skills-based experience, inside a law school or elsewhere." i vigorously dissent. [laughter] it seems to me that the law-school-in-two-years proposal rests on the premise that law school is, or ought to be, a trade school. it is not that. it is a school preparing men and women not for a trade but for a profession, the profession of law. one can practice various aspects of law without knowing much about the whole field. i expect that someone could be taught to be an expert real-estate conveyancer in six weeks, or a tax advisor in six months. and maybe we should train such people, but we should not call them lawyers. just as someone might become

an expert in hand surgery without knowing much about the rest of the human body, so also one can become expert in various segments of the law without knowing much about the rest. we should call the former a hand surgeon rather than a doctor; and the latter a real-estate conveyancer, or h&r block, but not a lawyer. those of you who have walked the streets of paris may have noticed signs here and there. "jurisconsult." not avocats, lawyers. i am not even sure whether one must pass an exam or have any special training to work in such -- hang out a sign.

i suspect not. none of you who are being graduated today is being certified an expert in patent or employment law. you are instead receiving degrees that attest to your successful completion of a sustained three-year study of law. the mastery of that subject is what turns the student into a legal professional. this is the traditional view, well expressed by an earlier, and wiser, aba panel in 1921. and i quote legal education , should produce a real knowledge of fundamental principles and a mind which thinks in terms of the common law. the process of assimilation and of mental growth must be orderly and comparatively slow. experience has shown that a student who gives substantially all of his working time to his studies should devote at least three years to his legal

education. and even three years is scarcely enough, so great have the bulk and complexity of american law become. close quote. that was in 1921. my guess is that the bulk and complexity of american law have doubled since then. consider the areas of law which come before my court that didn't even exist when i was in law school. employment law, including title vii, the americans with disabilities act, and the employee retirement income security act. erisa. nobody calls it that. [laughter] several major national-security statutes, including the foreign

intelligence surveillance act, the patriot act, and the aviation and transportation security act; the clean air act. the freedom of information act. the foreign sovereign immunities act. affordable care act. sarbanes-oxley. and i could go on. and that's just federal law. state law has also grown, and grown increasingly complex. any lawyer, if he is to call himself a professional, should at least be aware of all these areas and should have a fair understanding of most of them. the law schools themselves are partly to blame for the belief that all the law you really need to know can be acquired in two years. for starters, they increasingly abstain from saying there is anything you really need to know.

when i was in law school, harvard's first-year curriculum included agency, civil procedure, contracts, criminal law, property i, and torts. no electives. the second-year curriculum required accounting, administrative law, commercial law, constitutional law, corporations i, taxation, and trusts, although the course catalog contained the following generous exception: the law of international transactions and relations or labor law may be substituted for commercial law by second year students. isn't that nice? [laughter] those electing this substitution will normally be required to take commercial law in the third year. [laughter] even the third-year was not entirely elected. it said third-year students were

required to take the course in property ii unless they have taken it previously. students who took any course in the second year in lieu of commercial law are required, in the absence of special permission, to take commercial law. now there was a faculty that had some firm views about what it took to become "learned in the law." contrast that curriculum with the current scene. it is something of an open secret now that the second and third years of school offer a student the chance to study whatever strikes his or her fancy, so long as there is a professor who has the same fancy. [laughter] it is also well known that many of the courses from which the student may choose have a distinct non-legal flavor, to from, realst, courses, "effective and sustainable law practice: the meditative perspective" and "elegance in legal thought and

expression" --they are both offered at berkeley. [laughter] to "the philosophical reinvention of christianity" at harvard, to "contemporary virtue ethics" at chicago. even the traditional first-year courses, torts, contracts, and the like, seem to be going out of style. many schools now offer first-year students one or two "electives" to spice things up a bit. at northwestern for example, 1ls , may choose two elective courses among options that include "law and psychology," "narrative structures," and, i'm not making this up, a class called "large law firms." [laughter] at the university of michigan law school, a 1l may take a

class called "innocent defendants." there appears to be no companion course on "guilty defendants." [laughter] georgetown university law center has made the bread-and-butter first-year courses entirely optional. the incoming student may choose "curriculum a," which is the set of traditional first-year courses, or "curriculum b," which includes courses such as "bargain, exchange, and liability," "legal process and society," and "property in time." this elimination of a core curriculum, and the accompanying proliferation of narrow, not to say silly, elective courses has not come without its costs. in more than a few law schools, including some of the most prestigious, the university of

chicago, for example, it is possible to graduate without ever having studied the first amendment. talk about citizen lawyers. can someone really call himself an american lawyer who has that gap in his compendious knowledge of the law? and can a society that depends so much upon lawyers for shaping public perceptions and preserving american traditions regarding the freedom of speech and religion, afford so ignorant a bar? and the problem is not just that students are not required to take such fundamental courses. even those who wish to take them as electives are often frustrated because the courses are not offered frequently enough. the harvard course catalogue i have been quoting from included the following significant

statement regarding elective courses. "the courses in government regulation of business, evidence, conflict of laws, and labor law, are given in more than one section because they are the ones which are most frequently elected." how student-friendly. nowadays, when i ask a clerkship applicant why he or she did not take federal courts, or evidence, or some other course that seems to me basic to a complete legal education, i often get the response, "it was the faculty resources were presumably being devoted to legal process and society, or some other boutique course that was the subject of a faculty member's interest and research. some of the belief that the

third year of law school can be eliminated rests upon the notion that what it provides can easily be provided elsewhere, in the words of the aba's panel, by "a year of carefully-structured skills-based experience, inside a law school or elsewhere." who, one wonders, is going to do this careful structuring of skills-based experience outside a law school? will law firms that are in the business of serving clients and making a living devote their time and resources to educating associates who are likely to go elsewhere after a couple of years? but more importantly, it is not "skills-based experience" that makes a person learned in the law. legal learning is what only law schools can effectively convey. you graduates will never again

have the opportunity to study systematically and comprehensively entire areas of the law, intellectual property, commercial law, environmental law, etc. despite harvard's extensive core curriculum and frequently taught major electives during the years i went there, i came out with some gaps, some blind sides, that i have always regretted. intellectual property, for one, and bankruptcy. and what is the use of having a bar learned in the law? what is wrong with a conglomeration of "skills-based" experts?

there are some pragmatic reasons. for one thing, the skills overlap, and even specialized practice in one field requires basic knowledge of another. one cannot write a contract or settle a case in utter ignorance of antitrust law, or, for that matter, the law of evidence, or write a will without knowledge of tax law and trust law, or litigate a case without knowledge of the substantive fields that are involved. secondly, the lawyer who is familiar with many fields can apply the ancient learning or the new developments in one field to another, the constant interplay between tort and contract law is an example. in this way the law becomes a more cohesive whole, instead of a series of separate fiefdoms. but forget all that.

