there has been so much discussion about social mobility and economic income equality and trybos part -- both parties to resolve those issues. we will continue to see both parties talk about that on the campaign trail. >> i want to talk more about the earned income tax credit. mikeng at a statement bloomberg said, today, i join president obama where we discussed this budget proposal and his initiative to help young black latino men realize their potential. -- >> we will leave "washington to remarksre to go by senator bob casey. he is a member of the foreign relations committee and chairs

the subcommittee on the near east and central asia. this is just adding underway. he has also spoken on issues like universal pre-k, and on the domestic front, he is a real leader on universal pre-k and the needs of children and families in our country and we are indebted to him for that area -- for that. afghanistan, in less than one month, afghans will go to the polls to elect a new president. this will be the first transfer of power in afghanistan since 2001, when president karzai came into office. the importance of this political transition cannot be overstated. a successful change in leadership has the potential to usher in a more legitimate afghan government that can get to work growing its capacity, its economy, and addressing security threats.

on the other hand, a strange electoral process has the possibility to threaten security, reversing many of the gains made since 2001. the afghan people have make an progress that deserves to be sustained. afghanistan has broadened access to health care and education, creating government institutions, and increased opportunities for women and girls. 10 years ago, pure than one million afghanistan children fewer thanhool -- one million afghanistan children attended school according to unicef. afghanistan's long-term stability remains in the interest of the united nations and the united states. create terrible you medicare in consequences for afghans, reversing the gains

made over the past decade. between now and the provincial and presidential elections and beyond, the international community's goal will be to support the afghans as they move away from dependence on the international community to a more sustained equilibrium. senator casey has been a leader advocating for smart policies in afghanistan, recognizing the importance of transparent him a credible, and inclusive onctions and calling afghanistan to maintain the days we have made so far. senator casey included in importance amendment that would promote the rights of afghanistan's women and girls as the united states transitions out of afghanistan. at the same time, senator casey has recognized the united states must decrease its military presence in afghanistan and -- realits posture to

line is posture to tackle additional global challenges. we are very excited to have given hissey here long-standing leadership on this issue. thank you very much. [applause] >> neera, thank you very much for that very kinds introduction. i'm really excited to be back here at the centers for american rugrats and i'm excited to talk hast this topic which nominated our discussions here in washington for more than a decade. i am also grateful to have the opportunity back here. here in washington where you get invited summer to speak without back, that does not happen all the time. i want to thank the centers for

american progress for the work that you do. often in the congress we have exposure to a lot of data, a lot of information, a lot of hearings and briefings. but sometimes you do not have the policy work in front of you that you would hope sometimes. centers for american rugrats has been a great value to me -- centers for american progress has been a great value to me and i know two other senators. i want to thank you for agreeing to moderates our conversation today, caroline. i know we will get to that later and we will certainly take questions from the audience. i am grateful, in addition to the folks in the audience who actually work at cap, to say hello to those of us who work in the areas of public policy. especially afghanistan policy. i know some ngo's are represented here and we'll be following the discussion here.

have been to afghanistan >> time since i have been in the united states tenant. back in 2011 -- i have been to times sinceseveral i have been in the united states senate. back in 2011, i had the privilege to meet an american -- a female parliamentarian. what of that group told us about her journey into politics. this was not a familiar story to me. i did not have anywhere near the same experience that she did. mine was a different path. mine was not the path she had taken, because in her case, her father had been killed during the soviet occupation of afghanistan and she lost her brother to an attack by the telegram. -- by the taliban. decided to fight

back, not to accept that as the danger that would prevent her from getting involved in politics. had particular reaction she on the path she had charted for herself would not have been possible under the taliban's rule. her story of courage and isivism is inspiring, and it also a story that we hope more and more can emulate. a story that is unique in afghanistan. during the last 12 years in that byntry, brave leadership women has been the driver of change in so many areas of life in afghanistan. we know that well, our fighting men and women in uniform have achieved results -- frankly that we do not talk about enough. i am just going to outline a few of those results. first, violent, oppressive

taliban role has given way to a nascent democracy in which women reportedly make up one third of registered voters. due to improved health services, the average life expectancy has risen from 45 years to 62 years. and perhaps most strikingly, or there was once very few educational opportunities, especially for girls, as neera mentioned in her remarks, now 8.3 million children are in school. by one estimate, 41% of that number are girls. as we know a little more than a decade ago, that number was just about zero. but these results came at a great cost. a great cost to the american people and a great cost to the afghan people. we know that more than 2300 americans were killed as a

result of the conflict in afghanistan. i know that in pennsylvania, when i look at my schedule every day, we have these numbers right on the front of the schedule for my work every day. hadast count, pennsylvania 91 killed in action, and 737 who were wounded in operation enduring freedom. we know nationally, in addition killed,ore than 2300 almost 20,000 have been wounded in action. many more very the invisible scars of war as well. many americans believe that going to war in afghanistan was a mistake. frankly, this does not surprise me. i'm sure it does not surprise many in this audience. in recent months, arguing about troop numbers and the bilateral security agreement has dominated

our national conversation. there are many dimensions of our afghanistan policy we could mention here today, including those same issues of the security issues, on troop levels and others. but i would like to focus on two vital aspects of our policy upcomingward -- the elections and the support for women and girls. just some general comments before i get to the western of the elections. as this chapter of our afghanistan policy unfolds, it is critical for the administration and members of congress -- i will say that again. and members of congress to take necessary steps to maintain the gains of the last decade. to allow these gains to -- to use an old expression -- "to would on the vine" dishonor the sacrifice of more than 2 million men and women in uniform who observed our country

in afghanistan. to let these gains with her on the vine would also diminish the work of civilian -- to let these gains wither on the vine would also diminish the work of civilian personnel, working in remote and often insecure regions. it would also be an affront to american taxpayers, who despite the understandable anxiety, frustration, and the sadness that the conflicts in both havenistan and iraq caused, these taxpayers still expect a reasonable return on the significant investment. and that level of investment is an understatement. i believe there is another way to acknowledge the tremendous sacrifices of our servicemen and , all and their loved ones of the sacrifices they have made this past 12 years. to build onther way our investment. instead we should solidify the

gains that we have already achieved across all sectors of afghan society and determine our priorities for any engagement going forward. of the united states has a clear national interest in the outcome in afghanistan, in its future stability, as well as its asperity. no one wants to see afghanistan safe haven for al qaeda and other terrorist groups that it was before 2001. that, whatever the outcome of the bilateral security agreement negotiations, most of our servicemen and women are coming home. and that's a good thing. i have supported an expeditious and responsible drawdown of our military presence. we know that budget constraints will require a diplomatic -- our diplomatic and development

efforts to contract as well. i have consistently urged the department of state and the department of defense to plan well in advance for that eventuality. well i recognize planning has begun, i am concerned that absence a strategy for future u.s. engagement in afghanistan, we could lose our primary goals and national security interest there. just by way of example, things that members of congress can do -- in november, senator kelly i got -- kelly a yotte wrote a letter to chuck hagel. we said that the safety of u.s. citizens, military and civilian personnel, should be paramount. state of iednt attacks just over the last several weeks, i can appreciate how hard a task this

is. even as we draw down the military presence, we must take -- fornal gotchas cautions. ayotteter that senator and i sent called for a continued civilian mission and oversight of u.s. assistance programs that makes clear that america will stand with the preventook to afghanistan from reverting to the type of oppressive, intolerant, and violet taliban rule that served -- violet taliban rule that served as --violent taliban rule that served as a fertile breeding ground for al qaeda. this should continue training for the afghan national security forces and maintain investments in vital centers such as education and health. i'm not reading the whole letter, but giving a sense of

