question. have you, michelle, focused enough on differences among the centers so that you can make recommendations for health care policy at the state and federal lessons yout the have learned and how to deliver effective care to the population that is primarily the recipients of services and community health centers can be translated into standards of care for medicaid, quality standards in insurance in you are not if being reimbursed with a grant grant for a lot of the

subsidies needed to fill in the gaps between the medical care and other social services needed in the community, maybe there ought to be models and programs has a state level that function for the people who were not lucky enough to be in the safety net that the community health centers represent. >> i think it is a very interesting question. we are scratching the surface, especially when it comes to socialng the determinants of health. we know they are there. we are starting to collect more information on them. i think there is a lot of evidence out there in terms of health center programs and looking at specific under in terms of insurance

andlow income and education how those interventions have led to improved care. moreld love to see research about how we actually include more of those health and define those and test those innovations to work in one health center and move it to .nother health center how do we customize those interventions to work across maybeent communities and have a different language and different cultural needs. it is critical. not just the foundation and primary care, but an understanding and a plan on how the social need that impact costs.

saywould also hear people that there are factors that need to be considered an risk adjustment. age is not enough on social factors. i would like to see more work that includes just how at risk health center patients are. >> i think you're starting centerst of how health are something that the risk and learn from is a good example of that. there are five different states and figure out what it takes in the medical -- patient medical home. not only did they create a

package in a set of modules and implementations and guides for what it takes and coming up with the sequence that is being used andcademic health centers regiments of training programs and harvard and private practices. i think there are examples were community health centers have been pioneers and have led. we are starting to see some of that spread in private practices. to the nextve on speaker or question. >> thank you. heard a lot about the different issues and challenges that have been raised. you want to get closer to the microphone. >> sorry about that. critics have suggested

that with the problems that we have an increase in the coverage will dump a lot of patience in a ready crowded department. and you talk about those concerns? -- can you talk about those concerns. question is really about are we going to further bloat our emergency department that will only increase costs? >> i do not have an answer. , i thinkf go further , there accessnce to primary care in any community

that has a hospital. we know it is the most six fences level of care that you can get. it is where a lot of people go read what they do not have access to is oral health. and ond on oral health primary care. one of the biggest frustrations i have -- and we talk about access -- we can get patients in in one or two days, think it goes back to some at the thing that we talked about here today. i feel like the affordable care act might have missed someone. it is not built around the .atient in what they do for instance, i tell my people all the time if we do not get a patient in today, more than likely that patient is going to go to the er.

we live in a time when we have expectations and we want immediate service. if a lot of the population has private insurance and was given the option of waiting two days to see primate care provider, they would here we are dealing with a population that has happened on their primary care out of the emergency room. there is no opportunity to shift that back to the primary care side or the medical home where should be. that is the emphasis of the medical home. have -- ofteno times what we see is we're not seeing that on the patient. brick and every teen is a very difficult challenge. -- breaking that routine is a very difficult challenge. >> thank you.

i think with more experience, we understand when people have insurance cards they are more likely to use ers. them at a far more rate than the uninsured. it is clearly something that can help get people out of the emergency room. this is why the expansion is so important. it is a systemic effort to try to serve and meet those needs before things turns into in emergencies. >> just emphasize, you need to expand insurance at the same time. >> i would look backwards to look forwards. nelson provided for the expansion of community health also providedy for the expansion of community health centers. some of that funding was diverted to keep the annual

grants. the growth of health centers while a lot if not at the same pay as it would have been. i agree they feel just as you do. i imagine that is the case everywhere. i think we are all saying the same thing. expand community health centers and access. >> i'm not going to say anything else. i think enough has been said on that. >> i took so much out of turn. i believe this gentleman was next in line. citizen.st a regular no degrees or nothing. i have a desire to meet the needs of the uninsured. i have some concerns about affordable care act. the cost factor in how it will help when we dismantle some deep five percent of the health care that is working -- 75% of the

hooker that is working for small percentage of people. of which is working for a small percentage of people. something that is 80% affect is not perfect, but affective to put together something that we are not even sure without even trying pilot programs in various cities to see if it will work. a student taking 20% or whatever the percentage is of our government costs, to try to put something to work to help 20% of the nation. >> anyone want to take a crack at that? >> sure. preempt ourt to expert witnesses. i will take a crack at it.

it is not clear that we are destroying 80% here. in fact, what we have heard today in large part is evidence that there has been a lot of 20%, if youm the will. about theconcerned ways to reach out to plug some of the gaps in the system. n after your the -- eve the aca is fully implemented and even if it goes according to plan essences along shot, you still have millions of people who do not have health insurance and who will need someplace to get care. at least that this point come at there has been a lot of agreement between democrats and

republicans going back through the last generation or so that these community health centers are a good way to try to meet some of that need, not all of it. that is one of the reasons we thought it would be useful to shine a light on some of the the world andn in tried to grapple with some of the challenges in trying to implement this law in a way that doesn't destroy what is already working. >> anyone else have a response? ok. >> hi. i have a two-part question. one is research related and the other is more clinical?ope /operations. >> i hate to interrupt the question. keep your two parts. , folks, that this will

probably be our last question given the time we have left despite melinda's 27 green cards and your nice filling them out. what i would like you to do instead is to use these last few minutes while you are listening to the two-part question to fill out the blue evaluation forms that are in your kits. yes, sir. i'm sorry to interrupt. >> it is nice to see the differences between what you non-users.rs and the question i have on that have you figure is done any research to show what those differences look like when you look at some of the more -- diabetes, that hypertension, episodes of

newborns and deliveries -- to those things kinds of differences hold up when you look at sub groups of the bread and butter? the other part of the question, whatever those differences are, what are some of the unique things were what i might be distinguishing that they do versus all of the other providers in the system that they might be able to say, hey, we here to take down the toughest cases in the biggest challengers. >> sure. your mentioning we did a study that compares users and non-users. that has to control for a wide yes, we understand some of his diabetic or someone who has heart disease i be more expensive than someone who is in good health. we try to control that.

even after average adjusting for insurance status. to the extent possible, we try to make it very simple. here's the overall average impact. i can't say that we did on a disease basis. nonetheless, we're trying to control to the extent we could. why they do this, they do not necessarily fill in all of the questions of why those differences exist. there's a lot that health centers provide. part of this once again is many of the patients who are comparable to health centers him up patients frankly have difficulty getting access to primary care services. part of the reason may be the and not able to get a primary .are service

eventually the end up in the er for a diabetic. that is part of it. .e found the expenditure is it just once again that primary care with a needy set of patients made a difference in terms of improving health status and reducing medical expenses. from you.omments >> you have had heard the term that necessity is the mother of invention. the health center had to do as much as possible to help these patients manage chronic disease. that is not to say we try to [indiscernible] wen we were not buried

wanted to address as much of the need as we could, which included addressing the needs of health. you getre diabetic, can your medicine? that is a question that the doctor will ask. if you aren't eating and if you're not, how to get you access to healthy our regular food. that differentiates community health centers. for looking at the whole patient what is all the needs and things that are coming in their life. that is the mission of every community health center. --ould >> i would simply add in my opinion. it really takes all of those cases in terms of being tailored to the community specific needs and having diverse services regardless of whether or not they get paid. often don't get reimbursed. having an active quality

improvement program and plan. and being required to serve all in the community in need and to target those stations specifically. is that itt does it makes health centers a good lookingr anyone who is for a very broad and high quality program of care. like a pretty good way to bring this discussion to a close. thank you, michelle, and to the best of the panelists. let me take this opportunity to say thank you to our colleagues at the commonwealth fund for participation and cosponsors for this briefing. during forbear it with us even though we couldn't get to the questions that are on the green cards.

