roosevelt used to drive around in her car and she would take ameal yeah for rides. i think there's a story that ameal yeah said it's more dangerous driving with you than flying. and she wrote thinking of amelia earhart. today, we meet at a time when the challenges are not so dire despite what you might hear on cable television or talk radio. but these are still difficult days for many americans. after a long decade of war, terrorism and recession, there are some who are asking whether we still have what it takes to lead. and like that earlier generation, we, too, could use some of ameal yeah's spirit spp that feeling that if we just hold on together this generation of americans like generations before have the talent, the ingenuity, the grace and the grit to emerge greater than ever and to take themselves and to take them to even new and higher heights. we can be as optimistic and even audacious as amelia earhart, we can be defined not by the limits that hold us shutdown by the opportunities that are ahead. so i'm thrilled to invite scientists engineers, our aviator