to the next level, give people better outcomes, decrease the cost of care mr. baker.bigger -- life the most important decisions that matter with respect to health care and inerage are made by people massachusetts. the main reason i support pursuing a waiver not knowing that the whole thing was going to blow up was because i wanted massachusetts to continue to be in the drivers seat and control its own destiny. people takeat personal. to have the ability to make decisions about our health system work's. ar losing control of that.

>> if your child has a brain tumor you want him to go to children's hospital. if your sister is suffering from breast cancer you want her in a good hospital. people come from all over the world to get their health care here. we do have health care focused -- we have been able to put together with a republican governor and democratic are pursuant -- consumers, health care reform ,hat said let's cover people keep equality, and address costs. we need some waivers from the federal government has looked for. we know what we want. >> we should have gotten a waiver for those standards. more broadly we have to change the economic model of health care. , what iske maryland

the risk of care onto hospitals. they raised their prices paid every time you pay higher insurance premiums it is because the enabling of the republicans and democrats working together, becoming a monopoly and the government allowing this to take lace. as voters we are not going to get different results if we keep going down the same path. i have a clear plan on how we will change the economics. >> anyone? >> we have to have a governor who can bring people together. this is how you solve problems. we have world-class administrators and technologists. it is going to take everyone, including providers and payers that can come up with common solutions. this does not make sense if we andall physically fit fiscally bankrupt.

we have to do this together. lacks the dollars that are being sent to those hospitals because the way they extort the market is the issue that we face for development in the next administration. i'm willing to call a congress for what it is and take steps necessary. insurance the corporate models versus the government socialist model is a false choice. there is a middle path of nonprofit risk pools that are much less costly where people are not restricted in their doctors and hospitals and where are stakeholders in the billing process, which has a substantial downward pressure on costs. >> as we move away from fee-for-service trying to get into our communities health, it is the one way we are going to address mental health care and behavioral health care. it is a huge issue in massachusetts.

it is expensive. we don't deal with it. it creates a nightmare for those who suffer from mental illness and their families. >> i have to say that four of us on this panel today have talked about the waivers the commonwealth should have pursued instead of going down the road of full speed ahead into the affordable care act. only one of us who could've done something about that. as we sit here today we have a broken website, we used to have the best in the country. now we have the worst. we have spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. >> this debate and many others are at our website. we want to go live to atlanta to hear from the cdc director tom friedman and the deputy assistant secretary for homeland security on the ebola situation and the latest on the screenings in the u.s. -- >> we learned today that he

passed away. our thoughts go out to his family and friends. he is a face that we associate now with ebola. since the start of the epidemic, -- 3742 patients have been documented to have died. we don't have their faces in front of us. we know even more people have been affected. we think about this and we remember what a deadly enemy ebola is great how important it is that we take every step possible to protect americans and stop the outbreak at its source. one of the things that we do to protect americans here in the united states is to improve our preparedness and our health care system. first,ee key steps are thinking of the possibility of ebola, and identifying who may

have the disease so they can be rapidly tested, and third, effectively isolated. that is crucial for a response. andidentification, diagnosis,, and safe care of anyone who may have ebola needs to be top of mind right now for health care providers throughout the country. at cdc be did quite a bit to support health care workers in addressing and assessing patients. we have provided detailed information that should be available to every front-line worker about how to address a patient who may have ebola. anyone with fever should be asked if they have been in west africa, specifically sierra leone and liberia in the past 21 days. , and ifssed appropriate, tested for ebola. we provide health alert network

switch reach hundreds of thousands of health care workers. we do webinars and reach out to associations, emergency departments, medical associations, and many others so that we can ensure that the available information is up to date and useful. right now the bottom line of what we are talking about today is that we are stepping up protection for people coming into this country and for americans related to travel. we will continuously look at ways that we can increase the safety of americans. we do that at many different levels we do that in dallas where officials there are working intensively to monitor every person who might have had contact with the patient to ensure that if they do develop fever they are immediately isolated and the chain of transmission can be broken. we do that in our health-care

system with the kind of outreach i have described. so patients will be rapidly diagnosed and if found to have ebola, rapidly isolated. we do that at the source understanding that until this outbreak is over in west africa whatever we do can't get the risk to zero here in the internet -- interconnected world that we live in today. we do that through intra-and travel programs, including the efforts that we undertake in west africa and some that will be described in more detail later in this briefing. i think before turning it over to the jeopardy -- deputy secretary i would like to emphasize the basic principles we use when looking at interventions. ways tonuously evaluate better protect americans. protecting americans is our number one priority.

we make sure that whenever we do is something that works, that we evaluate, that we can think of ways to continuously improve. third, we recognize that whatever we do until the outbreak is over cannot get the risk to zero in this country. that is why we continue to surge the cdc response in west africa and the u.s. response in west africa, and the international response, where we seen hundreds of health care workers, hundreds of millions of dollars, and affecting those countries paid as we say in health care, above all, do no harm. we have to ensure that whatever we do doesn't unintentionally increase the risk that we will be at risk. just mind is of what happened a decade ago in the sars outbreak, sars cost of the world more than

$40 billion. it wasn't to control the outbreak. those were costs from unnecessary and ineffective travel restrictions and trade changes that could have been avoided. what we want to do is ensure that we don't undermine our ability to stop the outbreak at its source and unintentionally increase our risks here. outline the new measures being taken and reviewed, i will turn it over now to deputy .ecretary >> thank you very much dr. freeman. the department of homeland security is focused on protecting the air travel and is taking steps to ensure that passengers with communicable diseases like ebola are screened , isolated, and safely referred to medical s&l. we have implemented a range of measures to ensure a layered

approach. today the existing measures --lude issuing do not orders do not board orders to airlines if the cdc and the department of state determines a passenger is a risk to the traveling public. providing information and guidance about ebola to the airlines. airports toces at raise awareness about ebola, and providing a health notice commonly referred to as a care seat -- care sheet to travelers entering in the united states that have traveled from or transited through the affected countries. with information and instruction should be concerns of possible infection. announcing, enhanced

measures, specifically the enhanced screenings that will consist of targeted questions, temperature checks, and collection of contact information of travelers from the affected countries entering the united states at five airports. newark, douglas, chicago o'hare, and atlanta. customs and border control ,fficers by way of background they will observe all passengers for overt signs of illnesses, through visual observation and questioning as appropriate. for those entering the united states at all with the entry. in addition, moving forward all travelers arriving to the airports identified in the united states from liberia, sierra leone, will undergo the increase to measures. they will answer targeted

questions about whether they have had contact with ebola patients. we will collect additional us-based contact information should cdc need to contact them. finally, we will take their temperature with a noncontact barometer which can be a key indicator of potential infection. we are taking these additional measures in a ensure a layered approach and that we take the security measures that we assess to be needed right now. back.hat, i will turn it >> before opening for questions i would recap that starting a jfk on saturday and at the other airports that were mentioned in the following week, these

airports represent 94 percent of who arrive from these three countries. the department of homeland implementing ae new detailed questionnaire as well as a temperature taking and providing information to each traveler. if any travelers are found to either have a fever or have a history of contact with ebola in the on-site centers for disease control and prevention public health officer will further interview the inter-visual -- the individual and take a divisional -- take additional action as needed. i want to emphasize this is stepping up protection. it is going to find people with fever or contacts who don't have ebola. we know that over the past

