now we are going to cut the hearing short. had any of the bankers been held accountable for what they have done? has anyone been held accountable for how they cut you off? for someone like me, when i was 30 years old and i had no idea that there were people willing to testify for you and to tell of their experiences that were similar to yours, it shocks me. i read a lot, too. i am just astounded that the committee work that goes on in the senate when there is usually one man in power who says "we are going to stop it." that sort of thing needs to end. [applause] [laughter] >> i will say that the individual who was ready -- one woman got out of a hospital bed ready to testify.

these were not people that i had called. these were people who had come on their own to testify. yet, it is a travesty. it is a travesty because there was information that was lost. that testimony was not a part of the public record. that is a travesty. it is emblematic of the stories that get lost. but it was also a travesty for those women, personal. it was an affront to them. so, how do we make sure that that does not happen, that we do not just this mess -- "oh, there is another woman so we are not going to bother to call them" -- how do we make sure that we are all heard from? in a way, how do we make sure

that all of our processes include our voices? this is a time where we are dealing with those issues. you are right. that is not just something that happened 20 years ago. we are constantly dealing with how to have a really inclusive democracy. we are at that time. we have to hold our leadership accountable. including president obama. but we also have to hold ourselves accountable. we have to be accountable. we cannot sit back and say we are going to wait for the president to do something or my senator to do something. each of us have a responsibility. look at all of the powerful men and women who are here today. what can we do to make sure that every voice is heard?

that is the question that i will leave you with. i am going to make it more personal. what are you individually going to do to make sure that someone who does not have a voice gets heard, considered, and when policy gets made, that their stories are accounted for and included in the decisions that are made? thank you. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [cheers and applause]

>> next, astronaut john glenn, neil armstrong and buzz aldrin receive the congressional medal of honor, a highest civilian award in the u.s. >> of the role of federal judges under the u.s. constitution. both justices called for the return of civics education class

is to american schools. see that program friday at 10:00 eastern. after that, a discussion on race issues in hollywood with a panel of african-american actors. they spoke earlier this year at the naacp annual conference. that begins at 12:25 eastern on c-span. the story of the civil-rights movement cannot be told without birmingham, alabama. this weekend, american history television and books behind the scenes of the southern city.

september 15, 1963, a bomb rocked the 16th street baptist church, killing four young girls. that story to the eyes of a survivor and friend. even under the hazardous working conditions, people fought to work at the cotton mill in jacksonville. pulitzer prize winner on the day after it closed. on american history television, a stamford university history professor on how martin luther king jr. said -- letter set the tone for the civil rights movement. the blast furnace produced iron 4 or burk 400 -- 100 years. this weekend, on c-span2 and 3. >> astronauts received the congressional gold medal.

the highest civilian award in the u.s.. we will hear remarks from john boehner and nancy pelosi. held in the capitol rotunda, this is a little over an hour. the first recipient was george washington. we will present a gold medal on behalf of the united states congress to the hon. john glenn, the first human to orbit the earth, neil armstrong, the first person to walk on the moon, michael collins, pilot of apollo, and dr. barnes aldrin, pilot of apollo and the second -- buzz aldrin, pilot of apollo and the second man to walk on the moon.

the most recent astronaut class credit not long ago. before we have the presentation of colors, let me draw your attention to the flag here on stage. it was a tradition for returning astronauts to appear before a joint meeting of the congress. senator glenn did so on february 26, 1962.

september 16, 1969, the crew of apollo and 11 presented the speaker with the flight they carried to the moon. today it is under the care of the house sergeant at arms. he holds an affection for the flight it and i'm told even hold a birthday parties for it. i appreciate his willingness to part with it just for today. >> ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the presentation of the colors by the united states armed forces color guard, the singing of our national anthem and the retiring of our colors. [drumroll]

♪ ♪

♪ oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed atwhot stars thru the perilous fight, o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? and the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? ♪ ♪ [drumroll]

♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain standing as the chaplain of the united states house of representatives, the rev. patrick conroy, gives the invocation. >> let's pray. god of the universe, we give you thanks for the wonder of your

creation. a long time ago in a place far, far away you call forth a common ancestor of faith to leave his home to travel to a place you would show him. by that call, and by his obedience to and trust in you, we continue to be challenged to move beyond the limits of our own imaginations. on this day would gather to give you thanks that we are wondrously made, and we give it with the spirit and the will to move beyond the horizon. all of our ancestors at some point left a place familiar to them into an uncertain future. but that future to them has become our present.

we give you thanks for the dreams and hopes of this nation's ancestors, and today, for the personal heroism that empowered those being honored today to leave this very planet familiar to them to go to a universe never before visited by our kind. the many advances of science and technology, medicine and physics, to name only three have better to the lives of the people. the advances have been perhaps in measurable. bless these heroic americans we honor today. they they know our pride and

great folles team for them. and may all of those whose shared effort and ingenuity to allow those to boldly go where none has gone before know of our gratitude as well. where can we go from your spirit, oh, god? where can we flee from your presence? if we go up to the heavens, you are there. thank you for that. amen. >> please, be seated. ladies and gentlemen, the ranking member of the united states house of representatives committee on science, space, and technology, and the representative from the 30th district of texas, the hon. eddie bernice johnson.

>> thank you and good morning. thank you for this opportunity to permit me to make a few remarks as we honor these distinguished americans. you know, "hero" is an overused word, but i think all assembled today would not hesitate to describe our honorees as genuine national heroes. in fact, the only ones that might object to that description are the honoree's themselves. in an age of inflated ego and self-promotion, each of these gentleman has distinguished himself through his modesty and dedication to serving this nation.

in truth, this gold medal is no less than a simple recognition of all they have meant to america. as i said to mr. armstrong when he testified before our committee earlier this year, america's space program is as much about inspiration as it is about rockets and space capsules. and the settlement are continuing to inspire. four decades ago, they led the way of america and ventured into this new ocean of space, as president kennedy described it. keeping our pre-eminence in space will strengthen our economy, create jobs for the future and benefit our society in countless ways.

that will be the best way to truly honor the legacy of the four heroes that stand with us today. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the chairman of the united states house of representatives committee on science, space, and technology, and the representative from the fourth district of texas, the honorable rafah paul. >> first, mr. speaker, thank you for scheduling this ceremony honoring these brave men.

our school children and others will be reading about them for hundreds of years. they hardly need an introduction. all americans young and old take great pride in our space program and the men and women who have flown, as well as the scientists and technicians who permitted save travel into space. what up to virtually anyone in the street and it will be able to tell you the name of our first president. they can tell you who our current president is, and the first to orbit the earth and the first to land on the moon. it is a very select group. in 2012, it will mark the 50th anniversary of john glenn's voyage. it marks the bravery, if not the audacity of first of the kind missions. john glenn's flight in the capsule was the first of its kind mission. apollo 11 was the first mission to land on the moon.

in both cases, both were more than the components that made up the rockets and capsules. the risks were high, but these men were willing to embrace that peril. one of these men, john being the first, was also the only one of this group to run for president. i would like to take a moment to tell one of the great stories that came out of that campaign. john may not want me to tell it, but he was running for president and i came home -- and had come home late for dinner.

his wife was a little irritated that he was late. he was worn out and his dog was welcoming him. she was on his case, and finally he said, i am dead tired. i'm not doing good in the polls, and i'm almost out of money. when i come home like this, it seems like i ought to at least have two friends. [laughter] so she bought him another dog. [laughter] much of their hardware on our early space systems were designed not with components, but slide rules. there were very rudimentary by today's standards. neil armstrong made this point before congress by holding up his cellphone and testifying it had much more capability than the computer that guided apollo 11 and neptune. the technologies that bond from our nation's space flight program, and the innovations, it is the challenge to know what influence they have had on our country and its international prestige.

but we would not be discussing these things if it were not for neil armstrong, john glenn, michael collins, and buzz aldrin. congratulations to all of you. you are part of our nation's history and its success, and for that, i sincerely thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentleman, the chairman of the united states senate subcommittee on science and space and the senior senator from the state of florida, the hon. bill nelson.

>> ladies and gentlemen, it is said in the songs were written by david as he peered up into the heavens," the heavens declare the glory of god. the firmament showeth his handiwork." these adventurers have touched the firmament. you think of the significance of this congressional gold medal, it has only been awarded to 100. and of those in aviation and space first, think of the wright brothers, charles lindbergh, dr. robert broderick, but father of modern rocketry -- robert goddard, the father of modern rocketry, and our honorees today. and i dare say that we will be giving this gold medal to the

first crew that will land on the planet mars. ladies and gentlemen, the dream is alive. as a matter of fact, it is a part of us. it is our character as the american people to be adventurers and explorers. and we will not ever give that three out. indeed, in the honoring of these astronauts, we foretell the future, the greatness, the discovery, the expressing of ourselves as pioneers, adventurers, and explorers. ladies and gentlemen, the dream is alive.

[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the ranking member of the united states senate committee on commerce, science and transportation, and the senior senator from the state of texas, the hon. kay bailey hutcheson. >> we are honoring four brave, but determined, resilience men. day, and the astronauts to follow, took the enormous personal risk for our country to venture beyond earth's orbit. their mission into the unknown reminds us of what can be achieved, as well as the dangers of not reaching for the stars.

america urgently needs to continue our pre-eminence in manned space exploration. senator -- from senator glenn's flight on astronauts 7 to the lunar mission of apollo 11, to our recent space shuttle program, to the space station, we know that space exploration is a step-by-step process. it will require leadership to get a sustained commitment of resources, and a clear sense of purpose over time. look at what space exploration has brought to america. the technology and product in space science, earth science, fundamental aeronautics research, and education has spurred the tens of billions of economic activity dollars and hundreds of thousands of productive jobs. the use of satellites that can guide a missile into a window

from 3 miles away has drastically lowered collateral damage and saved countless lives in conflicts and wars. we have all heard the words of president john kennedy when he spoke in 1962 at rice university, "for the eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon, and to the planet beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flight of conquest, but by a banner of peace. a banner of freedom and peace." the men who stand here today soared into a dark sky and described from afar what they saw. in the process, they contributed to a better world onerous. they assured america will lead the way.

