creative output, to have a real world portfolio, a book of work, impact. so seeing not only what they're but to do for companies what they're able to do within higher education as they continue sharing this idea of designing education through experience. of last year, which was actually last month, september, they designed their as well where they shared four discoveries. and they were able to tell their stories and their learning, they teamed up with an architecture firm here in chicago, and they the also able to welcome next class of students. and were able to hand them their on the first day, it's a piece of wood two the logo cut out and after each experience their given a token that fills atthe diploma and then goings they get the pen can't that completes it. it was an interesting handing

of the baton. and the next 12 students have begun and they're nearly all ready to start off into their fall experience, they'll do a spring and summer one as well. the discoveries of helping people start with intention, thinking about, don't declare a mission, i'm sorry, don't declare a major, but start by a mission. so for example, debbie paterson who is one of our new students interested in health care. so one of her experiences is side open idea, on their challenge forked straighting the challenge for the ebola virus and finding ways to create that.ons for in a --er to be secondly to take a risk and find things that push you out of a comfort zone. not that classes are bad, but more so thinking about what do i

need to learn that i don't know yet. to fulfilljust going a degree, but how will i learn new skills. johnson, one of our students last year, was in a spot where he had an invitation work with agency to them for three month and he's like i'm really interested in orthodoxy and i'd really like to do a writing project on monastery. and in a and i'm thinking, okay, i'm the is a good,uy, this but this is, i don't know what to tell tom do. he fine the "new york times" writer to mentor him and he goes a new mexico and lives in monastery during lent and writes project.n this whole and now has this amazing piece that he's been able to share. the third part is to, the idea that experience needs evaluation. you can't just move through 100 miles a minute.

if you know your story it will define your future if you take look back.ts to then a way to do that, there are day, monthays each to take chances, to look back. instagram to reflect visited.e she it became a piece of her portfolio. then how do we make learning a habit. e.i. solos,xt of studentsof our younger was in a position where he wanted to learn how great teams spent timed aredwing theater, at an ad agency and a design and architecture firm. him -- idea has launched he's from fargo, north dakota and he's wondering how do i make my city more alive.

so he's doing a traveling tour of cold weather cities to see than, iike copy en hag think he's there -- hagen, he did a study it come alive. so this isn't just something that can happen here. it's becomingrk, something that anyone anywhere on, andn to execute think about in their own context. i think as i look at where, what does scale look like for this, those who design their education, i think will be the design their future. ofnk about it in the context design in general, right, 50 years ago the computer opened up spire new type of design, where people could design having to systems to print design. countless waysre

to create things without much cost. easily excel at them and learn how to do so. you thing with businesses, used to, felt like you needed designeat credential to a business, right. but now entrepreneurship, anyone can launch a billion dollar do it fromd they can their garage. i think this is going to happen education. this.nd with there is a new breed of learner don't needizing they a costly degree to achieve the tools, networks and skills to valuable contribution to society. by thoughtfully leaning about the countless resources around them, apprenticeships, online courses, personal projects, can design their education. it will take extra attention to emphasis onn telling their stories, but those are increasingly necessary skills. venture to take

such a leap will set a life long inventive,being helpful, adaptable, and curious. thethey can do so without crippling debt that comes with ed.er in its best form this will be seen as a credible option for anyone of any age, demographic or socio-economic class. systemic level i propose cultivatevery way to curiosity on your team and leave a seat at the table for those and impassioned by what you're doing. and on a personal level for many you, the tassle may have been turned, the final school bell may have rung, but what does it mean for you to intentionally learn now? change across industry quickens, all of us are ceilingsurselves at

and at cross roads. if it's time to learn, i'm same callou to the i've shared on this stage 18 months ago to be a student again. find ways to solve new problems. with people who are striving for change. how it changes you, watch how it inspires others. [applause] >> fantastic. reading, writing and reality, right? so great. all right. had had one wish what for? you wish i heard that. our next speaker is the founder of wish bone. isonprofit organization that

helping make extra curricular dreams a reality for low income students. making the impossible dream a reality. she's a former teach for america labsmember, a kaufman education ventures fellow, a draper richard kaplan entrepreneur, and she has been recognized twice on the forbes work in 30 for her education. she's joining us today as a recipient of the a social dhsi fellowship. philanthropists and entrepreneurs leslie bloom and heflund created this as a way to recognize individuals and encourage them to continue their efforts. welcoming bettin schmitt.

>> hi, thank you for having me, this is great. think aboutnally we community a lot like this. this is a prep school where i went to high school, it's in lakeville, connecticut and it's known for its academic rig or, structure and its obvious opportunity. but what was interesting about my experience at this school is it wasn't really the thing that got my 16-year-old self out of bed every morning, it wasn't that got me really excited or passionate. really didn't relate to the opportunity offered here at all. culturewith a created a of achievement in me was not academics at all. it was actually figure skating. so growing up i was a skater.ive figure and figure skating was the thing that taught me dedication, and confidence. that was the thing that got me out of bed in the morning, had

with academics. and not only utah me what true but reallyt like, created a self driven sense of motivation to achieve. op tois translated not everything else day in life but also to school. had to convince me that effort and really hard work achieve ind to figure skating, i knew it. ofafter that the opportunity school was obvious to me. forward forward to 2007 a

couple years later and i found myself teaching at lock high school in south central los angeles. so i did teach for expherk i showed up to 160, 10th great students. what i would argue these students were most starved for pursue opportunity to passion. so when i was teaching in my arst year i would find research paper, the first paper of the year, and out of 160 than 10% turn this paper in.

about 15. step back and thought about the relevance of this paper. i think it was on migrant so i changed the topic entirely. the new topic is just tell me you have.ssion and the research component was pursue me how you would this passion after school or in the summer. paper, 85% of my students turned in and on time, which for lock high school never happened, ever. and what was even more is that 20 than this of the papers started with the something like this sentence. no one has ever asked me what my passion is. so i started to read these papers and students wanted to pursue stem cell science, they wanted to go study art. wanted to learn film production. they had all these passions that

pursue.e hoping to so wanting to capitalize on this a marathon to raise $12,000. with that $12,000 i sent seven students on the programs they had written about in their papers. what was interesting about this is when those seven came back into the school day my next year they were way more confident and their attendance rate went up. aty started showing up school way more, and then their gpa's went up, as a result of more.g up so i thought it was an interesting coincidence. most importantmy time in l.a. and as a result i realized actually this running marathons is not a sustainable form of fun raising, so i and i startedidea a proper organization called wish bone. send over 250 students to after school and summer programs to pursue their

passions. architecturetudied he has studied photography. cala has studied fashion design. wattley has learned how to code. we're on track to be the leading of school access to the nation's core. and like men of our -- thank you. [applause] like so many of those first students from lock, those first seeing all of our students graduate high school. they're attending college, and all coming back and saying that the experience may what could be possible for their lives. so while this impact seems so small started so, it small, right. it started with just recognizing myself,sion feels like first of all. then it continued by putting passion at the forefront of the my students.r

then it continued also by understanding that when students learn ands, they will when they learn they will succeed. thank you. [applause] >> awesome, just awesome. that confidence, and it's such a simple concept of our passion changes our lives. many you for changing so lives, really. okay. a situationryone, in which the circumstances were had to relearn much of what we typically take for granted. walking, talking, eating, writing, everything.