some of the priorities we outlined. broads kind of the perspective i have on the way forward, even as we have a troop number that will be very small in the years ahead. let me first moved to the elections on april 5. the most immediate of those priorities i have outlined is the political transition. now that the election day is less than a month away. when i met with president karzai -- this was in the early part of 2012 -- he came over to meet with a number of senators. it was actually in senator mcconnell's office. majority leader reid could not be there. he was traveling. we met in senator mcconnell and's office with resident karzai. now, i had been very critical of him the last few years. it i'm sure i joined a chorus in congress. i said to him at the time -- i'm urged himhrasing -- i

very strongly to support the transition, to make sure it is peaceful. and his reaction was positive at this time. he said he was route to observed as the first democratically elected president -- he was as theo have served first democratically-elected president of afghanistan and would hand off to the second, chronically-elected president. has at timeszai been duplicitous, transactional, and insulting, but i do believe he understands the future of afghanistan depends on the transition i just mentioned. focus too much on what is going to happen after him, so his legacy aside, the transition itself is a critical milestone for the people of afghanistan. recalling that, reminding myself

of that, last year, i authored a senate resolution that outlined steps that both the afghan and u.s. governments can take to support transparent and credible elections. passed thison summer. since then, the afghan people have put a significant amount of effort into preparations for the election. i believe we now have reasons to be cautiously -- cautiously -- optimistic about the elections. in the past, security concerns and voter intimidation in p did the ability of the people of -- in p did of the people of afghanistan to vote. widespread fraud reduced confidence in the system, but in their elected leaders as well. afghan women in particular have been prevented from meaningful participation in the electoral

environment,o the the scarcity of female coworkers, and the lack of awareness of women's political rights and opportunities. this time around, at the international community's support as with its well, the afghan government has taken steps to address the issues that have plagued past elections. overxample, -- excuse me, 12,000 afghans will serve as election observers in the independents commission, the so-called iec. they have invited international observers as well. excuse me. over 12,000 afghans sorry, theas -- i'm mystic election observers as i -- domesticr election observers as i mentioned, and the iec has also

released a list of polling centers six weeks before election day. in 20 and nine, the list was not available until days before the , the list- in 2009 was not available until days before the election. they made a security assessment and made that assessment available to the public. in 2013, i authored the resolution i mentioned, and that called upon afghanistan to put measures into place to promote women's participation in the electoral process. female candidates are again running in the provisional council elections, and others have been selected as vice presidential candidates. the afghan governments is reportedly training approximately 13,000 women to serve as security guards for female voters and polling staff. this is, to say the least, a step in the right direction.

of course, there is still work to do, because according to the congressional research service, inut 40 of 407 districts afghanistan do not have female elections staff because of security issues. while the afghan government has made >> important electoral reforms, security remains a grave concern for the elections. just today the taliban and declared its intention to "use to disruptpossible the elections. while the national security leadership has said they will be able to secure 94% of planned voting centers, this assessment strikes me as overly optimistic. 0 elections, when afghan's forces were bolstered with international forces, they were open -- they were able to open a little more than 5000

polling centers. this year with the afghan security squarely in the lead, they have indicated they will be 6775 centers. insufficient security prevented voters from coming to the polls, leaving ghost polling centers for fraud.nities during remarks at the u.s. institutes for peas at the end of february, ambassador dobbins said "india see as an for elections is on the rise -- "enthusiasm for elections is on the rise." despite what the ambassador said, however, success is dependent on president karzai, is administration, and the candidates respecting the elect world process and the independence of the iec. we should hold them to the

commitments made in the tokyo mutual accountability framework in 2012 when the afghan government agreed to conduct "credible, inclusive, and transparent elections" in which all afghans could participate. checkeredn's electoral history tells us this is all easier said than done. need to be, i believe, clearer about the limits of what is possible with this year's elections. afghanistan's democracy is not the jeffersonian model we would like it to be. it is young and imperfect. our own history, our own electoral history in the united states provides plenty of examples of how difficult and long the road to electoral reform can be. we must continue to be forceful in our calls for a transparent and credible process. the probability is good that both violence and fraud or a

combination of the two could derail the good progress that has been made. but i believe that this election, if it yields a peaceful transition of power to a credible leader, could be assigned democracy has begun to take root in afghanistan. let me move next to the question of the role of women. obviously and the election, but in a much broader way as well. women's participation in upcoming elections will be a substantial factor in the success of the elections. however, women play a much broader role today in afghanistan and i would like to outline some of those roles and our concerns. study after study has shown women often emerged as the peacemakers in conflict situations. that's true in afghanistan. it is true the world over. even true here in the united states. just witness what happened in

the 1 -- the two-year budget, the one-year appropriations that were entered into and the house. a lot of people thought neither was possible. we had our a mikulski and patty murray. maybe that's why they both got done. i think it is true here as well as in afghanistan. afghanistan, where women were once marginalized and oppressed under taliban rule, now they are in leadership positions all over the country. past 12 years, afghan women have made tremendous gains in education, government, business, and national security, -- national security. solidifying and sustaining those gains is not only consistent with american values but will promote our national security interest in a stable afghanistan. it would be unconscionable to allow this progress to be

reversed beyond 2014. begunr, we have already to see an effort to chip away at afghan women's rights and security. in recent months, female police officers have been targeted and assassinated. the afghan parliament reduced the quote up for women's the dental seats after attempts by the lower house to remove the quota entirely. the lower house has proposed provisions that would significantly weaken violencean's landmark against women law. parliament has attempted to effectively deny women protection from domestic violence and forced or child marriage, which was thankfully rejected by president karzai. most of you will recall the 2009 in "the new york

girl, justt a young 17 of the time, from kandahar to school with her sister in 2008. in a traditional taliban stronghold, she dared to seek an education. dexter philbin's was the reporter for "the times" who wrote about her story. here is what he wrote. they were walking the highway when they spotted the men on the motorbikes. she was old enough to be married. she was wearing a black scarf that covered most of her face. she had seen the taliban gunmen before and she figured the men on the motorcycle would pass. one of the bikes pulled alongside her and the man on the back jumped off. through the mask, he asked what seemed like a strange question.

" are you going to school?" man pulled the scarf away from her face and with his other hand hold the trigger on a spray gun, which of course was full of battery acid. she felt as if her face and her eyes were on fire. as she screamed, the masked man reached for her sister, who was already running. he pulled at her and tore her scarf away and pumped the spray into her back. the man sped off to another group of girls. she lay in the street, holding her burning face. imagine the even horror of that moment, and of course you have seen and read about examples like it in afghanistan before and cents --since this particular event.