-- a better world on earth. they are sure america will lead the way. what they began, we are summoned to continue. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentleman, the administrator of the national aeronautics and space administration, mr. charles bolden jr. >> mr. speaker, mr. reed, mr. mcconnell, ms. pelosi, members of congress, we are guests as we embark on -- members of congress and guests, as we embark on the next journey in space exploration, we stand on this -- on the shoulders of those we honor today.

america's confidence that we can go farther into the unknown and achieve great things as a people rests on the achievement of these men. when 50 years ago this year, kennedy challenged us to reach the moon, to take longer strides toward a great new american enterprise, these men were the human face of these words. from mercury and gemini i through the landing on the moon and the apollo program, their actions achieve the web will of a nation for the greater good of the human kind. just as we call on the four individuals we honor today to carry out their mission, we now call on another generation to go where we have never gone before.

as we honor these heroes, i want to recognize the hundreds and thousands of dedicated nasa employees and industry partners who contribute to the incredible success of the mercury, gemini, and apollo programs, and all that has followed, and all that has -- is yet to come. i also want to thank our congress. our nation is a better place because of more than half a century of strong, bipartisan support for nasa's work. in human exploration, science, and aeronautics. five members of the most recent class of 2009 are with us today to pay tribute to the gold medal honorees, and to build on their accomplishments to make lasting contributions to our nation's space program. this new group of astronauts stance on the shoulders of the

giants will recognize and honor here today, and they will redefine space exploration in the years to come, and continue to honor the legacy of john glenn, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin, and michael collins. it is a lasting legacy, a legacy that continues to transform our modern world. the inspiration these four have provided to generations is not something we can measure. but we can feel it in our hearts. as a nation, we would not be the same without them and their bravery,, their sense of duty and dedication to public sued -- public service, and they're great skill in thinking on their feet.

they changed the course of history and helped our nation achieve the bigger things to which are greater nature as buyers. we owed them our homeless gratitude. on behalf of nasa and all the astronauts past and present, i congratulate and thank each of you, john, neil, buzz, and mike, our congressional gold medal recipients today. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the singer/songwriter norah jones will now usain "america the beautiful." >> ♪ oh, beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plains

america, america god shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea oh, beautiful for house in skies inhalcien skies for amber waves of grain for purple mountain majesties above and an early plane -- emerald plain america, america

god shed his grace on thee 'til those wrapped there in music there called the sea ♪ [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the democratic leader of the united states house of representatives, the hon. nancy pelosi. >> good morning. today's ceremony is a celebration of imagination and

creativity. it is a tribute to america's leadership, to our legacy of exploration, our belief in discovery, our pursuit of scientific excellence and technological achievement. today, we honor four courageous americans who represented, and do still, the highest hopes of a generation, who inspired our nation to new heights of greatness and knowledge who ignited the fires of innovation and rekindled the flames of scientific progress. if we on our four men -- we are for men who -- we honor four men who embodied the new frontier. these astronauts not only accepted those challenges, they challenged future generations to explore new horizons, to apply our skills, our excellent, our determination to any obstacle before us.

indeed, when president kennedy announced his determination to chart a new course interspace, -- into space, all americans, and many of you may not have been born then, but for those of us were there, we learned a new word, an astronaut. sailor to the stars. it has been an age of discovery. the new age of discovery, these astronauts reached for the stars. senator john glenn became the first american to orbit the earth. he paved the way not simply four more missions in space, but for an expanded commitment to science and technology, and he

acted upon that commitment with his leadership in the u.s. senate where he brought honor to the progress, as -- to the congress, as he and the other recipients today bring honor to this metal. on the 40th anniversary of the achievement of apollo and 11, he recalled how he peered out of the windows and saw the potential for students inspired by math and science and engineering. as neil armstrong took one giant leap for mankind, americans knew we could overcome any obstacle and prevailed against any challenge.

as a buzz aldrin walked on the moon, an entire nation sought a promise fulfilled and a challenge met. these men personify kennedy's call to students at rice university when he said, the vows of this nation can all live be filled if we are first. and therefore, we intend to be first. our leadership in science and in industry, our hope for peace and security, our obligation to ourselves as well as others all require us to make this effort. those of us who remember the president's statement thought it was unimaginable that we could send a man to the moon and back safely within 10 years. but these astronauts knew it was possible. they ensured we were first, first to set foot on the moon, first in science and technology and industry and innovation, first to pursue peace and partnership, and to secure peace for our country and around the world.

and we still must be first today. we must sustain those flights where americans thus no longer be bound by the past, but inspired by the present and the frontiers of the future. and that the same address at rice university, president kennedy reminded us the united states was not built by those who waited and rested and wish to look behind them. this country was built by those who move forward. senator john glenn, michael collins, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin, these astronauts did not rest or weight or wish. they did not look back or behind. they moved forward and our

country move forward with them into space, into a new generation, and into discovery and progress for our future. for their spirit and their inspiration in this time of thanksgiving season, we thank them and honor them and congratulate them for receiving the highest civilian honor this country can bestow, the congressional gold medal. and congratulations to our leaders. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and mellman, the republican leader of the united states senate, the hon. mitch mcconnell. >> in early 1959, about six months after congress formally

created the national aeronautics and space administration, a group of test pilots was summoned to a top-secret briefing at the pentagon. once there, they were told that nasa was developing a program aimed at putting a man in norgard and it needed volunteers. -- in orbit and it needed volunteers. the training would be long, dangerous, and unlike anything anyone had ever experienced. and those chosen would be called astronauts. a 37-year-old marine and father of two named john glenn was among those who attended that meeting. he volunteered without hesitation.

and three februaries later, he found himself circulating in the heavens at 17,000 miles an hour, staring at the sunset that was even more spectacular than he had ever imagined, as the nation looked on. in new york, thousands of commuters stood still in grand central station to watch the take off. and even walter cronkite allowed himself a little show of national pride from the broadcasters chair as glenn's rocket lifted off, cronkite rooted for the home team, saying, "go, baby, go." the context was important. five years earlier, russia had -- the soviet union had begun into space with an unmanned satellites. seven years after glenn circle the earth, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin, and michael collins put to rest any doubts about the position of the united states in the world.

the cold war was now being fought in space, and these men proved that the u.s. was winning. it was not easy. as president eisenhower had stated at the outset, america's space program would be civilian rather than military lead. so no one would doubt our intentions. but this also meant that it

would be conducted in the open, so every hitch and hold up could be seen and scrutinized. and this is just as it should have been. these missions, spanning two democratic and two republican administrations, show not only the power of the men we are today, but the power of a nation united in a common purpose. it took vision, will, leadership and guts. and it took a remarkable courage of john glenn, neil armstrong, buzz aldrin and michael collins. they will tell you they are not heroes. do not listen to them. america is only as strong as the citizens we produce, and here are four of the best. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the majority leader of the u.s. senate, the hon. harry reid. >> a couple of points of personal privilege. a first, norah jones, i am one

of your big fans and it is such a pleasure to be able to listen to you in such close proximity with your beautiful voice and your wonderful presentation. [applause] secondly, i have been so impressed with what this man has done in space and what he has done on earth. could we all give a round of applause to mark kelly? [applause] mark, you could at least stand so we can all see you. [laughter] [applause]

>> it has been a pleasure over the years to meet neil armstrong, michael collins, and buzz aldrin. i will spend some time today talking about someone i not only met, but had the good fortune of serving with in the u.s. senate, john glenn. barbara mikulski is here and she will remember as i have as a couple of young senators that we were going on a congressional delegation trip led by john glenn and ted stevens. it was a wonderful trip. to be with these two fine senators, i was so happy i could go. i can remember many things about that trip, and i will talk about a couple of things. we left vienna to go to czechoslovakia, as it was called at that time, and we came to the border, the iron curtain was stopped at the train and they brought out the dogs and the security rifles.

they were looking around and under the train and we were asked to get out of the train. as things calmed down a little bit, one of the soldiers, looking around so no one would see what he was doing, came over to john glenn quickly and said, could you give me an autograph? [laughter] we then went to prague and had a meeting with government officials there. as we were walking up the street, someone came out of an apartment building with an encyclopedia and had it open to john glenn's picture and came to him and said, would you autograph over your picture? we focus on how these mdot -- these how important these astronauts are to us -- we focus on how important these astronauts are to us in the u.s., but keep in mind how poor they are are around the world. a soviet soldier on a train

going into czechoslovakia, a person of minimal status, i guess we would say, in prague, who wanted to be able to look at john glenn and say, i have his picture -- this picture, would you sign it for me. but john glenn's prowess has been more than just his trip to czechoslovakian and the other places we went. i have been so impressed with what he is and what he has done -- who he is and what he has done. i have a story i have to tell. it is one of my favorites of all time. i had some people visit us in my office at that time. they were young teenagers from nevada who had been in the double dutch jump rope championship nationwide.

there were in one of the hallway is there -- one of the hallways in a wide, spacious area. these kids looked so great jumping in and out of that rope. they said, "triet it" to me. i tried it and made a small fool of myself. [laughter] i did not realize it, but john glenn had been watching these kids during the double dutch jump from britain. -- double dutch jump roping. he was just a kid then, probably about 75. [laughter] he said, may i tried this, and he was just like one of the teenagers. i have so many fond memories of john glenn and the role model he has been for me as a senator.