our next speaker is here to tell you, based on her experience, and you'll hear about this in a she founded a technology usesorm in 2013 that algorithms to develop specific learning. she's a former marine with aviation experience and has had both neuropsychology and software development. please welcome ms. ramona pearson. [applause] we're just going to sit down and talk. so it's great to have you here. of your company, a, in your remarkable recovery from an accident you suffered when you were 22 years old, tell us about that and how

did that inform what you do there. >> when i was 22 years old i was in the marine corps and i was i used to run marathons for the marine corps, dog, started out to run and a drunk driver at the left ame i was leaving, bar and we hit an intersection at the same time, he ran a red foot gotd my left caught up in the wheel well of the car, spun my leg around, the sliced my throat. i suffered chest trauma. and if it wasn't for somebody in a passer-by, who took a big pen out, opened up my be herei wouldn't today. so declara came out of the innovations and radical collaboration, because innovations of being able to

keep me alive and everything the way invented along inspired me to really be an myself.r >> wow. what do you mean by radical collaboration? few things happened. so when you look around this curiosity think about and the end of school, i get that.d about mainly because a lot of people who invented some of the body wearing today inside of my skin were people who droppedout of clean, invented bothand my feet are titanium, my knee is titanium, i have different my heart. my nose is plastic. my cheek bones titanium. i have, i'm getting a titanium jaw bone next week. every time some body part falls off, somebody invents in time for me.

and that inspires me. this radical collaboration, you know, the hospital had given up on me, the theyal profession did, never thought i'd speak again. it took me four years to learn speak again, and it was when nursing homee in a and i looked like e.t. had just was aboutre, i 68 pounds, bald, and looked, you know, didn't have a lot of my like 100hen, but i had grandparents in that nursing and who all came around retaught me everything i know, how to speak, how to walk, how function as a blind person, and i was completely blind for until some dropout figured out how to invent some surgery so that i could have brain surgery to give the of my eyes back.

>> wow. [applause] you're the definition of like extrary, ordinary. that is freaking amazing. so we see materials like machine semantic search techniques and descriptions of the platform developed by declara. can you explain more about what does?a >> one of the things i learned was when i was in the senior a lot of people can come together and really help accelerate your learning. just one sage on stage or a that knowledge is out there, and what we do is we of they replicate a lot higher arc i cal processes of the brain much so when you think about it, your cell phone, this

can access you to an open library of the, that is sum of all human knowledge. it's fascinating that we have that much content out there in the world that just needs to be indexed, classified, sorted. and then provided in an easy to learners. and so i believe that we're all thatlong learners and we're driving our learning through curiosity. studying, i work by and learning and driving my work i learn.hat so we why the machine learning to really understand and process be able to deliver that content to people based on learning.nt for and sometimes we just provide that to them. >> brilliant, really. this image of new the

nursing home with all of these standing around you like teaching -- it's beautiful. available to? >> we've been working with the nation of australia. so what's fascinating is australia said, hey, we're rolling out new curriculum to our teachers. taking a hammer and beating teachers over the head and saying you have to learn curriculum, they decided declar, we'll roll this out. so what they did is the started leveraging our platform to be able to identify their curriculum and crowd source the support each other and the creation and invention of new content. so that they could support the rollout of the curriculum at scale. in mix could --

mexico right now, we're doing the same thing. so we're focusing on really skill to laborhe mismatch and seeing how having towho are transform their entire work of either they're trying to on board into the information society or they're fining that their current economy is collapsing. so we most of the countries that have come to us have said transform our whole work force at scale immediately. those are the kind of clients we started out with, and working with genentech to help researchers solve clinical trials for cancer much quicker and faster to reduce costs. and coming this spring we're going to have a consumer useuct, so that anybody can our product for free.

>> that was going to be my next question. did you hear that? awesome. more about -- this is your third startup. what other companies do you starting? >> since i'm a life long playing i am always around with studying things. so nano technology is something i'm fascinated with, mainly because i'm probably going to have to fix myself. into thelly i got neurosciences because at that time i thought, oh, i'm going to out how to see again. but fortunately someone else figured that out for me. started out really focusing aroundmy companies learning, mainly because it was such a difficult thing as an adult to come back and learn. mainly because my ego kept way of having to

relearn how to speak. how to trap the air, move my tongue, move my again. when you're a kid you learn things so naturally because that thattelling you knowstrange for you not to these things. when you're an adult your ego starts to inhibit your ability and cure curiosity to try thing. so the reason why all of miff have been wrapped around learning, i started out students learn, kids, and then now i've been focused on adult learners because all of us have to be learners because the world is changing so fast. to have 2 billion people out in the world to be your teachers through mobile devices, so there's 2 billion people that are connected today, the next people in

five years, we might as well wille a platform that allow all of us to connect all the time and to learn from each other. >> and you're so right. it's not even the answers we're more, it's any league being able to have the right questions. mine, because one of the pieces of our product around created questions. and one of the learnings i had from that was a gates funded project called folding. i don't know if you've read it. an experiment novicecan we take just learners and teach them cellular created and so they gamifiedmple tool that learning, we had ally rocket i was pretty ugly, started people, old ladies

knitting and high school students, but pretty soon that became 700, then 70,000. and these people now by crowd sourcing solutions are able to doctorates and predicting how proteins are going to fold. so imagine that that kind of can help us invent new issues andnd diseases faster than probably companies like genentech will be to. >> it's incredible. >> and that's around really able to cure rate questions so that you learn from the questions. that, it's the essence of education. and i think every one of our talked about this and that there's something very powerful about the act of giving. >> exactly. >> and that we receive so much able to justre open up our hearts and our mind and give and that's exactly what solutions areand

coming that would be 50 years in making. >> it's amazing because when we start thinking about how we can learning and provide democratization of content and resources and when i think about the greatest resources that are out there, those are us. everybody in this room. and when i think about the comer citizens who help me back, imagine the power of people who aren't being used and all the skills and talent of everybody in this bem, they just need to accessed. >> right. that's what helped you see it. >> yes. exactly right. >> beautiful. okay, we've got a few seconds left. got two questions. so i want to be rapid fire. the first one is with a advice have for all the serial entrepreneurs here in the house, starting their own company? the second is why do you think such smart people drop out?

>> good question. so the first question, take risks, and be willing to undo everything you've done. we've withinwhat doing -- been doing is inventing new that we're going to provide in our consumer product probably undoally the tools we've invested in already. and that's because you have to take the risk to invent and to undo and continue yourself. >> undo. >> so with education and learning, i believe you have to unlearn everything. actually relearn and teach. people drop out? some. your smartest people drop out challenged tonot do well. and we're restricting them on a pathway that isn't right for them. so when we divine a learning past way for people or curriculum for people and not

allow them to develop and curate their own learning pathway, we imprison their mind, and the themselves isee to escape. >> here here, give is. [applause] awesome, thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you right from the wow.ning to the end, there it is. president john f. kennedy once the goal of education is the advancement of knowledge truth. dissemination of if we look at education in in man are it can be surmised that method, time or place that truly matters, it's the outcome. thanks again for joining us today and participating in our of curiosity. the end of school! and i want to give it up for all the amazing speakers that we

heard today, and the beautiful to aboutwe came back cure rating our own learning. if you loved what you heard and the conversation b --, head to to continue the conversation with other attend dees. way out checkur out your info table, we'll be selling the 2015 memberships at a 20% discount. and you'll also want to stop by the chicago ideas general store pick up some great gear and get your books signed by victorray and saad. forget toy don't share your feeback for the chance to win great prizes by talk to 37479. talk, 37479.