we know in the media campaign that follow the reporting on that attack, one of the attackers alleged that the slidingi isi offered a pay scale for such attacks. 12,000 dollars per spraining acid on young schoolgirls. me.story stayed with obviously the horror of it is something we never forget. but it also stayed with me because of the response to the , that it had in the weeks and months ahead, the outpouring of donations to help the girl and girls like her. the money bought her school bus and the driver so they would be attack.nerable to months after surviving a disfiguring and devastating attack, she was back at school, and the reporter found her in the front row in geography

class. it is hard to comprehend how someone could do that at any age, especially with continuing threats to her security. here is what he wrote and said it so well. he said, "build a school for girls, and they will come. they will face down death to come. there are illiterate parents will support them." her headmaster said "i told them" --meeting the girls' them that if told you do not send your daughters to school, then the enemy wins. i told them not to give into darkness." , in so manyays ways, the afghan people, and especially afghan women and

girls have fought back against that darkness. 8.3 million people are in school today. women and girls who have gained access to health care to not want to see a return to high mortality rates and low life in santa fe. the young women who fought for their education and health now want jobs that utilize their skills and will allow them to contribute to afghan society. one example of that is a woman i met a couple of years ago, and entrepreneurial woman from western afghanistan. i came to know her over the past several years just because she traveled to the united states, but because she came to northeastern pennsylvania where i live. of met with folks in a lot

different places, including northeastern pennsylvania. to say that people have been inspired and moved by her story and by her activism is another understatement. she spearheaded an effort to build shelters for women, especially victims of domestic abuse, and she did this in a province. she aspires to start a bytaurant owned and run women in which female customers can gather and socialize in safety. we know security is still a very real challenge for afghans, particularly women and girls. solidifying the gains made over the last 12 years will require support from afghanistan security forces. for the past two years i have led an effort in the senate to ensure that the department of state and defense are working to ole of women in

the security force. in the defense authorization work to pute resources behind the recruitment and retention of women in the afghan national security forces. brave women are now serving in these forces. some have broken the glass ceiling to become pilots in the air force, and one has risen the ranks to lead the police district in kabul. these women are role models for younger afghans who would like to pursue these article careers. according to the special inspector general for afghan reconstruction, more women are now showing an interest in joining the security forces. the department of defense has acknowledged much more work remains to be done. according to the department cost most recent report, female

recruitment and retention rates or the afghan national security forces fell far short of the goals.government's the international community, yspecially any militar trainers, must continue to stress that women have a key role to play in afghanistan's security going forward. for afghan women and girls, the stakes for the transition are particularly high. for afghanistan to work through its political, security, and economic transition in 2014 and beyond, afghan women need to keep their place at the negotiation table, in the police stations, in university classrooms, and at the helm's of companies. afghan women can help foster stability, promote economic growth and prosperity, and keep fighting for inclusiveness, human rights, and the moxie. last week the state department an international woman

ancourage for her work and ob/gyn and her commitment to getting medical care to afghan women in the face of telepath and oppression. in her speech she said it is vital to come to the realization that women are half of the population. empowering a woman means and powering a society and a generation. supporting afghan women should intinue to be a top priority our post-2014 engagement strategy. total disengagement from afghanistan after 2014 could part -- precipitate a backsliding, not only in women's rights, but on progress across

all sectors of afghan society. presence will.s. be smaller. we can still a combo shower goals and protect our national security with a smaller footprint. this will require us to review our priorities. inclusivity, transparency around elections, support for afghan women and girls, promotion of human rights and economic growth, and professional security force that can protect the afghan people. it will require a clear strategy and better communication with the afghan people, the american people, and with our international partners. i will keep working to push the snow should -- this message forward, and over the course of my rumors have mentioned a few inspiring women, women parliamentarians i met with in 2011 and others. all of these women demonstrate manning -- and exemplify

uncommon courage and resolve. their stories should continue to remind us how transformative the past 12 years have been for afghanistan, despite the fact that it is a long, long way to go. we have a clear and enduring national security interest in afghanistan's stability and security. we owe it to u.s. service members and the american people who have sacrificed so much to ensure that these gains we have fought for are not rolled back. i appreciate this opportunity. i thank you for this time, and i would love to take your questions. [applause] >> thank you so much, senator casey. i am a senior fellow here at the center for american progress. we are very happy that you all are joining us today.

i think once again with that speech you showed what a leader you are on issues, especially for the people of afghanistan. and you made a very compelling case for why afghanistan still matters despite the fact that the american people are exhausted with this war. there is still a security interest. we we have made a commitment to the afghan people, and we should have a long-term partnership. i think you made a very compelling case for why we should. you have i think shown leadership in foreign policy for many years, and we are so delighted that you are here. you have demonstrated both a pragmatism and a value in foreign policy that at the center for american progress we embrace. thank you so much for your leadership on this. on afghanistan you have shown both -- you have made the case

for why it is in our national interest, but you have elevated important issues that we are trying to attack come a which is elevating the women and girls, but also how important a political transition is. there has been such a focus on troop numbers, but there has been much less focus on the how important this transition is. if we do not have a successful transition, the risk of what could happen. thank you for your leadership on we have been for many years trying to elevate , trying to make the case for why it matters. today we also are releasing a report called afghans find their way which is about the political, economic, and security transitions underway, and it speaks largely on a trip that john podesta and i undertook to afghanistan and met

with hundreds of afghans, mostly from civil society. and if they spoke about all the work that they want to do, and thatare ready to do, and building their economy, improving their security forces, and making their government work better. they just want our long-term support. obviously, it cannot be unconditional support, but they made the case for why a long-term partnership is so important, and that paper reflects some of those meetings. for i trail over to the questions, i want to ask as the moderator a couple of questions to start the discussion. i would like to pull the lens off a little bit and start with a larger question, there has been a lot of criticism of the obama administration in terms of having a feckless foreign policy or not having a strategy for afghanistan.

i would welcome your thoughts on --ther you feel comfortable confident that the administration has a plan forward for afghanistan and you have general thoughts about their foreign policy and we would recognize -- welcome that, thank you. theyr one, i would say have a strategy going forward, but i think they should articulate it more and make it more apparent. that is one of the reasons why i sent that letter both to secretary kerry and secretary hagel i have to say on the broader question of the criticism which has been theering of administration's foreign policy on a whole range of areas, i would suggest that it is at an intensity level and at the or reallypartisanship

destructiveness that i do not think helps anybody. let me suggest a way that members of congress can be critical, because i am allowed to do that. the, i do not hesitate to critical of the administration if there is a particular aspect of foreign policy i do not think they're getting right or they need to look at, but if you are a member of congress, i think you have a higher duty in terms of how you weigh in with criticism. let me see just the following -- it is one thing to say i do not agree with what the administration is doing in this particular part of foreign policy. to make iter thing very personal to the president and to make a categorical. you have heard the papers -- the papers are full with them everyday, folks in washington, it usually starts out with barack obama is or something like that, and they level a

charge. that does not help anybody. it does not help advance the ball. it is not constructive criticism. if members of congress want to be critical, it helps to say the administration should do the following, the administration is wrong about this, and they should consider that, but this idea that you have to be as sweeping in your condemnation and to be as personal i think is in violation of that basic rule that a lot of our differences s'ould end at the water's edge. the recent back-and-forth on ukraine is the best example of that. even in circumstances that involve other aspects of foreign policy, i think you can be add aggressively critical without making it personal or without using political language, without being categorical, and i think

that would help us have better debates. debateably do not foreign policy enough. sometimes all people see is the everyive that is covered day instead of the kind of discussions we should have. >> thank you. we have made moving to afghanistan a number of commitments to afghanistan at fairs conferences, on the security side and implement assistance. in thee polling numbers american public, just how exhausted the americans are with providing financial assistance to afghanistan, what do you think that the political appetite is in the senate, but generally, in the congress for maintaining a commitment post 2014? how do you think that is going to play out, and how do you

think the case can be made that the commitments are met? casehope we can make the in similar ways i did today and in other ways as well which is to articulate what our interests are, why it is important that women have a measure of security than they have before and have opportunities. that if we do that, you substantially reduce the likelihood that not only will afghanistan be a place of tremendous instability or insecurity, but you are reducing the likelihood of violence and terrorism even beyond afghanistan. it will not be as fertile a ground for terrorists and for entities that would cause us harm. i do not think we do that enough, making the case as to why it is in our interests. we also have to be very clear that the drawdown is happening and will continue and will be completed emma but there are lots of other ways we can be

that is not manner simply about security, but in a manner that is consistent with our basican -- american values we have had for generations, which is to help countries that need the help and to help them build their own future. -- that has been a subject of great support among but i think lately because of what people have lived through -- can you just imagine this might be a different conversation about levels of matters thatfor are not military if we did not have the tragedy of a huge commitment in iraq. frustration and frankly the anger that a lot of people feel about iraq has impacted our afghan policy whether we like to admit that are not.

