talk a little bit about how that relationship even all and what is your role with her in the white house? >> it evolved in and him moment or -- from the moment i met her, i offered her a job on the spot. i should have checked with my boss, the mayor. she struck me as being wise before her years. she was 26 years old. in the middle of the interview, i realized i was no longer interviewing her. she was interviewing me. she was asking good questions to make sure that if she came in she would add value and make a difference. she just did not want to do public service because it feels good. she wanted to move the needle.

-- of the me onto press she is going to of talking about a second term. she said she wants to make sure that what issues she takes on that she cares about them. that they will last longer than just my husband's term. those are the same issues she talked about with me 23 years ago. because her chief of staff used to be the head of the office of --lic engagement, we were we work closely together. it was maybe unprecedented in the white house. oftentimes the first lady had her own agenda that was not part of the president's agenda. this first lady wants to have a whoion and the someone

will be helpful to her husband. we spent a lot of time collaborating. in addition to being friends. >> you are friends. wit you read the criticism that the inner circle is too small and does not change often and the president should reach out more. he should bring in more outside people to work in government or socialize with congress more. to get him to reach out more? do you think it has been an asue because there has been charm offensive in congress where he has been spending more time with them. have you encouraged him? >> he has always reached out. he has been engaging.

part of the skill that he brought to the white house was what i observed in him when he was in the state legislator in illinois as a junior senator. he reached across the aisle and found a common ground. in the first term, he found there was not a lot of reciprocity on the part of the republicans in congress to engage. that has changed since the election. you can take issues such as immigration reform. he tried to get engagement, especially since under president wish -- bush, the president and republicans but whened a bill president obama came in, that enthusiasm vanished. he reached out on the beginning. they did not want to engage. now there is a willingness to thate area evil increased

outreach. he will do whatever it takes to get the job done. lighthouse, we have had transition. there have been a lot of people -- in terms of the white house, we have had transition. have a new perspective is energizing. -- havings madonna does madonna -- have dennis mc ial isgh as the offic helpful. the president appreciates the fresh perspective. because you have weighed in on so many issues, you read those who may be envious about that access you have saved that is primarily because you are

friends. how do you react when you hear that? >> it is insulting. there is assumption there. the president has plenty of friends areas he did not meet -- plenty of friends. he did not need me to come in. his senior advisers provide him with advice. i would like to thank my colleagues think i add value and for the people that are outside, that may be an enigma. probably because the woman is his friend. [laughter] what is really important is how he feels about his team and that he gets what he needs. an energized group of people who are encouraged to speak openly and challenge him

and ourselves. it makes for a healthy environment. i have had a lot of bosses. to go from being a mentor and his spouse's boss to seeing this role reversal, i thought how will that work? i am used to being the only 0-- bully. i has been amazing. issue --ng with the public engagement and intergovernmental affairs in the council on woman and girls. known.e not what do you see as the greatest compliment -- compass that you have been able to achieve with those divisions. to encourageis people who are out there where the rubber meets the roads, ma

yors to give us their perspective and tell us how well we are doing affects their lives. there is a range of constituencies who are deeply affected by the decisions made in washington. our goal is to wake up and think about them. peoplebout the american and their challenges and the opportunities we want to create for them. he has said in the first couple of years he worked so hard on getting the policy right that we did not half as much time available for the engagement and bringing in fresh ideas and getting outside of washington and having that serendipitous encounter on a rope line were someone tells you a story about what you are doing and how it affects them. that is invigorating. what we have found is our successes are vast when americans have the wind to its

back. that happened before the election. think about the payroll tax break we were able to get through congress. there was resistance until we traveled around the country and talked about it. the same when the interest rates on the student loans were about to double. we got a lot of young people interested. that helps make the case to congress for why we were proposing was so important. we look forward to doing war of that in the second term -- more of that in the second term. >> you have been a liaison to the business community. they were not confident three of the first --complimentary of the president first term. many of them supported romney. what would happen there? what weave to remember were going through when the president took office. the economy was in crisis.

the stock market was in a freefall. the world economy was teetering on the brink the cause of what was going on in the u.s. the president had to make tough and often unpopular decisions to continue the bailout of the banks that president should started -- president bush statr rted and help the auto industry. push through the recovery act so we did not continue the freefall. to ensure werules were never in a situation where taxpayers have to provide the subsidies they did to the banks. that was contentious with the abuses -- what the business community. you have a disconnect where the road had collapsed and some of it continued with this mess as

usual with the bonuses while american people were losing their homes and jobs. we lost 4 million jobs in the last six months of 2008. 750,000 jobs the first month the president took office. that sent shockwaves. the circumstances, there would be some tension. some in the business community wanted us to not move forward with dodd-frank. reinstituteus to the repatriation holiday. there were basic policy disagreements. some of it was toned. rhetoric yous the were hearing on both sides. times were tense. people have a lot at stake. the president worked hard to right the ship. that ruffled feathers.