sometimes it seems that the more we learn about the heavens, the more we have to learn. but space travel has taught us about the mystery that lies beyond, and for that, we have these four pioneers to thank. thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the speaker of the united states house of representatives, the hon. john boehner. >> i think i'm going to go ahead and say what i think everybody here is thinking. this is pretty cool. [laughter] when the prime minister of

australia address the congress last march, she said that as of little girl -- as a little girl watching the men land on the moon, it proved juror that americans could do anything. she grew up -- it proved to her that americans could do anything. she grew up in a city whose residents turned all their lights on to agree to john glenn as he flew back across australia. the world looks to america because we are free, and it is to our values to which people aspire. one of those values is humility, the idea that you are part of a cause greater than yourself, that nothing in life is a do-it-yourself project.

and often unsung virtue, humility has figured prominently in the pinnacle of human achievement. to this day, john glenn insist he is no hero, just a patriot serving his country, which in those days was correct -- was gripped by the thought that america had fallen behind. these were vital missions. neil armstrong was asked once, why did you, one man, choose to speak for all of us as you set foot on the lunar surface? as it turns out, there was no script and no notes. when the moment came, and as his thoughts turned to the 400,000 people that worked on the project, the designers, the

testers, the engineers, navigators, of who devised that one small step, he said, that he knew it would be a big step for all of those folks involved in the project. and so it was. buzz aldrin, caught up in the adrenaline, paused to reflect. he pulled out a way for and some wind -- pulled out a wafer and some wine and to communion on the moon. there was one person who could not observe the scene live. that is all right. i do not mind, said michael collins from apollo 011's command module.

he was focused on making sure the engineers got home. he rose abound, but do not count astronauts among them. we worked very hard, did our profession, but that is what we have been hired to do. when americans take on our work with humility and dedication, there is truly nothing we cannot accomplish. we can do anything. if we hobble ourselves and if we have got the right stuff -- humble ourselves and if we have got the right stuff. gentlemen, your tax war relic, and today we add to your many -- your acts were heroic, and today we add to your many honors the congressional gold medal. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated for the unveiling and presentation of the congressional gold medals by members of the united states congress. [applause] [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, the first person to land a spacecraft upon the moon and the first person to set foot upon its surface, mr. neil armstrong. [applause]

>> thank you so much. mr. speaker, mr. reid, mr. mcconnell, ms. pelosi, members, distinguished guests, we gather in this remarkable monument to american history, this room, connecting the houses of congress. this room, where ideological differences fade in the presence of the overpowering force of pride in what we do and what americans have achieved. it is a privilege to be in this rotunda.

high above us below the windows stretches a freeze with 19 panels -- friese with 19 panels depicting moments of american history. than most recent of them, number 19 just above -- the most recent of them, number 19 just above me here, the picks the first successful flight of a man in a powered aircraft. by the brothers wright 108 years ago. the depiction, indeed -- in addition to the craft and the responsible individuals,

includes an american bald eagle carrying an olive branch. the wright brothers were the 45th recipient of the congressional gold medal, and the first for achievement in the world of flight. subsequently, congressional gold medals have been presented to nine times for aviation and rocketry achievements. subsequently, congressional gold medals have been presented to nine times for aviation and rocketry achievements. today for the first time, they have been given for achievements in space flight. in an appropriate coincidence, apollo 11's mission emblem and group patch also featured an american bald eagle carrying an olive branch. the apollo 11 crew is honored to to receive the congressional

gold medal and accept on behalf of our fellow apollo teammates all those who played their role in the expanded presence outward from earth, and all those who played a role in expanding human knowledge of the source system and beyond, we thank the congress very much -- of the solar system and beyond, we thank the congress very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, the former united states senator from the state of ohio and the first american to orbit the

earth, the hon. john glenn. [applause] >> thank you all very, very much. leaders of the house and senate, members of congress, ladies and gentlemen, first, thanks to each of you for being here today to share this very special occasion with us. from our founding days, americans have been motivated by curiosity about the new and the unknown, whether it was geographical exploration that has pushed back the frontiers of a continent, or micro exploration in our laboratories, that curiosity and research, coupled with an

education system that let all our citizens benefit and contributes for the twin engines of progress that catapulted america into pre-eminence. but there were other frontiers never before believed to be approachable. and for many, many thousands of years people have looked up and wondered. they have been curious about what was up there. we must consider ourselves among the most fortunate of all generations, for we have lived at a time when the dream became a reality, when we could finally travel above the atmosphere above the earth, where we could establish laboratories in space and do research. and for the first time in history, leave human footprints

on someplace other than ours. -- other than earth. as neil and buzz and mike made their journey, it could be said we came in peace for all mankind. the reason these dreams were brought to life by one of the most dedicated and capable teams ever put together, workers, technicians, engineers, scientists, honored as we are today, we certainly share this recognition with that great team. almost 50 years ago following the oral flight of friendship, i was privileged to marriage -- to address a joint session of congress. and i closed my remarks with

words i will repeat today. as our knowledge of the universe in which we live increases, may god grant us the wisdom and guidance to use it wisely. thank you. [applause] >> have lisa devin, please remain standing as the chaplain of the united states senate gives his benediction. >> let us pray.

lord of hosts, you stretched out the heavens like a curtain. her thank-you for this opportunity to honor four pioneers. you empower them to enter a new frontier, slipping the surly bonds of earth to reach out and touch your sovereign face. maybe inspiration we receive from these well-lived lives saved us from the love of these hutus the comfortable way and from the procrastination which puts things off until it is too late. bless and keep us and all of our tomorrows end our going out and coming in, our rising up and

lying down, from this time forth even forever more, amen. ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats for the departure of the official party. ♪

>> ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's ceremony. thank you and have a nice day. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> and tomorrow, washington post financial reporter ylan mui on the holiday impact of shopping. then, steven emerson and examines the growth of islamic radicalism in the u.s. and prospects of future attacks for american citizens. after that, stacey walmart looks at charitable giving in the united states and whether or not the recession is having an effect on how much people are giving this holiday season. plus, your e-mails, phone calls, and tweets. >> this past and july 4 in a ceremony held aboard the u.s. constitution, simon winchester became an american citizen.

>> i decided that i would take all the necessary steps and the exam. i got one of those questions wrong. i had an australian friend who is also of dual citizenship. i rang her and said, i got one of the questions wrong. she said, not the one about what color is the white house? i said, no. it was, what is the national -- what is the national anthem? i said it was america, the beautiful. the officer said it should be, but it is not. >> watched the interview sunday night on "q &a".

>> the new season and video schedule makes it easier for you to get your schedule, with new features so you can quickly scroll for all of the programs scheduled on the networks and receive an e-mail alert when your program is scheduled to air. there is a section to access our most popular series and programs. a handy channel-finder, so you can find where to watch our three c-span networks on cable or satellite systems across the country. >> next, new york city mayor michael bloomberg, arriana huffington, and fareed zakaria hold a discussion on what is truly meant by the american dream. this is an hour and 45 minutes.

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome executive director opportunity nation mark edwards. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. it is fabulous to see you all here. welcome to the opportunity nation summit. last night was an amazing kickoff, wasn't it? for those of you who were there. incredible. today is not just going to be an event. today is your chance to change history. let me take you back 80 years to the great depression. a young playwright had just written his first play. this was a young man who had no connection or well, no money, but what he did have was talent and drive. he was here in new york city not far from where we stand a,

waiting for the reviews of his first play at 25 years old. the first newspapers came out. all three newspapers gave him rave reviews, and he knew at that moment at the age of 25 his life would never be the same period for the first time, he took a taxi home to his tiny apartment in brooklyn where he lived with his parents and his young brother. in his autobiography years later, he broke it was amazing in this city for that young, nameless man, a man who had no connections and no money, to have a decent chance to scale the walls and make a big difference in life. he did not need wealth or rank or a big name. all he needed was talent and drive and the boldness to dream. he went on to be one of the great playwrights on broadway. he had that boldness to dream that allowed him to scale the walls. but the current writings about the american dream have a very different tone.

a very different feeling about it. on today's "time" magazine cover, it says "are we going to be able to move up?" legendary newsman tom brokaw asked what happened to the america he thought he knew. the core question which has driven america for so many years is -- are we going to leave this place better for our children and grandchildren? he said he was not sure. the great author tom friedman wrote in his book in the past tense about the american dream, he said, "the american dream is no longer there. this used to be us." the opportunity to scale the wall, the twin engines of opportunity and mobility -- those things have ground to a halt. what makes this moment today so important is not only do we have declining ability, which all of us know anecdotally, right? we know this.

we are also in this place of declining mobility was rising inequality. that is not the america that made us great. the zip code you are born in today is one of the biggest determinant of how you end up by light. that is not the foundation in this country. americans are frustrated about it and wondering if their elected officials can break through the grid lock and inaction to provide a bold vision for opportunity in this country. let me tell you -- opportunity nation is a bold response to that inaction and gridlock. [applause] we start from the premise that no party, no ideology, no program has all the answers, and we have to come together across all those silos to come up with a broad framework for opportunity. what we know is the opportunity is not a liberal idea. it is not a conservative idea. it is not a democratic or republican idea. it is an american idea. [applause]

today, backed by 200 organizations now who have network to 100 million americans, we have spent the last two years reaching out to people to find the best ideas from the left, right, and center, and how you would create an opportunity for work. what would or not opportunity as it is not just about jobs. jobs are central, but when you talk to americans, what they tell you is, yes, it is about good jobs but also about high- quality education and skill- building and making sure that our communities are good, safe communities. it is about families. we are creating this broad, bipartisan coalition united around the idea of opportunity. that is what we're here today today. -- that is what we are here to do today. this is very hard. it would have been easier if we said we just should not have childhood hunger in this country. let's organize around that you're that as part of our agenda. let's expand the earned income tax credits, one of the great

movements that have moved more people out of poverty than anything else. these silos are political silos, program silos, policy silos, geographic silos, funding silos, right? we are going to break those down and bring people together. the exciting thing is that people are excited to be part of this overall conversation. we get this right, i really do believe we can build a platform to restart opportunity in this country. let me tell you a little bit about what is happening today. we have this incredible lineup today. you should also know that there are thousands of people out in the country who are part of this conversation. we will hear from our co- containers to have the vision to bring this summit to get the puree will also hear from policy officials. we have a panel from later on this morning which is really emblematic of how opportunity nation works. on one stage, we will have policies dollars from the white house, the heritage foundation,

the center for american progress, and bookings, for your organizations that as you know, do not often play in the same sandbox. they are here today because they believe -- and for the last nine months, they have been given us a set of ideas that they believe we can rally around the country to promote opportunity, and they will be sharing those ideas with us today. we also have a set up panels later on this afternoon organized around this framework for opportunity i want to talk to you about. this is where we need you. we need your best ideas about policy ideas, interesting collaborations', ways in which we can return to a more opportunistic society. we have an incredibly interesting panel around our attractive opportunity index. this is the first of its kind. we are going to promote opportunity, we have to measure it. we are unveiling a tool and a citizen can use to determine how much opportunity there is here to plug in your zip code, and i will plug in and opportunities for.