thanks again. have a great evening. don't stop learning. [applause] >> now jeb bush at the national summit on education, the former florida governor is founder of excellence in for education. this is 20 minutes. >> thanks. i do a lot of public speaking, regular.ppens pretty

this just isn't fair. on yourcongratulations life's journey? i know you're going to continue to excel and make your family proud. and i'm proud of you too. what a spectacular young woman. reason why we're here denisha tople like pursue her dreams. it's a big struggle to reform schools, a lot of people fight along the way. the unions fight, of course, the administrators sometimes fight us. sometimes reformers fight amongst ourselves, that's these days.re often but when i hear her story i know is worth it. i'm so proud that all of you are here to collaborate and to this work. welcome to a really really good fight. [applause] may not know in this room are hundreds of lawmakers, educators and policy makes mo have the power to

these choices possible for our and and their parents families. we need you, and we need becauses more like you, it's not just to give a choice denisha, there are millions like her out there waiting to be helped. for us to push for policies to give them a choice, that's what they want, they want and a chance. they'll take care of the rest. and it's up to us to provide it. is the in that choice promise of a quality education for every american and with it a strengthen our incredible country. we've always known the between opportunity and education. we've always known that the more can be. the more we but it took a lawyer and a future supreme court justice, thurgood marshall, to connect those dots ask make access to education a civil right. 61 years ago he came to this this hotel stayed at

to argue brown v. board of en indication before the united court.supreme at that time, one in seven african-american children earned school degrees. one in seven. one in 40 earned a college degree. one in 40. this was a legacy of an unjust system of separate and unequal schools, a system that stole the of childrenillions and denied this nation the full potential.their marshall argued that unequal tub to receive an education was fundamentally unjust. and by his efforts and the efforts of many who followed him, barriers did fall. decade after the beginning of desegregation, stand?o we our schools don't meet the high standards for awe american children. notsome kids it works, but for all. too often the bar is set too low, and too little is expect of who could do far far

more. while african-americans are more likely to attain a high school dip home athan they once did, likelye still far less to earn a college diploma compared to their white counterparts. african-american and hispanic 4th gridders read two levels behindde their white piers. this is a civil crisis in every sense, because when schools fail our kid we deny them their right potential. doors close to them. they become stuck in a world for none of us would choose our own children. and in case anyone thinks this few kida problem for a in a few urban districts, let's cut to the chase. problem. national students from higher income families do worse than their counterparts around the world. goes for students in the middle class. poverty,we fail kid in we fail everyone. children now in failing schools all their lives to

get a job, to provide for their families, to achieve things that they rightly should enjoy. what is in danger here is not public education but the core idea that defines america. what my friend paul royian calls the right to rise. as educational opportunity harder to attain, so is economic opportunity. 70% people raised at the bottom levels of household income earn below the average the rest of their lives. story isio alger becoming narrower in mcwhen it should be expanding out into our lives. for them it becomes harder and harder to make a living and lead harder tove life, start a business if they have a great idea. family.o raise a while there's lots of reason why is this is, from stuff like tax regulation and not pursuing an energy policy, there's a ton much reasons why with an access to

quality education. with learning how to read, math.ng pro efficient in understanding science. equalizeris the great went a math problem doesn't care when you're born into privilege or poverty. a great piece of literature doesn't know if readers went to toancy college or didn't go college at all. the periodic table of elements don't worry about whether you spanish orsh or haitian creole at home. ityou can learn something, is portable wealth and nobody can take it away from you. excuses whichthe increasingly is happening in the world we live in today, if we struggle, if we herd them interest failing schools, how can we expect young people the first rungs of opportunity? challenge ofhe fixing our schools must be one the most urgent national priorities. on this.ree this isn't just about saving the amazing students

like her. education reform is about renewing this great country. protecting and promoting the essential right to rise. challenges wee face. schools run by en trench monopolies, more intent on serving the adults than the kid who learn there. a system that every year of childrenllions unprepared for life, and is never held accountable for that failure. a system that blames the failures of kids on parents, on budgets, on socio-economics, on just about anything but the budgets,o control the train and manage the teachers. therun and design curriculum. imagine doing that in any other important american endeavor. we know better. look, poverty is not an excuse. at the success academy charter schools that are taking the poorest kids in new york to a culture of really high expectations and accountability, their students the best test scores

in new york state. there are schools like this all the country. or take my beloved home state of florida, working with the florida legislature we implemented a suite of bold reforms, starting with the a plan for education in 1999. florida went from a national a top 10 state in education. gradersr low income 4th lee their peers of every state reading, according to the latest results from the nate test. our hispanic do equal or better state. average our african-american 4th gridders have advanced two and a readingse levels in since our reforms began. we are a national leader in students disadvantaged access to advanced placement classes. this room know what works. we have built a nationwide reform movement based on a set

of proven principles. of course choice is at the center of our reform efforts. other things as well. high standards. rigorous high quality assessments. accountability for school leaders. early childhood literacy and the insidious idea of social promotion in third grade. and distance learning. transparency for parents to see where their schools are getting getting worse. these policies matter. differachieve them will from community to community. in fact we have to make room for thinking eveour than as we reach for common goals. for example, there is a lively debate about testing. i don't know if you've noticed it. the right things? does testing promote real learning? often?est too i have some views on these issues and perhaps i might be in time.nority some of the i believe that testing is critical. we need to measure to identify

students and schools that are themgling so we can give the support they need to help them improve. but we should have fewer and significantly better tests. states should make sure tests measure critical thinking skills and districts hud sudden make sure local tests are used the a way that is helpful for the classroom.the my point is that we should be willing to experiment, we should our thinkingve based on the evidence. that is why the debate over the hason core state standards been troubling. i respect those who have weighed issue.ll side of this nobody in this debate has a bad motive. but let's take a step back from the debate just for a second. over 213 million chinese students went to school. debated whether academic expectations should be lowered in order to protect their students himself esteem. florida,ange county,

last week i read that debate actually did occur at a school board meeting. school board voted to make it impossible for a student to below 50.grade you get 50 out of 100, just for showing up and signing your name. this was done, and i quote here, from a local official, so that lose allnts do not hope. but in the international report on education performance, students from shanghai ranked number one. statess from the united ranked 21st in reading and math.n the point is this. an overriding concern for highesteem instead of expectations does not get you to number one. number 21. to so let's get real about this. only a quarter of our high graduates who took the a.c.t. are fully prepared for college. more than half who attend community college need to take some remedial course before they

taking college level work. manufacturingd jobs remain unfilled because we haven't trained enough people with those skills. almost a third of the high school graduates failed the military entrance exam. given this reality, there is no we need higher academic standards and at the local level diverse high quality content and curriculum. in my view the living or of the course state standards in --e the new minimum so for those choosing a path other than common core, i say this. that's fine, except you should be aiming even higher and be bolder and raise standards and more our, ask more for students. everybody here know is that have deliver it.l to there are many principles for us to agree on. we need to pull together can.ver we

it starts with a basic question. if we were designing our school scratch, what would they look like? i know one thing, we wouldn't with more than 13,000 run unionized monopolies who trap good andhers, administrators struggling students in a system that nobody can escape. it would be insane if we recreated what we have today. act likethink and we're starting from scratch. three ideaswith which i belief would create a surge in student achievement the sole objective of all the reforms we're going to talk about over the next few students are more college and or career ready. first, parents should have the full competitive marketplace of school options. neighborhood schools, charter schools, private schools, blended and virtual schools. schools.

