new policies need to be pursued and followed, certainly over the next decade and probably longer. host: dr. brian biles is a former democratic staffer for the house ways and means committee in the 1990's and is currently a professor at george washington university. thank you for your time inside as we conclude our series on medicare. guest: thank you very much. host: if you missed any of these segments we have done on medicare on "washington journal, and watchspan.org them anytime you like. we are on at 7:00 a.m. with your calls. enjoy the rest of your day. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010]

>> a full slate of the events are planned in advance of the official opening of the martin luther king jr. memorial this sunday. we'll have live coverage of day luncheon with expected speakers including the national urban league president and jesse jackson, among others. taking a look at other c-span networks, the pentagon is briefing today, with a focus on afghanistan. you'll be able to see that live at 10:30 a.m. eastern. later, the heritage foundation holds a discussion on global terrorism. that begins live at 11:00 a.m. eastern on c-span two.

>> it is the c-span networks, available to you on television, radio, and online, and on social media sites, search, watch and share our programming any time. we're on the road, bringing our resources to local communities and showing events from around the country. his washington, your way. this is the network's -- created by cable, provided as a public service. tuesday night, the 40-year-old freshman senator delivered a speech to a crowd of over 1000. he also talked about whether or not he would except a republican who vice presidential spot on a 2012 ticket. senator mark real escorted nancy

reagan to her seat. good evening, i have the honor of being a trustee of the ronald reagan foundation. [applause] >> before we get started, i would like to ask all of you to turn off yourself funds. if you cut all please remain standing for the pledge of allegiance, once miss the reagan is here. -- mrs. reagan is here. it is my distinct honor to honor former first lady nancy reagan for escorted by her for -- her guest, senator, " rubio. -- mark rubio. [applause]

[applause] [applause]

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>> in honor of our men and women in uniform, who defend our freedom around the world, please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flight of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands on one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [applause] >> thank you very much. please be seated.

i would like to take a quick moment to recognize some people better with us today. from our board of trustees, governor pete wilson, and his lovely wife and daughter half, gayle. -- better half, gayle. the hon. gaddy vasquez he was an ambassador for food and agriculture. from the ventura county board of supervisors, peter.

all of your representatives from the city council's. -- councils. . last, but certainly not least, a special thank you to the general electric company, the presenting sponsor of the ronald reagan centennial celebration. [applause] >> mrs. reagan, honored guests, ladies and gentlemen, ronald reagan was known as the great communicator. we are honored to have as our speaker today, a freshman united states senator who one prominent publication called "the most talented speaker in

car.'an politics today car [applause] >> perhaps a new great communicator. [applause] >> the son of exiles from fidel castro's to the, senator marco rubio learn from his parents the values he has championed in public life -- the same values ronald reagan championed, faith, neighborhood, family, work, and freedom. in his speech from the senate floor he recalled his early days -- "i come from a humble and hard-working family, yet i consider myself a child of privilege.

i was blessed to be raised in a strong and stable family, and i was blessed to be here, in the united states of america." marco rubio graduated from the university of florida in 1993, and the university of miami law school in 1996. after being elected to the florida house of representatives, he quickly showed leadership of bill -- ability and was elected speaker of the house -- the youngest person, and first hispanic ever to hold that office. [applause] >> in 2000 -- in 2010, he decided to run for the united states senate. though -- go there in a brilliant prism himself, he made his campaign about principles

for getting the nation, the future. he called for cutting domestic spending. holding the line on taxes, rolling back federal regulation that straggles economic growth, and a clear, strong, foreign policy. it sounds like somebody else we all admired. [applause] >> in washington, senator marco rubio has stood by the principles on which he campaigned. during the gatt debate he defined the issues when he wrote "power generation's greatest challenge is an economy that is not growing alongside a national debt that is. if we fail to confront this, our children will be the first

americans ever to inherit a country worse off than the one their parents were given." ronald reagan once said of the title so many had bestowed on him, "and i was not a great communicator, but i communicated great things, and they did not spring full blown from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation." at a time when many of us worry about how we can attract the highest quality to public office, please join me in welcoming a young leader who speaks for a new generation in the tradition of ronald reagan, united states senator marco rubio. [applause] >> thank you.

thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you very much for this opportunity. joe, thank you for that introduction. i appreciate you and not setting the bar to high. [laughter] thank you for this opportunity. i will talk about what this opportunity means to me in general, but as one of the highest privileges i have never had to be able to speak in this place. earlier today, i was able to see the exhibits and meet the people, some from all over the world touched by an extraordinary man. the contributions he made to this country were tremendous, but the contributions to the

world were even greater. it reminded me what a privilege it is to stand here today and speak to all of you from a place like this. i am honored beyond any words i could use to describe this, and i thank you for the invitation. thank you. [applause] >> in fact, i have a distinct honor. the only two people i have never walked down an aisle with are with me today. when does my wife, and the other is mrs. reagan's peril -- one is my wife, and the other is mrs. reagan. i tell people all the time that i was born and raised in ronald reagan's america. he was elected when i was in fourth grade, and he left office when i was in high school. those are very important years, fourth grade through high school. they are the years that formed

what i believe to be true about the world can ronald reagan's era can be defined by the cold war in most people. the mind. he did not just believe that the soviet union -- people's mind. he did not just leave the soviet union would fail, but that it was destined to fail. that defined his presidency, and ronald reagan's america in the time that i lived. there was something else that defined the reagan presidency, and that was defining the proper role of government. he did that better than any american had ever done before him. [applause] >> it has always an important for americans and america to do that, but i stand here before you today at a time when defining the proper role of

government is as important as it has ever been. the answer to what the proper role of government really is, and what kind of country we want to have. the vast majority of americans share a common vision. if they want our nation to be two things at the same time. if they wanted to be free and prosperous -- a place where your economic hopes and dreams can be accomplished and brought to fruition. through hard work and sacrifice, you could be who died meant you to be, no matter where you were born or how much -- god meant you to be, no matter where you were born. . most americans share that vision, but they want this to be a compassionate america, a place where people are not left behind. we will not tolerate those that cannot take care of themselves being left to defend themselves.

we will not tolerate our children being punished for the heirs of their parents in our society. we aspire to prosperity and compassion. ronald reagan understood that, perhaps better than any voice i ever heard speak on it. america's leaders during the last entry set out to accomplish that, but reached a conclusion that set us on this path. except for the reagan administration, both republicans and democrats established a role that said we will have a free economy, but we will also have a strong government, who through regulations and taxes will control a free economy, and through a series of government programs will take care of those in our society that are falling behind. that was crafted in the 20th century by our leaders. while it was well-intentioned, it was doomed to fail from the start first and foremost because it forgot that the strength of

our nation begins with its people, and that these programs actually weaken us as a people. it was a institutions and society's almost forever that took role of taking care of one another. if a neighbor met with misfortune, you took care of them. you saved for retirement and future because you have to. we took these things upon ourselves and our families, homes, churches, and our synagogues. all that changed when the government assumed those responsibilities. for an increasing number of people it was no longer necessary to worry about saving for security because it was the government's job. for those who met misfortune, it was not our obligation, it was the government put the job. it weakened our -- government and the job. it weakened our people in a way that undermine our ability to

maintain prosperity. we built the government and programs without any account for how we would pay for it. there was no thought given to how this would be sustained. when social security for started, there were 16 workers for every retiree, today there are only three, and soon there will only be two. program after program was crafted without any thought as to how they would be funded in future years, or the impact it would have on future americans. they were done with the best of intentions, but because it weakened our people and did not take account the simple method not been able to spend more money than you have, it was destined to fail. it is a startling place to be. the 20th century was not a time of the client for america. was the american century. americans in the 20th century built here the richest, most prosperous nation in the history of the world, yet today we have

built for ourselves a government that not even the richest and most prosperous nation on the face of the earth can find or afford to pay for. it is a tragic accomplishment. if you can call it that. that is where we stand today. it is defining the proper role of government was one of the central issues of the reagan era, it remains that now. the truth is that people are going around saying well, we are worried -- let me just add something to this. this is an important forum for candor. i know that it is popular in my party to blame the president, the current president, but the truth is the only thing the president has done is it cellaret policies that were already in place and were doomed to fail. all he is doing is making the day of reckoning come faster, but it was coming nonetheless. what we have now is not

sustainable. the role of government, and the rogue government plays in america cannot sustain the way it is. some are worried about how has to change. the good news is it is going to change. has to change. that is not the issue. the issue is not whether the role will change, the question is how will it change. will it change because we make the changes necessary, or because our creditors make us make these changes? over the next few moments, i hope to educate -- hi do not think i have to, given the makeup of the crowd, [laughter] but, i hope to educate to do that in fact, what we have before you is a golden opportunity. we have the opportunity within our lifetime to craft a proper

role for government in our nation that will allow us to come closer than many americans have ever come to our collective vision of the nation were both prosperity and compassion exist side-by-side. [applause] >> to do that, we must begin by embracing certain principles that are absolutely true. the free enterprise system does not create poverty. the free enterprise system does not leave people behind. people are poor and people are left behind because they do not have access to the free enterprise system. because something in their lives or their community has denied them access to the free enterprise system. all over the world, this truism is expressing itself every day. every nation on the earth that embraces market economics and the free enterprise system his

polling millions of people out of poverty. the free enterprise system creates prosperity, not denies it. the second truism must understand is that poverty, social problems, poverty is not created. poverty does not create social problems. our social problems create our property -- poverty. let me give you an example. all across this country, at this very moment, there are childre with five strikes against them through no fault of their own. they are raised by their grandmothers because they never knew their father, and their mom is working two jobs to make ends meet, or is just not home. these kids will struggle to

succeed. these truisms are important because they lead to public policy that define the proper role of government. and the prosperity side, the top objective, the singular objective of our economic policy from a government policy is simple. it is growth. it is not distribution of wealth. it is not picking winners and losers. the goal should be growth in our economy, the creation of jobs, and equality of opportunity through governmental policies. now, often, when i give these speeches, members of the media if frustrated because there is nothing new or novel unit. we do not have to reinvent this. it has worked before, and it will work again. their simple things like a tax code that is fair, workable, and easy to comply with. [applause] >> like a regulatory framework that does not exist to justify

the existence of the regulators, that does not exist to accomplish -- [applause] >> that does not exist to accomplish through regulation and will making what they could not accomplish through the congress -- rulemaking that they could not accomplish through the congress. [applause] >> is the proper role to invest in infrastructure. it should do so as a part of economic development, not as a jobs program carr. [applause] >> government should invest in our people at the state level. education is critically important. we must educate and train our children to compete and succeed in the 21st century. our children are going to grow up to compete with children all over the world who are learning to compete and succeed in the