we rank states to determine where the hurdles are and where the barriers are. what can we do to change the course of history? this is a powerful campaign. this is really just our launch. the hard truth is we have an awful lot of work to do. we're going to ask three things of you today. first, make your own commitment to opportunity. everyone in this room has to be committed to these ideas. we have cards in front of you. write them on your cards. this is an event of action. we are going to be tweeting about these and posting the month facebook. second, give us your best ideas about how we can measure our agenda is broader and includes the kind of ideas and innovations that are going to make a big difference. third, opportunity nation is going to emerge with a plan to promote opportunity in this country. let's make sure our elected officials and politicians have their own plan because we're going to have a bipartisan plan to move this forward. [applause]

one little word of caution about today -- i know you are going to hear from people that you do not disagree with, right? that is the nature of this agenda. we are purposely bringing all kinds of people together because we believe that the best ideas are going to come from the left, right, and center to bring people to get appeared when we do that, i really believe we will emerge with a shared plan to restore opportunity in this country. if we do so, we can return to making sure that this country is the kind of country when all you need it was talent and drive to achieve your dreams. so thank you very much. [applause] it is now my great pleasure to introduce kevin jennings, the ceo of the the change, the parent organization of opportunity nation. kevin jennings. [applause]

>> good morning. the former teacher in the loves that. very good. as the ceo of the parent organization of the opportunity nation campaign, i am very aware that today is the result of the hard work of a lot of folks, and i would like to first of all say thank you to mark edwards, who over the last two years has created this campaign out of thin air. please give mark a round of applause. [applause] luckily for mark, we have an incredible team at the the change of staff members and board members, and i would like all the staff and board to stand up so that they can get the recognition that they deserve. thank you, thank you, thank you for everything you do. [applause] and, of course, our co- conveners today have been critical in bringing to get to this event, and i would welcome them to join us at this time.

president of the board foundation. [applause] representing the united way board member and partner, rodney slater. the president of the aarp foundation, joanne jacobs. [applause] and the managing editor of "time" will put together that incredible cover story you all have in front of you today, rick's dingell -- rick stengell. [applause] the summit would not have happened without the leadership, the generosity, and the support of these four organizations. i would ask each of their leaders to come up and have a brief conversation with you now. thank you. [applause]

>> before i begin, i think we should thank kevin jennings and mark edwards for bringing us together to launch this campaign. thank you. [applause] across this country in town halls, wall street, the question of economic opportunity is being debated in ways we have not seen since the great depression. for me, opportunity is synonymous with the promise that brought my family to this country. the unshakable belief that tomorrow will inexorably be better than today. when we arrived in this country, when my family arrived in this country, they had virtually nothing. it is a story we all share. it is a story everyone in this room shares. they were migrants, like all of you in this room eventually work, landing in the east village on fifth street.

there was a place which has seen waves of people passing through. jewish immigrants, italian immigrants, irish immigrants. all of them came to america was nothing and went on to prosper. waves of people with the capacity for risk abandoned everything they knew and, through their capacity for work, thrived. my family, like those that preceded them, traveled to america with little more than hope for a better future. america is filled with such people. we are populated with such people, people will believe that with hard work, we, they can give their children, our

children so much more than we had maybe even more than we can dream of having. but today, people are worried that we have diminishing expectations. ever-growing barriers between aspirations and reality. people are asking themselves whether the dream that brought my family, that brought all your families to this country is still alive. you know, you can pose this question -- we can pose this question to angry tea party protesters or to those 99- percenter kids or even to the typical middle-class families struggling to make ends meet, and the answer to often is very different than the answer that our families found. the answer to often is no, opportunity is not available. i do not believe that i can

work hard and be assured of a better future for my children. to many of our fellow citizens believe america is no longer an opportunity nation. that is why today's event, bringing folks from across the spectrum, the disparate views together under one roof to talk about opportunity in this country, to talk about america's future is so vital. the kinds of questions we are going to discussing, you are going to be discussing today, are the ones we asked at the ford foundation every day. the namesake of the foundation is an american entrepreneur or believes that commerce and create new pathways to opportunity and build a product and a business that had the opportunity embedded in them. today, our work is built around similar ideas of on for chris trichet, and all that in the

context of social justice. -- similar ideas of entrepreneurship. reforms around issues like a part time, part year, part day education system that is not serving our children anymore. establishing financial standards and financial regulations that ensure that individuals and companies are protected. rethinking transportation policies so that workers can find jobs and employers can find workers. these are the sorts of ideas that are not the province of one political party or one political movement. but rather ideas that belong to all americans. it is a reminder, they are a reminder that we share common goals and common dreams. a collective belief in greater opportunity not just for a few

but for all of us. a collective believe that our country will be better for our children and our grandchildren that it is for us if we come together and think about our nation as an opportunity nation. in the end, we will not be america if we do not make this commitment to opportunity central and real for every one of our children. so it is my hope that today's event and the work of opportunity nation will set us on a path toward making that a reality. thank you. [applause] >> i am honored to be here today as one among this distinguished group and to share with you personal insights about

opportunity as well as insights gained through years of public service. regardless of income level, our collective aspirations are basically the same -- a good job. access to quality educational opportunity and quality health care and, yes, to safe and clean neighborhoods where children can actually play outside. that, at the core, is what we all desire. this worked of creating that opportunity has never been more critical than now. the country's deepest recession since the 1930's has made it more difficult for literally millions of families to make ends meet.

many of us know the numbers -- the hard numbers. more than 14 million americans currently unemployed. real median household income has declined to $49,445. the poverty rate has increased to 15.1%, the highest level in 40 years. as some of you may know, i grew up in arkansas -- rural arkansas, to be exact. not necessarily a hub of economic activity. my stepfather -- well, he was a mechanic. my mother -- she worked at a factory. but more importantly, they were my role models. they taught me the value of hard work, fair play, commitment to

excellence, and we as a family -- well, we came together and worked as a family on behalf of our family but also the broader community. i was blessed to be an athlete and to earn a scholarship to college. as many of you know, especially those who may be the oldest in a family, the first person in that family that goes to college really lifts the trajectory of the entire family, and that was the case for all of my siblings. in 2008, the united way announced a 10-year plan because we knew, as was said earlier, it is hard work, but a 10-year plan to increase the number of low-income working families that are financially

stable. the united way believes that a focused effort on jobs will have a tremendous impact on the health of our nation and all local economies. more jobs mean more tax revenues, which will reduce the much-debated deficit that we now face. and more highly trained and skilled workers will make the united states more competitive in the global economy. this will require partnerships. partnerships between and among employers and employees and communities operatives to focus on education and training and sector-based strategies that connect skill workers with jobs that not only put food on the table but that make a difference in the broader society. jobs in growing sectors, including health care, technology, green industries,

and infrastructure. what we need today is a national effort that is anchored in and that engages all of our fellow citizens. through a national network of committed community and state partners, we can design and approach to economic opportunity and financial stability that combines short- term services and that helps families increase and maximize their income and resources and that will bring about the systemic changes needed to insure long-term employment opportunities. i am so pleased that united way worldwide is a co-convener of this important summit that will focus on opportunity and that will focus us as a united nation on opportunity as a

nation. we look forward to the coming year where we will work with opportunity nation on an agenda and an approach necessary to bring these aspirations in lilac our efforts and to make our dreams and reality. opportunity for all. again, i am please to be one of this magnificent and significant number. [applause] >> good morning. i join my co-conveners in saying thank you to mark edwards and all the folks at

opportunity nation for bringing us together. aarp and asian -- foundation -- expanding opportunity is an issue for them, but also for all americans, and this conference is making a terrific contribution by putting opportunity at the center of a national dialogue. that is why aarp foundation is pleased to be a co-convener. in the crisis of opportunity in america, no generation has been spent here the economic downturn has taken a brutal toll on older adults in particular. nearly 9 million people aged 50 and older face the risk of hunger in this country every day and nearly 13 million low- income older adults who are 50 and above are in housing that are inadequate or unaffordable or both. unemployment among the people 55 and older has shot way up and their average time out of work is more than a year. the significance of this sum at

is not simply as a catalog of the suffering but as a catalyst for action. that is our approach. our goal is to move people from what we call the shadows of hunger and isolation, lack of income, and inadequate housing into the sunlight of solutions. that news provided urgent relief and this is a long-term answers appeared in our drive to end hunger, we have some 4 million meals across the country today and by the end of the year, we will be giving out what we call our long-term sustainable innovation grants are run hundred and income. we are working with the private sector and nonprofits to offer more financial security and opportunity to the under bank and unbent, and our scholarship program gives a badly needed second chance to many people who are 50 and over, and this

year, we are proud that we awarded more than 300 scholarships across the country. but we could not get this work done with what we call -- with what our founder called our army of useful volunteers. in a foundation that is 35,000 volunteers and throughout the aarp family, the number of volunteers is in the millions. we should all be proud that we live in a country were open and spirited political debate can take place. but we also want a country to be defined by the search for a common ground, by a pass for a better life for those who are vulnerable, by eradication of prosperity for the middle class. let's go for today with a renewed passion for solutions that can lift people's lives. that is how we honor the promise of our country and the potential of americans at any age. [applause]