it has. we have to articulate the interest more and make the case as to why we have to do what everything we can to maintain the lead,s, not in but with the afghans in the lead militarily, but also in terms of their own democracy, there are no elections, their own institution building. that is a whole other -- i could give a whole speech just on the mechanics of governing, delivery services, having strong ministries, and what would you would call here departments. >> let me open it up. i want to give people an opportunity to speak. yes, sir. is for theion upcoming elections, the united states has made it clear that

they would not pick the winner or there would not be any interference. yet many people expect the elections to go -- to be unfair, that youof the rules just stated. how will the united states fit that balance of not being seen as influencing things, but yet securing some of the principles that the u.s. has always stood by? >> a good part of it is by making sure that the efforts that have been undertaken by the state department and you could go down the list, other departments of our government as well, the efforts that's they and others have taken, ngo's included, to make sure that the infrastructure, the mechanisms are therefore free and fair elections. that is why the security numbers that i mentioned about how many

people, they effort to make sure that there is a measure of security there, led by the afghans, but supported by the work we have done over time, that is why the training we have done will be in a since tested during the selection. i do not think we have to get in the middle of who wins if we are doing the job that i know people have worked very hard to do which is to set up, work with the afghans to set up the mechanisms of the election date apparatus. and the fact that you have polling places that are public far in advance of the election itself is a much better indicator than we had a couple years ago. there are lots of ways to be helpful and constructive without getting in the middle of it. >> a bunch of questions. i will clump two together.

the man in the back, and then we will go over here. >> doug brooks. successfulctions are on the security side there is still a big enough issue that nobody wants to invest in afghanistan at this time. afghan public protection force, the main force for the private sector, has just been disbanded. is there something the u.s. can do to product afghanistan to provide or allow security, whether it is appf or private security to be there so that investment and go on with confidence? >> let me get one more question. yes, sir. if you want to stand, that would be great. >> johann jones. i spent the better part of four years in hell monde -- helmand.

my question is i have seen provincial elections, district elections, and now presidential elections and the free and fairness. feel one of the more important things we may be missing is helping the losers to identify that they are actually losing, that they lost, and making sure they are included in the process post election transition. did you see the international community and specifically the u.s. in helping the losers identify their loss? >> i will go on that. part of the answer to that question is doing what i was trying to do with president karzai, which is to say to him you have got to lead an effort in that transition, and that simply is not having the mechanics of an election go well, it is also the intelligent -- the intangible leadership of communicating what it means, communicating how important it

is it and being part of it. president karzai as a former president at that time, but in of transition,od making the case as to why the new president and those who have just been elected have to who did notfolks win. some of that is an intangible, keepart of that is us -- making the case to the afghan leadership that they have got to reach out and do more than just build a political coalition, to build a coalition be on that so they can govern. i do not think there is necessarily a policy that we could implement that would do that. it is more of a question of international community as well as individual countries like united states pushing them to

accept the results and do the messaging around that. i think that is the best suggestion i have on that. on the business community question, i do not have a ready that we should implement. i do think that part of the narrative that we have not been as faithful to is this question of the gains that have been made. you are a lot less likely to make a business investment in afghanistan if you do not see measurable progress, progress that you can attach a metric to. that is why the life expectancy numbers should be emphasized, health care access, education gains for children overall, but especially for young girls, the participation by women in both politics and in the economy, is still very much

limited, but is growing. one of the best ways for us to ensure that folks will at least consider investment is by articulating those veins on a gains on a more regular basis. it has been my experience going places in the region and beyond, egypt, going to india or turkey, you could pick a lot of different countries in the middle east or south and central asia where we have a lot of with therican business business leaders in a particular country coming together, and they have established working partnerships to try to kind of -- chambers of congress -- commerce that are overlapping. to the extent that we can

continue to foster that as well as to articulate the progress i think is a dig part of the answer. if you have any suggestions, i would be happy to hear them, because this is an aspect of it that we have not talked about nearly enough. e, articulating the gains that have been made, i want to shout out a number of who have the audience been members of coalition supporting the afghan people, which i urge people in the audience to look at. a group has been making gains. i remember anthony and chuck and david, and they have been making the case that the gains need to be articulated, that them messaging has all been negative, and there are some positive messages, and their coalition is pushing the importance of the political transition process in a long-term partnership with the afghan people. coalition of that

would agree with that. let me open it up again. yes, sir. news network of curtis stand. sir thomas can you compare karzai to prime minister melekeok correct in that he has not been willing to sign a support pact to extend of afghanistan past 2014? refused to grant immunity to american soldiers. what is hamids karzai counting on? >> you would have to ask him that. i do not want to make comparisons. they are different circumstances, different leaders, different countries with different challenges, but i

think it is vital we have an agreement. there is no way that we can make the kind of commitment i hope we can make in the absence of an agreement. i would be surprised if in the and we do not have one, even though it has been difficult. there has been difficulty with president karzai. i am more optimistic than some might be, but i think we will get there. person tory difficult read sometimes. to i have had the occasion meet with him four times now. .nd often came away frustrated that frustration that i have felt i think is shared by a lot of people, and it is another reason why we got to make sure this transition goes well, because we -- what we do not

not thehappen is process go well, the electoral process, but you also do not want someone who is elected that starts out with a stumble or starts out with a problem that would be kind of a carryover from some of the frustrations that we have felt with president karzai. we need to have the election go well. we also need to have a strong leader to begin to effectuate the change, which will be very challenging for anyone coming in. >> thanks, senator. i would like to thank you for your support and for highlighting the gains and achievements of the afghan people. i was born and raised in the country, and afghanistan, where it was in 2001, and where it is

now, not even comparable. that is how much has changed. when you wake up in the morning you see a sea of girls going toward the schools, and the cops clearing traffic. in 2001 in afghanistan i could not have imagined that even. you see the change happening. also in terms of militarily, afghanistan is much stronger, even though the army was re- -created in 2003. for a lot of afghans, they are sf is ablethat the an to stand. what the country lacks is political stability. part of it is domestic politics and also part of it is the perceptions, and perception is such that if you see an extremist taking over a building, killing a bunch of people, it has no military significance. in the media it often comes out that they are able to take anywhere. -- that has given a

lot of confidence to the insurgent groups and within the region. if you know somehow the impression -- the question i have fans on the other question, the election gets laid for some reason, it could go to a second round and the prolonged. bsa is not signed, what do you see in terms of the u.s.-afghan engagement beyond 2014? done fors to be support of the afghan women and make sure that some of these names solidify -- these gains solidify? >> obviously, i >> in terms of the security dimension, that will largely depend upon the level of

training and results achieved so far. a set ofstill questions folks might have about the quality and readiness of the security forces. at last count, we had on the trained 150,000 police and 180,000 army. they have achieved those numbers. those are close to the goals, not far off the goals. but the quality of the training and quality of the officer corps and folks trained to be soldiers and police officers will be the test. there are limits to what we can do. we have invested a lot of time and effort in training. going forward, a lot will have to be afghan led, not just in