children should be able to cross zip code lines, municipal lines, county lines into neighboring school districts. families would be given a say their children's' teachers and would be given the information needed to make those decisions. we would make it crystal clear that the student is why schools exist. first. their parents are their advocates, and everyone else goes after them in the pecking order, everyone. and that goes especially for the government. the states and local communities are where the best ideas come from. have the capability to make reform happen, and they are ultimately accountable. so if the federal government wants to play a role in reform, to tield stop trying every education dollar to a rule in washington d.c. they should make more programs one, early.a., title childhood programs and the block grants that the states can they see fit, they see fit,

including vouchers to enhance state programs. in my view, every education dollar should depend on what the child needs, not what the federal bureaucracy wants. where the child goes, the dollar should go as well. for deck a we've been treating teach terse way we used to think of assembly line workers. they get paid the same, they get treated the same, regardless of what they do, whether they do good work or bad, whether they take on great challengings or do less. that mistaken view belongs in the last century. if we have good teachers, let's pay them more and find ways to honor and recognize them for the important work that they do. if they volunteer to work with students, or in challenging schools, reward them more. hire and train great teachers and help those that in the classroom move onto other careers so that every child has a chance to ordinaryh an extra teacher. remember this, a student who enter is a classroom with a in theeacher walks out summer a full year ahead of a student who had an ineffective teacher. finally, one of the key organizing principles of schools be turned complete on its head. education,e think of that education occurs based on studentst of time spend in the class, not about the amount of than that they gain. that.ime to reverse

time should be the variable, and learning should be the constant. in effect, learning should be customized for each student. where mastery of material means a student moves onto the next challenge, rather than spend a predetermined amount of time in a seat. today this can be done through having spent time with my 3-year-old granddaughter mostia, one of the incredibly brilliant people on with anet, who plays tablet like a concert violinist a strad variousious, i sense, and i think most of us sense this clearly, i sense that will not struggle with this france formation.

if you're the only kid in your wants to cityo latin, you used to be stuck. if you can learn latin can connect with a great teacher online. and if you can move faster or you rest of the class need more time, there's no reason a technology solution can't help. a great teacher working with 21st century technology can blended learning strategy that works for every kid. happening at rocketship education charter diemols or the carpe schools. in fact, in massachusetts school officials used digital technology and blended learning highrn around revere school which has awe 75% poverty body whichstudent speaks 27 different languages. this year revere won the gold been as the top your school in the nation from the national center for urban school

transformation. revere heave en has its own version of a genius bar on campus. unique about the kids at revere or at any of the thatperforming schools embrace technology. the difference is the teachers, administrators and students were toen every insend active innovate. that is what reform looks like the 21st century. one final point. education reform with transparency and its thirdnow in decade. in the fewe done will require bold leadership from the people in this room and we have an obligation to recruit more people to make this room even more powerful.

and the full embrace of digital learning will require changes in laws, rules and regulationings. most of the time it's going to fight. a big political and the minute we begin to understand that together the toe incisive our efforts push back to open up an antiquated system. our movement has become strong but our work is only beginning. there are millions of kids us.ing for stuck in failing schools, and deserving so much more. let's get to work. it's okay to be disruptive. but never lose sight of our greater goal. the future of learning in america, the future much america thee everyone has opportunity to achieve their potential, and earn success. the purpose of this gathering, that's why i'm so happy you're here. summit.pe you enjoy the

god bless you all. [applause] >> on the next "washington former national highway traffic safety administrator david strickland travelbout expectationings and safety precautions for this thanksgiving holiday. director theeputy national security agency datasses the agency's collection practices, and efforts by congress to change them. retired colonel ritchie looks at the availability of mental health care for the military and veterans. "washington journal" begins live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. c-span 2day night on we bring you the annual american university conference on civic engagement with business and education leaders. here's a look at retired general stanley mcchrystal on citizenship and the value of volunteering.

>> we ten to volunteer when we know we need to. that kind of thing, we tend to step forward and take responsibility when hard, and i will tell you right now i think this is that moment in america. just look around and we instinctively know we have to change the concept of citizenship. if we go to many people in america they think if they vote taxes they did their job as a citizen. but that's not what citizenship is. is no more than a covenant between people who it's ato be a nation and it's a

relationship between people that has a responsibility to and for each other. that's what citizens are, they are jointly bound to take care of each other. if we really look at the problem, and we want to fix it instead of going after each individual thing and if we want to take a big step, then it's going to take a big idea. are tonight the annual american university conference on civic engagement, with business and education leaders. 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span 2. this thanksgiving week c-span is featuring interviews from retiring members of congress. watch the interviews tonight thursday at 8:00 p.m.

eastern. want to look back at that so much as to look forward months and inuple the next couple month there's a couple things i'd like to do. one is to get my defense passed.ation this is an annual effort, a major effort involving large amountings of staff. i also want to finish up some work on the permanent subcommittee on investigations. at some gimmicks which taxes.d to avoid >> i've been a member of congress for 34 years. finally get beat, if i was a manager for a baseball or football team and i had a 34 and 1, i'd be in the hall of fame. doesn't bother me. and really it doesn't bother me to get beat because i wasn't going, but i had 18 chairmen ofho were my counties in my district that wanted me to run. did.

>> and also on thursday, thanksgiving day, we'll take an of variousstory tour native american tribes, that's eastern following "washington journal." then at 1:30, attend a ground breaking ceremony of the new diplomacy center in washington with former secretaries of state. justicesme court alitoce thomas, samuel soto-mayor. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014]

>> good afternoon. i've been briefed today by the cops director ron davis principle deputy associate attorney general, deputy assistant attorney general members of my staff are here with me now they're overseeing the federal investigations into the sheeting of michael brown as well as the investigation that we are doing of the ferguson police department. i want to emphasize that we have two investigations ongoing. as i've said many times before and reiterated many my statement last night, the department's investigation will continue to be thorough, independent, and they remain ongoing. they will be conducted rigorously and in a timely manner so we can move forward as expeditiously as we can to restore trust, to rebuild understanding and to foster

cooperation between law enforcement and community members. last night and throughout the day i have been briefed on events in and around ferguson. i was disappointed that some members of the community resorted to violence rather than respecting what i thought were the really heartfelt words of michael brown sr. and the wishes that he expressed about how he wanted his son's memory to be honored with nonviolence. it is clear i think that acts of violence threaten to drown out those who have legitimate voices, atlanta demonstrators and those acts of violence cannot and will not be condoned. by contrast i am very encouraged that some of the more peaceful demonstrations last night as well as today have occurred and have been in keeping with mr. brown's request. i would remind demonstrators of our history, that those -- the

way which we have made progress in this country is when we have seen peaceful nonviolent demonstrations that has led to the change that has been the most long lasting and the most pervasive. i have asked the cops director ron davis to continue to confer with local law enforcement and to conduct an after-action review so that we can develop strategies for identifying and isolating the criminal elements from peaceful protestors. additionally i have instructed department officials to continue to maintain contact with leaders of the peaceful protesters and seek their assistance in isolating those individuals who are inclined towards violence. we have had a good ongoing dialogue with the peaceful demonstrators in ferguson. i've been very heartened to hear about the good work that our community relations service has done as well as people here

mark in particular and i've instructed them to maintain those levels of communications and keep those avenues of communications open. i really embrace those who have been proactively intervening to stop acts of violence within their midst and i encourage them to continue to exercise this important leadership. i know that is not an easy thing to do but it was very heartening to hear about people last night who were trying to stop those other people who were trying to loot, trying to destroy businesses, trying to burn things. those people who took it upon themselves to try to stop those kinds of things are in fact heros in my mind. michael brown's tragic death has revealed i think a deep distrust between some in the ferguson community and its police force. it also developed a need to develop and to widely disseminate law enforcement best practices for responding to public demonstrations. the department of justice has begun this work and will continue to work with