most of all, it is good to be learned in the law because that is what makes you members of a profession rather than a trade. it is a goal worthy to be achieved, as you have achieved it, for itself. to say you are a lawyer is to say you are learned in the law. and, to return to the point, you can't do that in two years. now for a less palatable part of my talk. it is no mystery what has prompted the current calls for a two-year law degree. it is, quite simply, the constantly increasing cost of a legal education. william and mary, even for out-of-state students, is a great bargain, but even so is not cheap. if i may advert to my own

experience at harvard, once again: in the year i graduated, tuition at harvard was $1,000. to describe developments since then, in the words of a recent article, over the past sixty years, tuition at harvard law school has increased ten-fold in constant, inflation-adjusted dollars. in the early 1950's, a year's tuition at the school cost approximately $5,100 in 2011 dollars. over the next two decades, this figure more than doubled, so that by 1971 tuition was $11,664 in 2011 dollars. tuition grew at a relatively modest pace over the course of the 1970's, so that by 1981 it was $14,476 in 2011 dollars. then it climbed rapidly again, rising to $25,698 in 1991,

$34,484 in 2001, and nearly $50,000 in 2011, again all in constant dollars. harvard's current tuition, by the way, is $53,308. this is obviously not sustainable, given that over the last 25 years there has been a sharp contraction of the legal-services sector, compared with the rest of the american economy. which means that a legal education has become less rather than more valuable, if you value a legal education in money, which i obviously do not, and urge you not to do. so things have to change. one solution, the worst in my view, is to shorten law school

to two years. that will produce, or ought to produce, if reason prevails, a one-third reduction of faculty size. but if law school is to remain three years, costs have to be cut; the system is not sustainable in its present form. the graduation into a shrunken legal sector of students with hundreds of thousands of dollars of student debt, nondischargeable in bankruptcy, cannot continue. perhaps, just perhaps, the more prestigious law schools, and i include william and mary among them, can continue the way they are, though that is not certain. but the vast majority of law schools will have to lower tuition. a that probably means smaller law-school faculties, though not

necessarily one-third smaller. that would be no huge disaster. harvard law school, in the year i graduated, had a faculty of 56 professors, 9 teaching fellows, and 4 lecturers. it now has a faculty of 119 professors, 53 visiting professors, and 115 lecturers in law. a total of 69 then and 287 now. and cutting back on law-school tuition surely means higher teaching loads. that also would not be the end of the world. when i got out of law school, the average teaching load was almost 8 hours per week.

currently it is about half that. and last but not least, professorial salaries may have to be reduced, or at least stop rising. again, not the end of the world. to use harvard again as an example: faculty salaries have much more than doubled in real terms since 1969. chief justice john roberts, "in his unsuccessful 2008 entreaty to congress to raise the pay of federal judges," noted that federal district judges are paid half as much as senior professors at top schools. but to return to my main point: since the modern legal academy appears not to believe that

there is a solid and significant core of courses that entitle someone to be admitted to the profession of law, it is small wonder that there are calls for shortening law school to two years. if and when that happens, the shrunken faculties will have only themselves to blame. but for the moment, for you graduating students who have had what i consider not the luxury but the necessity of soaking in the law for three full years, and for the parents who have paid for that experience, welcome to the ranks of, not tradesmen, but men and women learned in the law. congratulations. [applause]

his remarks are 15 minutes. >> thank you. >> good morning, everyone. thank you for that kind introduction. are we ready? let's go. one more time. distinguished guests, class of 2014, proud parents, it is an

honor and a privilege to be with you here today. this is a place of triumph, greatness and respect. virginia tech has earned the respect of the nation and the commitment to an ovation, excellence in education and a culture in which every student can maximize his or her potential. virginia tech graduates are leading the way in disciplines of all sort because of the education and values of his university instills in its students each and every day. i want to commend the leadership for always striving to be the best. please do not ever let that stop. first i want to thank dr. charles stiegler for his dedication over the past 14 years.

he is a true virginia leader. he is the very embodiment of virginia tech's motto "that i may serve." he has let this university through good times and through some of the darkest moments in our commonwealth and our nation's history. i have no doubt that he will continue to serve virginians as he begins a next chapter of his life. i wish you well in your retirement. on behalf of all virginians thank you for what you have done. i will now ask everybody in the stadium to stand and give a round of applause to the outstanding leadership of dr. charles steiger. [applause]

and now to the class of 2013. first of all, i want you to know that i have sat where you are sitting now. nothing is worse than a politician giving a long and boring commencement address. [cheers] alright. start your watches. i promise to be done in less than 10 minutes, folks. you can get onto celebrating if you have not already started. i am here to congratulate each and every one of you for the hard work you put into making today possible. i am your to think the professors, parents, family, and friends for the support each of you have offered the graduate today to help them reach this very important milestone in their lives. let me ask you once again, i want the graduates to stand and

applaud all the loved ones who are in the stadium today who made today possible. [applause] finally, i'm here to offer you a few pieces of advice i hope you will follow as you head out and begin to apply the things you have learned here in your everyday lives. before i get to that, i want to take a moment to look back and see how far you have come over the last four years. most of you arrived here in 2010 in the world looked a lot different than it does today. your first year in college was also the first year of the ipad. now you cannot walk into a classroom, airport, or coffee shop without seeing dozens of tablet computers of all shapes and sizes. when you got here to virginia tech, instagram, snapchat,

pinterest, and spotify did not even exist. now these programs are changing the way we communicate with folks over the globe appeared when most of you arrived in august of 2010, the number one song in the nation was "teenage dream." over the four years, you have left of the days behind it transformed yourselves from the teenage dreamers into educated young adults who are about to graduate from one of the greatest universities in the world. before you head out to celebrate, i would like to share with you a couple of pieces of the device. there are three things that i tell my five children every time we talk about their future. they have the same three things that i tell my cabinet -- and

they are the same three things i tell my cabinet every monday when we meet. those three pieces of advice are simple. always think big. always take chances. please, do not ever be afraid to fail. let's start with the first one. think they go. i do not know how many of you know how i started my career. my folks cannot afford to send me to college. at the age of 14, i went out and started my own business, mcauliffe driveway maintenance. i had no idea what kind of business until i went home one day in i saw an older guy in front of his house ceiling his driveway. he was sweating and cursing and covered in hot tar. i took one look at him and knew i could do a great job of sealing driveways. so guys like and would not have to. i hurried home and i typed up a

flyer to pass out to the neighbors. by the end of my first day, i had six jobs. you still are day like it was yesterday. i was now in business. i was an entrepreneur. the next number i decided that i had to go big. i have to start doing parking lots. i am 15. i have a dozen folks working for me. i needed a truck to haul the larger barrels of tar around, the five gallon drums of tar. i did not have a truck. i went to an abandoned junkyard and found a beat up old truck. i spent several hours putting gas and oil and spark plugs. i was good on working on engines. and folks, when i got up in that big truck and got behind the wheel and i turned that and that in general word to life -- roared to life, i still get goosebumps.