21st century themselves. these are proper roles of government within the framework of creating an environment where economic security and prosperity is possible. on the compassion side of the ledger, which is also important to americans -- here is important to remind ourselves. i do not like labels, but i would gladly accept conservative. conservatism is not about to begin people behind. he is about empowering people to catch up, give them the tools to access all of the hopes and opportunities america offers, and our programs should reflect that. there are people that cannot .elp themselves those folk we are too rich to leave them in defense of themselves, but all of those that can work should be given the means to empower themselves to enter the

workforce. we need a safety net, but it cannot be a way of life. it must be there is to help those who have fallen to stand up and try again. [applause] >> by the way, i believe in america's retirement programs, but i recognize as they are currently structured they're not sustainable for future generations, so we must embrace public policy changes. i personally believe you cannot make changes for people that are currently in them right now. my mother gets mad when i say this. she is in her eighth decade of life. she is on both of these programs. i cannot ask my mom to go out and get another job. she paid into these systems, but the truth is social security and medicare cannot look for me the way they look for her. my generation must fully except,

the sooner the better, that if we want there to be a social security's when we retired, then we must accept and begin to make changes to those programs now, for us. [applause] >> these changes will not be easy. speeches are easy. actually going out and win them will be difficult. it is never easy to go to people and say what you have always known, we will have to change. it is not. will be hard. it really calls upon a specific generation of americans, those of us like myself, the kids away from retirement, to a stern -- decades away from retirement, to assume certain policies. we are prepared to do whatever it takes in our lives so that our parents and grandparents can enjoy the fruits of their labor, and so that our children and

grandchildren can inherit the fullness of america's promise. every generation has been called to do their part to insure that the american promise continues. we are not alone. we are not unique. we are not the only one. i would argue we have it pretty good. i think it is a program that those of us raised in ronald reagan's america are actual the ones that are now being able to stand up and respond to the issues of the day. for we, perhaps better than any people that have lived in this nation, should understand how a special and unique america truly s. when i was when i was a boy, the world looked very different. many assumed soviet style communism was destined to rule at least half the world, and understood that america would have to share this world with

the form of government. there were many the discouraged leaders from talking about the inevitable decline of communism. there were many that encourages us to except the says the way it has to be, and told us that america could no longer continue to be what america had been -- the world was too complicated, too difficult, and had changed too much. sound familiar? that is what they told us. one person did not believe them. he happened to be the president of the united states. he actually believed that all we had to do was be america, that our example alone would one day lead to the decline and fall of a system that was not sustainable. he understood that the desire to be free, prosperous, and compassionate, although shared by all americans, was universal. if the desire to leave children

better off than yourself is something we hold as americans, but so do people all over the world, because he understood that the principles this nation was founded upon was not that all people in north america are endowed by their creator with a valuable rights, but that all people are in doubt by their creator with certain inalienable rights, and in our hearts is the desire to live in freedom and liberty. it is our natural right, and the government with the job is to protect those rights, not to grant them sue us -- the government's job is to protect those rights, not to grant them to us. [applause] >> this is the natural state of man, and anything that prevents it is not natural and doomed to fail. hall we have to do was be america, south be prosperous, and be free. all we have to do was with our republic, the of voice for these

principles anywhere in the world where these principles were challenged and hall press, and eventually time was on our side. how right he was. when i was in fourth grade, the soviet union was a co-equal partner to the united states. before i finished college, the soviet union did not even exist carex so many people born since then have no idea what it even was. to me, this is extremely special, and i will tell you why. politically,80's, especially, there were two people that deeply influenced me. when was ronald reagan, and the other was my grandfather who lived in our home. we lived part of our life in las vegas, nevada, and my grandfather loved to sit on the porch of our home and smoke cigars. he was a cuban. three cigars a day. he lived to be 84. this is not an advertisement.

[applause] he loved to talk about politics. he was born in 1899. he was stricken with polio when he was a young man. he could not work the fields. he was sent to school. he was the only member of his family that could read. because he could read he got a job but the local cigar rolling factory. if they would hire somebody to read to the workers while they worked. the first thing he would read was the daily newspaper, then some novels to entertain them, that when he was done, and he actually rolled the cigars because he needed the extra money. for all of those years, he became knowledgeable about history, not to mention of the classics. he loves to talk about history. my grandfather loved being cuban. he never would have left cuba if he did not have to, but he knew america was special. he knew without america, cuba would still be a spanish colony.

he knew without america and not his and imperial japan would have won world war two. when he was born there were not even airplanes. but, was born, an american -- by the time i was born, an american had walked on the face of bemoaned. -- of the moon. it is easy for us to take for granted how special and unique displaced is, but when you come from somewhere else, and what you always knew and loved, you lost, you do not have that luxury. my grandfather did not know america was exceptional because he read about it in a book. he knew about it because he read -- because he lived it, and saw it with his eyes. that powerful lesson is the story of ronald reagan, the presidency. it is our legacy as a people,

and we have a chance to be again. that is important for all of us. being an american is not just a blessing, it is a responsibility. as we were commanded to do long ago, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father in heaven. well, as we gather here today in this place that plays on the edge and a tribute to the greatest american of the 20th century, we are reminded that for him and for our nation being a light to the world, that is not just for a common history. he remains our common destiny. thank you. -- it remains our common destiny. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you. [applause] >> a pretty good communicator, would you not say? [applause] >> the center has agreed to respond to questions. we collected some from the audience. i agreed that i wouldn't read them. >> i agreed to listen to questions. the response is an option. [laughter]

>> if your mother asks you to accept the vice president spot, what will you say? [applause] >> what was that? did i get heckled at the ronald reagan center? is there another question there? i will say this. as a great honor to be thought of in that way. ahead, as i joked earlier, no interest in serving as vice president for anyone that could possibly live on all eight years of the presidency. all kidding aside, it is a great honor. it is a delayed reaction. [laughter] >> i love being in the united states senate. i believe we can make a difference from there. what happens in politics is the

minute you start thinking there is something else for you, it starts affecting what you do. maybe you are afraid to take a position on a certain issue. so, the reality is i am not going to be the vice- presidential nominee, but i look forward to working for a water our nominee is. -- whoever our nominee is. >> next, a young conservative in the audience who follow you from the start of your 2009 senate campaign -- his question is how do you think the republican party can do better to attract people of his age. this is from john thompson appeared >> we need to be the party of prosperity and compassion, of that the same time. but we all want prosperity, but also want to not leave people behind. you can do both. the truth is there is only one economic system where that is

possible, and that is the free enterprise system. there is only one economic system more people that our employees can become employers, where a worker can become the owner. there's only one system and you can start a business of the spare bedroom of your home, yes in violation of the zoning code, but you can do it at that is the american free enterprise system -- do it. that is the american free enterprise system. that is not just young people. if that is what people want for their future. if i wish bets that -- i wished that spending all -- passing laws would bring prosperity. i wished it was that easy. the american free enterprise system has a eradicated more poverty than all of the government programs in the world combined, and we have to convince people of that again. if we do, that question will not be an issue for long.