couple of months one out of every 500 travelers boarding a plane has had a fever. most of those had malaria. none of those as far as we know have been diagnosed with ebola. we expect to see some patients with fever. that will cause some obvious and understandable concern. minute like to spend a talking about malaria. it is important to understand how it is relevant here. malaria is spread by mosquitoes. it cannot get it from someone else. which ins a disease west africa is extremely common. it is also a disease which traditionally has been known in health care as a fever that comes and goes. it may come for 48 hours and

then go away for three days. it comes back every two or three days. it would not be surprising if we sell individuals with malaria have a fever after coming back here. that might be common presentation among those who have fever, if any such people are identified. wes is why incidentally strongly encourage americans traveling to areas of the world that had malaria to take preventive medications which are highly effective at preventing malaria. what we would do in this situation is a clinical assessment and exposure assessment. we would then hand the individual off to either the local health care system that might need to assess and isolate individual and test them, or to the local public-health system which would, if the person is actually a contact, take appropriate action and ensure

their temperature is taken every day for 21 days after the last exposure. before taking questions i would reiterate what we're doing is stepping up protection. we will evaluate the new measures and start them on saturday at jf k and over the coming weeks at the other airports i mentioned read we will if i wake this experience. we are always looking at ways to better prepare americans. we will start with questions. wait for the microphone. >> there are some critics who say that even with these efforts that people will fall through the seams, that it will not be enough to read will these efforts be enough to protect the country? are doing is putting in additional protections. we have been very clear that as long as ebola continues to spur -- to spread in africa we cannot make the risk zero here.

we wish that we could. i understand there have been to west ban all travel africa. the problem with that approach is that it makes it extremely difficult to respond to the outbreak. it makes it hard to get health workers in because they cannot get out. it would make it harder to respond to the outbreak in west africa it will spread not only in those three countries but to other parts of africa and we will ultimately increase the risk here. that is why the concept of above all doing no harm is so important. and? -- next question? i am wondering about some screening at airports. how effective is this a finding sick people? different looked at screening methods at different times. the thermometers that are used are highly effective. they are fda up and for use in u.s. hospitals. they do not require touching the

patient and they get a reliable result. is there anything more you would like to say about prior offense? >> i do not believe so. >> what is the legal authority the federal government has to hold american citizens if they need to be quarantines? there are some experts that say it is like looking for a needle in a haystack and the effect of what is happening today is to calm the public panic about ebola, that the risk and the usefulness of catching people with it is low but the effect is to calm people down. >> a couple of points. that the point is number of travelers is relatively small. we're talking about 150 print day. it is not an effort that would be particularly disruptive to large numbers of people. we think it is manageable.

in terms of the legal authorities both within the public health and within the border efforts there are legal authorities and public health. there is a right to protect the public. we can do that by isolating individuals who may be infectious or a risk to the public. >> thank you. i would just amplify that response. in our screening we have the measures withake respect to u.s. citizens as well as non-citizens to ensure that the public safety or security is not threatened. in the public health arena just as it is in the national security arena. >> we will go to the phone for the next question. today, from cbs news.

all wecdc has said that need are face masks, gowns, and gloves. then you see these hazmat suits. i'm wondering if ironically any consideration is being given to the possibility that this suit is increasing the risk of contamination because in taking them off someone can be contaminated. >> thank you. there is definitely a balance here. the more cumbersome and equipment it is, the greater possibility of a problem. in west africa we have seen needle sticks with clean needles by through infected contaminated gloves. it is difficult to work in more cumbersome equipment. that is why we're looking at as many practical approaches that

will still being safe. we recognize there is concern with the infection in spain, with the infections in west africa to make sure that our health care workers or say. that is why the cdc has infection control experts who worked intensively with any facility concerned about or has a patient with ebola. question? taking my callr and you may have explained this and the previous conference call. explain to us whether, stunk and was eligible to receive blood the hospital? what specific questions about the care of the patient who died would have been referred to the hospital there. i would remind us that ebola, even with the best of treatment

is a terrible disease. in a high proportion of cases. we encourage rapid and early diagnosis because the earlier someone is diagnosed the more likely they will be to survive. what information can you tell us about a possible second patient in texas? do you know whether this person was in contact with mr. duncan? was he recently west africa? >> my understanding, this is recent information, we will get definitive information the next few hours, there is someone who does not have either definite contact with ebola or definite symptoms even ebola who was being assessed. what we expect is that as people are more concerned, as there is a higher index of suspicion, people will be upset.

that is is how it should be buried we should keep in perspective. right now there is only one patient ever in the u.s.. the individual tragically died today i read we are tracing the with contact and of them as of today have had theodore symptoms, suggestive of ebola. we recognize we are not out of period .ing it is a time when we are anxious and assessing. peoplehe one of the monitoring? >> and to get back to you on that. my understanding is that he had neither a definite contact nor definite symptoms. >> the los angeles times.

given the demand for manpower and supplies in west africa, are the critical resources that are being diverted for screening processes that could be better utilized on the ground in west africa or elsewhere? >> to screening program here is not diverting from or undermining our efforts in west africa. the temperatures will be taken under the supervision of customs and border protection. the cdc already does a staff patients. we wanted to add a small number of additional staff to provide 24/7 coverage at these airports. it is in no way going to make it more difficult for us to stop the outbreak in africa. >> earlier you talked about the added level of screening includes checking temperatures. if the symptoms don't show up for anyone days how does that help? >>. looking at every layer that can be put in.

the assessing and the possibilities of what can be done. one of the issues is the information provided to travelers who arrive in this country. that is provided in west africa and here through the cbp entry station through information. that is one of the areas we will be looking at closely. describe where the decision to do this additional screening at her words came from? did it originate in homeland security or in the white house? i ask because i know you were critical of taking this step a week ago. can you tell us more about the quarantine facility is? will they be at each of these airports? will be staffers be wearing protective gear?

>> i will ask the deputy secretary to continue. have said consistently we will do whatever is effective to protect americans. this is a whole of government response. we look carefully to seeing what we can do and do most effectively to protect americans. the remark.cho this has been a collective effort across the administration outbreak ofo this ebola in west africa. the individual customs and border protection officers will not be wearing masks. it has been a medical assessment of the need now. thank you.

>> are there quarantine stations? >> yes. can't said that we eliminate the threat to the united states until we take care of the outbreak overseas. can you see to the state of the international response? what is the situation there? surging enoughg resources to the country and to each of the three countries. we're surging out to each of the counties and districts within the countries. these are three countries that have different epidemics. liberia has had the most extensive so far. there have been in some areas some decreases in recent weeks. we do not know if those will hold. in sierra leone we see increases of cases that are concerning. ande are increases decreases, and we are monitoring that closely. we have seen a strengthened response from the world health organization and the united

nations. we have seen many countries stepping up, including the united kingdom. atyou look at sierra leone our efforts as an example to do laboratory work, the cdc operates several of the essential laboratories in these countries. ,n addition, the united kingdom south africa, russia, china, andda, the european union, i'm leaving out a few, they do laboratory works. there has been a strong international response to challenge. seeing in west africa some signs of progress. we are seeing more safe burials in liberia. we have contacted organization that is expanding from the country to provide safe burial service. we are working with communities to do that an increase isolation and treatment capacity. i think we are beginning to see

that search response have an impact on the front lines. it is going to be a long fight. we are far from being out of the woods. been a major effort from the u.s. and other partners . we hope and expect to see more resources coming in from countries around the world matching the leadership the u.s. is showing. right now the biggest challenge is getting resources needed to the front lines where they are most needed. we will go to the phones. from next question is maryland. >> i wanted to ask about a situation in suburban dallas. he said the person does not have definite contact with ebola or definite symptoms. do they have possible context?