i drove it on interstate 81. i would buy the new york substation of state troopers. they were out having coffee. i was so jacked up i was hitting the horn. i was waiting. i did not have any license plates. i did not have a drivers license. [laughter] let me tell you. i was an entrepreneur. i made it. i was a success. i knew at that time that my dream of attending college was now in reach. little did i know that driveways will be me to start dozens of companies and to become the youngest bank chairman in our nation's history. and ultimately, mating with my career in the 72nd governor with the con whatever to do. i am not suggesting that all of

you leave here and take up sealing driveways for a living. i do hope that as you begin the next phase of your life that you act boldly to accomplish your goals. if you see an opportunity, sees it. you may not always know exactly where the journey will take you. you will never forget taking a bold step to make life better for yourself, family, and community. the second piece of advice is take chances. my greatest lesson came when i was your age. i had just graduated from college. i had just begun my first week of law school. a friend of mine called and told me that he had just taken a job working on president carter's reelection campaign. he offered me the opportunity to join the campaign and become a

fundraiser. i jumped at the chance. you can imagine how the conversation went with my mother when i was leaving law school and a scholarship behind to join a beleaguered political campaign. i decided this was an experience i needed to have. over the course of the campaign, i visited over 40 states and became the youngest national finance director of a presidential campaign in the history of our great country at the age of 23. taking that bold chance at that young age changed my life. now i am certain that there are some parents out there also you may not be thrilled to hear me urging their children to put law school decided to go work on a presidential campaign. that certainly should not be the lesson you take away. what i hope you always remember

is that there always is a difference between accepting a comfortable life and reaching for an exceptional one. taking a chance means putting comfort aside and inspiring to do something greater. knowing you may fail. i did graduate from georgetown law school. i can see myself as a corporate lawyer someday. looking back on all the experiences i can have. take this as a result of taking that chance as a 23-year-old kid. i am glad that i took that chance. each of you will have opportunities to make decisions like that when as your lives move forward during. taking every risk that comes her way is not rise. another is every opportunity out

of fear of risk or the unknown. finally, my last piece of advice is a follow-up on the previous two. if you are bold and you take chances, let me tell you something. you are going to fail. you're going to experience rejection at times. please. do not be afraid to fail. that makes the difference with so many folks. they are afraid to fail. don't. few people are more qualified to offer this piece of advice than i am. as some of you may recall, i actually applied for my current job more than once. yup. [laughter] back in 2009 i decided to run for governor because i i can make a difference in the commonwealth, make it a better place to live.

i had a great life. for me it was the right chance to take. i started a campaign and brought this to the virginia voters. in 2009 i talked about big ideas and how we needed to move virginia forward. i talked about high-speed rail, wind turbines in the atlantic ocean. renewable energy standard. i said if you do not like my big ideas, do not vote for me. and you didn't. that is all right. i had a great time. i still remember waking up that next morning. i do not like to fail. nobody does. but deciding if i meant what i said during that campaign that i believed i could create jobs and make this a better place for my family across virginia and i could not take no for an answer.

i got out of bed the next day. i dusted myself off. i spent the next four years visiting every nut and cranny in virginia. i can tell you without a doubt that the things i learned in the people i met in the stories i heard jenny ideas that i formed were indispensable to getting me here today and helping me on the job. the real question is will you do the next day? when you get knocked down you keep yourself back up the next day. you get yourself back in the arena. they know neither big tree or did feet. don't you ever be one of the cold and timid souls. as you begin the next chapter of your life, i hope you will adopt

some of these issues i talk about today. think big. take chances. do not be afraid to fail. in closing, i will share a nugget i long -- i've learned along the way. there's no such day as a bad day. everyday has the potential to be a great one. if you have a bad day, guess what? you are in the wrong line of business. do something about it. never take yourself too seriously. always be positive. people want to be around winners not whiners. roll with the punches and always be flexible. you may miss opportunities if you're too rigid. do what you want to do with your life. you only live once.

one of my best mottos? sleep when you are dead. finally, if you remember one thing from this speech and whatever you do, always have fun. thank you. congratulation to the class of 2014. [cheers and applause] >> next wisconsin governor scott walker addressing graduates at concordia university. some of hisout recent experiences. governor walker was elected in faced a recall election in 2012 and he's up for re-election in november. his remarks are 20 minutes. >> good evening.

good evening. good evening to you and members of the leadership, the board of regents, to the faculty and staff, to all of the wonderful family and friends and loved ones, to the student body. it is an honor to be here tonight, particularly to the graduates of 2014, congratulations. it is quite a night. [applause] actually, i was thinking about the reference to my mother. i will tell you one thing but i will tell you more. not much. if you remember nothing else, remember a lesson my mother taught me a long time ago. if you want to do well in life,

you need to do good for others. if you remember nothing else, remember that. it is an honor to be back here this evening. last summer i was in this hall for a ceremony like this was literally a decade ago. another walker was on the stage. the 43rd president of the united states. he gave the commencement address last night and is honored to be here. it is an honor to be here a decade later to share with you. it really is an honor. i was trying to hang about a way to capture not just the moment tonight but all the education and training up to that point. going to share a quick story for you. you think what does this have to do for the commitment.

every year i love the beginning and made. it eventually gets warmer although i have yet to see that here in wisconsin. every year at the beginning of may, i get to do fun things related to tourism. i get to drive sports cars in the dells. i was at a roller coaster. i get to go to other places around the state. one of the stops i made -- in brown county outside of green bay, this is called the new z were they opened the new adventure park. the county executive said, would you be willing to come and help us open up the new adventure park? we want you to break the ribbon. he must have gotten confused.

there are groundbreaking's, ribbon cuttings, but he asked me to break the ribbon. he said that because the main attraction in their new adventure park is a zipline. he wanted me to come through the zipline with him and break the ribbon. much to the chagrin of my staff i said yes. tonight i want to share with you for a moment about the experience and how it relates. bear with me for a moment. there were three simple stages. the first was the trading. we came in little bit earlier before the public had arrived. we went to a little lodge they had. things like i was informed that they had trained on this a

little bit. i was not literally the first one. these are people who had been involved with the sip lines before. they got the gear out. they gave me the helmet. they put me in the harness. they had it all tightened up. he showed me the hooks and barriers. and how i'd end up at the end. they gave me the training that i needed. after i was done with that, i had to sign a little disconcerting. i went from the training part to the tower. maybe some of you have been on the blinds elsewhere. this will go straight tower that has been there since the 1950's it is an old lookout tower in the 1950's. this tower was up there. it was about 50 feet in the air on top of the a really high hill. 50 feet up in the air.

there were switchbacks. there is little cut in the trees. then it goes over a pond and ends up about 1000 feet down the way to where there is this touchdown pass. that was the tower. the last part is you get down to the touchdown it felt. after you have the nerve to jump off that with your harness after your training, it you get it -- get up the courage to jump. you go down the line. the zipline takes you down and you land at a spot which i was happy to hear has some things to slow you down because you're going about 35 or 40 miles per hour. it slows you down. you actually land on a stand about the size of this podium. that was the process. i am pretty fearless. i'm not afraid of heights. after all the training and i got up to the top, there is a moment when i "what if i got myself into?"