>> how do we get hispanics to align their votes to their conservative values? [applause] >> well, i would say to you that americans of hispanic descent want desperately to give their children the chances they never had. my own personal story, and i think it is typical -- my parents, as i said, had some tough breaks in their lives, in terms of losing their country. there were fortunate to come here. i do not know when it was that my dead realize i'm not going to be able to do the things get -- my bad realize that i am not one to be able to do the things i dreamed of, but it is my mission to ensure my kids have the chance to i'm not sure when that happened. he would not have been able to do that anywhere else in the world. when i come to venues like this, and a lot of times i speak at banquets, my father was a

banquet barred detector -- bartender. why did he do that? he stood behind the bar so that one day his son or daughter could sit in an audience like this, where stand in a place like this. it would be unimaginable for my grandfather to believe that one day i would be speaking in front of nancy reagan at the ronald reagan library. and that is not what they wanted me to do. they never pushed me to go into politics, but they did inculcate in need of something simple, but profound -- you will have a chance to do things that we never had a chance to do but -- because you are an american and you live in america. that is a powerful thing, and is the hope and dream of all americans. he is especially true in the community made of americans with hispanic descent. the only system that is possible

is the free enterprise system the same people -- enterprise system. the same people dominate everything decade after decade in other countries. hear, the american free enterprise system, the desperation that i have outlined to you have any chance of succeeding -- where the aspiration that i have outlined to you has any chance of succeeding. [applause] >> they get easier. in the upcoming budget battles, what position do you take forween the defense hawks, higher military spending, and the anti-tax groups? >> our tax code is broken.

it is a mess. there are things that got there because of good lobbying, not good public policy, so it has to be reformed. he has to be flat and, lord, simplify, and more flight -- it has to be flat and, lord, simplified, and more fair. i believe in tax reform. i actually think -- might? -- why opposition is not a religious belief, or an ideological one. is it common sense when. increasing taxes kills jobs. i've yet to show -- have anyone show me a tax increase that creates jobs outside of the government. [applause] on the defense side, there has never been an excuse for waste. that is there are wasteful contracts and practices in defense, we should we get out, but the world is as dangerous as

it has ever been. if we think we can in america's defense is something we can afford to do, if we are sadly mistaken. we cannot. by the way, western europe virtually has no defense budget, and it has not helped them find the kind of government they have tried to do either. weakening our national defense is not the way to balance the budget of the united states of america. >> next, what is the best idea to get across to our liberal friends to help them stay away from spending, spending, spending. [laughter] >> looks, there are americans that love their country, want a nation of prosperity and compassion, who think that government is the and the

institution in society that can't do that. the truth is there is no nation on earth that is then able to do that. it is not because there l- intentioned and they did not love america. it is because they are wrong. [laughter] [applause] >> the proof is on our side. in january of 2009, this government brought out and punted into the economy and unemployment went up. -- and pumped it into the economy, and unemployment went up carry the things test for are not going to work because they never have worked and they will not work now. the only way to empower our people to truly tackle poverty is to grow our economy, and the american free enterprise system is the only way to do that. i am not sure we will ever convince our liberal friends of that, but i believe we can convince the vast majority of

americans of that. [applause] >> if you could give the tea party one idea or a topic for them to focus on, what should it be? >> i think they are focused on it, and that is a proper role of government in america. [applause] >> this debate, the screaming and shouting back and forth in washington, it used to be an ideological debate. now, it is not a debate. is a mathematical reality. the federal government spends three to billion dollars a month, and all it takes in $180 billion, meaning it must borrow $120 billion a month. you cannot do that much longer. s&p did not downgrade the united states because congressman armey into each other. they downgraded the united

states of america because they see the money we are borrowing and spending, and they know we cannot continue to do it. that is exactly what the tea party is focused on. we are not anarchists. it is important that government does the things the government should be doing. when government begins to do the things it should not be doing, when its role grows beyond its proper role, whether you were well-intentioned or not, it is doing harm. the regulations in america are telling jobs. our lack of energy policy and common sense is killing jobs. our tax code is killing jobs. [applause] >> so, as maligned as it might be in the mainstream media, the tea party continues to be a collection of everyday americans who believe this is the greatest nation in history of the world, it can stay that as long as it wants to be, but that is not where it is headed, and it needs to reverse quickly.

that is what the tea party was all about, and what it continues to be about. [applause] >> this person from the audience says hon. senator rubio, what do you see as the role of government in developing citizens with the principles of our founders? our public system does not seem to be doing this today. >> developed in our citizens is a function of our families and our community. of our schools and our governments should be a tool communities and families should use. in the real world, there are real problems, and i have outlined there are children struggling to succeed. that is the reality. i think it is important to remind ourselves of our founding principles. the one that i think is really

powerful and that i think people need to embraces one i've heard from a lot of people, and it embodies a lot of the things president reagan stood for -- our rights do not come from our government. rights come from god. [applause] >> government and the job is to protect those rights. those are the founding principles of our nation. without those principles, the american revolution was just another colonial rebellion. without those principles and place, it was just a bunch of people that wanted their own country. when a dozen different here is that we said the reason we one of our own -- the reason we wanted our own country is that we believed in human rights. those is what -- those are what the principles of our founding were. [applause]

>> this is the last question, and it came from the audience. where do we send a check to support your presidential run? [laughter] [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you. thank you. >> thank you very much, senator, and i would like to remind all of you that dinner will be served in the air force one pavilion in just a few minutes. staff will help this for you to dinner. i would like to first ask that

everyone remain seated while mrs. reagan and the special guest to be part. thank you very much for a great evening. [applause] [no audio]

>> watch more video of the candidates, see what political reporters say, and track political contributions with c- span's website for campaign 2012. it is easy to use and helps you navigate the political landscape with candidate biographies. it is all wet c-span.or /campaign2012. >> coming up shortly, c-span two will have national security experts from the heritage foundation explain anti- terrorism policies. it gets away at -- it gets under way at 11:00 a.m.. a full slate of the events are

planned in advance of the official opening of the martin luther king jr. memorial opening on sunday. jesse have a luncheon with th jackson, among others. we'll have live coverage of the official unveiling of the martin luther king sculpture, which has been on display since monday. president obama is expected to speak among a number of notable civil-rights leaders. live coverage gets under way at 11:00 a.m. eastern sunday, here on c-span, pending the weather. ♪

>> according to an annual survey and teenaged attitudes toward drug use, american teenagers who spent time social networking are at an increased risk of drug use. the founder and chair of the national chanter of substance abuse at columbia university

released the findings. this is about 30 minutes. >> good morning. this morning, we are releasing the annual back-to-school survey. the 16th annual survey continues the unique effort of the national center on addiction and substance university -- at columbia university to track abuse by teenagers and the parents that influence them. we have identified factors related to an increase or decrease in the likelihood that a 12-17-year-old will abuse substances. armed with this knowledge,

parents, teachers, clergy, coaches, and other responsible adults are better able to help our nation's teenagers to grow up drug free and healthy. we regard this as a work in progress as we try to improve our ability to identify those situations, characteristics, and conduct that influence that a teenager will smoke, drink, get drunk, use illegal drugs, or abuse legal drugs. we have surveyed thousands of american teenagers and their parents. we have learned how attitudes have influenced teenage behavior. third circuit questions for drug use, such as if you -- through surrogate questions for drug use, such as if you want to get marijuana right now, how long would it take you, how many of your friends drink or smoke

drugs, what portion of the parties do you go to where drugs or alcohol are available? a child that gets through age 21 without smoking, without abusing alcohol, and without using illegal drugs is virtually certain never to do so, and for better or worse, nobody has greater power to influence a teen-ager's decision than that teenagers parents. in focus groups that we conducted earlier this year to prepare the survey questions -- every year we focus group with teenagers to make sure the question we ask is the question they hear, and to find out what is on their minds. this year, they discussed the influence of social networking activity, and his relationship to the substance of years. for the first time in many of our service, in order to explore

of that relationship, this year we asked teenagers questions about social networking. there are two we asked about viewing television programs "explore the relationship between certain attitudes attributed to many teams and the risk of teen substance abuse. the results are profoundly troubling. this year's survey reveals how the anything goes free for all world of internet expression suggested television programming, and what the hell attitude to put teams that sharply increased risks of substance abuse. the survey results drive home the need for parents to better appreciate their power to give their children the will and skills to keep their heads above the water of corrupting cultural

currents that their trouble must navigate. the survey provides whenever parents should know about teen social networking. 412-17 years old, time spent on facebook, myspace, and other social networking sites puts them at increased risk of smoking, drinking, and drug use. compared to teens who in a typical day do not spend any time on social networking site, those who do are five times more likely to use tobacco, three times more likely to use alcohol, and twice as likely to use marijuana. no wonder with what is on facebook and other social networking sites for teens to see. half of the teens who spent anytime on social networking sites in a typical day had seen pictures of kids drunk, passed out, or using drugs on these sites.

even 14% of those teams who spent no time on social networking sites in a typical day had seen such pictures. \ thos sites. especially troubling is that almost half the teens who have seen pictures of kids drunk, passed out, or using drugs on facebook and other social networking sites first saw such pictures when there were 13 years of age or younger. more than 90% first saw such pictures when there were 15 or younger. these facts alone should strike facebook fear into the hearts of parents of young children. on fortunately, most parents do not appreciate the rest of their teens social network agreed nine of 10 parents do not think teens spending time on social networking sites like facebook

are likely to drink or use drugs. only 64% of parents who say their team has a social networking page say they monitor it. the time has come for those who operate and profit from social networking sites like facebook to deploy their technological expertise to curb such images and to deny use of their sites to children and teens who posed pictures of themselves and their friends at drunk, passed out, or using drugs. continuing to provide the electronic a vehicle for transmitting such images constitutes a electronic child abuse. the survey also provides parents with what they should know about suggested teen programming. his teams to watch suggested teen television programs like " jersey shore" and others in a

typical week are likely to use tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana. the relationship of social networking site images of kids drunk, pastor of, or using drugs and of suggested teen programming to increase teen risk of substance abuse offers grotesque confirmation of the adage that a picture is worth 1000 words. in the cultural season to which we toss our teens, parents are essential to preventing their substance abuse. our survey findings underscore the points made in my book, "how to raise a drug free kit." for better or worse, parents have more influence over their teens risk of substance abuse than anyone else. a word of appreciation -- i would like to thank steve

wagner, the president of qev analytics and in his work developing the survey and analyzing the data as he has done for many words and to kathleen woods-king who worked with steve. let me go to the slides and take you through this in more detail. every year we have survey advisers who give us -- who review our survey, review our questions, review our analysis. this year we did 12 nationally representative surveys. one was by telephone as you can see about half boys and half of girls and one over the internet about half boys and half girls, a little more boys, and of the parents of about 500 of the

parents of those boys and girls. each year we asked teens what are their top concerns. as you can see, drugs, tobacco, and alcohol along with social pressures which include pressure to smoke or drink or use drugs are clearly their top concern. we asked parents the same question. we ask what they think their teens' top concern is? very few of them responded the same way. on to social networking and substance abuse -- how many hours in a typical day do you spend on facebook, myspace, or other social networking sites? 70% of the 12-17 year olds said

they spent time in a typical day on those sites, 30% said they spent no time. i am talking about 12-17 year olds which was the group's survey. of those who spend time, there were five times more likely to smoke, three times more likely to drink, and about twice as likely to use marijuana. why? we asked them if they had ever seen pictures on the sides of kids getting drunk or passed out or using drugs. 40% of the kids said yes. we asked in the age at which they saw the pictures. 12% of them were 10 and 11. 50% were 30 or younger and 90%

or 15 or younger. we ask them in a typical day, 51% of those who spent time on a social not working side saw those pictures. remarkably, 14% didn't see those pictures. if they had seen the pictures, there is a much higher risk of substance abuse as you can see here. there are much likelier to drink and use marijuana. we also asked kids every year if you think you are likely to try drugs in the future. kids who have seen these images on social networking sites are almost three times more likely to say they expect to try drugs in the future.