years years and, -- four in, out=r interest are more aligned. we worked closely with the business community to get their freedo trade agreements to south korea, panama, colombia. we are working for additional free-trade agreements. we did a lot for the travel in tourism industry to expedite visas that were taking too long. we heard complaints about people standing in line for hours or traveling miles to get a visa to come to the united states. we string lines that process. look at the segments of the business community. it is not homogeneous. that is something we are working on closely with the business community. at the funny till of last year,

just at the end of the last year, the fiscal community engaged with the president in a way that they did not what we face the crisis in 2011 when the debt ceiling was looming. i was a wake-up call for both of us. we could not just assume that congress would avoid defaulting on our full faith and credit. the business community realized they should help congress what was at stake. we have an alignment of interests. i am not going to say we will always agree but despite tensions you may have heard of whoever anyone supported in the presidential race, the president has always had an open door. within the week after the president invited in a cross-section of business leaders and asked for help as we face the fiscal cliff and the

sequester and debt ceiling. door anded the provided opportunities for us to work together. >> another issue area in which gay ande revolve involved -- th lesbian community. you have been an advocate of same-sex marriage for a longer time than the president. about yourl us conversations with him on that issue and how his thinking eve alt -- evolved? he did come around. >> i have been a supporter of same-sex marriage. i have a 27-year-old daughter. she cannot figure out what all the fuss is about. a conversation that i have been having with her has been going

on longer than the president's conversation with his daughters. made thisabout how he tolution and it had a lot do with his daughters who were in school with children whose parents were same-sex parents. he could not figure how do i say that your friends parents cannot marry when other friends parents can marry. his experience with people in the administration and friends of his who have had long-lasting relationships and wanted to marry. he had an evolution driven by his children and the relationships that he has as opposed to anything i would say. i've respected his evolution. he never questioned my position. >> he talked about it? ?- you talked about it >> we always did.

a sounding board for him. he does not worry that i will come here and disclose all of the details of his conversation. [laughter] >> we will keep trying. [laughter] longhat youe advocated the idea of people who came to this country illegally as children should be allowed to stay. >> the dream act kiddss. i can tell you where that came about. a group of ago, young adults walked to washington from florida. literally walked. they asked for a meeting with the president. because they were here with our a without our authorization,

cannot come into the white house. i met with them outside of the white house together with the president of -- here stories of them you can imagine the shock of growing up in this country. they all had -- they wanted to the teachers or serve in the military. they loved their country. when you heard the stories, you could not help but foster them. i met with them three or four times. they kept saying we want the president to recognize and do everything within his power. our first choice was to get legislation passed. that is the way to have a permit path to citizenship.

there was nothing he could do that would give them that. we did not want to take the pressure off of congress from passing a comprehensive package. when it was clear that they would not do so, the president to sign the executive order. it is a stopgap measure which why we are working for a permit solution. there is a chance we could get it. advocate for those young people. you meet them and you can see my daughter. their commitment and love for thanountry was no greater hers. quarks did that take a lot of persuading? -- >> did that take a lot of persuading? supportsn't always a that she was always a supporter. agree on our and i vision on the country, our

fello philosophy on growing the economy, equality and equal rights. we realize we shared those the first time we had dinner 23 years ago. as part of the bond of our friendships. he does not need a lot of persuasion from me to care about the same issues i care about. he already cares. i was delighted with his inauguration address. theaptured as only he can essence of what he things our country is about. of the bending the ark moral universe toward justice. that is a work in progress that is never competlete. he does not take a lot of convincing. the final issue and then we want to talk about being a woman' in a man's world --

another front-page issue is gun violence. haveis something that you talked about a lot and cared about a lot because of the gun violence in chicago. this has nowink moved so slowly to the point where it looks like nothing will be done at all? >> there was a lot of qeus uestions. it was an opportunity to strike when the iron was hot. what happened? >> i am not as pessimistic as the way you phrase the question would indicate. i had breakfast with the president to talk about what more we could do. the president is on his way to colorado to do an event to keep