now, i am pleased to introduce the managing editor of "time." rick is a highly accomplished an influential writer and editor. someone who takes seriously his obligations as a journalist and responsibilities as a citizen. he is a thoughtful national leader for service and volunteerism. he has collaborated with nelson mandela and he served as the president and ceo of the national constitution center. i am proud to work with him and all my colleagues here on this summit. please welcome rick. [applause] >> how come i got an introduction? i am in a position i have been in before which is that everything has been said already, but not everybody has had a chance to say it, so i will be free. i am here because i had a big megaphone, but i am also year because i believe in the values that you all will be discussing

and hearing about today. i am at american exception list. i that everybody here in their old way is an american exception list. that is not a left or right thing. that is not a republican or democratic thing. it is about the idea that our nation, has formed, is united by an uncommon set of ideas -- that we are all created equal, that we have an equal opportunity that we can achieve. we are a nation united by those ideas, not by a common heritage, common religion, common color, or anything like that. that is why all of us are here today and all of us have the same set of beliefs. i am so happy that "time" contributed to this discussion and that we can offer ideas, but it is up to you and all of us to kind of find some answers to this because we have to do this. it is in our destiny as a people, in our dna as a people,

and we have to live up to that mission statement. thanks so much. have a great day. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome editor at large cast the ninth time -- "time" and cbs coast -- host fareed zakaria. >> welcome to all of you. this is such an important event, and after everything has been said and pretty much everyone has said it, i am not sure what you sow is supposed to do, but i wanted to talk a little bit about what happened to the american dream. when i was growing up in india in the 1960's and 1970's, everyone looked to the united states as the future, as the answer.

americans tend to think that the rest of the world looks at us and says, "we are attracted to america and the american dream because of the constitution, james madison, thomas jefferson, the declaration of independence." yeah, maybe. what i remember as a kid in india, what fascinated me about america was the optimism, the energy. my american dream was -- if you guys remember the opening credits to the cbs miniseries "dallas" -- right? that was my american dream. the incredible montage of skyscrapers, helicopters taking off the roof, a huge cadillacs, texas businessman that look like rick perry walking in and out of those cars, a 10-gallon hats, that was my version of the american dream. oh, and victoria principal.

definitely. definitely part of my american dream. for the young people in the audience, google her. you will see what i mean. [laughter] the odd thing is you look around america today and what you see is pessimism. you see despair. you have seen the polls. 65% of americans think they will have a lower standard of living than their parents and that their children will have an even lower standard of living than them. that is extraordinary. if you want to find the american dream today, go to shanghai. go to mumbai. that is where you find this energy, this dynamism, this optimism. that is puzzling to somebody like me who came from india to the united states. we all have this sense that this time it is different. you are never supposed to say that. warren buffett says the four most dangerous words in english language are "this time is different." he says every time a businessman comes in and tells him that, he reaches for his wallet because he feels like he is being had.

but this is what i mean -- the challenge the united states faces is different from the 110 years ago, 20 years ago, 50 years ago. we have been through difficult times, but for the first time, you have an almost unique constellation of forces that are working for the better or for the worse. let me give you a sense of how you can see this. from every recession and recovery since 1945, you have had a pattern, and the pattern is very simple -- after the crisis, after the recession, the economy comes back at some point, and then the jobs comeback. the amount of time it has taken for the jobs to come back from 1945 to 1990 has been pretty much the same in every recession. six months. six months after the economy came back that the jobs will come back.

something changed around 1990. the recession of the 1990's, recovery happens. the economy comes back. it takes 15 months for the jobs to come back to their pre- recession levels. the recession of the early 2000's, it takes 39 months for the jobs to come back. the current recession and recovery we are in -- we are on track for the jobs to come back 60 months after the economy has recovered. five years. something has happened and something has happened over the last 20 years, but what is it? what has happened since the last 20 years? you have the end of the cold war. the end of all the political conflicts that were draining resources, causing political instability. you had the economic convergence of the world around ideas about openness, open markets, open trade.

you have had the rest of the world come and play in the same games that the united states and western europe and a few countries in asia were playing in. you have the rise of information technology, a kind of technological revolution that has connected the world together. this all sounds really good. the number of countries growing in 1979 at 3%, which is robust growth, was about 32 or 33. by 2007, that number was 127 countries growing at 3% a year or more. this year, 85 countries in the world, including 25 countries in africa, will grow at 3% or more. there has been a tripling of the number of countries that are successfully navigating through the world. american companies have seen this and taken advantage of the vast opportunities, the big

technological changes that this burst of globalization has produced. you can see it. the s&p 500 is doing very well. the% of the s&p 500's revenues now come from outside the united states. if you can serve this world of globalization and technology, you will do great, and american companies can do that, but american workers cannot. they are stuck in one place -- the united states. they cannot serve this world. they cannot take advantage of cheap labor here and good technology there and keep capital there and growing markets somewhere else. they have to find a way to make things work within the united states. that is why we face the challenge that we do. all these forces have been presenting tremendous opportunities to some parts of society but tremendous challenges to others. how do we fix it? it sounds like a counsel for the spare, but it is not. if you look at the successful societies navigating this world

and that have been able to navigate it without using employment, without using social mobility as the united states has, they are in northern europe, they are in east asia. we need to, for one thing, looking around the world and asking ourselves occasionally -- how to other people do things? we never ask the question. we assume we are god's gift to the world. we know everything. we do not need to figure anything out. and god forbid we would ever adopt any idea that came from outside. there are three countries in the world that have not adopted the metric system -- myanmar, liberia, and the united states of america, ok? [laughter] we have to start by looking at a country like germany, which has found a way to revive manufacturing and found a way to keep people employed in good jobs at good wages. we have to look at a country like finland which has this remarkable education system, which is not heavy on the cash,

not heavy on huge amounts of study, study, and yet -- and more study. we have to look at a country like singapore, which has been able to make long-term investments in research and technology so that this tiny sand bar in southeast asia is now a world player in biotech. why have they been able to do it? what are they doing? we know that this is possible because we used to do it. this is all stop -- stuff the rest of the world has learned from us. that is the irony. we used to know how to do all these things. if you ask yourself about how you produce social mobility in today's world, all you have to do is go back to our past. we know how to do it. it was great education. it was investment in research and technology and infrastructure. it was having a competitive, market-oriented economy.

it was making sure that as a country, we were focused on the future and focused on a sense of optimism. we all have spent the last month thinking about steve jobs and the genius of steve jobs, and he was a genius. but there was something also about the culture of california and america that made steve jobs who he was. the son of working-class parents. father was a machinist. he dropped out of college and, get, was one of the great technologists of the world. how did he manage to do that? the year he graduated from high school, 1972, the california public school system was rated the best in the world. jobs went to a very good public school in california. homestead high in cupertino. it had a great science program, a great liberal arts program. those were his twin passions. he met there a guy called steve wozniak, more technically oriented, his friendly he founded apple computer with.

they went on to live in california at a time at the had the greatest highways, the greatest infrastructure in a world and the greatest infrastructure. today, california has one of the worst public education systems in the country. our country's education system is ranked at the bottom of the industrialized world. california today spends more money today on prisons than it does on higher education. we have gutted research and development, and i do not have to tell you about the quality of infrastructure. we know what it takes to fix these problems because we used to be there. we just have to look around and recognize we're going to have to make hard choices. we're going to have to put aside ideology, and we are going to have to focus on the extraordinary opportunities but the extraordinary competition we face. i leave you with this thought -- i do not think there is any reason for us to be scared or fearful or anxious, but we have to recognize this time it is

different. i guess what i am is saying very simply is we do not have to run scared, but we do have to run fast. thank you very much. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the honorable michael bloomberg, mayor, city of new york. >> as usual, we learn a lot from fareed. you could listen to him all day long. i hope you all took notes because he is a very smart guy and i think his descriptions of some of the problems facing the country are right on. we have to stop complaining. we have to do something about it. we have to change things. anyway, i want to welcome everybody from out of town to new york city. while you're here, whether you are running in a marathon or not, please spend some money. we need the sales tax revenues. [laughter]

this is the perfect place for opportunity nation to host this summit because new york is a city full of opportunity and artists can come here to pursue a vision. an inventor can come here to test an idea. a business person can come here to compete with the best. even a snowplow driver can come here and get work in october. [laughter] new york city. it is home to our nation's most iconic moment of opportunity. the statue of liberty carelessly, we celebrated the statute's 125th anniversary or birthday. for generations of immigrants, lady liberty has been a beacon of hope, lighting the path to the american dream. standing tall in new york harbor, she really is a symbol of the untold promised awaiting anyone willing to think big and to work hard, and that is what

america really has always been about and still is. unfortunately, these days, some people are beginning to question whether lady liberty's lamp is starting to flicker. unemployment across our nation is stubbornly high, as everyone knows. our education system is being outclassed by other countries. china, india, and others are challenging our status as the world's strongest economy. and based on a number of recent polls, the majority of americans believe we are headed for a bleaker future. it is really the first time in a long time that people did not think that their future was going to be better and that their children would not have a better future than they have. how did we get to this point, and how do we restore the promise of opportunity for everyone? for me, the answer is something we are all familiar with, something that really is at the heart of the american dream and the story of new york, and it is an ovation.