then we asked how fast can you get substances? you'll see more about that later in the survey. the ability to get their hands on alcohol, marijuana, and controls prescription drugs is much greater -- a much higher percentage 14th to have seen these images on social networking sites and they are twice as likely to be able to get alcohol, four times as likely to get marijuana, and almost three times as likely to get prescription drugs. >> we also asked about suggested teen programming. the question was -- do you watch reality shows like "jersey mom?"" "teen in a typical week, about 1/3 of the teens watch them which is a higher percentage of girls who watch these shows than boys.

46% of girls and only 19% of boys. we asked them whether -- how fast they can get these substances within a day or less and again, kids who were watching these shows are able to get their hands on alcohol and marijuana and controls prescription drugs. it is a much higher percentage of those kids. we ask them questions about cyber-bullying because there has been so much attention in this area in the literature and in the press.

we ask these 12-17 urals' if anyone had ever read nor posted anything embarrassing or mean about you on facebook or any of these social networking sites. one in five teams said yes somebody had. as you can see, cyber-bully t eens are twice as likely to smoke, twice as likely to drink, and twice as likely to use marijuana. cyber-bullying apparently has some effect on these kids. and they are much more likely to say that they think they will try drugs in the future. in the questions we as parents, we ask them about what they thought of their teen social networking. we asked if you thought spending

time on these sites made it more likely the child would drink or use drugs. as you can see, 87% of parents said no with respect to of all and 89% said no with respect to drug use. we also asked them whether they thought the harm outweighed the benefits of being on social networking. this is related to the age of the child. parents with young girl children, 12 and 13, are much likelier to be concerned about the harm to their child with social network and then parents of a 16 and 17 year old. we asked teens about certain attitudes. we asked if they a great with this statement -- if a friend of mine used illegal drugs it is not my business. as you can see, those who agree with that statement are much likelier to smoke and three --

and twice as likely to drink, and three times likelier to use marijuana. we as debate agree with this statement that i should be able to do what i wanted my own body and again, kid to agree with that statement are much likelier, four times likelier to smoke, twice as likely to drink, twice -- three times as likely to use marijuana. we said it is not a big deal to have sex with someone you don't care much about. here are sharp differences. kids to agree with that statement or five times likelier to smoke, almost 2.5 times likelier to drink, and three times more likely to use marijuana. we as parents other questions. wei said do you agree completely

with your other parents about what to say to your children about drinking? where parents don't agree completely and they're not sending a consistent message as you can see, their kids are more likely to drink. similarly, we ask them whether they agree completely about what to say to their children about drug use as you can see here, kids and parents who don't send a consistent hours at home -- message are three times more likely to use drugs. we also asked parents of these -- we as the teens if they will try drugs in the future and they are three times as likely to try them in the future. that is an important message for

parents to give the same consistent message and guidance to their teens. not surprisingly where parents smoke, their kids are much more likely to smoke. where parents have smoked marijuana, their kids are much more likely to smoke marijuana. prescription painkillers -- where do people -- where the kids get them? how did they get them that? we had questions about prescription painkillers in the home. we asked kids whether they knew there were prescription painkillers in their home. 14% said yes, a little over half said no, and almost 1/3 said they did not know. the kids to say prescription drugs of the easiest to get are those who believe there are

painkillers in their home. similarly, they are the kids or more likely to get prescription drugs in a very short period of time. every year we asked about schools and the message here is sad. since 2007, we made no progress in getting drugs out of high schools in this country. 60% of school students are going to schools where drugs are used, kept, or sold. by and large, middle school students it has been about 1/4 of the schools. there is quite a sharp difference and has been for many years between private schools and public schools.

private school kids are more likely to say that the school is drug-free. we are not able to separate out religious schools. we don't have a large enough sample there. this is both religious and secular private schools. what is important as to whether drugs or a school is where kids are at school where drugs are used, kept, or sold, kids are more likely to use those drugs. they're more likely to get their hands on alcohol and marijuana and controlled prescription drugs within one hour or less. they're buying from a classmate, not from somebody in some lousy neighborhood up with a trench coat on. a couple of other notable findings -- we noticed last

year that only 5% of kids who have never used tobacco tried marijuana compared to 61% of kids who have ever used tobacco. that came through as strong this year. 6% of kids and never use tobacco have not smoked marijuana and 60% of kids did it. this is a relationship where there is more work from the scientific community needed. the relationship between nicotine and marijuana. we ask every year how fast you can guess substances. cigarettes are the easiest subdued do get a number two goes back and forth between marijuana and beer. there is a significant jump in 2011 over 2010 in the percentage of sets who say marijuana is easiest to get, from 15%-22%.

kids who attend religious services regularly are much less likely to smoke, drink, and use drugs and they're much less likely to say that they think there will try jobs in the future. -- try drugs in the future. there will be a full family dinner report in september. on a family day. the more often kids have dinner with their parents, less likely they are to smoke, drink, and use substances. family dinners are clearly a surrogate for parental engagement. family day is september 26. i think what is really important about the social networking is i don't think anybody thinks we should have 12-17 year olds

posting pictures of themselves drunk or using drugs or passed out. or other inappropriate behavior. it seems there is an enormous response ability and the part of facebook and similar social not working sites to take steps to get this off their sights. this is inexcusable. they have the technological capability to deny kids to do that. that would be a powerful deterrent. we think it will be of enormous help to our children and to parents or try to raise healthy drug-free kids. thank you and any questions i

will be happy to take. yes? >> [inaudible] on the cyber-bullying section, the relationship of people who web and cyber-bullying have been more likely to use up all of other drugs. were any questions asked about people who do the cyber- bullying? are they under the influence. ? >> we did not ask those questions. >> do you intend to ask those questions in the next survey? >> we will go out and do the focus groups again and see what is on kids' minds and that will have a big impact on what we survey. that is an interesting question. >> i have been theorizing that that makes it much easier for

cyber-bullying to do those kind of things when they are under the influence. >> ok, go ahead. >> this is a chicken and egg question. you mentioned that family dinners are a good proxy for parental involvement. when we are talking about the amount of time that kids spend on facebook and what they see there, do you view that as a cause of substance abuse and other risky behavior is or is it a proxy for them? is that the kids to engage in

risky behavior is hanging round the other kids to drink more likely to see those pictures on line because they are in touch with their friends? is there something about seeing the pictures that triggers the behavior? >> we are about talking about causation. we're talking about an association. our objective is to identify conduct or characteristics that signal the increased risk that a kid would use to substances said a parent to know that. you'll notice how these things tend to cluster. the kids that spend time on the social networking sites are likelier to use drugs and they are likely to be able to get some. if you are a parent, and your kid is coming home every night saying they have to watch "up

jersey shore" and spend and our or two on the social networking sites, that should be a signal to you. you should monitor what your kids are doing because there is a level of increase to rest. >> is it like water finding a place to go? if you remove the pictures, are you dealing with the problems or merely cutting off that avenue and is moving summer else? >> for many kids, what we will create a much healthier world for them to look at3 t. you have to look at all the things kids are subjected to. there is an article in "the american academy of pediatrics" this year about social network in which talks about sex sting and other inappropriate conduct

in the impact that has on kids. there's something unhealthy about subjecting kids to all of that and kids watching that. is just human nature. we think it would be an important and help the factor where these pictures not to be on social networking size. >> thank you. >> thank you all very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> coming up shortly, we will go live to a discussion on civil-

rights leaders who are honoring and taking part in the commemoration of the opening of the martin luther king memorial this sunday. the discussion will get under way at noon eastern here on c- span. as we look at pictures of the martin luther king statue that was just completed and revealed to the public this monday, it is 30 foot tall and is in the northeast corner of the tidal basin, near the jefferson memorial and the fdr memorial. it is the first moro national mall to honor an african- american and the first to honor a person who did not serve as president. you are looking at a 450-foot wall with more than a dozen of dr. king's quotations. you can see that when you go to the memorial any time. it is open to the public now and has been open since monday. the official unveiling of the sculpture will be on sunday. president obama will be on hand

along with a number of other notable civil-rights leaders. live coverage is expected to start at 11:00 a.m. eastern pending the weather here on c- span. what caused the demise of great american newspapers? the former chicago tribune's managing editor takes you behind the scenes of decisions made in board rooms and newsrooms across the country. it is one of the books we are featuring this weekend on c-span 2 book tv. christianne out on all on her 2010 bid for her senate seat. more is not always better, ronald bishop talks with deborah tannen on the lack of moderation in american cultu and the media's role in wanting more. throughout the weekend, author interviews with their trip to frankfort, ky. next month, china's 43 our conversation with newsweek magazine editor and the role of

media in america. get the complete schedule at book-tv .org. we'll go live shortly to the coverage of several rise pioneers. your calls and a new book by dick cheney. "the drudge report." the headline --

some of the details, if you are interested. "the new york times" lead headline, page 16. cheney says he urged bush to bombs. back in 2007 but, he writes, he opted for a diplomatic approach after other advisers, still stinging over the bad intelligence over iraq's stockpiles of wmd's expressed misgivings -- "the times" goes on to write --

here is one of them. he wrote --

we look forward to your calls on what you are hearing so far. here are the numbers again -- first call this morning from sarasota, florida. democrat. good morning. caller: how are you today? i am doing ok. i am glad to see this book out. i think if there is any honesty whatsoever in it, it will open up america's eyes about the absolute evil dick cheney is.