>> since it is a merging situation i would have to refer you to dallas. often in situations like this information may change from minute to minute. i would reiterate what i said earlier we do not have a concern for symptoms consistent with ebola or for definite contact as far as everything that i have learned up to a few minutes ago. >> my question is regarding air travel. the new procedures for the different airports. is there a special procedure or guidance given to the airlines when thinking about cleaning an aircraft that has just arrived from west africa? is that a precaution to take? can you explain what the airline should be doing in that regard? >> we have detailed the guidelines and work closely with the airline industry. there are guidelines if the have

a patient potentially with ebola for enhanced cleaning of the airplane. would like more you to add? >> i do not. >> let's go to people who haven't asked questions. diagnosesed earlier increased the chance of survival. given the delay amid i know that did thatagnoses, contribute to his death? it is ambiguous with the communication failure was at that hospital. how can americans be confident that other hospitals are not going to make the same mistake? >> i can't comment on what might have happened with an individual patient. things we're working hard to promote is ensuring that doctors and nurses, pharmacists, health care workers throughout the system think ebola. anyone who has fever and asks

whether they have been in africa in the past 21 days. that is important. that will help us ensure that if there is another patient who arrives they are rapidly identified for their own sake and their care to isolate them promptly. question,ng up on the we have heard about who this person is in frisco, texas. , all all 48, are they being monitored with a personal temperature check? if this person was not one of them they would not be getting those checks? >> in texas, intensive work is gone on to identify everyone who had appeared definite contact with the index patient and everyone who might have had contact with the index patient. that identify 10 people with

definite contact and 38 whom content could not be ruled out. everyone of them has been identified, monitored every day when someone from the public health system measuring the temperature with an accurate advice. none of them have had symptoms. none of them have had fever. there have been rumors and concerns other contact or cases. none of them have panned out. i understand there is a situation being assessed. the latest information we have is no definite contact him and no definite symptoms. >> one is that duncan didn't have a fever when he was question, and he lied about his contact. what our screening process be effective in catching him today? can you talk more about what cost the $40 billion in 40 billion -- in the sars epidemic?

it is true that the index patient when he left africa did not have a fever and we think he did have a fever when he arrived here. he became sick 40's after arrival. these questions may have identified him as a contact interviewed by customs and border protection. we are looking at every step that can be taken to increase the likelihood that if somebody arrives and developed ebola they will be rapidly diagnose an isolated. in terms of the costs of sars, many of those were related to people canceling travel, to trade restrictions, or tray that did not occur. i have spoken with business leaders who emphasize that there are so many misconceptions about ebola that they are already seeing things like a reduction in investment in parts of africa that are not in any way involved

in the ebola outbreak. we are concerned if we don't ensure that we focus on what works and do that well we may have that same kind of unnecessary and counterproductive costs year. . >> i wanted to ask a question about the difference in care between, stared duncan and kent bradley. you are referring those questions to the hospitals. >> i would, that each patient situation is different. z-mapp, aely promising treatment for ebola is not a volatile -- is not available. there is no more of it in the world. it takes a long time to develop. other medications, it is up to the treating physicians and the

family of whether or not to use it. that is all i would have to say at this point. next question? are these announced measures the extent of the new protocols or is there more to come? >> first off screening of outbound travelers is already underway. it has been for some time. every person leaving has their temperature taken with an fda approved devices. every person leaving is monitored for fever. over the last two months we have andtified 74 with fever three others with symptoms that resulted in the not working the plane. outbound travel is being monitored now. we are always looking at all the programs to see how they can be

better or more effective. one of the things that we will be looking at is how this program goes starting at jfk and rolling up to the other airports in england what can be done as we continuously work to increase safety and -- safety. >> you had mentioned strengthening those outbound screenings. one of th quick follow-ups, how will people be identified a flight out of west africa is a separate booking? >> would you like to respond? >> if i can just add something in response to the immediately preceding question, we are working very closely together

across the administration and we will continue to assess the risk of the spread of ebola into the united states and take additional measures as necessary to protect the american people. it is very important to emphasize the point that dr. friedman made which is we are continuously assessing the situation and taking the measures we deem necessary. we have in our screening -- theities being ability to identify individuals traveling not only with respect to the last point of departure . fine thebed it in a full journey of the individual arriving in the united states. thank you. >> my question to you is the goal has always been to stop the

outbreak at the source. we're seeing that is not the case anymore. decades ago.tified what can you tell us? is ebola here? keep an eye on? >> we have stopped every ebola outbreak until this one. this is an unprecedented outbreak in west africa. the response with a whole of government response point it is going to be a long fight. we remain convinced we can contain the outbreak in west africa. if we fail to do that then it would be a very different situation because it could spread to other parts of africa and could be a longer-term risk to us here. as of today the only patients with ebola in the u.s. are in hospitals. the only risk is among people

who returned the last 21 days. it is important to put into perspective what the risks are. ebola is scary it is a deadly disease. we know how to stop it and we are stopping it in west africa community by community prayed dallas is doing an excellent job of tracing contact to stop it there. health-care workers throughout the u.s. need to think ebola in people who have fever and have returned from each or any of these countries in the past 21 days. two more questions and then we're going to stop. >> earlier the cdc sent out guidelines for handling human remains. can you expand on those guidelines? if the cdc will be playing a role with the dallas victim. >> as in africa, we are concerned that handling individuals who have passed away from ebola is a very high risk procedure. the way ebola works is if you are exposed but not sick you

have no ability to pass it on to others. as you begin to get sick you may be able to pass it on. the sicker you get the higher amount of virus in your body. when somebody dies from it very -- there are large quantities of virus in their body. we have worked to ensure that respectfully and the ability of the family to view the body, the ,atient who died earlier today his human remains will be safely removed and safely handled so that they won't present a risk to anyone in the family or the health care system, and anyone who is participating in the burial.of we have one last question. that will be back to the beginning. about theady know

others, but there were others out here. what happened to that patient? >> we don't reveal individual patients. we certainly revive detailed onsultation from cd seeing every single patient who we find . every single patient who might ebola. so we can provide the expert consultation and ensure they get the care available here. and wrapping up, i would like to thank all of you for your interest. i would like to remind us of the tragedy of ebola for the patient 's family in dallas and for the thousands of families throughout west africa who have been dealing with this terrible disease. i would like to thank the department of homeland security for their partnership in this and for customs and border protection. there, whom wer

have a pretty active -- productive relationship with. we will always look at what works. we will continuously evaluate it and consider what more we can do to keep americans safe. understanding that as long as ebola is spreading in africa it will remain a risk here. we will do everything we can to stop it at the source and to protect americans. thank you. >> two major updates on the ebola story today. tom is eric duncan, the first patient diagnosed in the u.s. and the liberian man at the diedr of a widening scare at a hospital in dallas today. the reporting of the new york times. you may have heard federal officials designating screening