the passion going. at the white house, we had a powerful meeting and session with the mothers of victims who sit behind the president. i was looking at their expressions while the president was talking. this is an issue where i do not think that there is a mother out there that does not feel for these children. i went to newtown with the president two days after the tragedy. i was in his office one john brennan called to tell him how .any children were killed i sat in the car with him while he wrote his speech that he gave that night. his staff prepared a speech, but he said they did not capture what he wanted to say. he was trying to figure out what to say that can console these parents. i watched him as he walked from family to family and tried to

comfort him. i went to chicago with the first funeral.a young lady's i know their family. seen thehave devastation that so many families have undergone, we will not be deterred. we knew it would be hard. we will keep pushing. get confident we will legislation passed. the president has taken a degree executive actions. we will do anything within our power. passed seeing states laws. there is a lot we can do. i do can save one child, not want to go to anymore funerals like the young lady's funeral. we should not give up. i will not give up. there is not a day that i go by

that i do not think about the families i met. we are motivated. the are not pessimistic. we may not get everything we set out to do immediately but we will make progress. >> do you think that the nra was more formidable than you expected? >> this is an issue that people care about passionately. when you look at the polling, you see 90% of the country is in favor of your russell background checks. there is a sense that the -- of the country is in favor of universal background checks. it is healthy to the process. we can respect the second amendment and protect the rights of lawful gun owners. who can argue that you do not want someone with a criminal background or mental elements having a gun? that you should have these

magazines with infinite number of capacity to shoot the lives. i have met with a young man who was in aurora who was shot several times. he survived. he was on to way -- the way to be a fulbright scholar but he wants to be a advocate to stop violence. you meet amazing people. that is what motivates us to do more. i do not think this will take nearly as long as what the example i will give you. the president gave me a present. one was a petition for universal byfrage signed back in 1866 susan b anthony and all of these amazing women. and the final resolution of congress in 1919. over 50 years it took to get

this done. they about the people who signed the petition who are not there when the resolution was signed. they had to pass the baton. change is hard. you know that. we have not given up hope. change is hard but you have to keep at it. what it comes to issues like comprehensive immigration reform or gun control, the sand shifts quickly. after the devastation we have seen in the last couple of years, i would think that would be enough. it is enough for americans. we have to help congress catch up. >> on what issue do you think you have had the most influence? answering that question. [laughter] part of it is because everything is collaborative. we have conversations in the white house.

we talk to one another. some of the work you did on the affordable care act. .ou remember the meetings could you say that one person in the room was the driving force? may pick one person. that person would say it was a team of people. i take pride in being a part of the team. part of the reason is why the team works is you do not want people saying i did that. it is about us helping the president make decisions. say abouting i can his senior staff is our job is to provide him with the range of choices, give him our best thinking, and have confidence he will make the right decisions. he says when will you bring me that easy issue? [laughter] you have come in here with 10 things that are hard. if it was that easy, we would

decided. the ones that are between a bad choice and a worse choice is where you come in. [laughter] that is what our job is. it is not an administration where you will find anyone saying i did that. our goal is to make sure he makes the best judgment. we trust his judgment. >> in the five years you have been there, with every problem in the world facing you and a new presidency and a team that had not been in the white house do you think is the most important thing you have learned in these five year s? what do you think you do differently today than you did when you started? good question.

we are in a different place. there is not a day that goes i that i have not learned a lesson that is very important. one of the lessons that i learned working for city government that i had to relearn at the federal level because this was like tricking out of a water hose is that you -- ranking out of a water hose is that you have so much coming in at you. you often cannot lose sight of the focus. how do you get things done? by continuing to nudge along. it turned out to be harder than we anticipated in terms of accomplishments that requires congress as a partner. you cannot give up. you have to be determined and resilience. you have to be focused and push.

you have to try a lot of different things. certain to have a decency about you that there are some things you will not do to get what you want. all of those things that you learn from your parents or in sense often, that team play is important. the resilience and not sweating the small stuff. this is a tough town. you know that. you work here. i grew upm chicago, in chicago politics. chicago is child's play next to d.c. this place will break your heart if you let it. you have to let things roll off. people say things that are not true. you cannot spend your nights anguishing about that. you have to remember why you are here and if you get out of

washington and travel around and meet some of these people who have been touched by the good things we have gotten done, that is what consoles you for some of the tough times you face. a tough skin is important. try to keep a good heart. being a womanto in the man's world. start with the white house. it has been said that it is a boys club. is that true? have you done anything yourself to mitigate any of that or change that impression or reality? not true. i was in a senior staff meeting. something told me when did they bring the subject up.