please join me in saint thank you to our panel for our very -- you to our panel far very enlightened discussion. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> next, the ncaa cp marks the anniversary of the brown versus board of education decision. after that, remarks from former secretary of state hillary clinton. then another chance to see discussion on the state of community health centers. on "newsmakers" mel watt.

he will talk about his plans for the agency that oversees fannie mae and freddie mac. "newsmakers" on sunday at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. eastern on c-span. book is as newest collection of inner blues within nations -- interviews with the nation's best storytellers. a french engineer and , symbolic the great work of sculpture is a gateway to the country of new york, the statue of liberty. a gift from france by a sculptor. and towns iners universities and colleges all over the university with french names. we do not pronounce it the way they do.

the influence of friends on this country is far greater than most americans appreciate. >> an interview with david mccullough. at eight."'s "sundays now available at your favorite bookseller. on may 17, 1954, the supreme court unanimously struck down racial segregation in public schools in its brown versus board of education decision. attorney general eric holder and massachusetts governor patrick discussed how the decision changed their lives and an event p.sted by the ncaa this is an hour and 15 minutes. >> i and the seven director defenseof the ncaap fund. th director our six

counsel is a brilliant lawyer from d.c. well-known to many of you. he passed away while he was director counsel. you want to be sure all of the director councils are represented here today. i am thrilled and happy that someone who was a very early hero of mine is here today and has joined us. that is john dayton's wife. a human rights activist in her own right. [applause] i also want to acknowledge the presence of the dean and the faculty of howard law school. many of you know it was the incubator of much of the thinking that went into the early civil rights litigation work. i want to thank them for joining

us today as well. it would be impossible to call the names of the many civil rights leaders who are here today. workof you know to do this , it truly does take a village of amazing activists, lawyers, ocates, those have dedicated their lives to making america better for everyone. any of you -- henderson from civil rights -- [applause] it is my pleasure and honor to introduce to you attorney general eric holder hwho is the

82nd attorney general. we are so thrilled the chose to join us on this day. his bio is in the program so i will not belabor reading it. a few important notes that you should know about him. the first is that attorney general holder is closely connected to our civil rights history. is dr. sharon malone who is the sister of vivian malone, the student who helped desegregate the university of alabama. it is also true that attorney general holder very early in his career served as an intern at the legal defense fund. it is also true that as many of you have seen in the past few this is attorney general of tremendous courage. he's doing us to step four and address the issues of

incarceration in a deep problem in the criminal justice system, it is really unprecedented. i do not think we have had or will have another attorney general who will acknowledge the role that prosecutors can lay. in dealing with issues of overcharging that leads to over incarceration, his commitment to dealing with the issue of harsh penalty to non-drug offenders sets him apart among the generals who have had in this country. his recent effort around clemency, usually this to use his office to educate america about the power that prosecutors's have in the ways in which should the rapid and increased over incarceration in this country hurts all of us and imperils the vitality of our

society, shows him to be a courageous leader in the tradition that we've revered in honor of the legal defense fund. we were thrilled that he could take time out of his very busy schedule to join us to make a few remarks. i present to you, the 82nd general attorney of the united states, and mr. eric holder. [applause] >> thank you. how are you? all right. thank you for that warm welcome. for those kind words.

itnk you for a warm welcome. is a pleasure for me to be here today. it is a privilege to join the dedicated public servants like governor patrick, governor wilder, and trailblazers. gabe who is near and dear to me i think on a personal basis i know it's difficult for you but i miss our guy. on a daily basis. john peyton, a great great man. [applause] it's great to be here in celebrating the work of the naacp legal defend fund in commemorating the victory that this organization helped to secure 60 years ago tomorrow. and in recommiting ourselves to the critical work that still

lies before us. the fight is not over. now, i would like to thank our host the national press club and every member and supporter of ldf for making this important observance possible. it's a tremendous honor to take part in this celebration and to stand with lawyers who participated in the brown case, the families of the courageous plaintiffs who made this landmark decision possible, and with mrs. sissy marshall the wife of the late thurgood marshall, one of our great civil rights pioneers who helped found this organization nearly three quarters of a century ago. since 1940 ldf has perform critical work to rally americans to the unifying cause of justice. standing on the front lines of our fight to guarantee security advance opportunity and to ensure equal treatment under law. your enduring legacy is written not only in the words of legal opinions, but in the remarkable

once unimaginable progress that so many of us have witnessed even within our own lifetimes. the fact that i serve in an administration led by another african american bears witness to that progress. [applause] your actions alongside those of countless citizens whose names may be unknown to us now but whose contributions and sacrifices endure have forever altered the course of our nation's great history. decades ago brave individuals from across the country sustained by the strength of their convictions, fueled by their desire for change, and represented by lawyers from the imminent organizations including visionary attorneys like thurgoord marshall, robert carter and jack

greenberg embarked on a dangerous long and grueling march that culminated on may 17, >> it was a march that led through difficult and uncertain terrain, from the injustice of plessy versus ferguson, the dark days of jim crow and slavery by another name, by the discrimination and violence and the strange fruit that ultimately gave rise to a unified civil rights movement and to the founding and growth of lgf. it was a march that tested the soul of this country and -- all are created equal could long endure. it was a march that was immeasurably strengthened by the transformative power of a single court decision, where nine jurists came together led by one

of my idols, chief justice earl war and the eyes of the world upon them, to unanimously declare that separate was inherently unequal. i was just three years old in 1954 when brown was decided, please don't do the math. [laughter] he's that old? to some of the pioneers in this room, my generation, my generation was the first grew up but world in which separate equal was no longer the law of the land. even a child growing up in new york city, as he learned about the decision, its impact was truly groundbreaking, bringing the law in line with the fundamental truth of the equality of our humanity. marked a major

victory, anyone old enough to remember the turbulent of the 1960's, i also knew that this country would not automatically translate towards a brown into substantive change. schools,ration of our a process that was sometimes even bloody, did not buy itself put an end to the beliefs and the attitude that had given rise to the underlying inequity in the first place. the outlawing of institutional segregation did not by itself soften the enmity and alleviate the vicious bias that had been erected against african-american people in communities for generations. the rejection in its clearest form by our highest court of legal discrimination could not by itself wash away the hostility that would for years feed new and perversely innovative attempts to keep separate but equal in place. these markers are progress could