at jfk, new work, dulles international, o'hehir, and -- o'hehir chicago, and atlanta. they say that covers 95% of from places affected by the ebola crisis. looking ahead to political coverage, campaign 2014 coverage continuing tonight with the pennsylvania governors debate between tom corbett and tom wolfe. it is the last meeting between the candidates before the election. racet polling listing the leaning democrats. you can see it live here at 7:00 eastern. over the weekend candidates for forana's house seat met their first televised debate. here is more now. economiconent call for

sanctions against isis. tell me how you put sanctions against a non-nationstate. letter. should write a the issue is that isis is a danger. it is a danger here. you have to have a three-pronged approach. shut down our southern border. security and immigration thread. a nation that can build in can build a fence in the 21st century. unfortunately it is going to call for america to lead. .ou cannot control isis there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that air operations will work. i agree. limit ground forces to special forces to supplying support. make sure coalitions that we choose our watched and efficiently trained to read and

limit our involvement but make sure that isis is destroyed. >> a quick follow up. no one answered how we are paying for this. we have put two wars on the credit card. would you support a war tax to support perpetual war? >> two clearly different approaches to this situation. i am saying we need to be thoughtful and responsible. a letter is not going to get the job done. this is somebody who called for invading mexico a few weeks ago because we have an american in jail in tijuana. that is not the judgment i want representing me in congress. instant reaction to the president's announcement that we would have airstrikes was let's send in more troops. he said a couple of years ago that when the president announced women should serve in combat roles, he said that is nearly certain to cost lives.

that is not the judgment we need in congress. it is a good question. how much is the point to cost? it needs to be debated in congress and authorize. >> had we pay for this? >> by having a strong economy. a navy costs money. bridges, schools. infrastructure. that costs money. we need a robust economy. i know you didn't serve, but he is a marine languishing in a prison for six months. every man and woman, everybody that serves in this country is not sure the america has their back. when america doesn't have their back like benghazi or mexico, what happens is it sends a signal to every veteran

fighting. america is not going to be there. i did not advocate invading mexico. i advocated the president doing his duty to get the marine back. >> a portion of the debate has listed the race as favorite republican. seeing the debate and dozens of others online at c-span.org. we will talk politics on tomorrow's washington journal. latest on u.s. military strikes against isis forces. then the new book all the truth is out which looks at former presidential candida presidential candidate gary arts affair and how it ended hispoine the nature of political coverage. after that your phone calls and coverage on national security concerns.

your facebook comments live tomorrow. weekend, friday night at 9:00 eastern on c-span, a memorial service for president reagan's press secretary. saturday night, colin powell talks about world affairs. a sunday evening at 8:00 robert hender talks about how as a marine in vietnam a landmine explosion nearly killed him and change his life. night, ralph nader talks for an alliance between parties to take on issues that plague america. and why medical science should be doing more for the aging and dying. columnistndicated naomi wine on free market

capitalism. director of the cia museum in virginia, explaining the museum and the agency's history. and the king george's war of the 1740's. how it help the colonists establish regional identities and gain a fighting experience for their own revolution. president for his congressional testimony on the nixon pardon. find out television schedule at c-span.org and let us know what you think about the programs you are watching. , e-mail and comments at c-span.org. join the conversation, like us on facebook. follow us on twitter. >> the secretary of state met

earlier today with british foreign secretary philip hammond at the state department. they held up as conference to discuss several issues including the outbreak of ebola. the competent when russia and the ukraine, and the military action against isis think this is happening all. >> good morning, everybody. i am privileged to be here welcoming our foreign secretary, philip hammond, to the state department. i am eager to work with him and formal partnership that gives full gusto to the meaning of the special relationship to great britain and the united states share. so, it is important for us to

continue, and i think philip mentioned that we probably met eight times already over the course of a few weeks of his being on this job from this -- from defense secretary. we shared a lot in this effort. in the fight against isil, the british people have already borne a heavy burden. it is a pain felt personally by everybody in the united dates and in great britain as well. we have both seen our hostages brutally murdered in barbaric and acts that shock the conscience of the world. the response countries is not to will, it is to fight. to push back against this barbarity. we are doing so. i would like to thank the secretary for the commitment the united kingdom is made to the international coalition to

degrade and a defeat isil over the next months and in the. ahead. the royal air force is now conducting moves against isil in iraq and the united kingdom has provided some of the strongest humanitarian support in iraq. more than $46 million in water shelter -- water, shelter, food, and medicine. the united states and the united kingdom are also standing together as we battle ebola in west africa. we are particularly monitoring this situation and we are very grateful for the way that great written has wrapped up its efforts in sierra leone, including deploying a civil military task force, constructing over 700 beds in the ebola treatment units, providing essential supplies and personnel. president obama has made it crystal clear that ebola is an urgent global crisis that

demands an urgent global response. the united states has intensified every aspect of our engagement, which includes providing ebola treatment unit, recruiting first responders, and supplying a critical set of medical equipment. 48 hours ago president obama another strategy meeting at the white house in order to discuss where we are and where we need to get to. i want to discuss that in a moment. in addition to that i have been in daily contact with roger shock, the usaid director, as well as secretary of state higginbotham and our ebola

coordinator, nancy powell, in order to make sure we are bringing all of our resources to this effort. i am here this morning to make an urgent plea to countries in the world to step up even further. while we are making progress, we are not where we can say where we need to be. there are additional needs that have to be met in order for the global community to be able to properly respond to this challenge and make sure that we protect the people in all of our countries. there are specific needs, and i want to emphasize those needs by showing a few slides, if i can.

as you will see in the first slide to my left ear, we need more countries to move resources of specific kinds. it is not just a question of sending people, though it is vital to send people. we need ebola treatment units, health-care workers, medevac capacity, mobile laboratory and staff, nonmedical support, telecommat and said raiders, public communications capacity, training, construction. we also need large assistance of health systems, strengthening the cash that countries can contribute, budget support, food, and we need ways of getting that equipment to people. all of these things are frankly urgent in order to be able to quickly move to contain the spread of ebola. we need airlines to continue to operate in west africa. we need the borders to remain open. and we need to strengthen the medevac capacity. we need countries to contribute more ebola treatment centers. we need other african treat and countries with the capacity to send wrist funders to join the effort and we need to make sure

that the health care workers who go are properly trained, properly equipped, and supported in order to prevent additional infect. as you can see in the next slide to my left, this gives you a sense of who has contributed and what they have contributed. the fact is that the united kingdom and the united states between them have contributed $120 million to the united nations response. there are smaller countries that have stepped up the plate. some quite remarkably. some smaller countries are contributing way above their per capita population compared to others. the fact is that more countries can and must step up in order to make their contributions felt. this chart tells the story. those are not enough countries to make the difference to be

able to deal with this crisis. we need more nations -- every nation has the ability to do something on this challenge. the next chart will show, as you see, we still have a shortfall of some $300 million. the united nations has identified $1 billion in urgent needs, which is reflected in the pie chart. the world bank has put in 22%. the usa has put in 11%. others -- you can see the tally. but it is unfunded and is a critical component of our ability to meet this challenge. we need people to step up now. now is the time for action, not words. frankly, there is not a moment to waste in this effort. both the foreign secretary and i also remain deeply committed on another issue. that is the question of a europe that is whole and free and at peace.