maybe this is a little bit too much. tonight i want to share with you how that experience in a small way relate to what our graduates have gone through and where you are headed. let me give you a couple of examples. you have been blessed as part of the various graduate programs to have a chairman this opportunity to gain the training and skills of education that you will need to succeed. you have been supported by wonderful family and friends. and a much better way than my limited experience, you have that extended training that you need. i went through and got some information from the university. it is a nice process. 512 graduate tonight. you folks with additional professional degrees in

education, business administration, health care. even in church worship. these big areas. you got folks getting graduate degrees in education. 128. it is a great time for that. you agree with a private school. whatever type of educational opportunity. there is a tremendous opportunity in the state and around the world in terms of of revenue openings that the doors open right now. you do not need to wait. you can break right into passion right away. you can have impact.

there are some great successes happening. graduation rates are up. reading and math scores are up. that is a tremendous success story. there are still too large of a disparity between kids doing well in his that are not. there is a great opportunity to do well in education. you are going out how can i use this education? how can i apply it in a way that will challenge me and have an opportunity to help not just the kids in my school or environment but challenge me to go beyond my comfort zone and find a way to help others that have historically been disadvantaged. a group will take their degree in education and training and be prepared to go out and have a true impact.

then there are others. there are 120 mbas. it a great time to be in business. about four years ago when i was looking at things like this, at that time every year our statewide chamber of commerce has lawyers. but some percent of the surveyed said headed -- wisconsin was headed in the right direction. today it is up to about 95%. that is great. we want to build off of that. four years goes -- 40 years ago we were about place to do business. for those at that your mbas, whether you're charging out for a job where -- or are in a job now, it is a great time to the in business. there is so much more we can do.

you can help create more jobs. there is someone somewhere in the states you today looking for a job or better job that will benefit because of our mbas here tonight and the expertise and training they got that they can put to use. there are so many of you tonight in health care. the genesis class, the first generating class of the school of pharmacy, the first lutheran school to have a school pharmacy in the entire country and the second school in the state. i had a chance to tour a little bit. he has been passionate and telling me about it. i am excited to see it. it is a great team effort. this class started four years ago. now you are graduating.

you will have an impact. you will help health care. not just with pharmaceutical companies you will have an impact on real people's lives. you will help them do well. not only for those in the pharmacy school. 149 of you are getting graduate degrees in nursing. i hear the nursing class there. i should just keep saying that during the speech. how about that nursing class? [cheers and applause] see? when i gave the state address, but i will keep any of nursing again. besides those, there is at least one who is getting a doctorate

in nursing this. there is others as well. you have a whole group getting doctorates in physical therapy. failing to far off on the stage, i may need some physical therapy after the chair falls off. i saw you have another group getting masters in occupational therapy, 16. if i would have known this earlier. the education folks are a little behind. you can cheer again. then i thought there are five more. we getting science masters degrees during there are two that are getting professional degrees in church music which i would argue that is not just about the others or helping you physically get well of helping take care of your body. they're helping the your soul physically well as well. for all of you, as much as i was

getting trained to go on the zipline, you got the training that you will need to go off and not just do well at your jobs but to do good for others. take your skills. take your training. take what if part of your. many of you have different stories. for graduate students there are some that have gone on to graduate school. it is all you have done. that is great. there have probably been a lot of parents that say when are they going to get out and get a job? i have two kids in college. i understand. there have been others that maybe your undergraduate degree with out to work and you had to come back. maybe it was full-time or part-time. you have had your own unique experiences and it has not an easy but you are here. you have had a bit of suffering.

paul talked about how suffering leads to perseverance. i hope that you have seen the leaning of tonight is the night you are really excited. not just to further your job or your career but to do well by doing good for others, how you can apply them in a way that will make a difference. the second part is where you are tonight. you are climbing that tower, about to take that big leap. the experience is not unlike what i experienced i did training. and i knew it was safe.

any people had done this before. as brave as i am, i got to the top of the 50 foot tower and let it down and i thought maybe i have overdone it. the heart started to pump a little bit. i started to think what am i doing? some of you may be like that tonight. you're thinking this is great. i've gotten all the six earrings. what am i going to do next? for me the worst part was not just the height. it was the fear of the unknown. i like to be in control of things. i do not mind things as long as i know what will happen next. i know roller coasters because i know it'll go up and then down. it is the fear of the unknown. for many of you tonight, it is the fear of the unknown. it is going to leave for a job? is this going to lead to the next job? is this going to be a family?

what are the things that are next on the horizon? you are standing at the top of the tower tonight. you are looking out. you are looking down and thinking what have i gotten myself into? what is going on here? am i ready? i know i have the training and expertise there's a little bit of the fear of the unknown. i go to the last part. say we had training and then the tower itself. and then the way i was able to feel comfortable i said let's go here and we will jump. i jumped on two.

the reason i was able to do that is i remembered back to something that is interesting. we were talking about this time when paul references christ's word he talks about my gracious fish and sea for you because my power is made perfect in weakness. i do not know what is missing. i am feeling uncertain about the unknown. what allowed me to take that big leap of faith and step out over the edge with there was no base to hold me. i remember the devotional from years ago. a long time ago, i remember reading a devotional about a guy who have been unable with a friend of his who have been a captain in the navy. they were starting out in their boat. as they got away from the dock,

started to get windy. the fumes started to pick up. the next thing you know he was leaning over the railing about to throw up. the captain's deck said stop hanging over the railing and find a stable spot on the horizon and focus on that. when i did the zipline, i did that. i thought what am i looking down at the ground. i could look down the thousand feet. i looked at where the touchdown platform. it was about a 12 foot base. i can see the people way off in the distance. i stopped looking down. i just ran off the end. the great part about it was after i took the first step it was kind of fun. i let out a yell. it wasn't a squeal or a screen. it was a "whohoo!"

the whole way down i was sharing with our friend. it was a lot of fun. the time i was done and wanted to go do it again. it was pretty exciting. it was that first step here it it was only when i recalled the devotional. that is where you are. where that came to life was the great story about peter. when the disciples were out in the boat, and christ's was out walking across the water and they thought it was a goes and they got freaked out and jesus said to peter "walk, come to me. at first he said "sure." remember what happened? he should have looked down. he felt the wind. do your member what happened next? he started to sink. he started to sink. he lost sight. he started worry -- to worry about things instead of the horizon.

in that case it was christ's himself. tonight the message i hope to leave with you is for east of you you have gone through this. i have seen the facilities. i've talked to the staff and the leadership. you are ready. you have a great education. you are well-prepared. to be in health care, education, business. you are ready to make a difference. tonight you are going to have powers now. some will be baked. some are going to be small. some going to have an outcome that is known in some one have many more unknown. you will be called on to take that leap of faith. my message you tonight is not just that you have the training and expertise and support, my hope for you tonight is that when you take that education and

to conquer the towers and get ready to take the leap that you will be blessed to remember to focus on the most important thing of all and that is the way to conquer the fear of taking on that next great leap of faith is to make sure in all that you do that you focus on the sun and the her right -- that you focus on the sun in the horizon. you focus on the one who will give you comfort and stability could concoct are the waves and wind and fear. if you do that, you will have a steady and safe landing. your training will be in place. your fears will be overcome. you will continue to be a success. may god richly bless you as you take on your next leap of faith. [applause]