not forestall the massive resistance policies that followed in which public schools were closed and private academies were open for white children only. the little rock nine, brave young students who needed the protection of united states army to enroll in an all-white high school. they could not prevent alabama governor george wallace from making his infamous stand in the schoolhouse door in 1963, nine years after brown, went to courageous african-american of whom would much later become a sister-in-law, attempted to register for classes at the university of alabama. but thanks to brown and the , theypments that followed were protected not only by the

power of their convictions, not only by the strength of the national guard and the authority of united states department of justice, but by the force of binding law. windows nine students entered little rock central high school, they were supported by all nine members of a resolute supreme court. when millions of civil rights advocates and supporters began to rally, to march, to stand up, and even to sit in in order to eradicate the discrimination that they continued to face in schools and other public accommodations, they stood not only on the side of equality, and on the side of that which was obviously right, but on the justice.everal this was the seachange that brown versus board of education signaled. this was the progress it made possible. it did not instantaneously or painlessly tear down the walls that divide it so much of the nation, but it did unlock the to guided it continues

lgf's work and the justice department's civil rights enforcement as you were to end the divisions and the disparities that persist even today in the 21st century. as supreme court justice sonia sotomayor said recently in what i said was a , we mustghtful dissent not wish away rather than confront the racial inequalities .hat exist in our society going to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race. act to add, to act, to still twoexistence of persistent inequalities. i want to assure you, as we mark this historic anniversary, that my colleagues and i remain as committed to this cause as ever before. while the number of school districts that remain under orders -- under court

has decreased significantly, the department of justice continues to actively enforce and monitor cases 200 desegregation where school districts have not yet fulfilled their legal obligation to eliminate branch.ion root and we work to ensure that all students have the building blocks of educational success, from access to advanced placement classes, two facilities without cramping walls and old technology, to safe and positive learning environments. partnering with the department of education to reform school policies that fuel the school to prison pipeline and that have resulted in students of color facing expulsion at a rate that is three times higher than that of their white peers. we are moving in a variety of ways to dismantle racial barriers and to promote

inclusion from america's classrooms to her boardrooms to a voting booths and far beyond. so long as i have the privilege of serving as attorney general of the united states, this justice department will never never stop working to expand the promise of a nation where everyone has the same opportunity to grow, to contribute, and ultimately to succeed. [applause] by calling for new voting protections and by challenging unjust restrictions that discriminate against vulnerable populations or communities of color, and that's the real vote fraud. [applause] that is the real vote fraud. by challenging these measures we'll keep striving to ensure the

free exercise of every citizen's most fundamental rights by leading implementation of another landmark supreme court ruling in united states versus windsor we'll ensure that lawfuly married same sex couples can receive the federal benefits and protection that is they deserve. [applause] and by fighting for comprehensive immigration reform that includes an earned path to citizenship so that men and women who are americans in everything but name can step out of the shadows and take their place in society. we'll make certain that children who have always called america home can build a bright future in and can enrich the country that they love and do so without

challenges old and new remain before us. there are too many who are weded to the past and who irrationally fear the new america that is emerging. they miscontrue our past. america has been at its best when we have acted to embrace and make positive the changes we have been forced to confront. and so it must be again. government will never be able to surmount the obstacles that we face on its own but especially on days like today i'm reminded of the extraordinary courage that since 1940 has led seemingly ordinary citizens and lrn df leaders to stand together to transform individual voices into the strength of collective action and to bring about historic changes like the ones

we gather to celebrate changes , that pull this nation closer to its founding promise, changes that make real the blessings of our constitution, and changes that codify self-evident truths into settled law. as i look around this room and with great faith in the american people, i cannot help but feel optimistic about our ability to build on the progress that we celebrate this week. and i have no doubt that with your continued leadership, with your boundless passion, and with your unyielding courage, we can chont to legacy that has continue the legacy that has been entrusted to us. we can extend the promise that brown and those who made it possible worked so hard to secure. and we can build that more just society, that more just society that everyone in this nation deserves. thank you very much. [applause]

>> getting a little business done up here thank you, mr. attorney general. [applause] all right. we're going to keep going with our program. i'm going to welcome sherilynn back to the stage. i thought i had a minute to collect myself after that extraordinary speech. so grateful to the attorney general for being with us. i am not elaine jones.

i want to be elaine, dream about being elaine but i am not elaine jones. but elaine jones has a little cold and i am going to introduce and present the award to mrs. cecilia marshall. this is something that means great deal to the lawyers and board of the naacp legal defense fund. she is known throughout the country and has been mrs. director counsel, she has been mrs. solicitor general, she has been mrs. judge, she has been mrs. justice. but today we want to honor cecilia m. marshall for her own work and dedication to civil rights. [applause]

married to the late thurgood marshall for 38 years, she saw a lot of the world through the unparalleled prism through her husband. mrs. marshall was born in maui, hawaii. her parents were among the first immigrants to hawaii from the philippine islands in 1910. she came to new york to live with her maternal aunt and uncle and started to take classes in stenography at columbia university. during that same year she got a position as secretary to the national director of the naacp branches in new york where she said she admitted receiving her first baptism to the racial challenges of america. and she's been motivated ever since to make a difference in the lives of others. yesterday at our board meeting when we were taking notes on the

computer, mrs. marshall was reminding us of when she attended board immediatings as a young secretary and took notes in shorthand for the legal defense fund. she serves on many boards here in washington, d.c. and has been a tireless advocate on behalf of young people particularly through the thurgood marshall summer law internship program. but we know her best for her work on the board where she has served since 1994 getting on the amtrak train and coming to new york for those board meetings, serving and convening dinners for us at her beloved georgetown club with our supporters and donors, and being a welcoming arm for every director counsel that the legal defense fund council has had including me. ive been privileged by the joy of her friendship, her laughter, her counsel and her tremendous support. ladies and gentlemen, we present the spirit of justice award to mrs. cecilia m. marshall. [applause]

>> thank you, director. but i believe you can only prove half of what you said about me. not even half. 60 years ago, on may 17, after the supreme court handed down its landmark decision on brown versus board, i was at the offices of our legal fund where a celebration was taking place. but after about an hour or so, thurgood announced to his staff, i don't know about you

fools, but i am going back to work because our work has just begun. [applause] i'm sorry to say no truer words were said. because 60 years later, here we are after brown, we're still fighting bigotry in one form or another. so in that regard, i would like to share this award with all the former director counsels who took up the reins and continued our legal assault against all forms of bigotry. directors such as jack greenberg

who worked very closely with thurgood for so many years, elaine jones, and ted shaw who are all here today along with our present director counsel. but i would also like to share this award with mr. william coleman. another close friend of thur good's. just appreciated his advice and counsel throughout the years. finally, if thurgood were here today, i think he would encourage us to keep up the good fight using the same words that he spoke on july 4th, 1992, when he accepted the liberty medal. he said, and i quote, the battle for racial and economic justice is not yet won.