the people who were contributing this morning was one of the president's deputy chiefs of staff. she gave a presentation on the sequester. there is the white house counsel who will not make a move without consulting with the deputy chief the cabinet secretary. one of the goals for the second terry is to make sure the cabinet is integrated -- second term is to make sure the cabinet is integrated into the decision-making progress. go on with this thing your tame the president has surrounded himself with. then there is the cabinet. you saw the janet a. napolitano, who was named the head of the secret service. i give these examples -- when

we talk about the president's second term, he has a robust legislative agenda. the one thing he has made clear is that just as important as new legislation is busy successful implementation of the affordable care act. that is in the hands of kathleen sebelius, the women on the supreme court. he has always surrounded himself just by women but women who he empowered in positions of influence. when people say it is a boys club, it is insulting to the women who are playing vertical worlds. you may not see them on television -- playing critical worlds. you should not underestimate the impact they have on the administration. >> talk about your life as a woman in a man's world outside of the white house.

coming through the private sector, chicago city politics, which looks like it requires big muscles, you are a woman, african-american woman, and a single mom. do you have a story you can share with us about what you may have had to just taken a deep breath and said, really? that moment that you may have experienced where you were moving up from one powerful position to another. >> the moment that changed my life was having a child. i was on a trajectory. i was working at a law firm. i was the first woman in my family to be a lawyer. my parents were proud. i had a beautiful office in the sears tower in chicago. when i returned from maternity leave, i was sitting in my

office and i cried. i was miserable. iwas not doing anything that thought my daughter would be proud of one day. i had no passion. i would not say i was the best at it. joining city government is a change in trajectory, which allowed me flexibility. it was not that my hours were less. i have flexibility about when i worked. i made a priority of being home for my daughter before she would go to bed. i would work after she went to bed. i have the ability to juggle. i had a woman who was my mentor. as madeleine albright said, there is a national place in hell for women who do not help other women -- there is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women. encouraged me to go and after about a year of

working hard and ask for a promotion. i's is a man. she pushed me. -- i's was a man. she pushed me. i was a single mom. she said you are doing the same job as somebody who is a deputy. you should have the title and everything that goes with it. you should have the salary. when she set it to me and i did .ot do it, she was dogged one day i went into my bosses office and made my case. she said tell him why. i always thought that he would recognize my word. -- i thought that he would recognize my worth. he listened to me and said ok. i was like what? i said oh and i want that office next to yours. [laughter]

he said you cannot have that office. it is hierarchy based on longevity. he's that you do not have a woman there. he saidlook better -- no. but i moved in. [laughter] my second door is wide the mayor will always have my heart -- the second story is why the mayor will have my heart. i moved from the mayor's office to running the office of planning and development. i was in a meeting with him with on of his officials. susan and i were in a meeting. he is really intimidating. going on about something.

we were paying no attention. we kept looking at our watches. he realizes we were not listening. he says would you like to explain to me what is so important that you are not paying attention? i said the halloween parade starts in 20 minutes. it is 25 minutes away. he said when are you doing here? if you cannot imagine the relief we felt. here he is the mayor of the city saying go to the halloween hooray. we rushed -- halloween parade. we rushed and got out of the car just as the children were looking in the audience to see if we were there. youere talking about can have it all and the controversy going around with sheryl sandberg's book.

you can have it all but you cannot have it all at the same time. you have two workplaces that respect your whole life. people go to work and pretend they are somebody they are not. they think that is what it takes to get ahead. you may get ahead but you will not be fulfilled. pick your boss as well. be honest with yourself about what you need. if i had a five-year-old, i cannot work in the white house. when my daughter was five, i get to be home to tucker in bed. not thece children are same you have to listen to yourself. you have to trust your gut. realize there will be trade- offs. you may not he able to work in the west wing when you are 30 but when you are 56 and the children are grown and you are not married, it is a great place to work. [laughter]

it is delightful. lf. honest with yourse i was fortunate to work in institutions that supported my life choices and allowed me to have a whole life. that is important. >> that is a great way to close. instrumental in helping to elect the first african- american president. top of lineton is because she was on stage last night. will we see the first woman president in our lifetime? >> we should try to make opportunities available that have not been historically available. you talked about my position of the white house -- in the white

house. advising hillary clinton? beginning of 2013. why are we talking about the next president? can we get this president more time to be president? the day after the election you are on to the next race. [laughter] give everyone a chance to figure out what they want to do. breakingof waking -- these classic ceilings and making sure we have more women in congress, perhaps we would have a easier time. women are good in elected office. it is regrettable more women do not go into elected office as well as pursue careers in government.