>> we're joined by university of illinois english professor, cary inson who has participated that school's commencement selection process. he's also served as president of american association of university professors and his isest book is no university an island, saving academic freedom. thank you for joining us. how does the university of illinois go about screening the they decide to choose for the commencement address? is, my role, we the commencement

speakers who are going to receive an honorary degree, is frequently the case across the country that a commencement speaker would receive an honorary degree. so faculty has about 200 members in it who are elected, at a given show up meeting. and when commencement speakers proposed, we can each get a apy of their vita along with letter explaining why who ever themroposed them considers worthy a commencement speech and degree.ded then we discuss the possible ofple, and on a number occasions we advised that the aiversity not go forward with particular person. in fact, just this year we two people against

and so they weren't used. >> no, i mean all i could say is that this year there were no senior responses. i think part of the problem with doing that is that if we're to turn someone down we really wouldn't want to avoid publicity. embarrasswant to someone, the whole purpose of this is to have a vetting avoids really insulting or embarrassing a speaker. of course that's what's happened on many campuses this year, is the time a speaker gets announced there hasn't been a process, thenng

the protests arrive, and of course a number of speakers have withdrawn, others have been concerned that there would be public demonstrationings. of that is to avoid it and i'm not sure you keep the lid on the names if you expose them to the student body broadly. our viewers to show the recent cartoon in the boston globe on that very issue, it the professors on the dias saying we believe we've someone who will offend no one, and someone is screaming, hold on, isn't that the wal-mart face? typically, is this a sort of process that happens at most that the faculty senate has a strong influence on who is selected? >> unfortunately, many campuses go with just a small committee. i think you have to get a broader field. a commencement speech is a very because people, controversial people speak on time.e campuses all the

they don't always draw a large may speak before their particular constituency on campus. i think it's important that students and faculty be talks on campus and that they have many occasions to listen to controversial points of view. but commencements are odd. first of all, parents are there, there, there are, they're a very large audience, peel tend to one swan around whom a greater degree of built.us can be >> you mentioned the honorary degree. what about the payment for speakers, do most commencement speakers get paid? and in the case where a speaker has withdrawn for whatever reason, would that payment still due? >> i doubt if a payment would still be due in most cases. is that sometimes when an honorary degree is offered,

then there may, the speaker may not get a fee, or the fee the speaker gets may be much lower if there's an honorary degree. money comes and goes, but if you attachednorary degree to your name that stays with you days.the end of your and there are certainly speakers in reallyrought because there's a hope that they have a particular interest in some program that is going to be theiated or is ongoing at university, and really the university is honoring them shared interest and perhaps hoping if it's a wealthy speaker that they'll be donating to the university of the future. cases whereny commencement speakers and in fact degrees are targeted to people of means in the hope that they will really with the university as billion some particular program that the university is concerned

with. typically they're not going to be offered any fee at all. needre wealthy, they don't the university's money. the university needs their money, or wants their money. >> cary nelson is former president of the american association of university presidents and, professors rather, and he serves as an english professor at the university of illinois. our viewers can fine out more at cary-nelson.org. >> i also think, by the way, that once you've announced the speaker,ent withdrawing that invitation or honorarynounced an degree with a speaker, with drawing it is basically an act cowardice and i don't think that should happen. that has happened this year, and deplorable. really when a university doesn't have the courage to stay with its convictions, that's one of the worst things that can happen. it's also possible, in my view, to survive a demonstration at a talk.cement

there's nothing wrong in my view demonstration,ed banners, chants, whatever, for 30 seconds or a minute. and then the people who engage in the demonstration sit down listen to the talk. so a lot of people feel that any unacceptable.is i actually think you can live with a demonstration, so long as are demonstrating accept the notion that they have on.et the speech go what is totally in conflict with academic freedom is if demonstrators try to prevent a speech from taking place. and i think some of the havencement speakers who withdrawn this season have been afraid that they might face that the of demonstration, where aim is actually to violate academic freedom and prevent the continuing. that's happened in noncommencement situations, a lastnumber of times in the few years. that really reflects a failure educate people on campus

about the need to let people they arer say when invited. >> professor nelson, we appreciate you joining us here c-span. >> on the next "washington michael waldman who the the second amendment is most misunderstood part of the rights. and cbs news national correspondent dan raviv on the eastern policy challenges. you can join the conversation on facebook and twitter. live every journal" morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> one of the stories that resonated with me was the moment when they're dithering about need toor not they

inject sea water into unit one. and it's a matter of the clock is ticking and they're just the wire. to the plant superintendent, who in the ebb would have to make the final call, knows it's desperate, they need to get water in there quickly. meanwhile, everybody wants a say. and japaneseials government officials are all just hemming and hawing, and yoshida gets an order from one supervisors that the g.o.p. hasn't signed off on this yet, he's got to hold off. already started. so he basically calls one of his says,people over and okay, i'm going to give an order but ignore it. proclaims, sodly everybody in tokyo can hear, we're going to halt the sea

when in facton, they didn't. was a humanat element in that story, in which japan where ignoring the acting on yourof own is not rewarded. here was a moment where a guy he didn't act, things would go even more worse going.ey were >> more about the tsunami and resulting meltdown, saturday night at 10:00 eastern. ont of book tv this weekend c-span 2. lauren bush lauren, the grn of george h.q. bush accepted this year's j.f.k. profile in current award on behalf of her grandfather for his role in the 1990 budget deal. mayor ofred the former

of -- from boston, this is 45 minutes. . this is 45 minutes. >> good morning, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests. i am ceo of the john f. kennedy library foundation and it is my pleasure to welcome you today encourage14 profiles ceremony. -- profile in courage ceremony. please join me and -- in welcoming our guests. [applause]

it is my great pleasure to introduce the chairman of the kennedy library foundation board of directors who gives endlessly of his time and extraordinary talents to both this institution and to our country. [applause] to welcome everybody here this morning. this is one of the great highlights of the year for this great library and we are honored to have all of you here with us today to celebrate a very special day. as we begin the ceremony, i want to acknowledge a couple of people who are pivotal and we are pleased that they are here today. first, my close friend and a man hisgives whatever he asked, vision, his work indispensable to this institution. not -- do not know

this but it is said that designed the tiffany lantern we will be presenting to our distinguished awardees. that is one of the many things that it does for us and i appreciate that. and rosewelcome ed schlossberg is here today. we are happy to have jack schlossberg. shy in ourt deliberations. we will hear more about jack and a few minutes. i want to extend a warm welcome to our honoree, paul bridges and auren bush who will accept the award on behalf of her grandfather. we also welcome her husband