communities around the country in this regard. the reality that what we see in ferguson is not restricted to ferguson. there are other communities around this country that have these same issues that have to be dealt with and we at the justice department are determined to do all that we can to bridge those divides. we launched in september our building communities of trust initiative to provide training to law enforcement and communities on bias reduction and procedural fairness p. and we plan to apply evidence-based strategies and pilot sites around the country. this is all designed to bridge those divides, bridge the gaps between law enforcement and the communities that they serve. these gaps, these divides exist in other parts of the country beyond ferguson and our focus will be national in its scope to try to deal ultimately with these issues. we will continue to advance this work as i said in cities around the country in the

coming weeks and months by bringing together elected officials, law enforcement officials, and community leaders both to ensure dialogue, but also action. this isn't just about talking. we want to ensure that concrete steps are taken to address these underlying barriers to trust. i briefed the president today in the oval office about the situation in ferguson. shared with him the perspectives of people in law enforcement and justice department officials who are there on the ground who talked about programic initiatives that we want to announce relatively soon. and also about the need to bring our people together. this is a difficult time for people in ferguson and it's a difficult time for people in our country. i think this is an opportunity for us to find those things that bind us as a nation to be honest with one another about those things that continue to divide us and to come up wit

ways in which we make this union even more perfect. and so that's what i talked about with the president. he is committed to this effort as are the men and women of the united states department of justice. hanks very much. good afternoon and thank everybody for joining us.

st night criminals intent on lawlessness and destruction terrorized this community. burning buildings, firing gunshots, vandalizing storefronts, and looting family businesses. many for the second time. i am deeply saddened for the people of ferguson who woke up this morning to see parts of their community in ruins. i just came from west flowersen. it's a heart-breaking sight. seniors afraid to leave the house, school canceled, kids scared to go outside and play. what they have gone through is unacceptable. no one should have to live like this. no one deserves this. we must do better and we will. this morning and into this

afternoon i met with guard and law enforcement leaders, all agree that the violence we saw in the areas of ferguson last night cannot be repeated. that is why in order to protect lives and property we are bringing more resources to ferguson and other parts of the region to prevent a repetition of the lawlessness that we saw ast night. first, we are deploying hundreds of additional guardsmen to fergsop who will be stationed throughout the community to protect homes and businesses. with these additional citizen soldiers, law enforcement officers will be better able to focus on protecting lives and property in the community. the missouri national guard will also continue to provide security at critical locations including the ferguson police department. last night more than 700 guardsmen were at nearly 100 vital facilities throughout this region in both the city and the county and i thank them for their work.

it is a testament to the professional yimentism of local los angeles and national guard that no one was killed or seriously injurd last night. third the guard's rapid ready to eams will be respond. there will be more than 2,200 guardsmen in the region. lives and propped must be protected. this community deserves to have peace. we will provide safety and security to the region. i know this morning that there is pain in the hearts of this community. i also know that it is vital for us to understand how we got to this place and how to make it better. i continue to be heartened by the steadfast work that so many people in this region are doing on behalf of peace and understanding. to avert violence and move forward together. i will now call on some folks to say something and be glad to

take questions. the commander here brigadier general gregory mason. >> thank you. as in august the missouri national guard will deploy a trained and ready professional force. our soldiers were equipped to do the job in august. we have returned and we will continue to do a good job in protect the sits sngs and life and property. we're here as trained and ready soldiers to do what we've always done and that's serve the citizens of the state of missouri. >> thank you, general. the colonel of the missouri state highway patrol. >> i just want to say that we have worked with the national guard many times throughout the past years in disasters around this state. last night was a disaster. and we're prepared to team up again with the national guard with the other local law enforcement to address this tonight. as the governor said we cannot have a repeat of what happened last night. it was very disappointing for

me to watch the hard work of chief bell mer, chief dotsen and captain johnson over the last 100 plus days the tremendous work that they have been doing go up in flames so to speak last night. they will work more, they will work harder and we will work harder but we will not have a repeat of last night's activities. thank you. >> thank you, colonel. i now call on the chief of the st. louis county department. >> i too would like to thank general mason for the assistance he is going to give us. last night we had about 400 plus police officers down there before we called about 60 officers from st. louis city and another 100 officers from municipalities. i think it just goes to show you the value that the guard can bring to us. the message here is our community not only needs to be safe, they need to feel safe. and i appreciate the governor's leadership and certainly general mason's troops in that regard. thank you.

>> thanks, chief. the director of public safety state of missouri. >> it was clear that last night as a disappointment -- a disappointment in so many ways. so much work has been done by the command over the last 100 days and we deployed many officers out in the area. unfortunately, there was a group of people who were intent on causing violence and mayhem. we will do better tonight. there will be a significant presence in the community. and we hope that we will protect the property and protect the businesses of those people in ferguson and also throughout the city of st. louis and our community. >> thank you, director. i will be glad to take any

questions. >> was your failure to deploy -- nal guard promptly [inaudible] >> we had about 700 guardmen in 100 locations last night. late last night, early this morning we deployed guardsmen to the ferguson police department as additional force strength there and as was indicated by the folks here we have -- will continue that mission along with the other two missions that we talked about, expand the role of the guard. we're working to make sure that there is public safety and that the guard -- that force is used to -- in a way to make sure tonight is a safer night. inaudible] >> i didn't. we had 700 national guardsmen out throughout the region that

went out early last evening including late last night guardsmen deployed directly to ferguson police department. so i say that -- >> but you're going to have more than 2,000 now. >> that's the force strength we will have in the area. we will have a significant number out tonight but obviously work shifts. but the bottom line is that as i said before we're going to continue to up their numbers here and work with the unified command to make sure that we keep things calm and safe. >> go ahead jason. >> was the national guard on [inaudible] before the looting and the burning of the buildings happened? if not, why weren't they there? >> the national guard was part of the unified commapped. they were providing services all throughout the area so that officials would be freed up to be part of that command. as i said before we had 700 guardmen in the region that

doing a lot of static work out there such that others could. we certainly had guard at the command post. as i said later, we had guards at the ferguson police department but we will have more out there tonight and we will continue to provide resources. over here. inaudible] >> as i said before we had some i'm not sure at the exact number at the command center at various times and somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 at the police department eventually as the night went on. >> as far as the percentage -- governor -- he is saying that you may have been pressured by the obama administration by the justice department to not deploy the guardsmen to ferguson [inaudible] as opposed to just guard federal buildings. can you respond to this charge? >> that is false and politics. that is nothic to do with what

we're doing. we have sworn officers, hundreds of people putting their lives on the line er night. politics has not one bit to do with the tasks at hand, the responsibilities and the seriousness of this mission. >> coming up c-span interviews with retiring members of congress. in a few moments we talked to senator tom harkin of iowa. after that congressman howard cobal of north carolina. later remarks by senator charles schumer of new york on the midterm elections and the future of the democratic party. >> hoor are a few comments we

made. >> i just watched your program question and answer. i find that it very offensive to put someone on line for an hour and on air who knows very little about islam, very little about sharia, very little about the core an and history. she misquoted the koran, misquoted the life of mohammed and it's a fact that it's absolutely not accurate. on a very refuture scholarly basis. i find it very offensive and i am completely shocked as someone who watches and respects c-span to see this program. i'm completely shocked. i dare to say the worst program i have seen on c-span in 20 years.

>> i wanted to comment on the &a on c-span with the author darwish. she has given the most complete and concise articulated explanation of the muslim religion in the modern world that i've heard. and i am a religious scholar of over 65 years. she should be commended just for this speech. thank you very much. >> continue to let us know what you think about the programs you're watching. email us, or send us a tweet.