together with our partners in the european union, the u.s. and the united kingdom are supporting ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. the ukrainian government's efforts to implement important democratic reforms. we agree on the need for russia to withdraw its forces immediately from ukraine, to put an end to his material support for separatist and meet its commitments under the minsk cease-fire, which they have agreed to, and to put in place the peace plan agreements. russia's actions over the past russia's actions have challenged the most a sick edibles of our international system. orders cannot and should not be redrawn at the barrel of a gun. -- we have the right

made it clear that we are prepared to do even more to ensure that the international with onevails and voice we prove that we mean what we say. finally, i want to mention that tomorrow morning we will travel to my hometown of boston. to conont clate change.bility i appreciate foreign cretaries leadershi on th issue. we c concluda new teationaagreemenats bitis,ffective, an inclusive of a larly thearge eeouseastternhof re.

il only get therat endf itf on lge ine -- a m will te emissions. wel onlyet then the end if we ke it clhal countriemu j this anort and in action is option you atghted twelcom this time. we appreciate your partrship and leadership and look forward to working with you. beit is a great pleasure to accurate washington this time in my new role as foreign secretary. i was clearhere that the u.s. is britain's most military partner. i am clear that the u.s. is the u.k.'s foreign policy ally and

the range of issues we have the secretary has outlined reflects how closely we work together on a huge range of issues in foreign affairs. that relationship is based on our shared history and values and our long-standing cooperation on a range of global issues from fighting the threat of extremism, promoting stability in countries such as libya, dealing with the challenge to the established order in ukraine, addressing mobile crises like it will a and promoting an ambitious eu-u.s. free trade agreement. i want to begin by paying tribute to secretary john kerry for his energy and resolve in dealing with some of the most challenging foreign policy issues the world has faced. i have been in this job for three months but we have met

every week. it seemed to be in a different city somewhere discussing these challenging issues that we are having to deal with and i have observed him in action and i have seen his tireless commitment and inexhaustible enthusiasm which is the personification of u.s. leadership on these many challenges we have to do with together around the world. our meeting comes at a pivotal moment in addressing the andation in iraq and syria responding to the atrocities that are being committed by a missile -- isil. by ordinary muslims in iraq in syria every day of every week. it is clear that battling isil requires a strong response from

the international community but that has to be combined with a clear diplomatic land to support the new iraq e-government's -- government's strategy to combat the poisonous ideology ndat underpins isil a hatred.g i am pleased that britain is playing a key role in that response. leading efforts at the u.n. to cut off funding and a long anding program at home assets contributed to the military response. britain will continue to work coalition partners on further actions we can take across the international community to ensure we tackle

isil not just through military action but through all of those other strands of action that are essential to assure our long-term success. as secretary said, we have also discussed the situation in the ukraine and the crucial importance of implementing the 12 point peace plan. ukraine is a sovereign country. its people are entitled to make their decisions about their country's future. there can be no russian veto on ukrainian democracy. the ukrainian president will need continuing international support to ensure stability within the country and to ensure that the ukraine is able to go on making decisions about its own future. we spent some time this morning discussing ways that the u.k. at the u.s. could work with other international partners, particularly in the european union, to continue to support the president there in those

efforts. of course, we spoke about the appalling situation in west africa, where the spread of the ebola virus is a real cause for concern. last week i chaired a conference in london about defeating ebola. i said it best, the disease is an unprecedented threats that knows no borders. we have to get ahead of the disease, but if we get ahead of it we can contain it and beat it. we know how to do this, it is not complicated to do, it just requires a large focus of resource and effort to deliver. secretary kerry and i discussed increased measures that the u.s. is leading in liberia and in sierra leone. we now lead, as the secretary has said, and we need the wider international community to step up and deliver those resources.

not just money, but trained medical personnel to lead the effort on the ground. we must all do more if we are going to prevent the current crisis from becoming a catastrophe. the u.k. has committed over $200 million to the program in sierra leone. we have military and civilian teams on the ground to deliver ebola treatment beds. this morning i joined a cobra emergency meeting in london through the british embassy here. at that meeting we decided to deploy the royal fleet auxiliary with three merlin helicopters to provide a communication and transport capability on the ground. we are also conducting trials in sierra leone of a new model of ebola care unit for those with early-stage symptoms.

it is also important that we remember our national security is dependent upon our economic security. we cannot have a strong defense without a strong economy underpinning it. later this afternoon i will be holding a discussion at the atlantic council on the benefits of the transatlantic trade and partnership between the united states and the eu. the u.k. remains committed to this ambitious deal and will be a cheerleader for it within the european union. if we achieve it, it will create the largest free-trade firm in the world, bringing more jobs and more growth to europe and the united states. setting the standards for trade deals for many years to come.

allowing us to establish international standards as the standards for trade patterns in the coming decades. tomorrow i look forward to a visit to massachusetts at the clean energy center wind blade testing facility in charleston. john and i agree that climate change represents a strategic threat to global prosperity and to global security. innovation and investment in clean energy technology must be at the heart of our response and can help us to put an end to a threat to an economic opportunity. the u.k. and the u.s. will work together to ensure that the world responds to this threat before it is too late, including through the conclusion of an effective global climate deal in paris next year.

once again i am delighted to be here. thank you again for your leadership on these multiple challenges that face us. i very much look forward to working with you across all of these areas and activity to preserve and strengthen this very special relationship. thank you. >> the first question will be from elise leavitt at cnn. >> thank you, mr. secretary. the u.s. intensified airstrikes overnight. has there been a decision now to falling?ne from yesterday your spokesman and other officials suggested that you have larger strategic authority -- strategic intentions. turkey has tanks at the border and soldiers at the ready, but this ally has not done anything much to save the town inches from its border. what did you ask the prime minister to do in recent conversations? they have said that you will not do more unless you ask to get rid of assad.

is this an excuse? have you not been partnering with the kurds, who are just privately secular? you spoke a lot about what you are doing for the coalition, particularly in iraq. do you see britain furthering that action into syria? is there a disagreement on whether the british should take part in airstrikes and what the goals are in syria? >> thank you. thank you. well, we are deeply concerned about the people there who are battling against isil terrorists. indeed, we have talked to the leaders of turkey. we have conducted additional strikes in the region, we

conducted additional strikes monday, tuesday, and now. as horrific as it is to watch in real time what is happening there, it is also important to remember that you have to step back and understand the strategic objective and where we have begun over the course of the last weeks. we are literally just coming out of the u.n. meeting in which we announced the coalition and literally have just been deploying the first efforts to liberate, as you know from a few weeks ago, the siege on the mosul dam.

iraqi forces have had some successes. and some setbacks over the course of the last days. general allen is literally only on his first trip right now in the region. he will be going to turkey tomorrow. he is going to have long meetings through tomorrow and friday in which we hope to determine how turkey will enter this having resolve their hostage crisis. clearly on their border this is of enormous concern and they recognize that. these things have to be done and a thoughtful and careful way so that everybody understands who is doing what and what the implications are of their doing it and where you go as a result. i am absolutely confident that tomorrow the discussions will take place directly with the ambassador and general allen,

centcom is very much involved in directing those strikes now and doing what he can within the framework of the current structure. but this is a structure that is evolving on a daily basis and, notwithstanding the crisis, the original targets of our efforts have been the command and control centers, the infrastructure -- we are trying to deprive the isil of the overall ability of two ways this throughout syria and into iraq. i think you will see over the next hours and days the fullness of that strategy evolving and the decision being made as to what role they will play.