if we can get a critical mass in the elective body, good things are ahead. >> that was great. thank oyou so much for that. if anyone has questions, we have a microphone. raise your hand and identify yourself. the first question comes from a man. i am steve. i work in the city and study as well. thank you, linda. a lot of us have basketball on the mind. your law school mama and her good luck against -- all -- ito her -- lama mater ma lookuck.aw shcool ala

ofe your views on the flap what happened to avery richards. she attended a conference in california. some people behind her made vulgar remarks. they were fired afterward. she got a lot of threads. n she got a lot of th reats. and i was a kid i devoured a evani evans thomas -- by thomas, what would be the female analog to them in your opinion? in terms of behavior in the

workplace and in general, we are obligated to set high standards for what is appropriate conduct. everyone in here has had a man or woman say something inappropriate to you and the work is that was compromising. many of us shrug it off because that is part of -- you wre ere e . to is iit it is not ok. i remember being young and having client state things that were inappropriate. part of what we tried to do back then was be with the team. you do not want to look like that woman who cannot take a joke. you cannot talk like that. it is not acceptable. we should stand up for ourselves and each other. if you see somebody who is

getting spoken to in an in anach that -- an inappropriate way. do it for them. and clear.firm encourage our daughters to do that. our daughters do not need as much help. sas miuch as we did. they are good at sending for themselves. -- they are good at fending for themselves. you have to be vigilant. withnt a lot of time victims of domestic violence, of human trafficking and you would think in our country that it would not be the way it is. one of the most underreported crimes is sexual assault on a partner. we were able to pass the

reauthorization of the violence against women act. it's ok. you can clap. biden is on the board of a service that provides services to victims of violence and helps with everything from getting protection orders to divorce and child custody. 800 lawyers in d.c. volunteered to do this. it is an amazing project. it brought to home how important the laws are but they will only be as good as the reporting mechanisms and the poor systems women have. women is a victim. this is not someone else's problem is ours. >> another question. jill. >> jill lawrence from national journal.

one of the priorities is implementing the national care act. there have been articles about business is having problems -- that are small and would grow and are waiting to see what happens but may not decide to grow because it may be too onerous . do they have legitimate complaints? what does the white house plan for dealing with the glitches that will happen as this is implemented? >> there is a piece of legislation. there will be glitches at the white house and through kathleen sebelius' office. we are working with the business community and trying to figure out if there are consequences, how we can address them. the successful implementation will be challenging. that is why we are spending so much time planning and reaching out.

one example -- we had a meeting with folks from the pharmacy industry. are trusted. they will be on the front line. one of our responsibilities will be setting up exchanges around the states and the federal exchanges and getting the enrollment going. a lot of the people who we want to be the beneficiaries of the enrollments may not know what they have to do to get enrolled. figuring out creative ways of marketing those exchanges is something we are engaged in an a lot of dialogs. will be a grassroots effort to register people to make sure they have access to the benefits. this will improve the health of our country. we will offer affordable healthcare to everyone. it does not mean that it will be without challenges. for small businesses, we have an

aggressive outreach to them to make sure they understand what the requirements are, what the potential benefits to their , and overallld be we are convinced it is good for the country but there will be an intensive outreach effort to the --te house and the aha says through hhs. we want to make sure we address this. i am from the state department. it was useful to hear everything you said. i was struck in 2010 when the white house felt a four on work

place flexibility. you talked about the yahoo decision and the other challenges you are trying to handle. are there plans to move forward on that agenda? >> yes. at the time we did the form on workplace flexibility, the president and first lady participated in it because they care so much about this issue. when the first lady was interviewing for a job at the university of chicago medical whenr, it was at a time sasha was a baby. the babysitter did not show. she said the babysitter has not shown a. he said -- she said she would take her with her. she said if anybody would be willing to have you bring a baby, it would be him. she says if he is not, it is not the right place for me to go.

sasha went to the interview. she did not cry. the first lady got the job. important is whe did a study that demonstrated that companies that have flexibility have greater productivity and profitability. we need to make a business case for it. in addition for it being the right thing to do, it is good for business. one of the things that we have been exporting to the council is -- exploring through the council is how we can hold up the best proctoractices. there are companies doing amazing things. we have demonstrations and the federal government because it is not a one-size-fits-all. you have to look at the needs of your business.

