cory chose a five-year apprentice ship throuh the international brotherhood of electrical workers, ibewd he graduated with flying colors because he's got game. and reflecting on that opportunity, cory said, and i quote, "it was a vehicle for me to achieve my dreams. it literally saved my life." but it didn't just save cory's life, it led him down a path that has positively affected the lives of thousands of people in his community and across the state of maryland and, for that, i know i am grateful and the residents of maryland are grateful. my house calls to cory and so many others tell me that america is at its best when it is a place where we recognize that every single person is gifted and talented, where we invest in our people and their potential, where a middle-class life is within the reach of everyone willing to work with it, where businesses who embrace shared prosperity succeed and thrive, and where zip code never determines destiny. but i also know -- i was born at night, but i wasn't born last night. and in my other house calls, they show me an america that can do better an

kosher and together but i have to say secretary perez was fantastic and we also had the presence of the ibew lonni stephenson involved. you know i don't think that we could have gotten there without secretary perez. i think he did an outstanding, outstanding job and just keeping everybody at the table and not walking away and making sure that everybody's points got across to the other side and i think he did a fantastic job. >> host: you said you have known lowell mcadam's for a while. he is of course the head of verizon. >> guest: we are trying to improve the overall relationship between the union and the company going forward now because i think lowell would tell you that we discovered the relationship was worse than he even thought it was. a relationship with me and him has eyes been cordial but that's not the day-to-day relationship between the union and the company. but i think that they are charlie going to try to improve that relationship because they realized that you know a happy workforce is a good workforce. >> guest: how successful was verizon and training managers to try to do t

she's left welfare and found a good job training electricians, and she's become a proud member of ibewal 288. [applause] now, now, she dreams of sending her daughter irene to college. mildred nystel is here with us tonight, and i say to her, i will fight for a targeted, affordable tax cut to help working families save and pay for college. [applause] mr. gore: they need help. and we will give it to them. it is the key to our future. [applause] mr. gore: i met jacqueline johnson in st. louis, missouri. [applause] mr. gore: she worked for 35 years as a medical assistant caring for others. , now, she is 72 years old and needs prescription medicine to care for herself. she spends over half of her social security check, her only source of income, on her pills. so, she either skips meals or shops for bargains at a wholesale food store and buys macaroni and cheese dinners in bulk, and then have them at them atthem -- has every meal. i invited her here tonight. and mrs. johnson, i promise you once again, i will fight for a prescription drug benefit for all seniors under medicare. [applause] mr.

i had the privilege recently of spending some time with the cwa and ibew and the folks at verizon, and verizon and its workers understand that they are stronger together. it was a tough 13 days, but we got through it. collective bargaining can sometimes be a little messy. but you know what? i believe to my core that collective bargaining is one of the single most important forces that has brought us middle class prosperity in our nation's history. and we need to keep being that way. we need to keep being fearless. fearlessness is craig bowen, the ceo of the heb grocery chain, a $23 billion grocery chain competing in a low-margin industry, and craig was one of the strongest supporters of our overtime rule. and he supported it because he understands that his workers are at the center of his business model. he understands that because he believe believes that the low road is a dangerous road. we need to take the high road. all of these people fuel my chronic optimism. but people will also tell me that, you know what, you need to be impatient as well. i'm chronically impatient as well as c