indeed, it has barely begun. the legal system can force open doors and sometimes even knock down walls. but it cannot build bridges. that job belongs to you and me. the country can't do it. afro and white, rich and poor, educated and illiterate, our faith are bound together. we can run from each other, but we cannot escape each other. we will only attain freedom if we learn to appreciate what is different and muster the courage to discover what is fundamentally the same america's diversity offers so much

richness and opportunity. take a chance, won't you? knock down the fences that divide us. tear apart the walls that imprison you. reach out for freedom. freedom lies just on the other side. we shall have liberty for all. thank you. [applause]

>> join me in another round of applause. [applause] >> so now i have the honor of introducing someone who is one of my sheroes and you heard the attorney general refer to her as a trailblazer in her own rights. she is many things.

an award winning journalist. you may know her from her work at npr. she worked as npr's chief correspondent in africa. hunter gault joined npr after 20 years with pbs. she began her journalism career as a reporter for the new yorker and later worked as a local news anchor for wrctv in washington. and as the harlem bureau chief for the "new york times." she has numerous honors including two emmy awards and two peabody awards, one for her work on apartheid people, about south africa during the life of apartheid and the other for general coverage in africa in 1998. she is also a sought-after public speaker. she holds more than three honorary degrees. she is on the board to protect

journalists and other committees. she is vice president of the carter foundation established by camille cosby in honor of her mother. and she is going to lead us in a conversation for the next portion of our program. charlene hunter galt. [applause] >> we are excited about this conversation and so excited to get it started but we skipped over one thing and we can't skip it because it's too important. and that is our acknowledgment and special recognition of jack greenberg. so i'm going to ask before we start the conversation for former director counsel ted shaw to come and give our special recognition to jack greenberg.

>> good afternoon. first let me congratulate sissy marshall, who is an inspiration, mentor, friend, and i wish all of you could know sissy marshall the way some of us have been fortunate to get to know her. she has one of the most wicked senses of humor you will ever hear. but she's a great, great civil rights warrior in her own name. jack greenberg. there are presently by my count

two signatories to the brown v3. judge weinstein isn't with us today. bill coleman of course is. one of my heroes. but out of the lawyers who argued brown, there is one survivor. and that is jack greenberg. jack greenberg came to the legal defense fund as you see from the program in 1948. and he came to the legal defense fund after serving in world war ii. in the marines. in fact, i always remember that when jack was told at some point that he had handled what was supposed to be a tough situation with grace and handled it well, jack said in a very offhanded way, i've been

in tougher situations than this. he was at iwo jima. served his country even before he came to the legal defense fund to serve it in another profound way. jack, as you know, joined the staff in 48 and from 48 to 61 was assistant counsel before becoming director counsel from 61 to 84. the longest tenure of any director counsel. and with all due respect, to sherilynn, who is only beginning, i wish her a long tenure. i suspect that there will not be another who serves in that position over so many years. and he served so well. jack happened to be directedor -- director counsel during the

days of the civil rights movement. it was jack who was on the phone with other ldf lawyers, with the demonstrators, with martin luther king, jr. and others, who were at the edmund pettiss bridge. it was jack who told martin luther king, jr., that if you march, and break this injunction, you will be breaking the law, as any good lawyer should have told him. and martin luther king, jr., said to jack. it's not your job to tell me what to do. it's your job to get me out of jail when i do it. [laughter] [applause] if you look at the photographs from that era, of the civil rights leadership, many of those

photographs, you will see martin luther king, jr., whitney young, roy wilkins, you will see all of the great ones. a. phillip randolph and dorothy and you will see jack greenberg, and jack greenberg was noticeable. i had the privilege along with another recovering lawyer i think i could describe him as, he has been busy with other things, who is here today, governor patrick, of being i think one of the last two -- i think we were the last two hired at the legal defense fund.

i can't say and won't say it's not my place to say how good my hire was. i will say that he made a great hire in governor patrick. and i remember when i was hired, elaine, you know how jack was. i came to ldf from -- i was trying to get out of the justice department, the administrations had changed, i was now in the reagan administration. so i came up to new york at jack's behest for an interview. and some of the lawyers were unhappy because jack made this decision by himself. you know, he decided who was going to be hired. and some of the lawyers were fussing about not having a role in that. and jack said, another lesson that i learned that i used later, not as well as jack perhaps. jack said in a very offhanded way again, i think democracy is grateful countries.

[laughter] there's so much more i could say about jack but we need to hear the governor. i will point out that he was dean of columbia college after he left ldf. he and the former dean of harvard university law school wrote a book called dean cuisine. he is a cook, a chef. and if you know anything about jack, you know that his reach went well beyond the united states, where he was involved with and was the inspiration for the creation of other legal defense funds on behalf of other constituencies of color. indeed, i would say women, too. and finally, if you know jack,

you would know that he was involved in being an inspiration for and helped to set up the legal resources center in south africa, the european roma rights center in budapest, has worked on behalf of roma rights in recent years. this is one of the great human rights lawyers of any time. and we cannot honor him enough. you may have to lean in a little bit to hear jack now because his voice is a little softer. but you are in the presence of greatness. and so we honor jack greenberg today. he has gotten every honor ldf can give but we have one more for you, jack. jack greenberg. [applause]

>> you can keep standing if you want. you know, there are a lot of things that i don't do that this younger generation does. but i do tweet. and i've been tweeting for the last 24 hours how excited -- come on, guys. how excited i am to be here this morning. with these two great gentlemen who are getting up on the stage better than i could. but i'm here this morning as both moderator -- i could say

age before beauty but that wouldn't be appropriate. i'm here this morning as both a moderator and a child of brown , which i couldn't escape if i wanted to but i don't want to. for example, when i sat in front of nelson mandela for the first time, just about four or five days after he got out of prison, i wanted to figure out some way i could connect with him in a way that none of the other journalists had. because there were hundreds of them, as you remember. so i introduced myself as a child of brown. and that was that. we were like this from then on. so that's one of the things that has made my wy all these -- my way all these years. but i want to begin by saying thank you, legal defense fund. and mrs. marshall and your

husband, people like constance baker motley, donald hollow well, vernon jordan, horace ward, so many lawyers who made it possible for me to have those three dozen honorary degrees as well as to become really close to nelson mandela and to go on a journey to the horizon. because had it not been for brown, i think i still would have become the black brenda star. and she could eat her heart out right now based on my journey to the horizon. but it enabled me to go where i wanted to go. and that was to the university of georgia. but i want to hasten to say that 60 years ago, when the attorney general was 3 years old, i was a little bit older. i was in the 7th grade. 1954 decision handed down not a word was spoken in my classroom.