>> following from that, you ask about the uk's position. we were asked by the iraqi government to provide support in iraq. we maintained parliamentary approval and have not ruled out laying a role in syria. we will require further approval if we decide that that is the right thing for us to do. as the secretary said, this is a coalition. there are many players in it and many different tasks to be carried out. there is some division of labor here, a specialization of roles. just as we wait to see how turkey will make its contribution to the coalition, so is the uk's still considering whether the right way for us to make a contribution is to extend our military permissions to operations in syria, if we conclude that that is the right thing to do.

>> the second question comes from peter foster at the telegraph. >> my first question relates to syria. the front president has indicate -- indicated that he supports calls for a buffer zone. do either of you have a comment on that or have a sense on what purpose it might serve? to follow-up on the british military role in the situation, the foreign secretary has indicated that britain would be receptive to american requests if there was a specific military role that britain could play. do you see a useful role that britain could play military leave?

particularly where the brimstone missile, a low caliber missile, could have a role in these closed urban environments? do you see america having a role for britain in syria? >> we are at the stage of exploring. it's this is very new territory, we are only in the first week or two of the coalition. the idea of the buffer zone is one that has been floated. we have to explore with other allies and partners what is meant by a buffer zone and how such a contact would work. i would certainly not want to rule it out at this stage. in terms of the potential military contributions by the u.k. in syria, we would see this as a military question. is there a military useful role that the assets could play? secretary kerry may want to say something about that, but i think this is a question for the military people. general allen has his role. centcom will be in the lead on this.

if the commanders see specific roles for u.k. military assets, i am sure that they will not be slow and requesting them. >> look, and broad generic terms, can great britain be useful? absolutely, in so many different ways. as philip has just said, this is a specific determination that must made with respect to a specific mission and it is up to general austin, r centcom commander, to make that decision. he will do so with the appropriate consultation with his counterpart and with the president with respect to the overall mission. we are very happy to have our friend and ally as a part of

this and there are all kinds of things that we can do together in this endeavor. the buffer zone, as philip said, is an idea that has been out there, it is worth looking at very closely. there are one million plus refugees who have crossed the border, another 180,000 or so driven out in the last few days. this should not be a problem that is thrust onto turkey, lebanon, and jordan, where they bear an incredible burden with respect to their societies. and if syrian citizens can return to syria and be protected in an area across the border, there is an area that would commend that, but at the same time you would have to guarantee safety, make sure that there were not attacked by the government, other things would have to happen. in terms of thorough examination, we are all looking at this closely and that would clearly be one of the things the general will be having

discussions on with active line authority commanders over the course of the next days. >> thank you, everyone. >> thank you all. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> our campaign coverage continues with a week full of debates. tonight live coverage of the pennsylvania governors debate between tom corbett and tom wolfe. thursday at 7 p.m., coverage of the illinois u.s. house debate

for the 17th district between -- candidates. and the illinois governor's debate with pat quinn and first rounder. bruce eastern,night at eight coverage of the iowa senate braley and bruce joni ernst. governer rick snyder. they met in their first and only debate for north carolina's second congressional district. it was court -- courtesy of the

bakers association hair it -- association. >> that is the question. we are talking about radical islam. about thoselking that believe that this is the plan for the future. it has been in place since the beginning and we have to make sure that we're doing everything we can to keep our allies safe, working with our allies, working with those countries to make sure that we have a presence there and we are working within. drawdown, whennd we say we are victorious in the land that we are not, that is when these groups emerge and we have to and that. to the point and support of the president, yes. we will be doing everything we can to support the president but he has got to stop telling our enemies what we will do and what

we will not do. it is simply not a plan for strategy. >> there are several things about the answer that concern me. first a few weeks ago she spoke out and said she was not in support of sending ground troops into the region and just a few days ago the speaker of the house changed course and decided it was important to send ground troops to the region and now she says she will send ground troops . her change her tan because her party leader has concerning.tune is she said that john boehner was her boss and you do not want to upset the boss so i understand if that is her mindset is probably why she has changed her tune. the people of the second district are her boss in the military right now is overwhelmingly against sounding -- sending roundtrips.

i will not change my tune. i do not believe we need to send the men and women of the military into harms way to protect another land. there is a threat and what we have seen incredible -- credible usdence where leaders tell there is not a credible threat to u.s. soil, we can consider it. viable reason. >> one more note on this. you talked about our air of allies. can't we depend on them? >> we have to work within those groups and show support but i do want to go back to what he has said. john boehner may be the speaker of the house but the people of district two are my boss and that is why we are here. what i want to clarify and this is one of the things that maybe as an entertainer you are not aware of.

these things are fluid and when the president asks for his support he asks in a certain way , we give him that support. that is what we voted on. ande was much debate concern that was not quite enough and i agree. at the time we allowed the president, we voted and came together unified in a bipartisan fashion to support the president on this initiative. i do believe there will be much what we need to do. recent polling found the race [indiscernible] on the latestsion in military strikes. book, "moree on the theh is out here co. --

truth is ou [indiscernible] your facebook comments and tweets. live at 7 a.m. eastern. thea edwards spoke at center for american progress on what she calls the underrepresentation of women and people of color. a panel discussion focuses on understanding and reversing under representation including more ways to get women and minorities to run for public office. this is an hour and a half. >> hello and thank you for joining us. i am pleased that you are with us here today.

you may know that women of all 18.5% of the just united states congress and women 4.5olor make up an abysmal percent of the congress. these numbers exist in direct contradiction with the fact that women make up half of the population and are more but -- likely to vote than their male counterparts. this afternoon we will hear about the reflective democracy whichgn's new research shows that this persistent underrepresentation of women and women of color exists throughout levels ofy at all government. the reflective democracy campaign finished an unprecedented new database of more than 42 thousand elected officials throughout the country. their survey showed the great disparitythe reflective democray campaign finished an unprecedented new in gender, rad

ethnicity between our elected lawmakers and those whom they represent. i would like to thank donna hall, president of the women donor network and brenda carter, director of the rela -- reflective democracy campaign for bringing their research to share today. thank you so much. [applause] at the center for american progress we believe that our growing diversity is an asset and our democracy is strengthened when elected officials actually reflect the constituencies they serve. evidence suggests there is much to became from encouraging a greater number of women and people of color to run for office as well. studies including the one we will discuss today continue to suggest that places with more reflective lawmakers produce more progressive policy outcomes. this data from the reflected democracy campaign is a new starting point for a necessary

discussion as we look ahead, not just to november midterm elections, but more importantly, 2016 and beyond. how can we understand, address and ultimately reverse the chronic underrepresentation of women and people of color in politics? donna edwards represent maryland's fourth district, comprising portions of prince georges county and anne arundel county. she was sworn in in june of 2008, becoming the first african-american woman to represent maryland in congress. i find that stunning and startling. the first african-american woman to represent maryland in congress. she has enjoyed a diverse career as a nonprofit executive

director of the national network to end domestic violence. if she led the effort to pass the violence against women act that was signed into law by president clinton. since being sworn in, she has secured a number of legislative accompaniments to improve the lives of working families in her congressional district and around the country. her first act as a member of congress was to add maryland to the afterschool suppers program, ensuring access to nutritional suppers to after school and youth to after school and youth develop programs in schools located in low income areas. during the health care debate, edwards secured a that holds insurance companies accountable for a justifiable rate increases. she has also introduced legislation to expand research and a moment, domestic manufacturing and infrastructure spending to great jobs and grow our economy. she was also the first member of the house to introduce an champion a constitutional amendment to overturn the supreme court's citizens united decision.