david lauren and rebecca miller. thank you for being here today. i think that mayor bridges' three children have traveled across from the country to be with him today. we are very happy they could join us today. thank you. [applause] we are honored by the presence of several members of the bush family. president bush's sister, nancy bush-alice is here today. here today. and nancy lack. er husband thomas black. you have made this a very

special occasion for all of us. [applause] extend like to expand -- a special welcome to our current and former public officials who have joined us today. congresswoman donna edwards of maryland. somebody who needs no this libraryat since he is responsible for much of its success. my predecessor and for ms. u.s. senator -- former u.s. senator paul perl. olympiaer senator snowe. former governor johnson a new of new hampshire who was resident bush's white house chief of staff. you special personal thank to former transportation secretary andy card who served president bush and that role is

white house chief of staff. i can tell you he was essential to the success of the september 11 victim compensation fund. he was my of these on at the white house. what andy did i cannot repay him, i will be at his debt forever. thank you very much. [applause] both of whom served into poetic posts in president bush's administration. thank you for being here. a special thank you to [inaudible] in 2006ived the award and is with us to salute the newest recipients. a past winner of the award. we would like to thank -- there you are. thank you. youfinally a special thank in these -- and the introduction

of distinguished guests to our dinner chair and two nights award dinner who helped make this year's dinner and unprecedented success in terms of diversity, amount of money raised by the number of people coming. i have known him for six years, he is from brockton. bob epstein. thanks very much. we could not do any of the things that we do without the wisdom, generosity, the at theent of my board kennedy library foundation. the board of directors. i see some of them here today. i want to acknowledge and thank our or numbers who are with us and for all they do for this institution. board members sprinkled around this audience, thank you very much. finally before introducing our extend myer, i must

personal gratitude and the gratitude of the board to the two key people who run this institution day and and day out and they do it with the type of selfless energy that guarantee success. , heather new ceo campion. and the director of the kennedy presidential library and museum. my good friend tom putnam. [applause] forank them and the staff the work that you guys do in making this day possible and making this institution so relevant and important. id now, ladies and gentlemen, would like to introduce the chairman of the profile in courage award committee who leads the committee with humor, and a, a bit of courage,

great sense of empathy i think is a fair word in trying to deal with all of the committee members who work so diligently to select annual awardees. my good friend, loyal chairman, i do not know what i would do with ken -- without him, al hunt. [applause] >> thank you and welcome. i know what is on everyone's mind out there right now. lauren loan one of her jack?ather's socks to we will find out. it is my pleasure to work with a really distinguished group.

as ken alluded to, there are no shrinking violets in this group which makes it even more rewarding. most of the members of the committee are here today and i would like them to stand as we show our appreciation for their tremendous service to this institution. satcher paul kirk, senator olympia snow, congress one donna , elaine adam frankel david martha minnow, and [inaudible] thank you all. in addition to selecting the inspiring recipients of this year's profile in courage award we also choose the winner of the profile in urge sa -- courage essay.

9000 students in 41 states, washington dc, the virgin islands, canada, france, and korea submitted their essays about political courage. some of our judges are here with us today. i would like to ask them to stand as we acknowledge the service they provide. i also want to take a moment to express thanks to the wonderful people of john hancock, which provides invaluable financial support to the profile in courage as a contest. now to the winner of the 20 14th contest.

freshman at palisades charter high school in california, where he is involved in social justice. he saw this as an opportunity to address these subjects with a broader audience. little did he realize how broad this audience might be. ben is a scientist and filmmaker. he placed second in c-span's student documentary competition. he is also involved in the school's robotics team and the santa monica amateur shauna mccullough. he originally wrote a different essay for this contest. he continued researching and writing and thinking about the concept up political kerch, and -- kerch, and he told me he finished that essay. he concluded the subject that concluded his essay did not all

fight to the standard he aspired. so he continued searching and found one that exemplified courage.l less than a year after the shootings in colorado, john morris risked his political career to lead a passage of a new gun safety measure in colorado. he was recalled from office last fall in a special election organized by the opponents of the new legislation. since i have been on this committee i have never seen such impressive essays. was a runawayben winner. when you start placing your bets on the national office in 44 or 48, put money on ben. it has been a great pleasure that i present the citation that accompanied by $10,000 to recognize ben's outstanding

writing on the topic of courage aseand described by president kennedy's in courage."cs om ben? [applause] i was still trying to think doingwhat my kids were when they were freshmen. ib do not wante tongo there. prize is partly a college savings plan. he is joined by his parents and his brother. please stand?ily

now a word about ben's nominating teacher. every student who submits an essay is required to have a nominating teacher who provides guidance and support during the research and writing process. we call it editor's, and sometimes they are our worst enemies. they are invaluable. his teacher is essential to this. we rely on them to encourage students to participate in the contest and help them submit thoughtful, compelling, and well-written essays. we would like to a college sarah rosenthal who could not be here today because of family obligations. sarah will receive a john f. tonedy public service award encourage civic engagement. now i want to give thanks and a big round of applause to all of theirsay participants, families, teachers, school

administrators who made this program so successful this year. thank you very much. [applause] >> now it is my pleasure to theoduce jack schlossberg, son of caroline kennedy and the grandson of president kennedy. he just drove in after finishing can nowl exams, so he officially say he is a senior at yale. you know, some people after you take final exams, some students worry about what the results exames.-exams- ya when he is not writing op- eds, he writes for the yale "

herald," serves as an emt, and he is the newest member of the profile in courage award committee. like his grandfather, he is no shrinking violet. he left all of us know including the chair exactly what he thought about generational gaps and things in gender and diversely, and very big for my very helpful. [laughter] he has taken on his work with wisdom, with gusto. he is very fortunate willing to serve. ladies and gentlemen, it is my great privilege to introduce jack schlossberg, who will the 2014 profile in courage award recipient. thank you. >> thank you. if you ever want my criticism on anything, you just give me the

word and i will be happy to. on behalf of my family i join them in welcoming you today. my mother usually presents this award, and she would have loved to be here today, but she would to for being ariga here with us. this is been a proud day for my family, a day would come to celebrate my grandfather's memory, and to honor president kennedy's service. he once said that nation reveals thelf by the met in honors, men it remembers. he looked to the past two examples of men and women who made sacrifices for democratic ideals, human rights, scientific progress, and love of country, for guidance and inspiration as he welcome the challenges of his day. we honor his memory by giving this award. we celebrate courage today in a moment of profound change and

challenge in the world gripped by partisan inaction. all too often our political discourse punishes those who are brave enough to take for the taxes who forgo self interests and compromising for the greater good. a nation is always needed leaders to lead us toward top for as president kennedy wrote, it is on national issues, matters of conscience which challenge regional loyalties that the test of her age is -- of courage is presented. today we celebrate two courageous men. 2009, paul bridges knocked on the door when he ran for a mirror in georgia. georgia.r in he said he wanted to make his town a more fair and prosperous place. 2011ced a tough choice in

when the legislature passed a law that threatened the local farm economy and promised to separate undocumented parents, children, brothers, and sisters from their families. to offer is police officers demand citizenship documentation during routine traffic stops. it criminalized housing and transport of undocumented immigrants. it restricted access for people without legal immigration status. he realized it was separate families he knew, families that were part of the fabric of the communities, and he would no longer to give them a ride when they need them. you have to break with his party and with much of his constituency to oppose a law that he believed was unjust. ther bridges summoned currenourage. stand wasrinciple to attacked by local and national the-immigration groups,

town became an unlikely stage for the debate over national immigration reform. reelection became impossible. when his term ended, his commitment to reform did not, and despite his opponents'best efforts, he still calls his town is home. he wrote a man does what he must in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers. that is the basis of all human morality. it is my honor to present the 2014 john f. kennedy profile courage award to john bridges.