the sense of leading on the battlefield, but let in terms of further training and strengthening of security forces. more broadly i would say on the other aspects of the policy, we have to keep making the case at home as well as to our international partners about how important it is to stay united on making sure these gains for women and girls stay in place and these electoral reforms are not just ad hoc but stay in place and become part of the structure and foundation of the country going forward. you reach a point where there is not a question about whether you will have a free and fair election. the type of engagement i am talking about is not necessarily the kind of commitment some are concerned about. it can be done very effectively

without too substantial a dollar commitment. >> one more question and then we will wrap it up. >> thank you. i'm formally of the state and defense department. i want to thank you for your leadership on this and other foreign-policy leaders. my question is on the issue of partisanship. for afghanistan, what chances do you see of there being a bipartisan approach to the vision you laid out for what the united states should do in afghanistan? is there support on both sides of a character that could make this into the kind of issue that stops the water's edge? >> i think there is a degree of bipartisanship on this that does not get highlighted often. problems iniggest congress, i will speak from the

center point of view, we don't have enough engagement on these .ssues within the body itself the foreign relations committee has measures they do with. i mentioned the resolutions. we need to think of more and better ways to come together to discuss and talk about these issues on a more frequent basis and in a more constructive way. , the post-2014a policy where there is not as much partisan rancor as there was when it came to troop levels and the schedule of the drawdown and all of that. once you get away from troop levels and those issues, there tends to be more unanimity. i think that was evident in what we have in the letter. on, -- down differently

we come down different way on different foreign-policy issues, but we get together on that. this can be a way where people from both parties come together. sometimes when you will have bipartisan agreement, it does not have as much intensity behind it. is not as interesting for some people to engage in areas of policy where there is great agreement. but this can be an area of great bipartisan agreement, unlike the earlier debates about the security issues. >> thank you so much. we're going to have to wrap it up. we appreciate your time. thank you to everyone for coming. [applause] host [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> if you missed any of what senator casey had to say, you can see it in its entirety in the c-span video library. shortly, senator casey will join his colleagues in the senate chamber as they gavel in at 4:00 eastern on debate and vote on final passage on sexual assault in the military. that vote is set for 5:30 followed by a procedural vote on

the supreme court nomination. senators from the task force will start an all-night session with speeches urging action on climate change. newspaper saying the senators are using the all nighter to make the point that climate change is a fact. in an interview, mitch mcconnell says you are not going to have global cooperation to do it, even if you concede the point. if you concede the point, it is not going to be addressed by one country. the idea is we tie our own hands behind our backs and others don't. the senate is gaveling in at 4:00 eastern. conference on second change is set to start at 6:00 eastern. see live coverage on c-span2. entityore than one manages the key identifiers of the internet, by nature the internet will no longer be one net. at the heart of the domain name

system is the root services system. very few people appreciate in order to resolve names on the internet, there is a system that makes it work for the entire planet. all names are resolved to ensure span.org orpe www.c any other website name, you go to the exact site c-span wants you to go to all the time, every time, for the last two plus decades. >> the head of the internet corporation on assigned names for the role played in assigning new domain names at 8:00 eastern on c-span3 due to the special senate session. the president's advisory council on financial capability for young americans held its first meeting today at the treasury department. the panel was created to help young people become better equipped to manage money as they

transition to adulthood. speakers include treasury secretary jack lew on that education secretary, arne duncan, and valerie jarrett. this is just under two hours. >> it is great to have you all with us for the first meeting of the new president's advisory council on financial capability. a warm welcome to the members of the council. we are grateful you have agreed to serve. the subject of financial capability is a priority for the administration. we look forward to the work of this counsel with great interest. in a few minutes, we will hear remarks from secretary lew, munos,ry duncan, cecilia and richard cordray. before i turn it over, let me make a few points about the work of the council. thet, the mission of council follows from the work of the previous president's

advisory council on financial capability. that council submitted a report to the president in which it noted the importance, among other things, of financial education for our youth and of drawing on all resources to advance this agenda. hence the focus on youth with this particular council. second, while the previous council worked on's conceptualizing a path forward, this council has been constituted to discuss and share expenses on the implementation of ideas. the members of this council have been leaders in achieving results in this area. we look forward to hearing from them about how they are working to move the dial on youth financial capability. third, the members of this council come from the public and private sectors. we also have representation from the federal government and local government. work on financial capability is

a collective endeavor. we must do our best to figure out how the public and private sectors and the federal, state, and local government can complement each other to achieve the results we all would like to see. i am honored to present to you the secretary of the treasury, jack lew. >> thanks very much. good morning, everyone. welcome to the department of treasury. i'm pleased to have all members of the new counsel with us today, including director cordray. arne duncan will be here shortly. i am also pleased we have so many members of the public here this morning with us. president obama created this counsel and brought this group of talented, committed men and women together to advise him on the issue of profound importance to the future of our economy. the financial capability of america's young people. whether it is teenagers deciding how to spend their first

paycheck, college students making crucial decisions about how to repay student loans, or new parents try to save for a child's education and their own retirement, helping young americans build a sound financial foundation is not only important for their futures, it can also strengthen our economy for generations to come. that is why the work we do as members of this council can significantly impact how successful we are at growing the middle class and increasing economic mobility and opportunity for all americans. there's much we can do to improve financial capability. i call him this council to help us identify those opportunities. mastering the basics of financial decision-making at an early age will put young people at the first decision many americans face on whether to pursue secondary education, and if so, how to pay for it. we need to make sure work pays for all americans, not just those who have earned a post secondary degree. that is why the president has

proposed an increase in the middlemen -- minimum age an extension of the earned income tax credit so all americans who work hard will be able to be economically self-sufficient. beyond growing jobs and expanded opportunity, there's more we can do to make american workers and their families financially secure. this council should call on employers large and small in the private, nonprofit, and government sectors to consider how they can help their employees become financially successful. many workers look to their employers as a source of information and guidance on important money management items. they also provide workers with information and options to plan and save for retirement. is options include traditional retirement plans or neutrals -- , simple, andsafe affordable way to save for retirement geared to workers who may not have access to employer-sponsored plan. in addition to savings, we

should also examine how other tools can improve financial outcomes. as we have worked in recent years to make our financial system more fair and transparent and to protect against the worst abuses, it has become clear that when, it comes to protecting consumers our best defense is a good offense. in the age of smart phones and big data, consumers are empowered to make smart financial decisions in real time, allowing them to trade financial emergency rooms for preventive care. technology has given us the ability to rethink financial capability and gives us the ability to reshape and redefined what it means to be financially literate in the 21st century. be as schools, private businesses, or families, there is a role for everyone to play in the effort to better prepare our youth to navigate a world will of consequential financial decisions. has taken aration number of steps over the last

few years to advance financial capability and expand opportunity. but our work is not complete. i'm confident this council will continue to build on our efforts and make sure we are working in concert with other sectors of our economy and society. i ask this council to show us what is working, who is leading, and how we can work together to broaden the impact because one approach will not suit all needs. i look forward to working with my colleagues across the administration and our partners outside of government to identify the best new ideas and put them to work for the next generation of americans. thank you. >> cecilia? >> thank you for being here today. i am the director of the president's domestic policy council. i want to thank the newly appointed members of the council for your commitment to help us better understand how we can prepare america's next generation today for the financial challenges they will face tomorrow. the work you are about to embark

on is an investment in the economic future of the country. i don't think it is a simple task. you and i know the challenges our young people face are very different from the ones the rest of us faced growing up. i learned financial responsibility for my dad who at age 90 faithful he balances his checkbook every month. when i was about to ship my firstborn after college, you sit them down to have all the conversations you were you forgot to have with them. one of them was i have not taught you to balance your checkbook yet. she looked at me with that patient look they get before they roll their eyes and said, i don't have a checkbook. she's constantly bombarded with credit and debit card offers and numerous other financial decisions on a daily basis that could and will have a big impact on her life. these are things i could not have thousand at her stage getting ready to go off to school.