another company may decide we can have all kinds of creative ways for flexibility. our job is to highlight those options and use the white house as a way where people can see options, showcase best ofctices in the hopes getting this conversation going at a national level. where companies are appreciating the business model and why it is so important. >> thank you. you have to go back to the white house. >> this is so much fun. >> this is so much more fun than what ever you are doing. i think you are ok despite my best efforts. thank you very much. ask thank you all -- >> thank you all. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> these are third place winners in c-span's studentcam contest.

they attend "washington journal camille torfs- 00 t -- they attend eastern middle school silver spring, maryland. water.yone needs clean we rely on it to live. yet we watch corporations violate national laws daily. -- of rivers and 46 of late re poluted. ae o across it so think. rive inr in the

ohio caught fire when a train rode by and a spark flew off the tracks in uniting the river. in 2002, the u.s. reached a andrd for largest dead zone the u.s. history. it sits at the of the mississippi river. are it rains, runoff washed off the street and drain into the mississippi river and enters the gulf of mexico. leads toient overload a surplus of algae killing water life. this dead zone was the size of connecticut. in april 2010, the bp oil spill terrorize the country. >> nearly 200 million gallons of crude oil were spilled in some of the waters.

thousands of birds were killed. wales, shrimp to sperm whales, plankton to pelicans. there were crudes of oil the size of manhattan careening through the gulf. it was a carpet of oil up to two inches thick found up to 80 miles from the spill site. the clean watre er act was established. >> it is provision that allows for penalties in the event that an irresponsible agency is not enforcing its own law to protect citizens rights. >> the clean water act prohibits anyone from discharging pollutants to a point source into a water of the united

states unless they have a permit. the primary contents limit on what you can discharge, monitoring and reporting requirements and other provisions to ensure the discharge does not heard water quality. an permit will specify acceptable level of pollutant or pollutant parameter in a discharge. make sure the state's mandatory standards for clean water and the federal minimums are being met. pre-k's the national -- >> the have ins the one wae place to ensure we have fishable and some mobile water in the united days. it is legal -- it is illegal for any port source to delete -- to pollutant into our waters without getting a permit. we allow polluters to receive a permanent to just charge into the water. other acts have

been proposed that focus on individual aspects of water quality and protections. the efforts, permits, and acts seem like great solutions to provide all americans with clean water. corporations are violating these permits. works with waste collection and need to dump mercury. 13 monitoring and 10 reporting violations. similar violations occur across the u.s. these kinds of pollution are point source solutions. there are also nonpoint source solutions. >> a guest on cover agricultural -- it does not cover agricultural runoff michael waste from -- like

waves from turkey and waste farms. this is not a strong enough system to ensure that we will have the clean water we deserve in maryland. >> we need clean water. what is being done to maintain it? organizations are working on strengthening the requirements. we need to make polluters realize that jumping into our resource will be part of a hassle and the long-term and thinking of a way to get rid of the pollution. putting up a price on pollution. --let polluters pay participate for free. we do not pa make them pay. by putting a price on pollution , we would have an incentive to produce in a more responsible and sustainable fashion. to do? do you need

every year 14 billion pounds of sewage are dumped into the world's oceans. ofther 19 trillion gallons waste are discharged. to ensure generations after us have clean water, we need to do more than charts these companies. we need to educate people about their affect on local waterways and limit the amount of pollution a company is allowed to jump into the water under a permit. >> permit thing is part of a larger solution. we have had the clean water act since 1980 -- 9072. -- 1972. toare not doing enough protect our water. the system is inadequate. these are not as strong as they need to be. we need to take action to make

earths water livable livable, visible, and drinkable. it is time to make changes to the system. these changes include charging to obtain permits, strengthen limits on the amount of pollution companies can dump , and instituted strict pollution guides for all of america's water. >> that mr. president, help us strictly enforce national laws. let us work together to make our waters fishable, swimmable, drinkable for ourselves and the generations to come because water pollution affects everyone. >> you can find this video and others at studentcam.org. startshington journal"

in a moment. bankxport-import conference continues today. we will hear from xerox ceo general james jones and ray lahood. this afternoon, remarks from president -- vice president joe biden at 12:45 eastern. live coverage on c-span. in 45 minutes, russell moore, president-elect of the southern baptist convention discusses the role of religion in politics. katrina vanden heuvel for the at how progressive values are featured in political battles. and later cynthia ogden forrom the cdc and