host: give us an example of what you are talking about. caller: secret meetings with the oil executives, push for democratization of foreign countries that we have no business being in. who else can get away with shooting people and not even get tested for alcohol, this last deal, shooting this guy in the face. this guy is bad. that's all. host: back to "the drudge report."

marcus, republican. michigan. what do you think? caller: i think that it is unfortunate that a great station like c-span would be wasting precious time with all of the mounting problems that the nation is facing on dick cheney 's memoirs of the bush administration. i think much more could be used in terms of time toward solving and creating a more positive dialogue. host: a lot of folks are reporting on this. this is not news, in your view? caller: i think this is news but given we are fighting two wars -- one in afghanistan and one in iraq, a proxy war in libya, a failing economy, a major

provision shall race -- presidential race, i think we could be focusing on more pertinent issues as opposed to looking in the past. host: got the point. for those looking for dialogue on libya, budget, medicare, it is all coming up on the program. mike, seattle, washington. caller: i concur with the caller that came right before me -- i think we have more pressing issues in terms of the high unemployment rates, the gang of six who will be operating behind closed doors when it comes to medicare, medicaid, social security, the budget, all the major issues that are happening around the country. host: how about what you have heard so far about the big chain e-book? caller: i have not had an opportunity to know too much about that, but what i do know

is that dick cheney, as being the vice president, to me, was really someone who was behind the scenes. and again, i know that as the topic we are talking about but i think americans really want to talk about issues at hand, which is jobs, jobs, jobs. host: let us get more detail about the book from "the new york times" piece.

the book opens with his experience during the terrorist attacks on 9/11. ohio. daniel. good morning. caller: good morning. i am going to try -- i doubt it will happen. i am going to try and correct the three major misgivings and absolute lies from the left about mr. cheney. while he does have a lot to apologize for -- these three he does not.

there were weapons of mass destruction found in iraq according to the united nations and according to the bbc. they removed over 500 barrels of sarin gas, etcetera two, there were no secret meetings between mr. cheney and the oil companies. he invited the environmentalists and the people of the left but they threw a hissy fit because they were not given the invitation directly from mr. dick cheney, one of the sobor indicated to them, and they refused to come. that is documented in the united states congressional archives. last, but not least, mr. cheney had nothing to do with the valerie claim -- plame situation. that was done by one of the subordinates. so, sit there and tried to blame mr. cheney for those three

things -- and again, he does have a lot of stuff he needs to apologize for, but those three things are not in it and to continuously like -- continuously lot about this, you need to start smacking some heads when they call and try to pull this noise. host: simon and schuster is the publisher. georgia. larry is on the line for democrats. any thoughts, larry? caller: dick cheney and his partner karl rove should have been prosecuted because they committed all kinds of treasonous acts -- little stuff they committed during their time. he is responsible for some terrible goings on in this nation. host: the headline in "the hill" memoir -- here is the quote, again.

a couple of other graphs, here.

huntington, west virginia. fred, thank you for waiting. you are on the republican line. caller: thank you for taking my call. i am so looking forward to this memoir. i enjoyed the bushes, and i enjoy the rumsfeld and i will enjoy this one. host: what are you looking forward to know -- learning about what you did not know? caller: inside stuff. memoir, his first chapter was revealing about what prepared him for the presidency and all the trouble that came within the presidency, the two terms. rumsfeld was behind the scenes, meetings with saddam hussein years and years before he

became -- got in a confrontation with him. and with cheney, rumsfeld and cheney were linked together for some many years. rumsfeld had behind-the-scenes stuff and i am sure cheney's will, too. host: comments about what they have heard so far -- indiana, gail, independent. what do you have to say? caller: in reference to dick cheney, i had the real problems with them all during iraq and afghanistan and even before, because this is somebody with five draft deferments. the other caller who said that

cheney and rumsfeld were tied together, he is exactly right. you go back to the mid-1970s when in the massacre that happened in 1968 and was covered up and all that, you go back and look up history, and just put in chaney and rumsfeld -- cheney and rumsfeld of the cover up from the 1970's and forward and you look at the two of them and what they have done. i think it would give a pretty good representation of what kind of people most of them are. like rumsfeld, they called the guys who tried to stop -- milai unpatriotic, the same thing they did to the guy who blew the whistle on torture and

the pictures and all of that stuff and rumsfeld ousted him -- outed him on tv. host: "chain e-book reveals internal -- cheney book reveals internal battles." the text says -- cheney writes that he saw to have power removed from the canned it -- powell removed from the cabinet. his resignation was for the best.

it that quote was put out in several other places. also talking about george tenant and valerie plame. if you want to read about this at politico.com. venice beach, california. eric, a democrat. good morning. caller: what i am hoping is what the public thinks of this book, that the former vice president going around publicizing it, would be getting tough questions about lots of the unanswered questions that remain about his tenure. host: like what? what do you want to know? caller: his statement immediately before the invasion of iraq, after the u.n. inspectors went in and found there was no evidence of iraqi nuclear program. he was asked about this with the invasion pending and he's it -- said the inspector was wrong. he was wrong and he now had --

had no doubt about it. the league right -- then afterwards we went in and we found out the inspector was right. i hope somebody asks him about this. host: barak, california. gaithersburg, maryland. republican, steve. caller: looking forward to reading the book. i have to tell you as a moderate republican, i thought cheney was a good congressman. i thought he was a fantastic secretary of defense and the gulf war and i would argue one of the worst vice-president we have ever had. very disappointed. i voted first term for him, and the second, unfortunately because of him. i will be interested to read his book to see what his take is.

so far from what you have been reading from the reviews, this seems like a guy who was always good and blaming everybody else for failures of the bush administration. host: go ahead. finish up, steve. caller: when of the previous callers -- we are entitled to our own opinions and not entitled to our own facts. the iraq war when it comes to the facts, i have yet to see facts about weapons of mass destructions. i still think we should have gone in regardless. but a previous caller, a fellow republican, the valerie plame story, that there was no connection between him. you can stretch and say there was no direct connection but don't forget the vice president went out of his way trying to get president bush up to the final days to pardon scooter libby. if that was not a direct connection it certainly was an

improper use. i think he is a very, very good speaker. what frustrates me is somebody trying to bring the sides together -- most vice-president you think of historically go quietly away. this is one vice-president with just won't. and i wish to heaven he would. i am not sure why he wants to -- has to write a memoir host: coming up in about 25 minutes, steve forbes, president and ceo of "forbes" and former presidential candidate. we will talk about the economy and the new cbo numbers coming out. and also marc ginsberg later, former ambassador to morocco. and live a bit later, more of our coverage surrounding the dedication of the martin luther king memorial. today at noon, we will have live

coverage of a luncheon, a civil- rights pioneers. honoring those from the past, present, and perhaps the future, at the convention center. live coverage on c-span at noon. it should be a two-hour long events. and also covered friday. and of course, the big dedication ceremony sunday at 11:00 on the mall in washington. jack, independent caller. we have been reading some of the details about dick cheney's memoir. what have you heard that move you one way or the other? caller: i have not heard anything really, except that i would like to make a comment. i just wonder how much of dick cheney is going to receive personally from halliburton from the $400 a gallon gasoline that of the u.s. troops are paying for over in afghanistan. thank you.

host: some of the other front- page items here today. "washington post" lead story, focus turns to finding gaddafi. 1.7 million-dollar bounty. a shot of repair a, republican presidential candidate in "the washington times." we have maybe about 15 minutes left to the phones segment. we will get some other news out for you. talking about the release of dick cheney that a more. simon and schuster doing the publishing. coming out next week. some of the details are coming out in several publications, including "the new york times." again, the headline says "cheney says he urged bush to bombs syria." did not have any support in the room when the question came up. lots more detail.

texas has been hanging on. spot on the republican line. caller: good morning, steve. i believe dick cheney was and is a no-nonsense unapologetic liberty loving patriot. and we as a nation were very fortunate to have this man post 9/11. i can't wait for the book. i believed the same thing about donald rumsfeld. the left hates these two people, and their passion, their hatred is just, it is unbelievable. again, they were two absolutely great americans and we were very fortunate to have them both. host: let us see what other viewpoints are out there. john, democrat from florida. caller: yes. a few things i just wanted to say. ohio and texas.