young people are facing these same choices every day. are indicates many of them not well-prepared to handle these challenges. they are less likely to have bank accounts. a significant percentage lie on riskier borrowing. they are less likely to have money set aside to meet an emergency. this is particularly true for young people of color and those who have not finished high school. this is our challenge. all young people should be armed with the tools to create a better future for themselves. that includes financial literacy skills. this work goes hand in hand with the president's broader agenda. we call it an opportunity agenda, to make sure we are increasing financial security for all americans. is deeplyduncan engaged in the work of making sure every student is able to go to and finish college. with his leadership, the administration is working to make college more affordable and provide young people with clear information about the opportunities available to them.

we also need to know, to be sure young people have the financial smarts to weigh these options and make informed choices that affect their futures. this will increase the likelihood they can finish college and start their careers on a strong footing. when we talk about the opportunity agenda, it also includes an issue we are deeply engaged in like the affordable care act which very much connects to financial security and the effort to increase the minimum wage. higher wages are not the whole equation. young people need to know about and have access to sound products that help them spend money wisely and put money aside for a rainy day. i hope the council will consider all of this and will also consider how it's work will coordinate with other initiatives across the administration, including the my brothers keeper initiative recently announced by the president to provide more opportunities for boys and young men of color who face particularly tough odds when it

comes to climbing the ladder to success. i hope we can align our work together. what you are about to embark on is tremendously important. sometimes the earliest lessons are the one that stays -- ones that stay with us the longest. you make investments early and watch them grow. thank you for your efforts. i look forward to the good work we will do together. >> thanks very much. director cordray? find the word it repeatedly comes to mind for me this morning is "amen." we have many similar things to say. we each have our own distinct vantage points, so it is useful to say them nonetheless. i richard cordray, director of the consumer protection bureau which did not exist during the president's first term. we are glad to be part of this.

over the years, financial education has become a passion i have pursued at the local, state, and federal levels. it is a privilege to serve on this council. at the consumer bureau, we are committed to helping consumers make sound financial choices. we are doing all we can to protect people by ensuring markets work better for them, reliable, and fair. but we also recognize the best form of consumer protection is self protection, which means helping people avoid problems in the first place and know how to address problems when they occur. this has proven to be a hard problem in our society. it is important for parents to talk to their children about money from an early age. many find it difficult or uncomfortable to do so, leaving our young people starved for information. we need to begin by recognizing how rarely families engage in these discussions. this is a fundamental problem for anyone who cares about the direction of this country.

young people who lack the skills to make effective financial decisions will find it harder to become productive and capable citizens. they will incur unnecessary debt, miss opportunities to save money, and develop a poor credit history. these problems will block them from opportunities and resources to improve their futures. we are enrolling them in the school of hard knocks with no reason to think they will avoid repeating the same mistakes others made before them. thisve an opportunity with council to see that america does better by its children. now more than ever as we emerge from the deepest financial and economic crisis of our lifetimes, people need to know how to manage the ways and means of their lives. the choices they face in the financial marketplace with instruments like mortgages, credit cards student loans, credit reporting, and more are increasingly complex. the tell your use story feature of our website to describe their lasting regret they did not know more at the time they made important financial decisions.

ast obvious way to create more financially capable nation is to insist on having financial education in every one of our schools. in my opinion, this is an imperative we cannot afford to ignore order for. a report one issued advancing k-12 financial education. the report presents five policy recommendations that built on the great work done by many of you and your colleagues on this panel. let me briefly restate them. our first recommendation is financial education should begin at a young age, be made a priority as students approach graduation, and continue to evolve through the various stages of adulthood. when we do not teach tilted about personal finance, managing saving for the future, or making larger investments, whether or not an includes balancing a checkbook, we are failing them in shameful and costly ways. we can do this with integrated curriculum in our schools through math class and essay

topics in english may cover how we use or protect money or take control of our financial lives to achieve our goals. we recommend as part of education, students should practice management through experiential learning, regardless of whether they are simulating a banking experience, laying a computer game, or following the progress of the stock market, they will learn more effectively from the experience. heard, we must support teachers interested in teaching financial management. we need to ensure teachers have the support they need. we want them to have access to training and incentives such as continuing education credits . we are developing teacher training resources to do more in this area. in addition to equipping teachers with the training they need to teach financial skills, we are recommending integrating financial education concepts into standardized tests. doing so would increase

incentives to teach topics and present an opportunity to measure and track performance of students on financial education content. we have been working on this issue with those in charge of writing the tests. in providing financial education in schools, there are enormous benefits when the education is present in the home. we need parents to be as involved with their children as their children are in learning to master the concepts of personal financial management. parents help to set expectations. research has shown if parents engage children with a savings account, these children are seven times more likely to attend college. affecting how families approach financial education will not be easy, but the presentation of financial education in schools will be a further stimulus to progress. and look forward to working with you to help our young people gain the financial capability they need to control and shape their lives. thank you. >> thanks very much. secretary duncan?

>> thank you. i apologize for being a few minutes late. i'm thrilled to be here. i want to thank the council numbers for your willingness to serve. this is next ordinary group of people from different backgrounds. i think what you can do for young people going forward could have a huge impact that i am a big believer that leadership matters a lot. i am a little biased. john is my best friend. this has been a lifelong passion of his. jose, what you have done in san francisco is nothing short of remarkable. if we had more local leaders with his passion and commitment, we would be in a much better place as a nation. it is a great counsel two amazing leaders. i look forward to doing what we can to partner and drive the agenda. i'm always looking for ways to bring people together and cut through the traditional battles. nohink this is an issue of natural enemies. whether it is union and

management, teachers, public and private sectors. i think we can all unite behind the cause of putting our young people in a position to manage their lives and finances in a more thoughtful and strategic way. the huge need is out there. everyone here knows this. that is why we are here. one quick story. i was in chicago and met with a group of students on the south side of chicago in a tough community with about 40 kids. the last young man to speak was extraordinary. he goes to a pretty good high school in chicago. he was getting good grades. is going to be successful. asked me why no one is helping to teach them about finances. i'm going to get a good job. how will i be able to manage my money when i get older? it was an unbelievable question that i think far too many children around the country can ask. today we don't have a great answer on that. our kids deserve better.