and i was writing a book not -- several years ago, sort of an autobiography, and i thought, i can't remember ever hearing a teacher talk about brown. and so i called one of my seventh grade teachers who was still around and i said, what? she said, my dear, i'm sorry to tell you, we did not say a word about the brown decision. because the white powers that be had forebade them to speak about it on pain of losing their jobs not just temporarily, but forever. that was in 1954. so i was in the 7th grade. thank goodness there were murmurings in the black community about this. but there were murmurings because the punishment still to back people in the south was great. so there was not a lot of loud talking about this. but in the end, while we had been brought up in a separate

but equal place, where we did not have first-class citizenship, our parents gave us a first-class sense of ourselves. and so many years after that when the black people decided it was time to speak up, and do something, they came to hamilton holmes and myself, and the rest is history. we desegregated the university of georgia in 1961 and i'm happy to say that today, as you've heard, there's been so much progress since the beginning of brown. the use of the brown decision, the implementation of the brown decision, that when i return as i often do to the university of georgia, there are so many black students saying go dogs. now, not to the dogs here on but

to the wonderful governors, governor doug wilder you will all read his details in the program, so i won't go into them now because we have just a limited amount of time i keep being told. and of course governor duval patrick. we're so proud to have both of you with us this morning, all of us are. and i would like to start with you, governor wilder, you were in your early 20s i believe when the brown decision was handed down. nobody do math out there now. >> do it. >> you're proud of it. so am i. do you remember hearing about it that day? >> i do remember. and brown changed my life entirely. but for brown, i would not be here. and it has very little to do with education. it has very little to do with being able to go to school. all of the schools i went to were segregated until howard.

and virginia union was african american. and so what brown did for me, i had just come back from fighting in korea, front-line duty. and i never could understand how i was sent to korea to fight -- to fight for the freedoms and the rights of other people and i didn't have them. >> but the army was segregated. >> no, the army was not. the army was not segregated at that time. but the country was. and harry truman had the wisdom to with executive order not arguing with congress or anything else, he said this is not right, this is wrong. and he did that. so i'm fighting for these people's rights and i have none. and i come back and i had given up.

i had been reading about the mau mau in kenya and others and what they were doing. they might have a point. i was so distraught. my major was chemistry. i was always at odds with wanting to do the social bit. so i had my degree in chemistry. but when brown came out i said wait a minute. you mean nine white men have said that they have been wrong? you mean that this system could work? let me give it another thought. and so as a result of that, i immediately said i'm going to get out of this. i was working in toxicology in the state medical examiner's office. let me get out of here. i'm going to law. and so it meant so much to me to see what brown would do, because brown was more than just a decision. it was a changing of situation, suasion. a changing of

direction. it was causing people to think and to talk about sissy was talking about earlier. putting race out there to be discussed. and that's what it did for me. >> did it happen within your community as well? or were people still frightened as they were in georgia as in my experience? >> no. what it did, it made people start to talk about it in the barber shops. it made people start putting up voter registration. are you registered? if you're not, don't talk. it made people start believing that there was an opportunity. and so you saw that for the next ten years, i would say, from 54 to 64 there was a change in america. and that did so much for me. it did so much for the country. and that's why i was so impressed with what sissy said earlier. it's not over yet. and what thurgood speech she quoted from, i remember it well, it was at an aba convention.

and he could have gone and said -- and he was roundly criticized for saying that. and yet the community -- brown gave the community hope. brown was almost like a joe lewis fight. [laughter] >> but now on that note, let me go to -- let me go to governor patrick. you chided me for describing you as the boyish looking governor in an article i wrote about the memorial service of another president. -- of another lgf board member. board member. he is boyish look bug he didn't like that too much. but on that same tip, i want to say that while the governor here was in his early 20's you weren't even born. so i want to know when you became aware of brown. because you had a number of years before you -- well, i guess when you started school may whatever. but when did you become aware of

brown and what impact did it have on your consciousness? >> can i first say that i was born two years after brown. so can we just settle this? i also have to say whenever i'm with doug wilder, this is what a governor looks and sounds like. [applause] when mrs. marshall was quoting justice marshall's comments about what -- really in the celebration, in the hour or so after the decision was handed down, so resonates with me. because i think brown started as much as it resolved. and one of the things that goes with a job like this, is that people give you the most extravagant introductions when you're

out in public. my favorite was from this gentleman at an event at the -- you won't remember this. but at an event at the democratic convention two cycles ago. he got up and he talked about how everybody makes a fuss about governor wilder being the first black governor elected in america. and he said being first doesn't mean a thing unless there's a second. [applause] i think that's what brown was about. and while brown wasn't mentioned by name by my third grade educated grandparents who -- with whom i grew up in chicago, it was a presence. it raised everybody's expectations of themselves. not just of the country but of themselves. and in a very fundamental way what i got from my grandparents on account of brown was this

basic almost ordinary set of middle class expectations, that you were expected to achieve, you were expected to be resilient, you were expected to make them proud, because they had a stake in you. and i think i was not unusual. for the other kids on welfare on the south side of chicago in the 50's and 60's. >> we heard earlier about some of the amazing things that brown has achieved. but governor wilder -- and you alluded to it but let's be a little bit specific. when you look around this nation, even around this room, tell me some of the things that you are proudest of that brown led to. >> you know, in the words of the negro national anthem, born in

the days when hope unborn was dead. was dead. can you imagine the people that had no hope, no aspirations? and no one even preaching it. other than in their own families, in their own -- our teachers. even though we were -- we had segregated schools, we had the best possible teachers. i mean, they were dedicated, they didn't watch the clock. they disciplined you. you rounded your d's, you crossed your t's and dotted your i's and you kept your mouth shut. and what brown did in terms of that aspiration, it made people believe, as the governor has so beautifully pointed out, that it's no more than the normal expectation of anyone growing up,

anyone being a part of the fabric. i remember one of my teachers in virginia union -- sam proctor. you know him well. and he would say being a part of the decision making process, being a part of making certain that you had a say so in society -- and that's what brown did. brown made it possible for you to believe that anything is possible. and for me, like i said, i never did believe it could happen. i never did believe we would have a society that would be willing to admit they had been wronged. >> or that you could be governor. >> oh, yes. oh, listen. that's an eggshell. but as a valid point. it didn't mean as much to me as it meant to break that membrane.

to get through. make it -- you know, our life had been like a semi-permable permeable membrane. you can go through but you can't go back. and what i would have hoped to see and why i'm so happy and so proud of him. because he made it known that it wasn't just an episodic thing. it wasn't just something, these people in virginia went crazy. but he and i now are looking for others to step up to be. and we see that in the white house now. so, yes, i'm convinced that when people -- as a matter of fact, this is just happened as i got older. this was even after i was elected. read about me being elect. . a boy came up to his father and i was in church and the father was a minister. and he looked up at the father and he said isn't that doug wilder is, he said that's governor wilder. and he came back and said isn't

that doug wilder? i told you that's mr. wilder. he said but hasn't he been dead? what he meant was anybody that he had ever read about that had been an achiever in america must have been historic and dead. and that's why i was so happy to see this guy here. [applause] >> governor patrick, let me apologize for saying you weren't born in 54. i majored in journalism, not math. >> i wasn't born in 54. >> right. ok. ok. i got it right then. right? but i want to know, as you look around the landscape today, in addition to in this room, what do you see that brown enabled, that brown made possible in massachusetts, in chicago, anywhere? where do you see it? what do you see?