let me explain -- when i was in college, i studied to be an engineer. learning how to think like an engineer involves much more than memorizing mathematical formulas and physics theories. it is about understanding how things work and asking a simple but critically important question -- how can i make it work better? in restoring opportunity around our country, this is a question we should be asking ourselves every single day. the world's most dynamic companies certainly do it. they understand that if you fail to constantly innovate, you will be left behind. it is time that all levels of government start thinking this way as well. in new york city, we are flying innovation to everything we are doing from growing our economy to reforming education to fighting poverty. let me quickly talk a little bit about how we are doing that. i working to create more jobs for new yorkers, we are tapping into some of our greatest innovators, our are entrepreneurs. our city's economic growth has

always been driven by people with the guts and gumption to launch new ideas and tested -- test new ideas and launch new businesses, and we need more of that. that is why we are ramping up our support for contra ignores by matching the capital and providing them with discounted office space and it is why we are hoping to accelerate the creation of new jobs and businesses by courting a major university from someplace in the world to build a world- class applied science campus in one of our bros. boston, austin, silicon valley are thriving centers of tech innovation. every year, researchers develop technological advances that expand into new businesses. that is how microsoft, dell, and google got their start. it happens here, too, thanks in part to our own great universities, but given the size of our economy and our

ambition to be a world that leader, it does not happen often enough. that is what we think will make this new applied science campus a real game changer for new york city's future. work we're doing to encourage entrepreneurship will help bring opportunities to life and one of them may even be the next go, but the reality is if we do not fix our country's broken immigration system, the next google will not be starting anywhere in america, and that is what i wanted to talk about. [applause] you can applaud the up your phone and called the senator and the president and your congressman's office and say we have to fix this. the anti-immigration people have convinced congress that it is something they should stay away from. they talk about immigration,

but there is not much courage to stand up and do something about it. unless we make it easier for immigrants to come here and stay here, they will just take their jobs and ideas elsewhere. all the opportunity will be gone. talk about america shooting itself in the foot. as businesses understand first hand how our current immigration policies are sabotaging our own future, i have called it nothing but national suicide and it is why i have formed a bipartisan group of mayors and business leaders to help our federal government understand it, too, but the bottom line is democracy's work very well. government tries to respond to what the people what. if we do not make it hurt and express to them how damaging it is to the country and how important it is to our future and our children's future, they will not stand up and pass the kind of immigration reform that we want and that we need. i worked in both the public and private sectors and people

always ask me what is the difference. i tell them that in business, it is a dog eat dog world, and in government, it is exactly the reverse. [laughter] but there are differences. you can always tell how smart a crowd is by the time you tell that joke and how long it takes for the applause. you did ok. i would give you a c + maybe. there are differences, it appeared one of the differences is the appetite for innovation. in businesses, you always move resources from the unprofitable line to the profitable line because that is where you will have a future. the unprofitable line is not working, so why not double up on what the public, the customers, the marketplace is telling you does have a future? in government, people in the unprofitable lines scream louder and nobody defends the profitable line. in government, typically, we move money from things that do

work to things that do not work and probably never will work. it is exactly the reason that government cannot or is not very good at innovation. we have tried to change some of that in new york city, especially in the area of education. when i came into office a decade ago, conventional wisdom was that our city's dysfunctional school system was just too big and too unwieldy to be saved, but i think by establishing accountability where there was none, by injecting competition and creativity through the creation of small, secondary schools and charter schools, and by attending the status quo -- by upending the status quo, and by appending the status quo, we raised graduation rates by 40%. we have a long way to go. one of the disappointing or discouraging thing is people focus on how far we have to go.

our students, parents, teachers, principals, a lot of people have kicked in, a lot of legislators have kicked in and tried to make it better than the half. we still have a long ways to go and we should not walk away from it. you do not give credit to have done things, they do not have the moxie, they do not have the drive to continue the enormous progress we have made. we have also tried to bring in innovation. that is the fight against poverty. for far too long widespread poverty has been regarded as a troubling but inevitable condition of life in american cities and that is something we refuse to accept in the same ways we did not accept the fact that big city school systems cannot work and black and latino kids cannot learn, those are the old line things, people thought this but we do not accept them and we have proven they're not true. in reforming our schools and

reducing crime and improving public health, it is fair to say nyc has shown that we can devise a realistic solutions to even the most entrenched problems and vice president dick cheney -- see no reason why fighting poverty should be any different. it is why five years ago we kicked off an ambitious experiment by establishing something we called the center for economic opportunity. we gave the center of budget of $150 million in public and private funding and we told them to be bold, to think outside the box, to take risks and try new things. by implementing rigorous standards of accountability and a structure to measure the outcomes of their work, we created an r&d shop for anti- property initiatives. we had no illusions we would strike gold on our first attempt because poverty is a complex problem with some of the underlying conditions. if there was a simple solution someone would have come up with

it. some of the things we try did not work. that was the point. we have to find which things work and which do not and we have to make sure that we move our resources from those things that don't to those things that do. in addition to the work the center for economic opportunity is doing, we're paying attention to a population that faces especially long odds. young black and latino men. the fact that more black and latino young men and apply in prison or impoverished than i and professions of their own choosing is one of the great shames of this country and that is why we launched what we called -- [inaudible] [applause] the black and latino resolution.

we will invest toward this goal by systematically targeting the areas of greatest disparity. -health and in our schools and in the job system and want to thank george soros for his generosity from his foundation to provide part of the money that let us do this. these kinds of approaches to increasing opportunity with mechanisms built into measurable results have never been attempted, i think, by any american city. the white house and its office of social innovation have recognized the work of the center for economic opportunity and now some of the center's most successful innovations are being replicated in five other cities using a combination of federal funding and support from various foundations including my own. memphis has provided financial rewards to families who take positive actions to stay in

school and stay healthy and increase their earnings. all important ways to rise out of poverty. santonio it has established savings accounts for those who receive low-income tax credits in providing matching funds to build a nest eggs for when they need them. each of these programs will be structured and monitored with the same relentless force and results we have replied. after all, i am a big believer in the saying, "if you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it." which is why just as we need to be more creative, more vigorous in our approach to fighting poverty, we also need to be more accurate in fighting methods to assess whether we are making any progress. it is why new york, as we pilot many of our strategies, we are also developing a new, more accurate, more informative poverty measure that both sides of the political aisle can support. and following our lead, i am happy to say the census bureau is now releasing its own several liberal -- its own supplemental measure that implements some of the changes we have made and you can read about it in today's

"new york times on the front page -- today's "new york times" on the front page. with our economy still in recovery mode, government budgets across the country are stretched thin, and washington seems to be more concerned with fighting the partisan battles of its own making, but that is exactly what makes today's gathering so important. that is -- this is our chance to show the rest of the nation that these kinds of ideas can work and are worth investing in. it is our chance to show the american spirit of innovation that is alive and well. by experimenting with innovations and new pilot programs and by taking proven strategies for the next level as we are doing in new york city, it is the time that america can show that this still is the land of opportunity, that we care for each other, that we are willing to listen to new ideas, and that we are not going to give up on any americans.

we're talking about everything in our power to encourage them. thank you for being here. you really can change the world. you have been doing it. do not forget -- the time to come back and fight even stronger is right now. do not let anybody tell you this is not a good time. this is the time. thank you for having me. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the honorable michael bennett, u.s. senator, colorado. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. thank you. i would like to thank mayor bloomberg as a former superintendent for his nationally recognized leadership on school reform. i would also like to thank opportunity nation for inviting me here today and mark edwards,

who has done a great job organizing this event. the mission of opportunity nation, of promoting economic and social mobility resonates with me and my family's experiences. the country provided extraordinary opportunities for my family. my mother was part of a large family in warsaw, poland, when the nazis swept across europe. most of our family did not make it through the war. my mother and her parents survived the holocaust and miraculously made their way to america. my mom was the only one in the family who could speak english. she helped them find a place to live and involve herself in school and eventually graduated from hunter college high school right here in new york city. she deserves applause for that. [applause]

last night, i was on the upper west side and was immediately transported back as i lay there 40 years or more to my grandparents apartment here listening to the horns as they went by and the sense of security that i felt then was exactly what we are trying to build for families all across this country. they were able to rebuild their lives here because america welcomed them. they greeted the knot with prejudice but with opportunities and they worked very hard to be worthy of that great gift. in america, my family discovered a place where no one had to be a prisoner of history, where everyone could imagine and work toward a brighter future. that is precisely the type of country that i want to leave our three daughters and that all of us want to leave the next generation. unfortunately, the financial pressures that are currently undermining the majority of

american families threatened this most fundamental american aspiration. procter & gamble, when you think about it, nobody even needed hair conditioner before we had a middle-class in this country. this article talked about how changing. gamble's i procter & gamble which owes its success to the middle-class projects the spending power will continue to erode. it has decided to focus on the wealthiest americans and the poorest americans because that is where the growth is. if there were ever a canary in the coal mine signaling the seriousness of our economic

challenges, procter & gamble's new business model is it. their assessment is supported by a lot of economic indicators. someone said this morning u.s. median income has fallen. though level two decades ago. although indicators of u.s. gdp growth and productivity show a positive trend, employment and wages lag behind their pre- recession peak. this is important. the last time we had economic growth was the first time that gdp growth decoupled from wage growth. decoupled from job growth. that has been compounded in this recession. all of which is combined together to create two decades of economic stagnation for our middleclass.

they'd do this of cartoon that passes for political conversation is divorced from anything that begins to fundamentally address these types of fundamental changes and the families i have met in town hall meetings across colorado which is a third democratic come up 1/3 republican, one third independent, no screaming match has relevance to their daily lives. i mentioned we had kids -- three kids. two of them had the misfortune to be sent to spend the week with me in washington. the other one got to go to harry potter world for reasons that are obscure to me. i was so excited because i never get a chance to spend time with them. the first day they came, amid the go to every single meeting that i had. which was a huge mistake. they went on strike the entire rest of the week because they

were in washington. one of those meetings was held in harry reid's extremely fancy conference room in the capitol building. tiles and mosaics and chandeliers and use of the capital. everyone is there to brief us. for imagine to this meeting, dick durbin nudges me. my 6-year-old daughter who was standing in the opposite corner holding up a handmade sign that said i am bored. [laughter] "board". a dagger through the former superintendent of the schools. take it from me. that is the way a lot of people feel about what is going on.