they are asking for it. if we can take to scale what works and work together across sectors and lines that divide us, i think we can do something special for our kids and the country. i thank all of you for your leadership and look forward to working together. .> to expand much -- thank you i will turn it over to the chairman, john rogers. >> it is great to be back and see so many people here. we seem to have a lot of shared values. what i want to pick up on is what arne has talked about. when we grew up, we went to the same high school. arne took eight years of german and went to germany for one year. i took around four years of french. i have been to france three or four times. when you think about the values we have to teach our kids to get

them prepared for life, sometimes we have our priorities wrong. we've got to make sure we have robust financial literacy programs starting in grade school that build over time the same way math skills and english skills build over time, so they are truly prepared to participate fully in our american democracy. i think that is something that is sometimes lost. the question he was asked the other day was perfectly appropriate. when we were working together 20 sarahago, arne and sister came up with the idea of starting a small school on the south side of chicago. after a couple of years, we decided we needed to have a robust financial literacy program for these inner-city kids coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. this fits perfectly with the president's mandate where he talks about the accordance of

financial woodrow c -- literacy in disadvantaged communities. patterned a program after the one my father had for me as a child. he had been in airman who came up in a tough way. he felt it was important me to be exposed to the stock market as a child. many of you have heard the story about every birthday and christmas after 12, i got stock certificates instead of toys. it was not fun under the christmas tree getting an envelope. [laughter] but eventually i became fascinated and loved the stock market and investing. first academy, every grade class would get a $20,000 gift. the kids would watch for festivals manage it the first six years. then the kids would start to pick real stocks with real money in sixth grade and work with our analysts on how to analyze companies and do research. they would come to our offices

and learn about financial services careers and what it is like to be an analyst and work in a downtown office building. we thought that would be important for them to have that exposure to fully participate and understand what is going on in the financial parts of our economy. when the kids graduate in eighth grade, they would take $20,000 and give it to the next first-grade class. take a portion of the profits and create a philanthropic gift for the school or community to teach kids the importance of giving back because they had been given an opportunity. then the kids would have a chance at the end to keep a theion of the profits, money grown over the years they had been investing. every child would put their money into a 529 program. we would match with $1000 so the kids would learn the importance of matching. we all know is more retirement plans disappear, you have to be your own financial manager and

understand how to get involved in preparing for your future. we thought that was something very important. it was consistent with research report done with the that showed when you look at the find koch vision plans -- defined contribution plans, people of color would have half as much save for retirement as the majority community, even with the same educational opportunities and same job descriptions. they would literally have half as much saved for retirement because of cultural reasons, discrimination, lack of familiarity with financial markets.

>> i'm excited to be for us to have this opportunity to be back to work hard on this important issue and appreciate all of us and appreciate our exciting council for coming together today. thank you. >> thanks very much john. let me now introduce melissa who

is the executive director of the council and deputy assistant executive of treasury for consumer policy. >> thank you cyrus. really such appropriate and i think in many ways, inspirational remarks we've heard so far. now we want to actually turn it over to the councilmembers and hear from you. why are you here? what are you doing with respect to financial capability and what do you want to get out of this council? we can begin with ted. >> thanks melissa. my name is ted. i'm ceo of the national endowment for financial education. i also serve as the chairman of the national jump start coalition. as background, we're based in denver, colorado. we fund research around the financial capability. we provide programs.

we provided high school programs over 30 years and educated over 9 million students in that program. six years we launched a college program that is doing very well. it's now over 700 campuses being used across the country. we also work with nonprofit partners bringing financial capability training to their communities. one of the things we would like to contribute, first of all, we will be publishing several research papers between now and the summer. actually three that are focused on the financial capability of young people. that will be a strong support item for the council. also our work and colleges i think has great potential. we are involved with over 250 community colleges. that's yielding a lot of information how we can reach very important group that we think is underserved and represents cross sections of the

united states. also like minded organizations have developed a teacher training program that now rolling across the country. we have found american teachers are not trained to teach personal finance. we think we have a promising and effective program that we might be able to bring to play for this community. finally i think there's a major area of opportunity. if you look at our world, we really don't have quality standards and any sort of hurdles to achieve if we're going to be rolling programs into schools. i think the work of this council can do great things to help us set those sorts of guidelines and goals for us. as far as -- this is a very important group. the nonprofit community looks to this council for leadership in helping identify what are the best standards.

what's working out which. you can really be spokespeople for what we need to be doing because nonprofit community i think will follow this leadership. i'm very pleased to be a member of the council again. i look forward to working with you all. thank you. >> good morning everyone. it's an honor for me to be here. i work with the national congress of american indians. for those who don't know, it's a 70-year-old organization that works primarily with tribal governments across the united states and there are 567 567 tribal governments. we work primarily to protect the rights of tribes in the united states. however, we do variety of programming and one of the programs i work on is the partnership for tribal governments. really to help tribal governments to build a capacity to provide services to their

citizens and through that, we work with them on variety of different areas including financial education nci administers the native financial education coalition. which is coalition more than close to 15 years old, organizations, nonprofits, for profit, business, government, folks who are very interested in improving financial capability in native communities. i'm very excited about that. we also have youth commission. we also are working to set up youth cabinets across the country and those would be cabinets at tribal governments themselves. we also work closely with the center for native american youth. i wanted to just share too that 42% of our population is below the age of 25 in american indian

and native communities. it's definitely a focus to really work with that generation with that population in a variety of different ways. those of you may have seen the front page of the washington post this morning know that we have substantial social economic issues remaining in indian country. there was an article about high suicide rates in native communities. while there are economic successes happening in native communities, we need to do more to promote those kind of economic successes so that our youth and children can really feel like they have a future in this country. i wanted to -- i was on the previous council. i feel that this is a second opportunity to really work to elevate the successes in indian country as well as the need for

financial literacy. one of the things i wanted to just end with is, really recognizing the role that president obama and the administration has really played in developing a nation to nation relationship with the tribal governments in this country. really recognizing the role of tribal governments. as treble governments are building capacity, really looking at financial education and economic success is one of those key areas. i thank you very much for the honor to be here. >> good morning everybody. good morning mr. chairman. i want this thank you again for your leadership. i been around for a minute. i was honored to play a role in the last committee in the under served where we stood up

commitment for a hundred local financial literacy council. it's nice to see this council mission to go into the community. had a role in bringing fema into the last committee. i'm chairman of operation hope. two million clients, $2 billion in private capital directed in under served neighborhoods, 22,000 volunteers, important for this council, 4000 all urban inner city low wealth schools. like chairman rogers, john is personal to me. my mom and dad divorced when i was about five. i remember them arguing over money. number one cause of divorce in america is money. number one cause of domestic abuse is money. that put an effect in my brain

when i was nine, i remember my classroom teacher was teaching literacy. i remembering asking the banker what you do for a living and how do you get rich legally. he told me, he financed entrepreneurs. i said i want to be one. that kept me focused. it got my aspirations and engaged. i was homeless when i was 18. none of that got me off track because i was really focused on my dreams. i think the real challenge for our drop out crisis we have in america, which is a true crisis, is that we disconnected education from aspiration. kids are dropping out because they don't see a reason to stay

in school. so, we're going to do something about it. hopefully working with this council. we're going to open businesses about the academy. i won't go into details what that is. it basically emulates my life experience growing up. we're in inner city atlanta, young men were in a restroom one of my employees were there, the stall was closed. young man kicks the door in, high school student. bunked him. he really didn't say bunk. this is b.s. you know we should have won. his friend then said, yeah, the other group had matching uniforms. another guy said, yeah, the other group they prepared. they had really prepared remarks. the first guy said, that's all right we're going to win this

next time. in order to win next time, you got to come back to school. in short, i see that's like the high school football experience for every kid. that's what we have to do with this group is to find ways to really connect the focus on financial literacy and financial capability with the reality kids want a good job and a shot at opportunity. we got to reconnect education. i think it's that simple. you do that all the lights come on. we can open 65 locations in a hundred days. i will do this all across the country. we can do that and reshape america. >> good morning. i'm kerry with consortium

inemployment. i'm really humbled to be asked to sit on this council. it's a great honor especially when i look around the table and take a look at everybody's bios. i don't know how much i'll have to contribute to the council but i definitely look forward to engaging in discussions around policy in regards to financial education, which is a term that we prefer at pace as opposed to financial literacy. it implies that people are illiterate. perhaps financial empowerment might be a better term. i was born on a pineapple plantation in hawaii. where the common term today is