>> senator tom harkin of iowa, we are sitting in a room you spent a lot of time in over the years. and done a lot of important pieces of legislation. i am wondering what prompted you to make the decision to retire this year. there is still a lot to do. >> well, i guess what prompted me were long discussions with my wife. and thinking about the past and where i am. i came to the decision that 40 years here is long enough for anyone to be here. and, you know this whole concept of clinging to power --

i have all these offices and a great committee, all that stuff. i think a lot of people stay around too long. so i just started thinking about it. i thought, i am still relatively young. at least i feel healthy. and contrary to what my political opponents say, my mental faculties are still decent. i just love the senate. i love my work here. i love the give-and-take. i look to legislate. i love politics. so i will miss the senate. it is a long time to be here. i do not think that is reason enough to stay around until they carry me out of here feet first. at some point it is time to let new people come in here with resh ideas and enthusiasm.

i said for me, it is time to move on. >> what are you planning to do next? >> at drake university in des moines, a well-known college because of the relation everything, drake university a year and a half ago started the harkin institute of public policy. we have a nonpartisan board of directors. the former chair of the iowa republican party is on the board of the harkin institute. for that reason, he will probably never be reelected to the chair of the republican party. we have a former chief justice of the iowa supreme court. so i will be spending a lot of my time in iowa. we only live about 12 miles from drake university. so i hope to be doing a lot of work that institute.

one of the things you know, as a senator, we have all the stuff on our plate. we have a lot of stuff to deal with. it has been said one of the good things about being a senator is you get to deal with a lot on your plate. it has been said of the senate that one of the bad things about the senate is that you have a lot of things on your plate. so i want to narrow those down and focus mostly on what i'm probably best known for, and that is disability work. i want to work with the institute and also some here in washington. i hope even some internationally. on what i consider to be one of the last linchpins of making the americans with disabilities act really work, and that his job opportunities for people with disabilities.

some exciting things are happening out there, by the way, with people with disabilities getting jobs. really interesting things. and i would like to be a part of that and are to expand that as much as possible. >> you mentioned consulting with your wife, ruth. observations suggest that this country has a lot of political spouses. what is her life going to be like after leaving the enate? >> i hope ok. you have to understand -- >> it is not like you're going to still be very busy. >> my wife has always carved out her own career. first as an attorney, prosecuting attorney, then here in washington with a law firm. then later back in the federal government as the president and ceo of the overseas private investment corporation, which she did an outstanding job

at. then later as a corporate executive. now on the board of regents of iowa. so my wife has always had her own career path. i remember one time when i was first elected, and she was already a prosecuting attorney. you have to understand, my wife and i ran for office in the same year, 1972. i lost and she won. ruth was the only democrat in the story county courthouse. the only woman county attorney n the state of iowa. so she was interviewed around that time about our relationship and about being a ongressional wife.

she says, "i am not married to congress." she said, my life would be very disappointing if all i had to hinge on was i was the wife of a congressman. so my wife has been an advocate of women doing their own thing and seeking their own career path. she has been very busy. and she is still on a couple of oards today. so she has never been one to just be a senatorial wife or something like that. >> i want to go to your declaration of love for the senate. i wonder if the senate has gotten a little harder to love n the past decade or so. >> well, it certainly requires a different approach.

speaking in the language of romance. the last decade has been very different. i always want to be careful about getting into this area because i do not want to become one of those old men that constantly say things were better when i was younger. things were better when i first got here. i heard that from my father, and from people growing up. different, yes. and i do believe that there are certain things that the senate ought to be doing that i think transcends decades. build personal relationships. the grease of good legislation is still personal relationships. trust. getting to know one

another. that has broken down in the senate. and that has got to be pulled back together again. we need a broader base in the republican party now. you might say, what about the democratic party? well, up until just recently, the republican party had a pretty good broad-based. there were liberal republicans, moderate republicans. lately, we have had moderate democrats. some conservative, in the south. in that mix, we were able to get things done. the republican party got rid of all are liberals and they became very, very onservative. that engendered a reaction, i think, on the democratic side. more and more democrats are getting more and more liberal. we have to have more of a mix now than what we had in the past.

i know it sounds political, but i hope the republican party gets back to having more moderates in the republican party. so, that. might i also add i think some procedures need to be changed in the senate. i have long advocated we get rid of the filibuster. i think we can say it is a weight around our necks that is not in the constitution. it was used primarily for almost 100 years to stop civil rights legislation. that was the basis of the filibuster. but it has no relevance today. it really does not. what has happened in the last few years is that individuals have found they can use the filibuster to absolutely stop legislation. it was never intended that way. it was intended to slow down

legislation if you had a sizable minority. but never to be used in a way it is now. so in 1996, i proposed getting rid of the filibuster. i said at that time, it is in the record, what is happening is, when the democrats are in, republicans will use the filibuster. when the republicans get in power, the democrats go, you did this to us. we will do it to you. the ante always goes up. it is like an arms race. every time the senate would change hands, the new party would do more filibusters than the last. and i said, it is going to be like an arms race. it is getting to the point we cannot run the senate. that is true today. so two things. get rid of the filibuster on legislation as well as nominations.

on the other hand, i have often said the republicans have a legitimate argument in that they are not being allowed to offer amendments. they are not being allowed to offer amended because of filibuster bills. the best way to get rid of it is to get rid of the filibuster. at the same time, guaranteed to the minority in new rules in the senate that the minority will be able to offer germane amendments to that legislation with a reasonable time limits or debate. if you do that, then we can move legislation. and the minority will have the right -- someone said, the minority does not have the right to prevail. which they're doing now, because minority can control the filibuster and stop hings. it should be the right of the minority to amend, to have full

and vigorous debates, and have votes on amendments. if we do that, i think the senate would begin to operate very well. >> i heard you say that the resulting gridlock upsets the balance of power by giving more power to the president. would you explain why? >> i think there is gridlock in the congress because we cannot get things done because of more power to the president. we see it with this president, the last president. it is just like an arms race. more power will devolve to the president when we cannot get our work done. >> when and why did it change? >> there was sort of a gradual thing. it started in the 1980's. it accelerated a little in the 1990's. and then it took off in the 2000s.

i'm not going to say, the democrats did this. both sides started it. both sides started it. i would say it really escalated erhaps in the late 1990's. i would say from the late 1990's, early 2000, to 012. every couple of years it got worse in terms of the ilibusters and gridlock. so we do not vote on everything around here anymore. the only thing we vote on is unanimous consent. something like that. we do not even debate any longer. i think the country loses when that happens. >> you talk about collegiality

and things important to the legislative process. the senate's work week has gotten shorter, more structured. people we talked to suggest that this is one of the roots of the problem, that they are not here on weekends. why did that change? what is going to change it back? because people are going home to raise money. >> i was going to say, why are people leaving here? to go out to raise money. campaigns have gotten so expensive. if you have been reelected as a senator, you better start raising money right away. >> you remember what your first campaign cost? >> not that much. good question. am sure somebody knows. but my first senate campaign, 1984, gosh. >> it has increased exponentially? >> just awful. i would be surprised if my 1984

campaign cost -- i know less than $2 million, maybe $1.5 million. my last campaign probably came in around $12 million or $15 million. that is crazy. just nuts. but that is what it has gotten to. that is the other thing. again, to build relationships, you have to have personal time. it used to be we had a senate dining room. there is still a senate dining room, but that is where everybody could go. we had a little dining room for only senators to have lunch in. no staff, just senators. we had two tables in there and talk about this and that. personal stories, what is happening in your family. get to know one another. we had great conversation at

these lunches. some were political. we talked about this. you are not on record, so you an really talk openly. and that dining room doesn't even exist anymore. there came a time when fewer and fewer senators were going there. and finally, it did not exist. think about that. something we used to do on a daily basis, we never do. why is that? well, we used to come in -- the senate was monday at noon. and then we would be here until friday at noon. at a minimum. sometimes friday, later. now, we would have monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday.