>> my campaign strategist, a guy named doug ruben, younger guy, jewish, smart as they come, and he tells a story about sitting with his three young daughters about a year ago watching television. and he watches the news like a political junky, all the time. and he said that his -- and i think it was -- it might have been the day i announced the appointment of mow cowen as our moe cowen as our interim united states senator, an african american man and a wonderful colleague and a terrific senator. and he said he realized that he was living in a city where the mayor is black, in a state where the governor is black, and the

junior senator then appointed was black and the president of the united states was black. and that is the frame of reference for his girls. for his girls. part of i think what brown was about was that it enabled americans, black white and everybody else, to imagine a different kind of community. it's not all about what we

achieved that day or in the years since. but that we imagined it. people used to say when i was at ldf, it might have been elaine, i can't remember. >> she said a lot. >> and all of it profound. that we -- we sent the kids in to integrate the schools because the adults wouldn't integrate the neighborhood. now a whole lot of people are leading integrated lives and that's important. >> governor wilder, we have more black college graduates than ever. isn't that one of the legacies of brown? >> yes. when you consider that it was against the law to even educate people of color, when you consider that people were punished to the extent that that availability has been put there, that is not enough as has been pointed out you still have got to look to make certain that they get to a point where they can get into college, where they can graduate from college. but they've got to graduate from high school. they've got to be able to get a job. they've got to be able to have better health care. they've got to have those kinds of things. so brown addressed the totality of it. and if you looked at -- if you listen at the last phrases that recorded this morning by sissy marshall, when she was speaking about how you break down, how you knock down the wall, how you

break the door, as thurgood was charging, look, this is our collective job. i want to address some of the things people say the challenges brown. i wrote a story recently about some of the challenges before university, and the fact that so many black colleges. we never thought that would would have such an effect on black schools. -- our village that supported us is so disbursed.

it? do you do about df? what is the role of l very briefly, because i want to say something at the very end. actually, i don't do that very well. i don't think brown is responsible for everything that has gone wrong. in the same sense think brown was supposed to have solved everything that was wrong. have been talking about is piercing the membrane, or having a different way of imagining our community and our country. the rest of it is up to us. >> let's talk specifically about ldf.

lgf was trying the cases , they would go into a community , the lawyers would form the protective squad that was necessary for the communities, the churches, the sororities and fraternities, all of them. our job is to reengage the , the more effort communitarian efforts. they would be blamed for not having done more. we should try to have a more ive effort. we have got to be a part of the process ourselves. >> that is where i want to and. i spoke to some of the young people who are at central high

school today. they were in little rock. they were given an assignment to go back and talk to people who were there when they were segregated in that vicious way in central high school. one of the young black girls whoed to her great aunt, was one of the little rock nine. she said, i never knew what a big deal it was until i talked to her. then she went around talking to her fellow students today. it was like when i spoke at the university of georgia and the kids told me they were graduate hiding -- they were graduating on may 17. , i said id at me like can see you don't know the significance.

we are not teaching our children .ur history history,n't learn your you're going to be in a position where it is going to be repeated. we want our kids to keep on keeping on, but we want to give them the tools that we learned ldf in the day, and that continues to utilize. thank you very much, governors. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you. >> we have come almost to the end of our program. i want to thank both governor patrick and governor wilder -- [applause] for those extraordinaire conversation. let me be clear that these are the only two black elected governors, certainly since reconstruction, in the history of this country. i also want to say that both of them also are two black governors who are connected so these are men. who are deeply connected to l deeply indebted to

them and to charlene hunter gault. the first thing i want to do is read to the words of cheryl brown henderson that she sent to me late last night. she is the younger sister of linda brown and the daughter of all of her brown, the plaintiff from kansas in the brown case. she asked if i would read this on her behalf. and the council on behalf of my family and the plaintiffs, we regret not being able to join you at this historic event. -- for mying that you family and all of those involved in the five cases that comprise the decision, it was a source of ride to stand with the attorneys

who used the rule of law to topple the goliath of oppression . their actions brought our nation to a crossroads of values versus political goals. the benefits of the strategy are reflected in contemporary society, and how the 14th amendment is applied. today we know that the struggles with the meaning of the 14th amendment are fueled by those who are looking to legitimize a concept of a 21st-century ruling class. in may of 2014 we take comfort in knowing that the defense fund is there to speak truth to power. at 12:52 p.m., for brief moment we believe that the founding documents and creed of this nation would have meaning for all of us as

citizens of color. iq for remembering the sacrifice and courage of our families who were ordinary people engaged in extraordinary work on behalf of the communities, states, and this nation. please join me in giving and applause to the families of the browns. [applause] we ended the conversation talking about what the lgf ldf should- what the do. to give upn refusing on ensuring that every american has the right to vote and participate in the political process. we continue to work in the area of education, focusing on school discipline, on disparities in education.

ensuring that students have access to quality education. we work in economic justice and employment discrimination. we work in the area of housing discrimination. yes, i see you donald sterling. and of incontinue to do other work the severity of the racial justice system. my lawyer is are the brightest, fiercest -- with all due respect to all of the lawyers in this room. they are. [applause] they are not exorbitantly paid. they entered this work for the same reason that i wanted to be a civil rights lawyer. there were people before me who made me believe that this country could be better in all year, i have been saying that civil rights work is the work of democracy maintenance.

do to makeork you sure that it is vital. sometimes it needs tweaking. sometimes you need to do refurbishing. it is work that anyone who is a citizen should see themselves involved in. it is not just for people or civil rights lawyers. it is the work for maintaining and protecting our democracy. lawyers. it is the work for maintaining and protecting our democracy. you must be a partner with us in your work. your presence shows you recognize the significance of what we do and have been doing and protecting our democracy. to your own lives, and we're asking you as lawyers to reach out or take our calls when we reach out and find ways to partner with us. there are multiple ways to do it. we are always looking for pro bono counsel. we are always looking for financial support. we do not take government money. we raise money to keep our legal program going. i spend lots of time reading the old letters of thurgood marshall, and he ruined his health just riding around the country trying to raise money to keep this legal program going. i would like to stay healthy. i would like you to support us

at any level that you can. you can go to our website. i want you to go there because we have assembled a plethora of resources about brown. as you heard, if we are going to teach our children, we have to learn ourselves. how much you really know about brown? you know the name, you maybe know what it stood for, you maybe read the case in law school, but how much to you know about this case, the most important constitutional moment of the 20th century? we want to ask you to make sure you know about the work, and that means telling people in your network. we are all about social media. we ask you to go to brownat60. i am on twitter. i ask you to join me.