farm worker housing. we were poor but didn't know it because we thought everybody lived like that. i don't remember very much in having any toys. we had the ocean as our playground. we would chop down bamboo and use it for fishing boat or use it for spears to catch fish. in spite of the fact that hawaii is paradise and because it's paradise the rich people in the world as a result of cost of living has driven up. the local residents service these rich people that come into hawaii. where hawaii is paradise with the aloha spirit and lifestyle,

sharing and receiving love and welcoming visitors, there is often times trouble in paradise. then i fell off the pineapple truck and ended up in l.a. in l.a., there are one in a half million asian pacific island residents. to put it into perspective, it's almost double the entire population of the city of san francisco. and more than the entire population of the state of hawaii. we focused on asian pacific island communities and often times we get lummed into -- lumped into one category. there are tremendous differences between all of the asian

cultures and often times for shock value i tell people that we're black and whites 400 years in the united states learn to hate each other in the united states. with my ex-wife being chinese, i can attest that the hostility continues. i will try to speed that up. i often times put my foot in my mouth. i don't like to do that in public situations. asian pacific island in l.a. are spread out throughout the city and the county. we have variety of services.

we don't exclude others. as a result, we're only about a third of the clients that come walk into our doors. we see people from el salvador and peru and we have african-americans and africans from africa that come in that we provide services to. as a result, we have a capacity to speak over 40 different languages and dialects and one thing that stretches throughout is the need for financial education. we started to develop that program and we actually begin at

a very early age , that is preschool. for these 3.5-year-old it requires the engagement of the parents. we see that it's not only with the individual, but we have to work with the entire family if we're going to begin the process of financial education. as opposed to reinventing the wheel, we really look forward to seeing what other kinds of creative concepts can be used to enrich our program. we look forward to participating. thank you. >> thank you very much. i'm bob from boston. i want to thank the president for the appointment. it's an honor to be here with this group to work with secretary duncan and chairman rogers and vice chair and director cordray. i come at this differently than

others. i've been a practitioner for other 35 years. should say over 20 because it makes me feel old. i'm the vice chair of a group in boston called the colony group. we've got about $3.5 billion in assets just under $3.4 billion. we do financial planning, wealth management for individuals and their families and kids. we spend a lot of times with kids and talking to them. we're the only fiduciary i.r.a. i done a radio show in boston for ten years called the money expertsly. all we did was answer questions for individuals, individuals with little means and little knowledge but a thirst for learning and doing the right thing. along the way, i created and directed the boston university program for financial planners. it's a classroom and online program, i'm director for over

20 years. it's now the fourth largest financial planner program in the country and largest not for profit institution i was also chair in 2010. couple other issues that i think might be helpful by way of background, my wife and i recently created an endowed financial literacy program for all high school seniors. similar to what the cfpb described in their report with metrics to address and -- i would also that i'm the father of four millennials.

that probably make me the most qualified. i think this council is exceedingly important. i would say all young americans are saving at a low level. they have high rates of debt. they need to learn how to be financially self-sufficient and secure. they cannot rely on their parents or the government as they grow old. they need to learn how to invest not just save but invest. they've been investing pretty conservatively. what i like to see the council achieve, we've talked about financial education, is also practical. how go we get people in this country to actually act? it's not just to learn but to act. act in their own best interest

and in society's best interest. i like to see doable steps, measurable actions so we bring information and delivery systems together. so that the end of the day action action is taken. i think it's critical to just inform people to educate people. that's great but without the action, nothing really gets done at the end of the day. as a practitioner i understand how implementation can be critical to actually doing good. that's hopefully, what i can help contribute here. so thank you. >> hi there. my name is ted gonder, i'm a millennial with a background in start ups entrepreneurship technology and the viral spread of ideas. it's an honor and privilege to serve on this council alongside some of the thought leaders in the space that i admired from a

young age. i'm also the ceo and cofounder of money think. which is the only movement of young people working to restore the economic health of the u.s. through financial mentoring and mobile technology. on the financial mentoring side, we've trained just over a thousand college volunteers to mentor and service financial role models -- through our work in the classrooms observed that this particular age group, 16 to 18 have facing a shift from sporadic income to steady income. and a shift from financial dependence to financial independence. these students also face the densest concentration of life

changing financial decisions they might have to face. we view that as a window of opportunity to administer sort of preventive treatment as we said earlier . on the mobile technology side, we had the honor to work with the leading practitioners and technology development and rapid problem solving. as built some mobile technology solutions that are being pilot and rolled out. as the youngest person on this council, i feel a particular humility and seriousness with regard to my role. my parents were born into poverty and saved every penny and worked hard and took chances that i could have all the opportunities they never had. in my youth, i was a bit of a knucklehead and occasionally squandered those opportunities. it wasn't until i was 14 a tutor

saved money for a plane ticket to come to the u.s. to study and pursue the american dream, came into my life and turned my mirrors into windows. this young man was 19. i was 14. i related to him because he was young but i respected him because he was little older than he was. he taught me not just math and got my grades to go up, but he also taught me how to set goals. taught me how to think about my life and my decisions like investments. it was natural when the economy collapsed in 2008 and i was in college at the university of chicago, to start a small community initiative called money think. to create a tutoring program that will focus on money skills rather than academics between college students and local high school teenagers. between 2008 and today, that

program has grown as grassroots organization and now kind of a technology laboratory to be multiple cities across the country. i seen our students help their mothers keep the heat on in the winter by using budgeting skills. save money for little sisters and mothers to get eye glasses. earned recommendation letters from their college mentors to get to know them over a course of entire year. it's been an awesome opportunity. some of these students are now my closest friends. these students and me are some of the lucky ones, to be honest. there are 6.7 million young people in the u.s. out of work and out of a job. this represents two percent of today's population. young people historically

struggle to hear their voice heard. in my kind of humble post on this council, i represent and channel that voice. what i hope to achieve is really a win-win for the future. what i hope this council achieves is a win-win for the future. i hope that everyone will come away from this student center technologically enhanced approaches to learning. when you speak to a student on their level, they listen. when you put a program in their pocket, like with a smartphone, you unlock new pathways to productivity, prosperity and measurement. you reduce the costs of scaling. you get realtime behavorial data that can work from lesson to lesson. you build an evidence base to track the capital and craft the partnership. it's an honor to be on this honor. i look forward to learning from

all of you. >> good morning. my experience with having a millennial son, if you pull together at 14, you're at least well ahead. well done. i'm rick, i'm ceo which is the largest nongovernmental regulator working with the s.e.c. and securities industry with a mission of protecting investors and maintaining market integrity. for example, our grant making partnerships with the american library association and the unitedway worldwide. they leveraged opportunities to engage youth in financial

education both and in school inout of school. they piloted innovative strategies in the workplace and in community colleges to help young adults achieve financial goals. several are closely involved with the city financial policy coalition including san francisco. i want you to know i'm pleased that he has joined us in this new version of the advisory committee. we also reach youth through our team financial literacy project known as generation money. it reaches 5 million middle school and high school students annually addressing the personal financial skills that are important for teens to master. we strongly believe that data is critical to refining and

directing financial capability efforts. that's why we developed working closely with the treasury and two earlier versions of the advisory council. the national financial capability study, which has been mentioned a couple times today. each study has surveyed more than 25 million adults allowing us to fine tune our analysis. that includes millennials. the report that we summarize and made available today demonstrates the particularly lower income households and dependents but really cross the board, millennial face special challenges from the standpoint of financial capability. in the midst of their education or just on the other side, they face