at least four or five days of lunches. minimum of four, maybe five. now, we do not get here until monday evening. tuesday is the caucus lunch for both republicans and democrats. they are party caucuses. thursday is the policy lunch for democrats and republicans. we leave thursday night. that only leaves wednesday. and what are they doing on wednesday for lunch? they are out raising money. it is not healthy. it is just not healthy at all. and we used to -- here is another suggestion i make for those new senators. i make it not here in this conversation, but i make it to hem. we should have our caucuses like we used to. on an afternoon, tuesday afternoon or wednesday afternoon. we used to take two hours.

we go to 5:00 or 6:00 in the afternoon. that was our caucus. now it is lunch time. why can we go back to having -- there isn't anything else here, for crying out loud. >> speaking of collegiality, i am wondering about your relationship with your longtime counterpart, chuck grassley. the funny ways of the senate counting things. you are still the junior senator. the longest-serving junior senator. >> i am the most senior junior senator in the senate. used to be fritz onyx when strong thurmond was here. senator grassley and i got sworn in on the same day on 1975. >> a few hours earlier in his case, senator grassley? >> we got elected the same

day. we were sworn in on january, 1975. same day. but he came to the senate four years before me. in terms of our time here -- >> you are in the house for 10 years before you came to the senate. >> exactly. and he was only in the house six years. that is right. i know people say iowa, he is a conservative. i am a liberal. how do they do that? we have always had a good elationship. we do disagree on some things once in a while, but when we work for iowa, our staffs work closely together. you have to remember, iowa is a ery close state. the registration is about what it was when i first started 40 years ago. one third democrat, one third republican, one third

independent. so i have often said there are a lot of conservative iowans, a lot of liberal iowaans, and the est are moderates. so chuck grassley fills out the onservative end of the spectrum, but does enough things to reach over to moderates. i represent the liberal spectrum and do enough to reach over to moderates. so i always liked that balance. i have always said there has been a kind of balance. the most part, it has worked pretty well. >> in 1992, he left to become president. how does that look through your rearview mirror? >> i know bob dole once said famously that there is only one cure for the desire to be president, and that is a wooden stake through the heart or

something like that. but i look back at it and i think, you know, first of all, i was ill prepared to run for president. i had not really planned on it for a long time. it just was not something i was geared up to do. but after the 1990 election, i became so upset about bush's economic policies, but also the move into iraq, the the kuwati war, that kind of thing. that i felt we needed a good populace voice running. i was not prepared. i ran a terrible campaign. if i had had had a brain, i would have just campaigned in a few states.

wisconsin, michigan, ohio, maybe connecticut. just set up operations in those states and nowhere else. but people said you have to campaign in texas. i remember one time, driving down the highway in south carolina on a rainy day, and i thought, what am i doing in south carolina? i have no support here. dick riley, who they are became a good friend of mine, he was running clinton's campaign. what was i even spending a day -- aside from having staff and campaign people. if i had just concentrated on a few states, that might have been different. but i also believe my message was wrong also. y message was wrong. but i think about those things, and i look back, and however,

both the country and me and my family and my personal life are probably better off that i never got elected president. i am not just saying that out of fake modesty. i say that because i love legislation. like legislating. and i just like that atmosphere. the more i thought about it, i am not really the executive type person. i have never been in an executive. i have always been a legislator. i have to tell you this. i love my anonymity. i really like going into a store and no one knows me. i like going into a restaurant and i do not need secret service or something like that. nobody knows who i am. have enough notoriety through the issues i am involved in that certain elements of

society know me and know me well, but broadly speaking, it is a nice feeling to have that. that anonymity. nce you get elected president, it is over with. as i think about it, i think my life has been more fulfilling. i think my personal life, my wife and my family, has been much more fulfilling. much more happy with my being in the senate than it ever would had been in the white house. remember, those trying to get bill humphries to run for president in 1988. we were really working on bumpers to run. i got him to come out to iowa -- the three of us -- it was paul simon, berkeley bedell, and me. we try to get them to run. after going around, he said to me and said, you know, i think,

i think i could run a good campaign. i think i could even win the nomination. by gosh, i think i could win the presidency. but you know what? i would never have another happy day in my life. >> the splendid misery from the time of don adams, right? i went and watched your withdrawal speech at the washington-based college for the deaf. that was a good launching pad into your focus on the disabled. would you tell us about your interest in that? >> it started with my brother, who was deaf. i saw how he was discriminated against for a lifetime. i thought, if i could ever get in a position to do something about it. well, i did. i got into congress, later in the senate. my first work in the house was -- my thought on disability was

on deafness. that is what i was focused on. o i was involved in closed captioning and setting up the national captioning institute in virginia to caption pre-recorded tv programs. jennings randolph and i, the senator from west virginia and i, set up the first decoder box for jimmy carter in the white house. later, that led me, by the way, this was one of the things that not many people know about, but they know about my sponsorship of the americans with isabilities act. but before that, i did something else. i got a bill through called the television decoder circuitry act, which mandated that every television set sold in america

with a size 13 inch screen or bigger had to have embedded within the tv the chip that decoded that line. i got it through. and that is why you have that mute button you can hit now. all the lines come across the screen. my interest was in deafness. but later on, my nephew got -- my sister's boy got injured in the military. got shot down and broke his neck. became a quadriplegic. he got out, went through rehabilitation in colorado, and then he wanted to go to college. i will never forget. called me up one day and said uncle tom, i cannot even go to college. i said, you are at fort collins. what are you talking about? >> he said, i cannot get around on my wheelchair. i cannot get up the steps to go

to school. they have classes on the second and third floor. and i cannot get there because there is no elevator. all of a sudden, my concept of disability started expanding ay beyond, way beyond, eafness. also about that time, i met a young man by the name of danny piper, who had down syndrome. he played football. he acted in school plays. he was a magnificent young man. i had to start thinking about how many people with intellectual disabilities are up there like him in the shadows someplace? so bit by bit, my concept began to grow. about that time in the mid to late 1980's, i found there was a movement in america to have a

broad civil rights bill covering all disabilities. i came to the senate in 1985. in 1986, the democrats took the senate. two senators wanted to get me on the committee. john glenn, because he and i flew the same jet in the military. and then ted kennedy. and ted said, i want you on my committee and i said, i don't know, glenn wants me on his committee. i said, if i could work on disability issues, in your jurisdiction, if you could figure out how i could have that niche on your committee, i'd be interested. ted kennedy went, let me think about it. within a day he got back to me and said i tell you what, you

come on my committee, i'll form a disability subcommittee and you can chair it and i said, ted, i'm on your committee. and that's what gave me the position to be able to have the hearings, shape the bill and move the americans with disabilities act through the senate. >> was your brother still around? >> absolutely. >> what was that like? >> that was wonderful. there were two great moments in my time here. two or three with frank, my brother. one was passing the americans with disabilities act when i was on the floor and i gave my speech in sign language. to this day, bob kerrey will tell you about that because he was sitting in the chair. suddenly i started speaking sign sign language with no verbal noise and the recorder didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to do. he sat there looking at me wondering what the heck was going on. so i gave a great part of my