we ask you to be partners with us in our network. we want people to still know there are people who are standing on the front lines involved in civil rights work who believe this is critically important work we are doing, not just for a season, but for our entire lives. more importantly, if there is a message you're going to take with you, that civil rights work is for everyone. the work that brown vs. board of education -- ldf lawyers did, they did on behalf of all-america. we ask you to stay in relationship with us, reach out, be partners with us, mitigate, donate, spread the word, and shore up this extraordinary american institution that has changed our lives. i would also ask that you keep in mind that brown is a commemoration day, but as we heard from mrs. marshall about the celebration and then the work, today is a celebration and

commemoration, and we must recognize what we have an obligation to honor those people who have done it. the work now begins. do not forget about us until next year when we have the 61st anniversary of brown. please remember us and stay in touch with us. i want to take a point of privilege by doing one thing in recognizing one person who is an extraordinary woman. she is the mother of one of my board members, and she is the mother of a longtime former ldf counsel. she is originally from oklahoma, and today is her 91st birthday. i would like us to recognize her. [applause]

mama byrd and janelle byrd. so we're at the close of our program. i want to thank the national press club and all the members of my staff for the hard work they put into making this event happened, and i want to thank you for joining us in this terrific celebration. i wish you a sunny rest of the day, and i wish you a great weekend. thank you all very much. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

statemer secretary of alert clinton discussing policy strategies. a discussion on the state of community health centers. after that, a senate hearing on intellectual property and corporate espionage. this week, we spoke with recent pulitzer prize winner glenn greenwald on his book "no place to hide -- edward snowden, the nsa, and the u.s. surveillance state." you can see that interview sunday at 2:00 p.m. eastern. for over 35 years, c-span brings public affairs events directly to you putting you in the room at congressional hearings, white house events, briefings, and conferences offering complete double to, coverage of the u.s. house all as a public service of private industry. cease being treated by the cable tv industry 35 years ago and brought to you as a public

service by her local cable or satellite provider. like this on facebook and follow us on twitter. former secretary of state hillary clinton discussing policy strategies to address various problems facing the nation. she was the keynote speaker at a conference of the new america foundation. this is just under 40 minutes. >> thank you, ann-marie. 20 years ago i was in davos at the usual conference, and the first lady showed up, and i met her and watched her speech. all of a sudden i realized this is an unusual public servant. she spoke for an hour in the most interesting way i have ever heard, without any notice whatsoever. all of a sudden i realized that she was the smarter of the two, and i go, oh, my god.

from that moment on i watched her public service with awe, that taking on the challenges that she cares about, first lady, then senator, and secretary of state, at a level that is hard to describe of intellect and passion. during her leadership, so many things have changed, but when you look at what she did, for example, as secretary of state, pushing the things that we care about, the values of america and so forth, you see the sort of drive and intellectual fierceness that it takes to actually care and change incumbent systems, something that she has energy for. what is impressive now is she has devoted her time and energy to things that we all care a great deal about, the cause of women, children, and especially the issues of income equality

and opportunity, not just in america, but also in the globe. it is an enormous honor for me to introduce to you secretary clinton. [applause] >> thank you. good morning. i am delighted to be here, and i want to thank eric for his very kind words, but also for his generous contributions to this institution as well as everything that he does to support innovation and growth in our country. and i want to thank my friend and former colleague ann-marie slaughter.

she's bringing that same imaginative discipline leadership to the new american foundation. ann focused on big ideas on the intersection of policy and technology is exactly where she has been and where this extraordinary foundation is headed. i think new america is becoming an even more exciting and indispensable fixture in the policy landscape, so i am delighted to be here in the midst of a conference whose program i read and admired, and i think it is a great way to bring together people who are also thinking big, but doing so with their feet firmly planted

in the reality of the times in which we are living. speaking of times, this is a particularly special one for me and my husband. we are still reveling in the fact that we are going to become grandparents, and i have already learned that when you are about to become a parent for the first time, you can be a little terrified at the prospect and the responsibility, but becoming a grandparent for the first time, nothing but joy and excitement. very little responsibility. so i'm especially looking forward to that. my only regret is my late mother will not be here to meet her great-grandchild. she would have been over the moon and filled with good advice, but only for the parents, but for the grandparents. i've been thinking a lot about her lately because mother's day always prompts those memories. they bring a fresh reminder of how much she gave to me and my

brothers and so many others, and her commitment to social justice, which helped to mold and inspire me when i was growing up. i think about the obstacles she overcame in what was a very difficult life. by the age of 14 she was off on her own, working as a housekeeper and nanny. thankfully, the woman who hired her about her to take time during the middle of the day to try to complete high school, and she always talked about the kindness that certain people showed to her in the course of what was a very difficult childhood. that gave her the confidence to keep going forward, that really drives from a community that was caring and willing to support the weakest in the most marginalized among them.

and of course she and my father gave us a middle-class life, with opportunities she never could have imagined for herself, but which she always believed could be possible. for her children. and that was a great gift that i will be forever grateful for, and then bill and i of course worked hard to pass on those values to our daughter. and it has been a great reward to watch her grow into an accomplished, purposeful young woman. i think about what it must have been like though to have very difficult circumstances during my mother's life, but never losing face or hope for her children and grandchildren could go, not just because of their hard work, but the country and

society into which they would be born. that is really how america is supposed to work. each generation striving to create opportunity for the next, planting trees that we will not he sitting in the shade of, but expecting others who will follow to be able to, not expecting to be handed anything on a silver platter, but believing that all of us would be given a fair shot at success if we were willing to do the work that was required. in one way or another this has been a driving force for me in large measure because of my mother's example, from my earliest years, and it was also a sense of obligation. how does one keep this dream alive, whether it is growing up in a suburb of chicago or going off to a great college and then law school or in arkansas, the

white house, or in the senate for the state department? i always believed that, but i must tell you representing our country around the world during this very consequential time in history has given me and even the understanding of what is at stake here and why this organization, your emphasis on big ideas, your belief that we have to keep reinventing america is so essential. people everywhere told me that that is what they have always loved and admired about america, our values of opportunity, freedom, equality. it is like so many people still look to us for leadership. it is why so many still risk so much to join our mosaic. even china's new president has picked up on the theme, starting to talk about a chinese dream. we know that america is

strongest when prosperity and common purpose are broadly shared. when all our people believe they have the opportunity and in fact due to participate fully in our economy and our democracy. the empirical evidence tells us that our society is healthiest and our economy grows fast this when people in the middle are working and thriving and when people at the bottom believe that they can make their way into that broad-based middle. this is not a new insight. it is time tested at the heart of what is the basic bargain of america, no matter who you are or where you come from, if you work hard and play by the rules, you will have the opportunity to build a good life for yourself and your family. now, unfortunately, it is no

secret that for too many families in america today that is not the way it works anymore. instead of getting ahead, they are finding it harder than ever to get their footing in our changing economy. the dream of upward mobility that made this country a model for the world feels further and further out of reach, and many americans understandably feel frustrated, even angry. the numbers are stark. more than four out of 10 children born into our lowest income families never managed to climb out of relative poverty. forget about getting rich. i am just talking about getting into the middle class and staying there. that should not be as hard as it is now. and what is more, and almost equal percentage of kids who are born into the most affluent families stay there for life no matter what their effort. that is the opposite of the mobility we think of as a hallmark of america. and here is a particularly troubling fact -- a majority of african-american children whose families fought their way into

the middle class decades ago to have lower incomes than their parents did and many are falling out of the middle class altogether. to understand what is going on here we have to take a good look at what is happening in both the economy and in society. in the economy, since 2000, productivity has increased by more than 25%, yet wages for most americans have stagnated, further depressing demand, and slowing growth, median real hourly wages for americans in the middle have been flat over the past decade. for lower income americans, they have actually fallen. and even for many higher wage earners below the very top, they have barely risen. so what do we draw from this?