4000 dead, because the situation now -- helping everything that is wrong. halliburton, the cuts he got for them. remember the $4 billion, 1 billion at a time -- year misplaced -- misplaced and the bunker of money they found in iraq that they never returned. no weapons of mass destruction. this in-your-face situation he is trying to do, he is totally wrong and anybody who tells you different should go back and live a few years where we had dick cheney and donald rumsfeld telling about, that is why they were trying to get out of the way. about: paul -- colin powell 1

them there were no weapons of mass destruction -- let's wait. anybody tell you anything different, they are plainly lying. host: let's hear from westley on the democrats' line from sacramento. good early morning pretty caller: the last caller was flat on target. i am retired marines. received a purple heart while this guy mr. cheney, he had five deferments. he is a good liar. this should be on "book tv" as opposed to this show where more important things are going on. host: on twitter this morning -- here is an e-mail this morning --

steve, chantilly, virginia. independent caller. my daughter took a post-graduate course about biological weapons and he said of the class not only did the soviet union have enough biological weapons to kill every man, woman, and child in the united states, but they sold a bunch of them to saddam hussein. there is no possible question that they had weapons of mass destruction -- they are either buried there in iraq and have not been found or they are in syria. this mythology that there were no weapons of mass destruction is just something that is being drummed up by people that do not

have a collective intellect of dick cheney's little finger. host: randy. republican. wisconsin. caller: nice of c-span to put on something about a republican like this, a great leader. he served his country well. aboutt see anything on the president, about his past, or what it would have been like if we would have had john edwards and the other guy -- i even forgot his name -- what it -- what would it have been like if we were attacked and those guys were in office? that would have been something. the united states would not have been safe. thank you, dick cheney. host: here is another e-mail --

long island, new york. david, democrat. caller: could you pull of an article from may 7, 2004? it is from "the new york times." air-traffic controllers, 9/11. host: tell us more about the piece. caller: it connects dick cheney to the stand down made by the -- there was a normal protocol for an interception of any airliner that was hijacked and mr. cheney had his finger on the button this morning and for some strange reason -- i think i know -- he placed a standout order of any form of interception of the aircraft. but the tapes of the air traffic

controllers that morning were destroyed. this is a heinous crime committed against the united states on 9/11 and to destroy evidence leads one to question why those videotapes were destroyed. and it was of the air traffic controllers that morning. the connection is prior to dick cheney, to the vice-president see he had been under investigation for accounting fraud involved, i believe connected to the arthur andersen scandal and what was revealed was that halliburton was in the red and his stock shares -- it was accounting fraud to prop of halliburton. it just seemed to me to be a conflict of interest to have a man who does business, as you saw what the iraq war -- they had at a vested interest because of all the profiteering. so, if you could connect those two events -- because, you know,

he needed any event, he needed something to occur that would allow the expansion of his company's business activity with the government of the united states. basically it war profiteering. the collapse of the soviet union made it difficult for these defense contractors to make money with a decreasing military need. so, you know, there is a connection to that document. but if you look at the destroyed tapes, the supervisors at the center not only destroyed them but he shredded them and he put them in separate garbage cans, but you have to pull up the article and read it and understand what i am getting at. host: contribution from david. facebook.com/cspan.

and we are also taking your comments on facebook. a couple of comments from our viewers -- if you look at the front page of "the washington times" this morning you see this picture from the washington national cathedral. an angel of limestone lies damaged. the dean of the cathedral says there is no money for repairs. they will be raising funds for repairs. if you have not heard, there was another aftershock last night, 107 a m, and reports say it was

felt in parts of va -- 1:07 a.m. as far as we can tell things are ok and our neighborhood. akron, ohio. caller: thank you for c-span. first, does -- he is emblematic of the problem of the gop. since 2000, he was elected to be george bush's right hand man to look for vice-president and i guess he looked in the mirror and said, it is made. i blame a the lame stream media for not seeing it as a red flag. as a result dick cheney became the most awful vice-president which means george bush would go down in history as the most insignificant president. never the greatest, never the worst, just the absolute most insignificant president. i would have been happy with a george bush-and john mccain take

it back in 2000 with john mccain as the president instead of being dick cheney and we could see george bush as a vice president and see he is nothing more than an empty suit, as a vp. tea party, they have two main leaders. one, of course, it is a big army and the other is dick cheney. they should call it the dick army brigade or the dick cheney cheerleaders. host: good morning. caller: i just have to say i hope of the memoirs cover his time as chief of staff under ford, because i do think he was a very respectable and very well regarded public servant at least at that time period. i have to say i have been hearing a lot of the callers, and i do think this man has

created a lot of animosity. i would just like to let people know that just judging by how the past four presidents are regarded on the opposition, it is pretty hard to run this country, and it is pretty hard for everyone to be satisfied with the job that you do. i think he was more difficult than he could have been. i think he could have been a little more accommodating to people, particularly what was going on in 2000 with their recounts. i never understood why they did not just let all of the votes being recounted. it is neither here nor there. the fact is he is just an ailing man who wants to give his side of the story, and i honestly can understand why it would be very difficult to him to feel as though history is giving him a bad rap when all he has done it

is dedicated his life to service country -- whether he is right or wrong. host: thank you for calling. another viewpoint by e-mail -- a couple of more minutes of your calls and then steve forbes in new york about economic issues. in "the new york daily news" they have a story about eric holder, the attorney general, telling the families of 9/11 victims he is probing the murdoch hack.

the anniversary, of course, coming up. we will have extended coverage from new york, from here, and elsewhere in the country. another store wanted to point out, about the u.s. pipeline that drew protests and arrests outside of the white house. canada-to-u.s. pipeline plan set to clear a hurdle. they write that -- and if the camera can slide over to the right it would help the folks out. these are some of the

protesters, activists, opposed to the pipeline, arrested tuesday at a sit in in front of the white house. it to the left is the actress margot kidder. detroit, michigan. ken, democrat. caller: thank you for c-span. i have a short statement. isn't dick cheney still considered a war criminal and he can't leave the country, as long -- along with george bush? host: last call from texas. marie on the republican line. are you there? go ahead. caller: yes, i was saying the comments are always being made that this person is the leader of the tea party and that person is the leader. every tea party group i know in texas, we all have individual

people leading those groups. we don't, under an umbrella of any particular -- come under the umbrella of any particular name. we are simply conservatives who don't like the direction of the country is going in. if we want to bring it back to our constitution -- we want to bring it back to our constitution and just get people back to work, get the country back on an even keel >> events commemorating the dr. martin luther king jr. sculpture are under way. this is one of the many events

we have covered and are covering leading up to the unveiling of the sculpture. we are expecting remarks today from jesse jackson, eric holder and sheila jackson lee among others. those are expected to begin in just a moment and we have live coverage here on c-span.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

fromce again, we're live the washington convention center for a luncheon to honor civil- rights pioneers this afternoon. it is part of the events this week commemorating the dr. king jr.ther sculpture unveiling.

we are expected to hear from jesse jackson, eric holder, sheila jackson lee and a number of others. the official unveiling of the sculpture is on sunday. it has been on display since monday. it will be closed in preparation for the ceremony on sunday. our live coverage on c-span gets under way at 11:00 a.m. eastern. we are expecting remarks from president obama and members of dr. king's family, as well as my angelo and others.

>> please welcome comedian, jonathan slow. make some nice, people. >> welcome, everybody.

we are about to celebrate the lives of past and present civil rights leaders. if you are like me, proud of what is going to happen this weekend, will you please make much noise for the legacy of rev. dr. martin luther king jr.. make some noise, people. [applause] nobody should be quiet. make some noise. give it up. give it up. that is what this weekend is all about. we are celebrating his legacy with an incredible monument we are going to see very, very soon. let's give credit where credit is due. first of all, make some noise if you love the lord jesus christ. you must recognize that this is a celebration this afternoon. everything is exciting. now give it up for the man who made all of this possible here

on earth. please show some love for mr. harry johnson. make some noise. we have a lot to be thankful for, people. we have a lot to be thankful for. al sharpton is on tv now, so now we have al sharpton and -- well, oprah is gone, so we have al sharpton and roland martin at the same time. give it up. we're going to be all right as a people. we have al sharpton and roland martin on the same television. if i say something that sounds familiar, make some noise. if you are married and happy, make some noise. [applause] if you are married and barely making it, let me hear you too.

[laughter] ladies and gentlemen, reverend jesse jackson has just entered the room. the rev. jesse jackson, hope is still alive. make some noise for our leaders. give it all you got. now the roll call. everybody from the west coast, make some noise. everybody from the south, make some noise. everybody from idaho, makes a noise. black people from idaho, are you here? there are three people here from idaho, ladies and gentlemen. we also have another rule this afternoon. we want to ask you to make sure your having the best possible time.

if you are hungry and you know it, clap your hands. there is food coming out. we are going to ask any woman who has a bottle of hot sauce in her purse, raise your hand. pass it down to the next table because it is going to be needed this afternoon. again, this is the london to celebrate the legend of civil rights -- luncheon to celebrate the legend of civil rights past and present. i also have one announcement. the person who lost a wad of $20 bills in a rubber band. if you would come to my right, someone has turned in your rubber band. yes, ok, so. i'm going to ask you to turn off all of your cell phones or at

least put them on vibrate so that we do not have them distracting us. unless you are a professional photographer, do not take flash photos. and if you are sitting next to a woman who is not your spouse, please move, because this will be televised. everyone here that is 50 years old and older, if you can, make some noise. we want to honor the people who really paved the way for us. anyone here 80 years old or older. wave your hand. there she is. let me do my last shout. i want to give it up to the lady who is responsible for one of the greatest awards shows on television, zanona clayton.