>> good morning. people whohere with people like me only see about on television, it is incredible to be here. thank you very much for allowing me to be here. members of the john f. kennedy profiles encourage award committee, it is a privilege to be here with you. thank you for this moment. i want to thank my family and friends for being here in boston for the special day, and especially my partner rebecca, and my three wonderful, amazing children, paul, cameron, and leah. thank you for your support. i am humbled by this honor. i'm still in disbelief. have not quite recovered from

the shock of a young man called me on my cell phone telling me that he's president kennedy's grandson, and i will never forget the intense emotion of that moment when i realized the magnitude of what jack was offering me. to consider that a kennedy, a member of the family that my own family loved and cherished and admired and respected, called me forward to recognize me from es andtrue hero courageous people. it goes beyond my ability to comprehend, but i am here, jack. thank you. when president kennedy was inaugurated, and when he laid down the challenge for generations to follow when he said ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. how incredible that me, the 10th 12,, born to dirt poor

farmers was chosen for this recognition. it just does not happen. we had a pot bellies dove in the kitchen. as a young child my daddy and my family farm our 55 acres withtw two mules. .e had a single milk cow [laughter] we did not have indoor plumbing or even running water. but we did have lively conversations. particularly, about politics. daddy was a southern democrat and complained that he would not do any good to vote because mama would be in the next booth. i was a member of our high school's first fully integrated graduating class. country'sive our

institutionalized racism. how fortunate that i have the experience them at the power, and the richness that comes with the diversity. it is good to know diverse city. in 1999, i met a person living in a trailer in the cotton field with a host of others, and working in the onion field and baling pine straw. we were instant friends and he remains my closest friend to this day. grandpa.est calls me his older daughter is with us. [applause] 13 years ago he moved to the united states with his wife, a daughter, and a son. on their journey, they were held

this side of the border with only the clothes on their backs. as a parent i cannot imagine the terror of traveling to the desert separated from your young children. me, ih my parents before understand the passionate desires to make a better life for my children and to make sure that they have a better education and better opportunities than i did. and that they are happy and free to be the very best that life offers to them. while i am honored to receive this award i know in my heart that it did not take courage to speak the truth. just a profound sense of injustice and a willingness to speak up in the knowledge that there are millions of others out there who feel the same way. this is all that i have really done, to speak up, to speak the truth about the unfairness of our current immigration system. inas asked to run for mayor

2009. we completed three years of missing financial audits, installed new computer systems, and bought pewter. science and many other long do improvements. the townspeople revive the old time form testable, typical mayor stuff, and for two great years of was great. that was to change quickly. when the red states began passing their own so-called immigration laws, i could see prejudice rising its ugly head. georgia passed a law that created criminals out of ordinary people. grandparents who invited their own children's wife or husband into their homes could be subjected to a year in jail. a son driving his mother to the grocery store to become a felon. mixed family

suddenly found themselves contrary to the law. yes, i spoke out against the new law. it did not feel courageous for me to tell the truth. dhi said if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth. after years of condemning the aclu -- [laughter] i must publicly apologize to them. [laughter] that i called because of its attack on our families would not have been overturned had it not been for this dedicated group of civil liberties organizations. along with the southern poverty law center. they now have my heart. attacksly, those continue. my state will not allow undocumented students to attend select universities. even if an honor graduate had

attended kindergarten through the 12th grade, in georgia and the student is undocumented, they have to pay out-of-state tuition. to not issuealk is birth certificates to the babies if their parents are undocumented. how can what i just say not jolted your conscience? there are two things i want to leave you with. irst, how profoundly grateful am that you bestowed this national honor, the nobel prize public service, on me. secondly, that we as a nation can no longer leave hard-working, family-oriented god fearing people to walk in the shadows or to live in the terror of losing a loved one to deportation. we must allow those who put food on every american dinner table the opportunity of upward movement.

we must find a way, and we must find a way now. we would have to repent in this generation, not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. again, i want to say thank you very much, and it is a plea see you and it is wonderful to be here. thank you. >> in 1990, america needed a different kind of political courage.

with a deficit that had tripled america last decade, needed responsible action from its leaders in washington. president george h w bush needed to get difficult choice in order to solve the problem. he would have to compromise with democrats and risk his political future. he had promised americans no new taxes during the presidential campaign two years earlier and was voted into office on a promise. he had also promised to serve his country, and he decided that was the promise he would keep. both parties compromise to pass the 1990 on a missed budget reconciliation act that raised taxes. the president who began the year with overwhelming national approval ratings ended it with far less support and became the target of attacks from both sides of the aisle. the budget deal enacted needed reforms at the expense of his popularity and his chances for reelection.

america's gains was president bush's loss. of amakes him the example modern profile in courage that is all too rare. we wish president bush could be with us today, but we are so happy that lauren bush lauren is here to accept the award on behalf of her grandfather. she is the chairman of the board of a foundation, an organization that raises funds for united nations world food program's efforts to feed schoolchildren around the world. the foundation with its partners has provided 60 million free meals to kids around the world. to inviterhonor lauren bush lauren to accept the john f. kennedy profile in courage award on behalf of her grandfather, george herbert walker what shobush.