speech in sign language. and he always remembers because he said, what can we do? we didn't know what to do and my brother was watching that so my brother got to see that and he was very proud of that, about that. and he just always -- i just wish they had something like that when i was a kid because he realized that he was discriminated against, that he was limited in what he could do simply because he was deaf, limited not by being deaf but by society's perceptions of him. >> do you have any sympathy at all for the small organizations who had to invest much money that they may not have had in retrofitting facilities? that's some of the complaints, we don't have the money to build the ramps. >> right after we passed the americans with disabilities act we passed a tax bill and we put in there a tax credit, credit,

of up to $5,000 for any small business that has to widen a door or put in a ramp. to this day, a lot of small businesses don't know that although we've tried to broadcast it. up to 50% tax credit, up to $5,000 so most can get it done with very little expense and we've set up systems around the united states, like clearing houses, where if anyone as a problem, they have a question, they can call and they'll be able to tell them how to meet the requirements of the a.d.a. and a lot of it's so simple. i remember a school, debuque, iowa, called up. they were furious because of the a.d.a., they were going to have to replace all their water fountains in all three schools and they put out a bid for it and the company came in and all the plumbing had to be changed. it cost a lot of money.

they were furious. i sent my staff person out to meet with them and see what could be done. so he looked at it and he made a suggestion to the school board. he said i'll tell you what, beside every water fountain, put a paper cup dispenser and waste paper basket. that's all you need to do. so someone's in a wheelchair, take the paper cup, fill it up, put it in the waste paper basket. and that's compliant. there's a lot of people out there trying to -- trying to make money off this, say, well, yeah, you do all this and costs you millions of dollars and we can do that but a lot of times you don't have to do that. these are sometimes very simple things. >> this time going by so fast and there's lots to talk about. you mentioned john glenn and military service. you've served a long time in the reserves when you were in the senate. i wonder how that affected

things you had to do, like voting for war, what perspective did it bring? >> what affected me more than anything was my time in the service because i saw so many friends killed in vietnam. i did not serve in vietnam. i was in and out of vietnam but that's another story but i saw lot of my friends and i remember another young man, i won't mention his name, but i saw him once at q.v. point in the philippines and i knew he'd been flying in vietnam. he was an a-4 pilot and i saw him and asked him how things were going and he was kind of quiet. i said, so what's the latest? he said i'm headed back to the states. i said, your tour's over? he said, no, i got canned, i can't fly anymore. i came back from a bombing run and i told my commanding officer, i'm not dropping any more bombs and he said they had me on the next plane off that aircraft carrier back to the states so i asked him about all

that and what he told me, i got so disillusioned by the vietnam war, and then the second thing that happened, after i got out of the military, i went in the reserves, i flew in the reserves. i was better trained, got more hours flying, flying in the reserves than i did on active duty. and yet it cost the taxpayers about one third as much. suddenly i'm thinking, we got to put more money into the reserves and the national guard, get more bang for the buck because they can do other things other than just being on active duty so that's why i have been a strong supporter of reserves, national guard units. and i also think that if we had more reservation and national guard rather than active duty, less opportunity for the generals to get us into wars, things like that. >> what's the john glenn story? >> oh, i always wanted to fly airplanes when i was a young boy and i never flew in an airplane, never flew in any

airplane until i was in college and a navy plane, when i was in navy rotc but i always wanted to fly so when i was a junior in high school, there was a picture in the des moines register of this marine major who had just broken the cross-country speed record from california to new york in an f-8 crusader. and his name was major john glenn. i took that picture and pasted it above my bed and said i want to fly that airplane and as my skill set and perhaps a little bit of luck would turn out, i did get to the fly that airplane. and of course john glenn went on, obviously, to be an astronaut. and went on to be a united tates senator. and so when i came to the -- when i first came to the house,

i introduced myself to john glenn and so we talked about flying the f-8 and what was it like and when i came to the senate, we just always had that kind of relationship there. t was interesting fighter. it was the fastest plane at that time. it was first jet to go 1,000 miles an hour in level flight so glenn flew it, i flew it and we always had that bonding because not many people flew that airplane and a lot of people were killed flying it, too. that was the john glenn story. >> did you ever show him the clip? >> i never did. i don't have it anymore. i don't know what happened to it. once i went to college and went in the military my brother or somebody threw it away but the icture exists. you can go back in the archives of the paper and find picture. >> you said there were a couple of special moments in your career besides a.d.a.

i'm guessing one had to do with the passage of healthcare legislation? >> yes, absolutely. americans with disabilities act was the biggest point in my egislative career. but the affordable care act also because in that i was able to put in the prevention title and as it so happened, kennedy became very sick, as you know, and it sort of devolved on to chris dodd and me to get this done and so kennedy asked me in the beginning, since you're so involved with prevention and stuff, you take care of that. so the prevention title in the affordable care act, that's what we did. that was my deal. and think what it does. it means from now on you can get colonoscopies, breast cancer screening, cervical cancer screening, cholesterol screening, all these things can you get with no co-pays and no deductibles. my idea was always to change

our sick care system. i always said we never had a healthcare system but a sick care system. if you got sick, you got care, one way or the other. but there was nothing in our system to promote wellness and to keep you healthy in first place. so that's why i wanted that prevention title and it's taking hold and there's another part of the prevention title in which i got 15 billion dollars, billion, with a b, over 10 years, for grants to communities to set up community wellness programs and that's now happening all over america. where communities are getting together and saying what can we do to promote wellness in our community? and they're getting these grants. so to me, i like that part of my legacy because i think it's going to take hold and it will promote wellness and more healthful living but there's something else i did. i'm also on -- i have been on

the ag committee for 40 years. i was chair of two farm bills. two things that i point to with pride -- maybe three -- two -- one, i started a new conservation program. it's now called the conservation stewardship program. we have over 60 million acres in the united states now in this program. the concept behind it is this. that since world war ii in agriculture, the government paid formers subsidies based on what they grew and how much they grew. it to be a program crop and the more you grew, the more you got. that promoted bigger and bigger farms all the time. the more you got, you can bid up the price of land. it skewed the system. so i always thought, no, that's wrong. what we need to do is to pay farmers not for what they grow and how much they grow but for how they grow it. are you a good conservationist?

do you preserve soil and clean water? do you provide crop rotation and good tilt for the soil so that's what the program is. it's not that old but i think it's firmly established and more and more farmers are seeing the benefit of it. the farmers get a benefit of it and people living in cities and downstream get cleaner waters. our hunters like it because we have more cover for wild fowl, pheasants and ducks and things like that, for hunters. hey like that. so that's another thing that i'm glad i was here to do. the other thing i did in the agriculture bill is i started something called the fresh fruit and vegetable program. i did an experiment, 2002 farm bill. i got $5 million for four states, 25 schools in the states, 100 schools, try an

experiment. what would happen if you gave kids free fresh fruits and vegetables, not in the lunch room but in the classroom, or in a kiosk in the hallway. not just at lunch time, but whenever they felt like it, in the morning if they were hungry. so i started that. 100 schools, four states. 5 million. in the last farm bill, in 2008, i was able to expand it because each one of those 100 schools are still in the program today. they love it. we found kids eating fruits and vegetables they'd never eaten before, fresh, fresh fruits and vegetables and they got those free because you always say, well, we have a vending machine and we always have a couple of apples in the vending machine but a kid with money is not going to pay for an apple. they'll buy candy or cookie but if they get it free, they eat it, they like it, they don't go