we cannot be more honored to have congressman edwards here today to share her perspective on this critical issue. please welcome congresswoman donna edwards. [applause] >> thank you very much. good afternoon, everyone. i'm so delighted to be here at one of my favorite organizations. i cannot tell you what it means to have cap at the table making sure those of us who are policymakers really have the right stuff in front of us to do that job. thank you very much. i cannot say enough about women donors network. i came to know them many years ago in my time in philanthropy. i have come to know the woman of wdn, including donna hall. we have been able to work

together on a number of issues over the years. i appreciate your leadership. what a better time could we find to discuss leadership and leadership development and reflective democracy? in fact, they are the same thing. when i think about -- as i was listening to my own biography, my story is a story of what it means to have reflective democracy. i was stunned as well when i won the election in 2000 eight and people said to me, you are the first african-american woman to represent maryland in congress and i denied it. that cannot possibly be true. how could it be true that in a state that was the home and centerpiece for harriet tubman and sojourner truth and frederick douglass?

how can it be possible that i'm the first african-american woman to represent maryland in congress? and yet, that is the question as we look across the united states that we have to ask ourselves because increasingly around the world, we are coming in on the low end when it comes to leadership that reflects our population. i want to talk about what that means for women. i am on the political side, the recruitment chair. during this cycle, we recruited of our top-tier candidate, a majority of them were women. i don't think it's an accident when you have women around the table helping the conversation about identifying candidates, talking to people, that you will come out with an awful lot more women. i'm proud of that, but it's not enough. although it is true that in this congress, we have a majority of democrats in the house of representatives that is more

representative than it has ever been, if you take a look together at the aggregate of african-americans in congress and women in the congress and lgbt members in the congress, we are more a minority majority congress on the democratic side than we ever have been. but that is not the whole congress and it is not at large. the difference when you have representatives at any level of government that better reflect the population and the communities we serve, the better public policy will be. issue not be an accident or a surprise that my first act of congress was to add maryland to

the afterschool suppers program. part of that is because of my experience as a mom. the experience of a single mom, a struggling mom, to put food on the table and make sure when my son went to school that he had enough to eat. it was thinking on that experience along with marrying that to the experience of so many in my congressional district. they should not be a surprise that the priorities for me as the chair of the democratic women in the house and the cochair of the bipartisan women's caucus that i put at the front and center of equal pay for equal work. making sure we have one day of paid sick leave. focusing on things like child care and providing access to quality affordable childcare. i want to talk about that for one minute because we know that

two thirds of america's workers who work for the minimum wage are women. an awful lot of those women are women of color. it makes a difference when you're at the policy table about whether that becomes a priority or not. that is reflective democracy. when you think about things like equal pay for equal work, i was with a group of senior women just yesterday. over 100 of them. i started talking about equal pay for equal work. the overwhelming majority of them are not working anymore and they are retired. most of them are either living on a small pension if they were fortunate enough to receive one or they are living almost exclusively on social security. what does it mean for those women the fact that we have not made troy that we have equal pay for equal work and that is not front and center of our policy agenda?

they entered their retirement years having lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in income, unable to contribute to their own retirement security because they did not make the same amount as the man next to them who had the same education and experience. we need leaders at the table that reflect those experiences and are able to contribute to the policy discussion to make sure those policies become reality. i had an experience when i was raising my son. i was really struggling around the issues of childcare and paying for mortgage and those things. i remember when i ran for congress, there were some people who said to me, "you should not talk about those things. people don't want to hear about that. it will make you seem to soft and no one will want to vote for you." nothing could be further from the truth. my ability to speak about my experiences as a single mom and as a worker really contributed

to the conversation about why it is that i should be elected. those are the conversations that can come to the table when we have democratic representation that reflects our communities. why do i think that childcare is important? i was one of those moms paying one dollar a minute for every minute i was late picking my son up from childcare on a fixed income when i cannot afford that extra dollar a minute. in washington, it's more like $18 a day if you are stuck in traffic. i had to get what i already knew as a mom to be substandard childcare for my son and he ended up with meningitis and i almost lost them. talking about these issues is exactly what the idea of reflective democracy is all about. frankly, we can have the kind of democracy that all of us aspire to and want if all of our voices are at the table.

18.5% is not enough in the congress of the united states to reflect a population of a majority of women who need to be serving in elected office. it's just not enough. it's not enough that we've gone through what, 238 years of our country and not had a woman at the highest level as president of the united states and as commander-in-chief. it's maybe been 238 years too long for that. maybe 238 years too long that we only have a very small percentage in the congress of the united states. we have to do better. when i think about my

african-american sisters in the congress, we are a small cohort. we sure bring an awful lot of different conversations, even at our table with african-american male colleagues. it's not enough for us to say that we can elect people of color into the congress. it's time for us to elect women into congress. finally, i would like to close by sharing with you this story. the story of a little girl who is in her preteen years with glasses and braces and no one wants to take out those pictures of any of us in middle school. i had one of those pictures . i began to look at leaders like barbara jordan and i thought, my gosh, i want to be like them. i looked at my mom who had worked so hard all her life, taking care of six children and trying to grow them into responsible human beings and i

marvel at that because i had enough of a challenge trying to grow one child into a responsible human being. i think about my grandmother who struggled when she was farming with my grandfather and really struggled to put food on the table and when the farm was not working, she would go and clean houses and she never had more than a high school education, but she was one of the most brilliant, smart women you would ever meet. we have these legacies in our country and it's about time that our political leadership actually reflected the kind of legacies we have in every single family and every single household. thank you very much for having me here today. i'm hoping to sit in on a bit of the panel discussion. thank you to the women donors network for the research that you've done that can really inform the direction we take.

going into -- we are about to finish one election season. going into another election season, wherever it is that we find ourselves, it's time that we stopped just asking women to run. it's time that we really support and get behind them when they do. more than that, to stand behind them when they lead. thank you very much. [applause] >> good afternoon, everybody. thank you very much. as the other donna said, i am the other donna. my name is donna hall and i have the privilege of serving as the president and ceo for women donors network. it's wonderful to have you here today because for us to have donna here with us, it's a celebration that takes me back

to the time when i first met her. we were going to chile and michelle was elected the first time, the first elected president in south america. there was a group of 15 of us who traveled there. she made it a campaign promise that half of her cabinet would be women. when we went to see her inaugurated and she asked her cabinet to stand up, it was a remarkable thing for all of us from the net states to see 10-20 leaders stand up who are women. this is a follow-up to one of those questions. how do we really get women and people of color into office? as i mentioned before, i'm the president and ceo of the women donors network it very national network of 200 members. we strive to make structural strategic changes through

catalytic and collaborative funding and through working in partnership. that's what brings us here today. who leads us? this is our topic today. america was founded on the ideal that all people are crated equal and have a stake in how our nation is governed. it's not enough that women and citizens of all races have the right to vote. every american must have equal access to lead as well. today, we are here to confirm with hard data, the extent of a very serious problem. the problem that our elected officials do not truly represent the populations they serve. our research reveals what we all knew, white americans and particularly white men maintain