americans are working harder, contributing more than ever to their companies' bottom lines and our country's total economic output, yet many are still barely getting by, holding on, not seeing the reports that their hard work should have merited. and where is it all going? well, economists have document how the share of income and wealth going to those at the very top, not just the top 1%, but the top .1% or the top .01% of the population, has risen sharply over the last generation. some are calling it a throwback to the gilded age of the robber barons. now as secretary of state, i saw all the way extreme inequality has corrupted other societies, hobbled growth, and left entire generations alienated and unmoored. from guatemala to greece to pakistan, i urge them to pay

their fair share, to provide services that would be the base on which more of their fellow countrymen and women could climb out of poverty. i addressed governments to address their people and include positive visions for the future. in the middle east and north africa, we saw the explosive results when opportunity and potential are denied for too long. but one could ask him what does that mean for us? we are not like them? imagine a young single mother trying to raise a family today. after all, there are some 10 million single moms working hard to make it on their own in america today, up from just 3.4 million in 1970.

mothers are now the primary or sole breadwinners in nearly 40% of all families. this single mom lives somewhere in our vast metros sprawl, traveling long distances every day to work a low-wage job she is lucky to have. many other young people in her neighborhood are still looking. she works hard, but she knows that her male co-workers tend to make more than she does. it is demeaning, demoralizing, and it sure changes are openly. she lives in dread of her baby getting sick or some other emergency because, like nine out of 10 workers earning the lowest wages, most of them women, she does not have access to paid family leave, and forget sick days or flexibility or predictability, which is just as important for parents and caregivers.

so she relies on a network of friends and family to help care for her kids, but that too is hard. the neighborhood is not like the one she and certainly not the one her mother grew up in. religious and community organizations are weaker. the schools are never good enough. there are few quality affordable childcare options. but she has dreams. she certainly has dreams for her kids. but she does not just face ceilings on her aspirations and opportunities. sometimes it feels as if the floor has collapsed beneath her. these are the kinds of daily struggles of millions and millions of americans, those fighting to get into the middle class and those fighting to stay there. and it was something of a wakeup call when it was recently reported that canadian middle-class incomes are now higher than in the united

states. they are working fewer hours for more pay than americans are, enjoying a stronger safety net, living longer on average, and facing less income inequality. that is not how it is supposed to be. we often think we invented the middle class. so what can we do about it? a lot depends on our leadership here in washington and across our country. the 1990's taught us that even in the face of difficult, long-term economic trends, it is possible, through smart policies and sound investments, to enjoy broad-based growth and shared prosperity. my husband gave a lecture at georgetown recently where he walked through the numbers. yes, a rising tide really did lift all those. 23 million new jobs were creating about raising the minimum wage, doubling the earned income tax credit.

that helped millions of lower income families climb out of poverty. the children's health insurance program changed millions of young lives, and on and on with a balanced budget that resulted in surpluses as far as the eye could see. i remember being on the budget committee in the senate, my very first year with a new administration, making different choices. and the next eight years taught us different lessons about how by policy choices we could turn surpluses into debt. we can return to rising deficits. that is what happens when your only policy prescription is to cut taxes for the wealthy. and then to deal with the aftermath of a terrible terrorist attack and two wars without paying for them. regulators about their oversight of an entire banking system that

operated without can ability. government failed to invest adequately in infrastructure from education, basic research, and then the housing crash, the financial crisis hit like a flash flood. millions of jobs washed away, along with college savings, mortgages, nest egg for retirement, confidence, intangible, in the future. it has been taking years for president obama to get our economy growing again. but it is growing, and there are reasons to be optimistic about our future. and we know there are tremendous opportunities that we are better

positioned to take advantage of than any country in the world, from big data to clean energy to a resurgence of manufacturing, to the dream being realized of energy independence. we are better positioned than anyone to take advantage of these advances. we have the best universities, the most innovative companies, the most creative and flexible, talented workers anywhere. but it will not happen just because we have these assets. we will need some big ideas, like evidence-based decision-making, an old idea that i hope can be restored. [laughter] some of these ideas are as old as america itself, rooted in our values, equality and opportunity, and most of all we will need to learn again how to work together, how to compromise, how to make pragmatic decisions. in the upcoming midterm elections, americans will have choices to make about which path they want to go down and whether we will make the investments we

need in our people. i will leave that discussion to others. but for a lot of us, in the private and nonprofit sectors, we have work to do, too. government does not have a monopoly on good ideas, obviously. and even if it wanted, it could not and should not try to solve all of the problems i itself. we have responsibilities to do what we can. when i left the state department, i joined my husband and daughter at the clinton foundation. i wanted to continue my lifelong work pursuing ways and answers and solutions that could help more people live up to their own god-given the potential. and i wanted to help try to tear down barriers and crack ceilings that have for too long held back women and men from participating fully in the economy and society. so i thought, what can we do to build on this great work that bill had done and that chelsea

was leading, drawing on lessons that really came from my entire life, starting with my work at the study center when i was in the law school, making sure that children are not hobbled from birth, but given more chances to succeed. and it became clear that i could go back to what i had been doing, but unfortunately, it was going back to where we had been in some respects 30, 40 years ago, rather than picking up the pace of where we had moved toward. i was very struck by how difficult it was for so many children to be successful in school, despite all the education reform that we have done and experimented with over a very long time now. it really did come home to me that part of the problem is that

too many of our children are not getting the very early start in those first years that will enable them to take advantage of advances in education. economic pressures on parents translate to less time reading, talking, and even singing with their children. all of these stimulate crucial brain development. by age three, children from low income families have learned half as many words as children from middle and upper income families. by the time they enter school, they have substantially smaller vocabularies than many of their classmates. experts call this the word gap. it leads directly to an achievement gap. we launched a public action campaign called too small to fail.

to give parents the tools and information they need to do their part in beginning to close that word gap. that will give their children the best possible chance in school and later in life. i also thought we needed to keep moving forward on the unfinished business of the 21st century, empowering women and girls here at home and around the world. we started an effort called no ceilings, the full participation project. it has been one to years since the fourth world conference on women in beijing. we spoke with one voice to declare that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights. we still had only a glass half-full.