they're not spending their time rigid-riveted. they know how serious these times are and they want to lead this economy in a stronger and more vibrant than the economy we inherited and they are increasingly anxious about our ability to do so. and increasingly disdainful of the political battles in washington that are threatening to make matters worse. it is hard to be there for days a week. the hope that i draw is not from there, it is from the town hall. and the fact that there are numerous bipartisan proposals, some of which you have heard today that can change the trajectory of the middle class. we can enact it, we used to have this research and development strategy, complacent -- a commitment to basic science.

reform and strengthen the public education system. 91 of them will be constrained to the margin of our democracy and economy from the very outset. we can invest in our infrastructure and as the mayor says, we can fix our broken immigration system and we need to. that is the beginning. implementing ideas such as these would clearly make us more dynamic, efficient, and

competitive. understand that our productivity has never been higher than it is today. the efficiency of our economy has never been higher. our response to competitive threats from a broad -- because of this recession. companies have to figure out how to get through it. gdp is almost back to where was before the recession started. family income is continuing to crater and the unemployment numbers continue to be staggering. that gdp line is going across again with millions of people still unemployed in this company -- country. he and my wife are from the same town in the mississippi delta. i was there this weekend to visit her family and was taken out to the field to see the nude

john deere tractors that were there to pick the cotton. they bale the common. replacing another 15 or 20 jobs that have been lost because of the mechanization of agriculture. i am not arguing we should have a less productive economy but it is all the more reason why we should be thinking about not yesterday's businesses but businesses that will be started tomorrow and next week. all the more reason we need to educate people for this 21st century. i have said this all over the state, include george storelli. the americans need to hold our elected officials to a much higher standard. we should hold our elected officials to the same standard we hold local efficiency -- authorities.

there is not a member who would threaten a member of the community for ideology. they desperately and half -- given the seriousness of what they're facing desperately want affected -- elected officials to think pass the next election and their own political futures. but what leaders that need these high standards and i am confident -- confident we can achieve this. regardless of their background. political party or income level. i have the highest aspirations. they want to maintain that legacy. they have no interest in falling down on the job. it is that spirit that should give all of us hope that we will

leave our children the same opportunities that my mother and family encountered. on behalf of them and my own kids, i want to thank you for coming together today to have this important meeting. thank you for having me here today and good luck with your conversations. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome president and editor in chief of the huffington post media group, arianna huffington and special assistant to george jenna bush, michael -- george w. bush, michael gerson. >> it is a pleasure and honor. i am one of the sharpest people

i know. we go way back. we work together on a number of these issues. it used to be called compassionate conservatism. i am glad to be with you. it is a great thing when the lion lies down with the lamb. but the lamb does not get much sleep. i wanted to start the discussion with four principles that might be the basis for what we talk about. first, i would contend that economic inequality is justifiable as a reward for effort but only in an atmosphere where there is social met -- mobility. without social mobility,

inequality becomes a caste system fundamentally and consistent with the american ideal. this set of issues that you are dealing with is very important to the moral status of the capitalist -- democratic system. and is more justification as to move forward. i think it is clear that that mobility stalls on the lower levels of the economic ladder. y. can compare favorabl this is a serious problem that should have serious political implications. there are many people who have discussed complex reasons for this really but when you bring it down to the personal and individual level, you can -- there are keys to mobility.

completing high school, having children, getting and keeping a job. these things are passed to mobility, it can be a pass to mobility. and then fourth, i think both parties have something to contribute on this agenda. coming from a variety of a theological backgrounds, dealing with teacher quality, dealing with the drought crisis. dealing with getting young people to attend college but also to complete college. economic literacy, the promotion of entrepreneurial projects. preschool programs, parroting skills, these are not issues

that are exhausted by one side or another in the agenda. i conclude can turn it over by saying this is the economic debate we should be having and i wonder why we're not. >> thank you. i am delighted to be here with michael addressing this issue because i agree. this is a debate we are having and should not. one of my first questions is going to be what is the conclusion? before we go there, my view of what is happening it can be

deeply pessimistic or optimistic. and simple million dat out of work. -- people out of work. we have the statistics around a board mobility. we are behind france. as someone who has lived the american dream and that -- would be behind us.

we also thought of americans as the people with compassion, where you could go and work hard and build a better life and that is disappearing for millions of people right now. at the same time, on the other side of the screen, we do have an explosion of empathy and compassion and creativity at the community level. i was talking to rec koren from whom we will hear soon and he was telling me what his churches are doing for the people out of work, how communities are rallying and local institutions are coming together to make a difference. we also have 857,000 around the country.

the reality is changing. these are the start realities we're facing. it is amazing how people are rallying to make a difference. in terms of the larger debate we should be having, we need to look at capitalism. if you look at the founding fathers of capitalism, they were all fathers. there are no founding mothers. they were all very concerned about a moral foundation. adam smith wrote the theory of moral sentiments before he wrote the wealth of nations. alfred marshall developed the concept of economic chivalry. these seem to have disappeared. it is almost as though we went

from a country that makes things to a country that makes things up. like credit default swaps, derivatives, ways to make money that do not add value. which is at the heart of capitalism. how do you add value in a way that contains freedom and community? there is -- i am optimistic. survival at from competition to a system based on cooperation and meaning. people are looking for more meaning. people are looking to make sense of life. they are discovering there is another part of ourselves. it is about that instinct.

going beyond the first three and in times of crisis people tap into that and the more we do, the more we grow and the more we can come from that place where we can exercise the empathy but also is an ever-present in the current debate or the current debate where we see where going. that is the other side of humanity. the more we can strengthen the part of us that brings us together rather than tears apart from a more likely you can get out of this crisis and not just survive but thrive at a high level. thank you. >> maybe i can ask one question

about why this is not part of the discussion in a way it should be. it does strike me that there is some 80 logical reasons for that. many people on the right seem to be very focused on individual economic rights and said of the communities that ship individuals and the strength of those committee -- communities. some on the left are oriented toward consumption, they want to do redistribution to encourage consumption. the long-term need is social capital, it is what you gain from community, not just from transfers. i'm interested in your perspective on what the ideological limits are. in approaching this on left and right. >> i think we in the media have done a really bad job at putting the spotlight on what is working in the country.

the emphasis is on what is working and what the latest big scandal or story is. whether it is balloon boy or the reverend that was going to burn the koran and now herman cain sexual harassment accusations. energyasting time and developing a sexual harassment charges against a man who never ever has a chance to be president. [laughter] [laughter] every time i get on tv and i hear more incredible outrage and absorption in evaluating, i tune it out. it does not matter. the most precious thing we have is our attention. the media has done a terrible

job of focusing our attention. i do not believe it is because of ratings. it is because of laziness. it is the easy, gliese thing to do and it is much harder -- to build programming but make it incredibly appealing to people. if you look for history, he had to write a novel. in order to educate his fellow countrymen. people have always known that you need to capture the imagination and tell stories in order to move the consensus to another place. the media have lost a gift to capture what is happening.

i am aware that makes people want to do something about it. about self-reliance. how does amerson and fesai self- reliance and come together with what you are saying about the importance of social capital and building communities? >> that raises an interesting contrast because in certain is anamerson's case exaggerated case for human creativity against social institutions. and at the time, they were ossified social structures that needed to be challenged. i think america does that pretty well at the top when we are challenging convention, pushing

for technological change, when we're trying to think differently in our society. i'm not sure that we do the most basic work properly in a society. we reward genius. our colleges and universities are an extraordinary advantage that attracts people from around the world. at the same time, we have institutions, particularly in low-income communities, schools that betrayed children every single day, that abused children every single day. that undermined their future every day. there is a broad tolerance for it, an expectation that this is the way things work and it has not always work that way. maybe we need to reply -- apply

some of the creativity and challenge and questioning of orthodoxy to the way that we do education, the way that we do prepare families to care for their children. i am not sure, we apply a lot of our national and social creativity to technology which is essential. i do not see that competition when it comes to the ideas you were talking about that can transform the lives of people who are stuck at lower levels of the economic ladder. where the american dream no longer applies to them. >> education is one area that i call beyond left and right and where there is a new consensus emerging about the need to do something around schools,

around tenure, the ability to fire bad teachers, all the things that have been stultified what is happening. this will be on the left and right thing interests me. do not look at everything through the prism because it is limiting. this is a country that is growing and flourishing. i talked to conservatives and liberals and the consensus is that the priority has to be moving from poverty to the middle class. you do not have to be left wing to believe that. i think we need to change a lot of the language, the absolute

obsolete -- obsolete language we use. >> i could not agree more and that is a great place to end. thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the hon. elaine chow, secretary of labor. >> i am very blessed to have been credibly inspiring parents who sacrificed everything to come to a new country, to build a new life, for their family. my parents are americans of chinese descent and in 1949, they left the mainland of china to resettle in taiwan. there they met and got married and they had two kids.

when i was i result, my parents made a momentous decision to want to come to america. this is such an audacious decision for a young couple who had never been to america and i suspect had never even met white people. my father had a chance to take a national examination and in those days, you get one chance to take one examination which determines your fate. he scored no. 1 in the country from all the previous records and got a lot of visibility and because of that, he was sponsored for study in the united states. his permission to come to the u.s. only comprised of an opportunity for himself without us. my mother then was seven months pregnant and never occurred to this young couple to delay their departure, his departure for two

months. the opportunity to come to america was so unique that they grab it right away. my father went to america alone and it took him three years before he was able to bring my mother, my sisters and me to america. we embarked upon a 37-day ocean journey on a cargo ship. we arrived in new york city and our first home was a small one- bedroom apartment in queens, new york. life was i'm sure it difficult for my parents but they never never demoted anything but optimism, hope, and joy. there were here in this country to have opportunities that would never have had any place else.