a powerful hold on the political representation at all levels in our country. we have long been concerned that women and people of color do not have a real voice at the tables of power. we have learned this over and over again as we apply a lens to all works we engage in. a lens that overlaps race, gender and class as it applies to the problems of our time. this concern is not limited to election office holders. it also extends to the halls of business, the arts and many of the large and powerful nonprofits and foundations. we all agree that there is a growing awareness of this reality and a lot more discourse today than there used to be about these persistent patterns in our society. for us, we have decided to start with a narrow focus on elected officeholders as a strategy to reflect the democracy. today, we're here to describe

that we now have an open source database that has compiled demographic data, including race and gender for the first time on over 4200 officials in the net state to the county and down to large cities. what you will hear and see shortly tells a very stark story. one that will surprise you more than you think. it suggests that in order to have a real democracy, we must work purposefully to remove structural barriers. we got this work started, but we can't do it alone. we invite you to partner with us as we move this work forward. and next two weeks, we will be releasing more data and an interactive tool that will allow anyone to see how their state stacks up when it comes to

representation of women and people of color. we will issue a toolkit for taking action. in 2015, we will focus on working with partners to develop projects that contest different solutions for tackling structural barriers that will result in a more reflective democracy. before interviews brenda, i want to take a couple of seconds to a college people here today who have really helped us with this work in getting us to this stage where we are. i want to thank wendy for hosting us today. cindy, who i see in the back. they worked with us throughout 2013, helping us to distill our focus and provide the overall structure for this reflective democracy. we could not have done the data projects you are hearing about had it not been for the great folks at the noi and rutgers

university center for american women in politics. our opinion research firms and our communications. finally, i would like to a knowledge jennifer, who is the senior director and is really managing this large initiative. let's get to the meat of our conversation. i would like to bring up brenda, our campaign director. she joined us in january. she has a rich history of campaign work and working in electoral politics. she was the perfect person to take over and i'm delighted to call you up. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you, donna. i'm really lucky or maybe really unlucky to be the person who gets to present the results of an effort which was conceived of and carried out by a large team of people, many of whom are here today and some of whom have in up all night getting our website and other assets going. i really appreciate your work and i want to second donna's thanks to all of you. today, i would like to do three things. first, on going to talk about what our research revealed. second, offer some preliminary

thoughts about what it suggests. third, talk about where we go from here. let's look at a short video we put together. if i can operate this. >> have you ever wondered, what does america actually look like? let's zoom out from the people we see in the media and the people we talked to everyday and look at the big picture. 314 million of us live in the united states. 51% of us are women and 49% of us are men. 63% are white, 37% are people of color. our country is changing fast but are the people who represent us up with that change? we did some research and here's what we found. we studied 40 2000 elected officials who represent us from the county level all the way up to congress. if they reflected america's population our elected officials should look like this. but it actually looks like this. 71% of elected officials a man.

90% are white. 65% are white men. that means men have twice as much power as women. white americans have three times as much power as people of color. and white men have eight times as much power as women of color. 31% of the population controls 65% of elected offices is it is surprise that most americans feel our democracy is rock and? to learn more about the data we have collected visit us at who leads us and share the data with your friends and tell us at who leads us how we can become a more reflective democracy. >> to recap, we looked at the over 40,000 people who hold office from the county

level to the national level and we match race and gender to those officeholders using self-reported information and voter file records. we found that 90% of those officeholders are white. only 62 percent of the population is white. 71% are men compared to 49% of the population. again, this is what it would look like if it were truly reflective. this is what it actually looks like. white men who are 31% of the population holds 65% of these elected offices. effectively constituting a vetoproof minority in our political system. we have all heard plenty about the demographics of congress. we wanted to take a deeper look, diving into the demographics of local level elected office. when we started the research,

some of us, including me, held out hope that we would discover a more diverse and gender balanced pool at that level. for the most part, that hope did not become reality. women are slightly more well represented in the state legislators and county officeholder 25 and 30% of those, respectively. but they hold only 21% of statewide offices and 19% of congressional seats. for people of color, the level of representation at the local level can only be described as dismal. people of color hold only 7% of statewide offices and 9% of county offices. their representation in state legislatures is slightly better, but still less than half of their share of the population. i have spent a fair amount of thinking about

race, gender, and power. i am rarely accused of being an optimistic percent. in spite of all of that, i was shocked by the numbers. what they show us is an imbalance of power so stark that if we saw it in another country, we would undoubtedly conclude that something was very wrong with that political system. that judgment should apply no less to ourselves. what is going on here? what is the cause of the problem? there are three main places we could look for the answer to the question. first is in the nature of local office itself. proponents of the view that this is the cause of the problem argue that there is something about running for and holding political office that is so exceptional that it really cannot he held to the same standards as other occupations or fields. after all, this argument goes, being a politician is not really like having another job. it is an unusual thing to do and

tends to attract people with an unusual set of skills and interests. so we cannot really expect politicians to look like america. it is worth noting that other professions that are just as specialized and unique, if not more so, are significantly more reflective than elected office. for instance, doctors, professional baseball players, and recipients of doctoral degrees. can it really be the case that politics is so different? the second place we can look to find the cause of the problem is to voters. in this line of thinking, evil -- people of color just cannot succeed as candidates because voter biases are so strong. but the research simply does not bear this out. when they are on the ballot, female candidates succeed at the same rate as men. the research on candidates of color, while it is slightly more

complicated for reasons having to do with the way it is usually focused on specific ethnic groups, and, because the overall sample size is so small, but still, the research on candidates of color points in the same direction. there just is not the evidence to suggest that bias in the voting booth is significant enough to explain these numbers. the third place we can look for the cause of the problem is at the underrepresented people themselves. that is, is there something about women and people of color that explains this? there are several variations on this line of thinking, but they tend to fall into two closely related theories. the first one is attributed to an ambition gap to women, and less often, two people of color. in general, this line of argument holds that women do not want to or cannot run for office because of family responsibilities or that they just do not like the world of politics.

the second line of argument, closely related again, this is the existence of what we might call an engagement gap. that is, people of color adhere -- tend not to participate in politics in general. they do not vote and they do not participate in local structures and this causes their underrepresentation in elected office. i cannot do justice to both sides of the question. i would like to, for the moment, draw our attention to a couple of key points. first, women have voted at higher rates than men in every presidential election since 1996. second, black women have turned out to vote at a higher rate than any other race or gender subgroup in the last two national elections. there is work to do to improve registration and engagement, especially among communities of

color, a lack of -- on the political process is certainly not the whole story. i would argue that those of us who appropriately greet with skepticism claims of ambition fields, forr instance, that women just do not like fields of math and science, or that they voluntarily opt out of job, should be similarly careful on -- about relying on this to explain this imbalance of political power. it is worth noting that the fields elected officeholders you you you you you a racial and gender balance is silicon valley, which, as we all know, has recently been the subject of a lot of scrutiny and criticism for it the exclusion of women of color in the ranks. you a our work focuses not on the uniqueness of politicians,

not on the voters, and not on the women and people of color you who are excluded from a you political office. the reflective democracy campaign is focused on the political system itself. how might the systems of candidate recruitment and advancement, controlled by gatekeepers like political parties donors, contribute to these lopsided numbers? how does the composition of electoral districts advanced some demographics over others? what is the role of specific civic institutions that, when present, help develop candidates? who has access to the relationships, money, and networks needed to leverage a political career? it should be no surprise that our political system, like so many other systems in our society, reproduces and reinforces centuries old hierarchies. it is built on relationships and networks, on organizational clout, money, and gatekeepers.