[applause] thank you, jack. you, all, and it is such an honor for me and for my grandfather and for my whole family. i would like to start by reading a short message from my grandfather. my sincere thanks to the john f. kennedy library foundation and their selection committee for the decision they rendered that led to stay's proceed -- to today's proceedings. i hope the vote was not too close for the members [laughter] i recall how shortly after leaving the white house the school district board right used to live in texas decided to name a local elementary school after yours truly. after it passed by a landslide 3-2 vote -- [laughter] twoas explained that the

dissenting votes were based on the fact that we normally only name things after dead people. [laughter] 7/8, let me assure you your kind words mean a lot to me, and to receive this award that bears such an illustrious name means more than mere tongue can tell. i'm sorry i cannot be there in person, but a nasty rumor spread that your menu encompassed a deconstructed study in broccoli. [laughter] specialamely sense of a emissary to confront the floret s. thank you for remembering what our team tried to do those many years ago. one thing is sure. 7/8, iday at age 89 still have a zest for living. most of you have seen his crazy socks.

all come in all colors and patterns. more recently, there was even a youtube video of him grabbing to an mc hammer song. even if my grandfather is not sure what a homeboy is and he loves that video. to imagine how resident kennedy with his love of skinny ties and passion for life would have shown much of the same style and panache had he been given that lessing of old age. of course, we're here to recognize and celebrate a singular act of political courage. century ago, when politics and our world was different. i looked at the circumstances surrounding the 1990 budget the, and i was struck by challenges we're facing at that point in our history. that fall my grandfather sent ,000 troops halfway

around the world. meanwhile, he was helping to engineer the reunification of germany that october, and managed reforms that led to the peaceful end of the cold war. on top of that, he was also the second president elected to serve a full term in office without party control in either the senate or the house. that made progress, any progress, domestically, very difficult. candidly speaking, my grandfather did not want to but ourxes in 1990, constitutional system of governance says congress also gets a say. besides that, he felt he owed the american people action and results. compromise is a dirty word in washington today because we live in an age of the perpetual campaign. once we get back to realizing the importance of actual governance, i suspect this too

will pass. my grandfather wishes to join you in recognizing mayor bridges and congratulating him for his much deserved recognition thizs yes year. we can all hope his example of standing on principle will inspire more elected officials on both sides of the aisle. i suspect isnyone the symbolism of the grandson of a much admired president of the united states conferring a prestigious award that is being accepted by the granddaughter of another president. perhaps the fact that we are brought together in this way and on this day to celebrate the ideals of public service with this honor, perhaps, just maybe, the torch is once again being passed, not from family to family, but from generation to generation. in ours so much need

world, so much hurt and our world. it will take all of us to meet those challenges. but fortunately, we are lucky to have had and have leaders like john kennedy, like george bush, like barbara bush -- i have to include her or i will be in trouble -- [laughter] to inspire uses and help to lead us forward. on behalf of george h.w. bush and our entire family, i want to say thank you. thank you. [applause] >> just hearing are very speakers today reaffirms what president kennedy said, however he single individual in our

country and making difference. and we just saw the examples today, how every single individual can make a difference to our country. before we adjourn, i would like to ask ed schlossberg and rose jack on theto join stage and pose with a photo for bush bridges and lauren with their awards. remain seated until our honorees have left the room, and then we invite all of us to join our celebration at a reception in the lobby outside. thank you for being here today. this is a great aid for the library and for america. thank you very much. [applause]

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [applause] [applause]

he fought like crazy. it started with wilson in the 70's so that was an epic battle. when you look at the social united states said how cold he was, you want to remember that they were probably also from families that endorsed different policies. especially alice longworth whose father had a different model. let's get them go active, and here was coolidge and not giving out favors so she said he looked as if he had been weaned on a pickle. his was cultural. farmers don't talk a lot.

if you've lived there and it was temperamental, he was a shy person. but it also had a political purpose. he knew that if he didn't talk a lot people would stop talking and of course a president or political leader is constantly bombarded with requests and his silence was his way of not giving in to special interests. and he articulated that quite explicitly.

>> we went through a lot together. we have visited the wounded together. and pete, since retiring as vice chief of staff of the army, where we was deeply involved in issues of post traumatic stress, traumatic

brain injury, i truly think no one cares more than pete about the future of our wounded veterans and he is now with one mind where they and he dedicate his time to continue to help those same veterans. general, i want you to talk about those obstacles and the health and wellness of our veterans as they go forward into civilian life. according to the president's report 265,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen marines and coast guardsmen have come back with traumatic brain injury. there are 3.4 million americans every single year that suffer

some kind of head trauma. you saw the numbers of 2.5 million at 20% that adds up being probably 500,000 folks. if you take those numbers as being gospel, with post traumatic stress. 8% of the population. 8% of our population is expected to have post traumatic stress sometime in their life. it's just not caused by combat. most of the work that's been done to understand post traumatic stress has been done on folks -- ladies -- who have been swallly assaulted. 74% of women who are sexual assaulted develop post traumatic stress. that's why i'm so happy that president bush dropped the d. i can't imagine telling a woman who has been sexual assaulted that because she has a reaction to her relationship after that that she has a disorder. as we talk about this, and

quite frankly i started talking about it because i didn't know what they were. i spent two tours in iraq and afghanistan i came back the docks put a slide in front of me that showed that 37% of our most wounded had traumatic brain injury or post traumatic stress in 2008 i didn't know what they were. i knew that i had some combat stress folks that get up and see platoons and companies that had bad days. i knew what my football coach told me about concussions. shake it off and get back in the game. i started learning about it and i found out even the professionals don't know that much about it. the only way we diagnose these two things are with tests. 20 questions for post traumatic stress and a cognitive test if you bump your head. so i think it's always important to put in context that yes the numbers are great, yes they affect service

members, but the large majority of service members coming back from iraq and afghanistan don't have post traumatic stress and don't have traumatic brain injury. that doesn't mean we don't need to highlight it and talk about it because that's how you get people in to get the help that they need. >> and for them to talk about it as well. ken fisher who is the chairman and ceo of the fisher house foundation i think everyone in this room knows what the fisher house foundation does for our veterans and especially during that government shutdown when you were just amazing with the families and supporting those families. for those who lost loved ones. i want you ken fisher to talk about how important it is for the support of those families, the work you do and the support that the families give the veterans in terms of success when they transition. veteran d of get the or the service man or woman and

their family when their lives have been flipped upside down. too often the call comes in, the family has to mobilize very quickly. they have to get from point a to point b because that's what's done, that's what neets to be done. can you imagine being in the hospital and not having your family there? so at fisher house we kind of facilitate getting to the bedside of the loved one through a myriad of our programs and service that is we provide. he families bear burdens and are subject to sacrifices that the average american has no concept of. we average americans don't have any clue as to what happens to these families especially at this time. when you think about what's going on in their lives, the world does not come to a grinding halt. bills still have to be paid. mortgages have to be paid.

children have to be raised. schools. there's multiple trips back and forth that families have to make. the whole soldier, you've heard that term. that includes the family. so the family plays a very vital role in the rehabbing of the soldier. of the service man or woman. and even of the veteran. so fisher house plays a role there. we have seen the families, we have seen the impact that is the family has. so we get them very early on. and it's always very gratifying to know we played a role when the veteran comes out ultimately and does enter the private sector and does get employment. the ones that don't, we try and play a role there. we try and provide mentoring wherever it's possible. i make myself available as much as i can to do that. but then remember that there are other issues, too.

if a veteran does have post traumatic stress, the family suffers as well. so what we need to do is when we talk about education, we need to also educate the families. we need to make them aware of the signs, of the early signs of post traumatic stress so that we don't get into substance abuse, so that we don't get into domestic violence and the other issues that have become very, very much a part of the picture. >> also with us is wayne robinson. you are a post 9/11 veteran yourself retired command sergeant major, but more importantly for you right now director of student veterans of america. talk about your work and particularly educating those returning vets. the give bill is amazing. some of those