when you are young and new, to a country, you are so unfamiliar with so many things. we arrived on july 17 and four months later, while we're at home after we had gotten back from school, and we were studying because we're asian- americans, we're stuck -- we study. we get the bucks and the door bell kept ringing. we do not have any friends in this new country. we did not know any neighbors. we could not figure of would be bringing our doorbell. we sell these witches and goblins when we opened the door and there were chanting this indecipherable chant while thrusting these empty bags at us. we thought we were being held up. we give them everything from our covered. we give them slices of bread.

they did not take it and crackers. after that we were so frightened would lock the door for the evening and did not answer any more doorbells but we learned that it was halloween and we became the best trick or treaters in that neighborhood the following year. i started third grade without speaking a word of english. nobody spoke english except for my father. and what i would do during the day was copy things down from the blackboard in to my notes but and every night, around midnight, my father would come home after his three jobs and he and i would sit down and go over my day's lesson and that is how i learned english. throughout those times, even though adversity was always present, we wondered whether we would ever make it in america.

my parents never lost hope that tomorrow was going to be a much better day and the future was going to be bright and promising. armed with that hope, we had the courage to go from day to day from month to month, from year to year and i am blessed to be able to say that my sisters and i have done very well as has my parents and we are blessed in so many different ways. the major route of advancement was education. my parents sacrificed everything to bring us to a new country they knew nothing about , in the culture they never experienced, with a language they were not familiar with at all, but we learned to adapt and to grow in this new country with the help of a newly found

friends and neighbors and with the volunteer society that is so prevalent in america. america is characterized by strangers helping strangers, and connected by blood or marriage and that is a wonderful hallmark of we are as a people throughout the world. i am discouraged -- i am not discouraged, i am dismayed when i hear from young people that america no longer holds the opportunity it used to. despite what people may say, whenever i travel abroad, americans still represents the land of hope and opportunity and you who are here today are part of a legacy of our country in insuring america remains the land of the free and the hope -- land of hope and opportunity we look forward to. i want to make sure that you are and i am grateful you are

here. you are the preservers of the legacy to ensure our country air remains that land of hope and opportunity for everyone regardless of their background. thank you very much. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, pastor rick warren. [applause] ? thank you for coming to opportunity nation. it says more about you than the speakers on stage. do you care about this issue of creating opportunity and jobs for people when so many are out of work. last friday at 1030 i was driving home having done some hospital rounds this thing people and as i am driving home, i come up to an intersection and there is a ban stalled in the

middle of the intersection. i stick my head out the window and i say, can i help you, can give you push and the guy says, the gap. i pull my car up and give him a push into the nearest parking lot. i had some jumper cables. i jumped his car and he got started and wished me well and headed off down the road. i left about a minute later. i realized he had made it three blocks and died again. i pulled over and said what is the problem and he said my car keeps shorting out. i found out he did not have a cell phone and he did not have any money and he did not have insurance. i pulled at my aaa card and called the company and while we were waiting, i began to ask him about his life. tell me about your life and family, about your kids pre he said i am married and have three

kids and he said in my professional house painter but i have been out of work for two years. he said i am losing my home and we will have to rent a condo in a cheaper area and moved. i said, how are you supporting your family right now? he said, i go and i scrounged through people's garbage. and i find stuff i do not want that they want to throw away. i put it in a plastic bag and once a week on saturday and sunday i drive two hours across the border into to one and i sell it to people who have less than i have. i could tell you a thousand stories like that. during this day you will hear

some statistics but behind every one of those numbers is a real human being. a real story, a real need. saddleback is a large church and 11% of my church family is out of work. 11% means 3000 families in my church or out of work. we're feeding thousands of families a week. they have been out of work, many of them two or three years. this is the new issue. because of the technological reasons why people are out of work. in 1631, my ancestors came to america with a promise i can

worship of the way want to, there will be equal opportunity, and there will be upward mobility. a chance that my kids will have it better. for 350 years that has been the promise of america. equal opportunity, freedom to believe like you need to believe, and upward mobility. it is not true anymore. our economy is stalled. i was reading on the plane from l.a., a new book i was recommended. the coming jobber's by the ceo of the gallup foundation. they do a world pole and a pull the entire world once a year and they discovered after six years

of polling the number one need in the world is not i want happiness and security. all the things you would normally expect. the number-one thing people want is a good job. this is extremely complex and i have two minutes to talk about it. let me give you some suggested causes and suggested cures. the me give you five words if you want to write these down. here are the five primary causes of what we're in this situation. number one is globalization. it has caused job loss, other nations compete for jobs that our workers used to have. we know that. this is regulation. regulation have the limited job creation. overbearing policies, restrictions, protocols, price controls and subsidies are limiting growth and limiting the

creation of new jobs. controls kill creativity. bureaucracy blocks initiative. regulations restrict growth. free enterprise blooms in a free environment. globalization, regulation, education. our educators have failed to train workers for the new jobs that we need in the 21st century. we graduated a lot of people from school but they are not trained in the jobs we have in the 21st century. by 2020, two-thirds of the jobs will be medium or high skilled jobs. we do not have that many people who trained in medium and high skilled jobs. we have lots of people trained in low-skilled jobs and we have 100 million people trained in this but there are only 61 million so that leaves 40

million surplus. globalization, education regulation forces immigration. it has created a surplus of unskilled workers so more people compete for jobs, we know this. every year 1.5 million people immigrate into this country. both legally and about half a million illegally. this creates a surplus and the fifth is demoralization. which is the problem i have to do with all the time as a pastor because people have lost faith in the system. they have lost faith in business, in government, lost faith it will get a job. employers are afraid to higher after two and three years of layoffs. they're skittish. people have been out of work have lost hope that they are going to get another job back and the next generation does not believe they are going to get one.

even those who have a job, many believe they have lost their drive to do their best work. these five problems are so severe, nobody can sell them on their own. it will take partnerships. if you watch the nfl, some guys are so big the only way you will bring them down is the team tackle. one guy cannot do it. you have to team tackle a guy and to take down these problems that are depressing the job market and their complex, it will require a partnership between four different areas, business, government, schools, and churches. each of them have a role that the other cannot play and nobody can do it by themselves. the reason why is job creation involves political issues, environmental issues, individual issues, moral issues, financial issues, educational issues,

global and local issues, very complex. the government cannot solve it by itself, business cannot solve it come about but schools and churches cannot solve it by itself, it will take team tackling. what do we do? i tried to think of something to say in a minute. let me give you an acrostic. if we are rebuilding the american dream, is equal opportunity. the american dream of upward mobility for each succeeding generation. we will have to rebuild it. b.u.i.l.d. we need to believe we can solve it. we are going to have to attack that first. we have to believe we can compete globally and we can innovate, we have to believe that power of free enterprise works and it does.

we have to believe we can solve it. we must unleash free enterprise. free enterprise works in a free and are meant. we have to remove the restrictions. as a pastor, i know that human beings are hard wired by god to be creative. we're naturally creative. your most like god when you are creating because god is your creator. any time you limit freedom and you limit man's creativity, it depresses him, you put a force that holds back new products, new inventions, new innovations, years ago i was honored by a state dinner in china and the leadership honored me with a state dinner in tenements where -- tianamen

square. the problem is you want the economic prosperity of the west without all the moral and ethical underpinnings and it does not work. you have to have the freedoms, freedom of religion which is the first freedom in the bill of rights, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, you need freedom of information, not just freedom of market. capitalism without an underpinning is pure greed but with the moral underpinning and moral people, it works. we have to unleash free enterprise. the one thing that does give me hope is you cannot destroy creativity. you can suppress it but you cannot destroy it. it is like shaking up a coke bottle. you shake it up and one day you remove the cap and it will come

out and we have because of these different five issues i mentioned been holding back the creativity of a lot of people and i am saying to government and business at two schools and churches, remove the cap. let freedom ring and watch what happens. identify and empower entrepreneurs. they are the secret sauce of america. we have to stop demonizing what is successful. we should make heroes of small- business owners. it is a myth that big corporations are creating the jobs, they are being created by 70% of small and medium-sized businesses. we have to identify and empower

our entrepreneurs. i do not need to go into this in detail. all job creation is local. the government cannot create jobs, you cannot create national jobs accept temporary ones and long-term economy requires long- term jobs and they happen at a local level. grassroots do it cheaper and faster with more accountability. we want to build the american dream, we must develop vocational skills curriculum. schools have to start teaching a work ethic again. churches have to teach the value of wealth creation. that is the gift of god. the dignity of work and all these things and if we do, we will see a change. most of what i have said has been negative. let me close with a quote from

forrest gump. there was a hurricane that came in and they had started bubba gump trim company. they're out in the boat and a hurricane comes up to the southeast part of america. every other boat said bad times are coming, it is terrible, play it safe. nothing ventured, nothing gained. every boat tied up in the harbor and said we will play it safe. only forrest gump's boat was out shrimping. he is out in the storm doing his business. in the storm. all the others played it safe. and down the hatches, tied up in the harbor. when the hurricane is over, every boat in the harbor was

destroyed. forrest gump had a monopoly. bad times are good times -- bad times are good times for expansion. this is the time to be americans and to do what we have never done before we have always done and do it better. thank you. god bless you. [applause] >> we now bring you the second panel of the opportunity nation summit held in new york city. thinktank leaders take part on ideas for providing opportunity and social mobility. we will hear from major-general marsha anderson, the top ranking african-american woman in the army. this is 40 minutes. >> non-profit and innovators, business leaders, educators, and mainstream americans, asking

them what are the big levers we can pull to restore opportunity? what can we get done? this has always been about getting something done, not just talk. we've reached out to leading thinkers and ask them to engage in conversations about the policy implication of a shared agenda. what can we agree upon? those of you in washington know how hard that is in this current environment. what was amazing and hardening is to see how willing people were to engage. by focusing on the past, policies that have worked and those that have failed and bright spots of innovation, if you have a beautiful book in your bags. we emerged with a broad framework that can boost opportunity. i want to introduce the ceo of seubert enterprises --