i am keeping the legacy of bill cosby alive. you just experienced cuss-free comedy. take care, you all. >> please welcome mr. mark .oreal >> the afternoon. -- good afternoon. >> here afternoon. >> i am very honored to be here as master of ceremonies today. i want to welcome everyone to washington, d.c., for what is expected to be a great celebration and a great reaffirmation of our commitment to jobs, peace, freedom and what dr. king stood for. i also want to let all of you know that we have a plan for hurricane i rain, and it is to pray very hard so that she will

dissipate and not hurt anybody. we are going to have the dedication on sunday at the martin luther king memorial. [applause] for everyone, very quickly, the martin luther king memorial is the first on the national mall to honor a man of hope, peace and color. the united states congress passed a joint resolution in 1996 authorizing the alpha phi alpha fraternity inc. to establish a memorial to dr. martin luther king. in december of 1999, the national capital planning commission and the u.s. commission of fine arts approved a site location for the king memorial on the national mall. it is noteworthy that the memorial site located on the tidal basin adjacent to the franklin delano roosevelt memorial is in a direct line

between the lincoln and jefferson memorials, creating a visual line of leadership. the ceremony of groundbreaking took place on december 13th, 2006, and on sunday, august 28th, 2011, we will dedicate a memorial. please give dr. martin luther king a warm round of applause. we celebrate his name. we celebrate his vision. let me hear you celebrate. [applause] his dream. we have a busy schedule this afternoon. we are going to work with the program through lunch. please enjoy the program. enjoy the lunch. we ask that you socialize and speak to each other, but please keep your voice is as low as possible so that those who want to follow the program can indeed do so. it is my pleasure at this point

to introduce the mayor of washington, d.c., mayor vincent ghraib. [applause] -- mayor vincent gray. [applause] >> thank you very much. good afternoon, everybody. i want to the mark, one of our great mares in america, for -- and thank mark, one of our great in america, for being here today. it is an honor for me to welcome you here today and to this city, especially the civil-rights pioneers who have joined us today as part of this luncheon. frankly, i cannot describe adequately in words what it means to be the mayor of this great city at a time when we

celebrate the dedication of this memorial to one of the greatest human beings who ever lived, who gave perhaps the greatest speech ever delivered, and delivered it in a fashion that no one else could have delivered it, like the rev. dr. martin luther king jr.. for those of you who have yet to see the memorial, you should get down there as quickly as you can. it is awesome. it is odd-inspiring, and you -- awe-inspiring, and you will leave having been fully moved by it. we hope you'll enjoy the next couple of days. we will do the best we can to keep the weather as nice as we can. for those of you who do not know, we had an earthquake a couple of days ago, and we sent a message out and said, sorry, not this week. no earthquakes. we have already overcome the consequences of that and we will do what we have to do to

overcome the consequences of irene. many of you fought the battle of civil rights, the battle for freedom, justice and equality, and i want to commend you for having waged that battle. i was fortunate enough to have been there at the lincoln memorial the day that dr. king delivered his speech, and frankly, it is as fresh today as it was when he delivered it on august 28th, 1963. i want to ask you, and i know dr. king would, i want to ask you to join in a battle we are waging in the district of columbia. that is a battle for 600,000 people to be free in our nation's capital. it is time, ladies and gentlemen, for that to end. with six and zero thousand people who in this city pay tax -- 600,000 people who in the city pay taxes to the federal government every day. they do everything that is required to be a citizen.

we send our sons and daughters off to fight wars in faraway places. we serve on federal juries and we fulfil all the responsibilities of being a citizen. yet, we cannot even improve our own local laws. we cannot even approve our own local budget. we're the only nation's capital in the democratic world to not have the votes in our national legislative body. we ask you during the time that you're here to stand up for freedom in the district of columbia. back in 1965 in lafayette park, dr. king gave a speech and he called on congress to correct the injustice in the district of columbia. he said the congress had been derelict in their duties and sacred responsibility is to make justice and freedom of reality for all citizens of the district of columbia.

in the spirit of this memorial, in the spirit of what dr. king stood for, and in the spirit of freedom, justice and equality all across the united states of america, i asked you to stand with us, the 600,000 people in this city, as we dedicate a memorial, dedicate our commitment once again to dr. king for freedom and justice. enjoy your stay in this great city. we welcome you and we look forward to several days of wonderful activity as we dedicate a memorial to dr. king. thank you very much. >> please welcome our soloist,

minister ernest pugh. ♪ lift every voice and sing, til earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmony of liberty. let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies. let it resound, allowed as --

loud as the rolling seas. sing a song, full of the faith that the darkness has taught us. sing a song, full of the hope that the present has brought us. ♪ facing the rising sun, in our new day began, let us march on until victory is won. i know the road may be rough and the going may be tough, but let us march on until victory, a victory is won. let us march on until victory is

won. ♪ [applause] >> and now, for our invocation, please welcome rev. dr. granger browning. >> let us about our heads in a word of prayer. eternal god, our father, we come today to give your name all the honor, the praise and the glory, for this is the day that you have made and we have so much to rejoice and be glad in it. we come in the name and the spirit of jesus and we want to

say thank you. as we gather today in the capital of the united states, those who built that capital may never have dreamed that they would one day be congressmen and congresswomen. what a mighty god we serve. as we stand in the shadow of the white house of these united states, those who built that white house and that oval office, may have never dreamed that one day their people would occupy that white house as the first family. as we stand below the monuments to the war heroes, we stand today to say thank you, because we never dreamed that one day a monument would not be built to a president, but to a profit, not to a war hero, but to a man of peace. we say thank you to those who marched with him, sacrificed with him, went to jail with him. many of them are here today. oh lord, as we say thank you for

this monument, we will never forget the movement. we pray in the name of jesus that we will not be satisfied simply because we have a monument. we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like mighty waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. we pray today that you will send as 21st century profits to be will let freedom ring in pennsylvania, where our young people do not have jobs. the u.s. and monument -- that you will send modern profits that will bring righteousness to places that still need justice. that will go to mississippi were young black men are still being lynched. we ask for modern day profits until every mountain, every hill, and every valley is listed up -- lifted up.

we asked for every person to join hands and sing lift every voice and sing, for harmony and liberty. until we do reach the mountaintop and look over and see the promised land. glory hallelujah to the life and legacy of dr. martin luther king jr.. a man and a man -- a-men and a- men. >> thank you very much. steve gersky is a member of the board of the martin luther king memorial foundation. >> on behalf of the board of directors of the march in the third king memorial foundation, welcome. as i watched the today show this morning, they reported on the

words that the merriam-webster dictionary people had added to the dictionary, like fist bump and bromance. bromance is the word that best describes our relationship with gary johnson. sunday, when you visit the memorial, we hope you will see the definition of breathtaking. although we see dr. martin luther king as a person who spoke for people of color, i see him as someone who spoke for everyone. i was only 8 years old when i stood on the steps of the lincoln memorial and heard him speak. all of us, including this kid from brooklyn, have been molded by the teachings of dr. martin luther king. the dream is among us, hope for something better. the great among us seized the

opportunity to take the actions necessary to make their dreams and the dreams of others come true. while many of us only dream of bettering our lot and a lot of those dear to us, the great of us dream of the betterment of the lot of money and hope to enjoy just a piece of that dream. dreams can be simple and limited or they can be lofty and limitless. as we gather to honor dr. martin luther king, we honor those who helped him turn a dream into a movement and a movement into a reality. the civil-rights pioneers chose to take action when instinct of self preservation were pulling them away from action. by their courage, dedication and fortitude, they helped to bring the world to a better place. big dreams can yield monumental results. with their steadfast determination, dr. king and the civil rights pioneer is taught us to look beyond ourselves and our dreams, to of patience when

the mountain to be climbed is high and steep, and to keep dreaming. the gift that dr. king and the civil-rights pioneers gave us led a group of alpha phi alpha members to dream of a memorial honoring their brother. they believed that they too could make their dream into reality, and they did. for some of us, like me, our dreams are simple. we dream of being respected, making a difference, and of leaving our children a better world than the one we inherited. we are blessed when events in our lives help us achieve and exceed our dreams and expectations. such as been my experience as a member of the board of the memorial foundation. when i was invited to sit on the board, i was presented with an opportunity to make the difference i dreamed of. when board membership provided

me an opportunity to work with perry and other wonderful board members on the construction of this -- harry and other wonderful board members on the construction of this memorial, my dreams were surpassed. to have the opportunity to address civil-rights pioneers and you, i had to pinch myself to make certain that i was not actually having a dream. i am forever grateful to dr. king and the civil-rights pioneers, and i am so honored to have the opportunity to participate on and bring color and contrast to the board, and to address it today. it is with great pleasure that i now introduce to you the vice- president of design at general motors, ed roberts. [applause] >> thank you and good afternoon. it is a real privilege to be

here today and to recognize the legacy of dr. martin luther king. let me begin by saying that i'm really humbled to be in the presence of so many people that i admire and really look up to. my career choice and life has been a bit different than most. in fact, i did not realize when i first contacted general motors back in the 1960's that they did not have black car designers. automobile design has been a part of my life since i was very young. i have been drawing cars since i was two and a half years old. i started reading car magazines when i was a. it was through those -- when i was 8. it was through those magazines that i learned where general motors cars were created. at age 11, wrote to gm and requested information about careers in design and the

education that was needed to get there. their response was quick and very helpful. this information really created a path for me which eventually led me to howard university school of fine arts, where the professors and staff gave me great inspiration and great help. they understood what my goal was and really help reform as a designer. -- really helped me form as a designer. upon graduation, i immediately started working at gm and spent my first few years gaining experiences and learning from them. as a gain experience, i was given greater responsibilities which led me to a responsibility -- or let me to -- let me to an assignment in germany.

