statistics began working with c.w.g. snord to compile the vast data resources of the federal government as they relate to women in order to provide useful information to federal officials in all agencies and to provide information from o.m.b. in terms of prioritizing, budgetary and poll is making resources and evaluating how well existing approaches are working. the website is a work in

progress and we encourage you to give us input as we make it better. the idea is we want to have one central compenden that makes it easy and accessible for policy and researchers to work with government, partner with us and help us identify the policies that can impact the lives of women. the data initiative is part of that broader goal. over the course of preparing the report and putting the data together on the website, we realize that there was some gaps -- overwhelmingly the feeling i came away from as a nonstatus igs is the overwhelming federal statistical resources. data agencies do an extraordinary amount of work in collecting very very, interesting and useful data. but we depiped a few gaps in respect to collection of dwrate on women. so this morning actually, president obama issued a presidential memorandum to agencies which was handed out in the back, which i hope you have in front of you where he encourages all agencies to continue to work together to

identify gaps in data collection if they relate to women and seek to address them. the council on women and girls has already been working with a number of agencies to address data collection issues relating to work family life balance, pay equity, domestic violence, so a lot of those efforts are already under way. in addition the president highlight threed additional efforts he hopes agencies will both continue and continue work on. one is the maternal mortality statistic. since 2003, these statistics have been collected for a long time but since 2003 ability to form late a national statistic with respect to mortality rates has been limited because the states were in the midst of a transition. and other areas in the midst of a transition to a different vital records check system. nchs, national sent are for health statistics is encouraged to work as they have been with states and registration areas to complete that transition so good and accurate maternal mortality

and health statistics can once again be gathered on a national basis. in addition the president encourages the securities and exchange commission to work within an existing data collections and seek to supplement them in order to collect data on women in corporate leadership. finally the president asks the federal agency to work on collecting data on women in public life, and women in public leadership roles. those threer big areas in addition to many, many other areas that the council of women and girls have already been working on in which the president specifically asks us to work and continue this project forward. again, i real wlapet to thank becky and her team which brought the report to reality. kathy and her team within o.m.b. and statistical agencies and really working together in helping to put the datian website live and hopefully we will hear from all of you and we can continue to refine this project and make this a real resource for private researches are as well. thank you.

>> thank you for hosting us today. as heather said, i'm tina chen. i'm staff to the first lady and last years have been executive director of the white house counsel sill on girls. it's fitting march women's history month we celebrate the report and its release and wreelly celebrate the anniversary of the council of women and girls. it's a special pleasure to do it with the culmination of this project. the project itself i have to say is really representative of the theory of the case behind the council. that is as the president said when he signed the executive order that this is the council intended to convey the message across the entire federal government that every part of the federal government has to the federal government has to think about women and girls.