that was way out of my comfort zone, but frankly, i was one of the best experiences of my career. a year later, i was back in detroit and was quickly moving to a more leadership position at general motors design. i was designing trucks for gm. that was way out of my comfort zone as well, but designing a new generation of chevrolet trucks and designing the new cadillac escalade really cured that. today, as gm's vice-president of global design, i lead an organization of over 1800 creative people operating out of 10 design centers in eight countries around the world. i am proud to say that i am the first person -- [applause] thank you. i am proud to say that i am the first person at gm to lead design from a global basis and

to lead these studios, and the first african-american to every lead a global design organization in the history of the auto industry. [applause] thank you. in addition to my role, gm was also the first to establish the minority supplier program, the first to implement a minority dealer program, and the first and only of the company to have an african-american serve as the secretary to the board of directors, mr. ron dellums -- rod gillam. at gm design, we are responsible for the design of every car and truck for gm globally, and you know what? i am not out of my comfort zone.

i enjoy what i do. [applause] there are several significant steps that prepared me for this, and i hope the young people in the audience are listening. the support from my family and friends as a child, the education that i received from howard university, the opportunity to learn from great designers at gm, the risk of an overseas assignment, of building a global design organization that i lead today, and writing that letter at age 11 to gm design. it did not come by accident. it was all through preparation, listening, taking risks and building relationships. all of these steps and the lessons i have learned have paved the way for me to be here today to share in this very special moment as we honor dr.

king's legacy. thank you very much. >> ladies and gentlemen, please vickers.e guy >> could bang afternoon. i am the president of the atomic -- could bang afternoon. -- good afternoon. i am the president of the tommy hilfiger organization. i want to speak from the heart. i bring greetings on behalf of the tommy hilfiger corporate foundation, but more importantly, i want to talk just a moment about the man, tommy hilfiger. tommy hilfiger and i grew up in

a very small town in upstate new york. i have known him since i was 10 years old. we went to middle school and high school together. he is the godfather of my son, who is here today along with my daughter and my lovely wife. the reason i mention that is that when we were youngsters -- i remember, we were sophomores in high school when dr. king was assassinated. we had no idea that 20-30 years later, we would be working together, running a corporate foundation. when i was in you gonna this past june with tommy -- uganda this past june with tommy, we were working in an african village and speaking about some of the work we were doing, and we mentioned that we were investing and supporting building the martin luther king

national memorial. it was so awesome to see the people in this village acknowledge dr. king. they smiled broadly, and they were really excited that we were involved with a remarkable. i can tell you, this has been an assignment that i have been working on for the past 11 years. it has been a labor of love. it has been something i have felt honored and proud to be associated with. again, on behalf of our company, we would like to say thank you for allowing us the opportunity. we invested a little bit over 6.2 $5 million for this effort. we have an executive on loan who has been with the foundation for years, and i have been working with this project for 11 years. harry johnson, i give you my salute, and his staff.

i want everyone here to now, we only have 11 -- i believe, if i'm correct -- 11 staff, professionals, that have been carrying the banner. that is unheard of. this organization is top notch and they have worked very hard. i would like to have everyone give them a round of applause, the memorial foundation staff. [applause] and now, it is my honor and -- i was a little anxious, because no one gave me anything to introduce this next person. then i stopped and said, there is nothing that i can write, and nothing that has not been said, nothing that we do not already know. the next person that i have the honor and privilege of introducing is none other than

martin luther king jr. the third. [applause] >> good afternoon. first and foremost, on behalf of my wife andrea and the entire king family, we first want to say thank you to the alpha phi alpha fraternity that began this idea over 20 years ago, of which i am now a proud member of as of november of last year. i thank my brothers and our president. secondly, and perhaps equally as important, the martin luther

king memorial foundation is led by a chair and a board. as the primary person that we have seen over the last 10-11 years, brother harry johnson, thank you. [applause] and his entire team. and then i must thank every corporate sponsor that has made this important, several folks that we have already seen today, and many others who gave, and the hundreds of thousands of americans that donated to this memorial. i come a little briefly with mixed emotions because when the project started and when we broke ground, my mother and sister were still in our midst. but i guess they have gone home

with dad and are looking down smiling on this occasion as we approach august 28th. it is certainly my hope, and while this is a civil rights pioneer in luncheon, and many of us have been involved in the civil-rights movement and will be speaking briefly today, but i want to take just a moment to talk about my dad as first and foremost a family man. because we knew him as a very articulate spokesperson. we knew him as of the modern cil rights movement. but probably around 1965-1966,

he transitioned to a human rights leader, not just civil rights. it is a basic human right to have decent health care. it is a basic human right to have the best education that one can have. it is a human right to have a decent job, to have housing and to have justice. and he wanted to see this nation eradicate what he called the triple evils of poverty, racism and militarism. while we have made great strides with race, we're not there yet. but in relationship to poverty and militarism, certainly poverty, we have made almost no strides. i would appeal that this is not just an issue that the president of the united states must address. it is an issue that all of us must address.

i cannot be what i ought to be until you are what you ought to be and you cannot be what you ought to be until i am what i ought to be because we are tied together. what affects one directly affects all of us indirectly. we are at a critical juncture in america. while we're celebrating this monument, let us not just put data on a shelf and idolize him -- dad up on a shelf and idolize him. let us practice his ideals. he had a philosophy of nonviolence and we are engaged in three wars as we speak, just our nation. we must practice peace. i hope this memorial will inspire your young people

specifically to both steady martin luther king jr. and then embrace his -- study martin luther king jr. and then embraced his ideals. finally, i want to close with something my mom often exposed us to, my brothers and sisters and i. we had the opportunity to travel with her to antioch college. at that college is a statue of the educator horace mann. there is an inscription under that statute that i think is most appropriate today. what it says is, "be ashamed to die until you have won a victory for humanity." you might say brother king, that is still too grandiose. but not really. you can win a victory in the your neighborhood, in your place

of worship, in your city, in your state, or even in our world. but be ashamed to die until you have done something to make this world we all must live and of little better than when we arrived. thank you and god bless you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome american operatic mezzo- sopranos, barbara conrad. >> hello, everyone. i am greatly, greatly honored to be here with you today. very quickly, i just want to tell you that all those years ago when harry belafonte introduced me to dr. king, i was at his office and i was singing some him from down-home in the south, and he came up to me and said do not stop singing, baby.

we need your songs. this is not the exact song, but this is one i would like to honor him to sing. ♪ ride on, and no man cannot hinder me. he is king of kings, lord of lords. he is king of kings, lord of lords. jesus christ, the first and last.

he is king of kings, lord of lords. jesus christ, the first and last. ride on, king jesus. no man cannot hinder me. ride on, king jesus, ride on, and no man cannot hinder me. he is the king. he is the lord. ♪

he is the king. here is the lord. oh.... jesus christ, the first and last. no man like him. right on. ride on. ride on. jesus. [applause] >> excellent job. thank you. ladies and gentlemen, another

warm round of applause for barbara conrad. i also want to ask you to also join me in another warm round of applause for martin luther king iii and the king family. the king family gave so much of their own privacy because of the important work of martin luther king, and we sometimes forget the tremendous sacrifice that they have made over the years. we remember the king family. ladies and gentlemen please give them another warm round of applause. i also want to echo something else that martin luther king iii said, and that is the very important role that the alpha phi alpha fraternity has played in this day coming to be. i want to recognize james

williams, milton davis, harry davis and herman may send. while he will be introduced formally buying -- formally by thomas hardy, i do want to the knowledge that eric holder, attorney general of the united states will be with us, and let me express my thanks to him on behalf of the entire civil rights community. under his leadership, the idea of enforcing the law that dr.

king and others got on the books, has re-emerged as an important policy for the department of justice, and eric holder has not gotten enough credit for his work and leadership. mr. attorney-general, i want to thank you for that important work. at this time, i am proud to introduce thomas hardy, the senior vice president of government solutions with at&t. [applause] >> let me say how honored and humbled in to stand before you representing the two hundred

58,000 employees of at&t as co- chair of this luncheon. today's luncheon and the events leading up to the unveiling of dr. king's memorial paid fitting tribute to an iconic american who inspired so many to stand for social justice and equality. i know that many of the blessings that are in my life today as well as many of us in the audience and others -- we stand on the shoulders of dr. king and others. at the company at&t, we a taken much from the principles of justice and equality that dr. king and the civil rights movement so passionately advocated. we recognize that diversity and talented employees are key to a company's success. we said social and economic inclusion as top priorities.

african-americans have made significant contributions to at&t dating back to 1876. lewis lattimore assisted alexander graham bell been securing -- in securing the patent for the telephone. more recently, an at&t scientist named robert m. bell led an international team that won an award for data analysis excellence. in keeping our commitment to diversity in education, the proceeds were dedicated to science and youth organizations. african-american and diversity is important to at&t. as a direct result, our commitment to recruit and retain the very best talent, 40% of our

management, 31% are people of color. in 2010, at&t spent over $9 billion with minorities, women and veterans and prizes. -- enterprises. but the buying -- cultivating and diversifying our base helps us keep our commitment. dr. king once said everyone can be great because everyone can serve. at at&t, service is at the core of who we are. more than 300,000 at&t employees and retirees are involved with service organizations. in 2010, at&t pioneer's donated 9 million hours of time worth more than $192 million.

also worth noting in 2010, at&t chairman and ceo co hosted a reception at the national archives to pay tribute to a texas for an opera star. i think you just heard her. barbara conrad did a great rendition of ride on jesus. most of you have a cd on your chairs of the story that chronicles her rise from a student who faced discrimination to what i can truly say is an international opera diva. we are so proud of her. [applause] we are reminded of dr. king's insi