ball game and want to send video to grandma, look at this great basketball shot. you can screen that video in the future directly to grandma. >> travels through the internet. >> all travels through the internet. it will be high bandwidth application because it could be hd video sent to grandma. you're talking about using latest technology. lte on verizon, at&t. it will increase spectrum use because now you have that data connection there persistently. so it's very important to have -- . .

>> here's this picture i'd like to share with you, find you, and do you want to share, and you say yes, and it starts an interactive group with this picture or video. these are new tvs, and in 2012, we are putting video cameras op the tv and audio cameras on tv so there's two-way video conferencing between a hand held in nebraska and grandma in new jersey. >> that's right. the new user interface we'll have, and such things like talk to tv and say, "tv turn on, tv channel 5."

you can turn it on and off and you can wave at the tv, pull up a menu, and you can select from that menu. there's no ways to control your tv. >> how's that work with a malfunction watching a sports game on a presidential debate and you say something, will it do anything? >> it might. if you wait -- there are key it keys on. you have to wait, brings up the menu, wave, and, yeah, you can default and say channel up. >> this is your own proprior tear software? >> this is built within our own app store that runs within the smart tv platform that we have over 500 developers developing apps as well as samsung tvs, and it's a robust application. >> you know, mobile apps or any device? >> and the family store, yeah,

and running on a client, but also runs on our tablets or our cell phones. >> another feature rich application if you need more spectrum? >> especially talking video. video will be the killer application or killer screen -- >> hopefully it doesn't kill the wireless networks. we'll see what we can do with that. >> always trying to use it first efficiently. >> that's the key. how do we use the spectrum we have first first efficiently, an will come where we can do that. >> thank you. >> next we'll go on to all share, another streaming content, and that's another fundamental transport mechanism to get connected on your home.

currently, it works just within your home network, but adding this year is the ability to have full content from your laptop. there's a video stored on your laptop, and you want to share it in your mother's home while you visit, and with your phone, you can pull up that content and show it on her tv with a deal -- >> come along way with tube tvs with rabbit ears. >> we have, but tubes are robust, and rich sound with vacuum tubes coming back in the outside owe systems. this is a device we announced with at at&t, and it bridges between a cell phone and a tablet. >> the name gal galaxy is ambitious. >> it's been our branding now for awhile with cell phones.

it's an lte enabled device running on an android platform, 5.3 inches in size, a little bit bigger than a cell phone, but not as big as the tablet. >> wi-fi enabled? >> it is. you have high speed bandwidth. >> if i take it overseas is there a gsm chip in it? >> there's gsm, 3g technology available in europe. >> all the chips in it, how much battery life is it they're? >> there's a larger battery for the device. the battery life is 8-10 hours. that's when you use it all the time. >> what makes this difference from some of the competitors out there? >> one of the things we've added to this is the s-pin. you see the pictures on -- you can hold that, sorry.

the s-pin allows you to -- let you try it. oh, wow. okay. >> write a command or what am i doing? >> it allows you to write on the device. what's unique here is it allows you to sense the pressure and provide a high resolution image. you see the art work produced on this device by artists sitting over in our -- >> you can write a message? >> a message, a picture, -- >> write a wagon? >> write a message. >> electric pen, pick the color.

>> bad writing. can i save this and send it anybody? >> you can save and send or -- >> okay. >> where? save and then send? >> hit save. >> save. saved. and then? now what do i do? >> this is your image you saved here, and if you want to send it -- >> i want to send it. >> tap it. >> and then what? >> try the plus. >> the plus sign, okay. >> there we go. >> is it commercially available yet? >> this year through at&t. >> okay.

obviously i have to spend time learning how to use it. >> hopefully your art work will be as good as we see here. >> it's good. >> this is bridging some of our tablets that are 10.1, 8.9, 7.7, 7, 5.3 bridge between the phones to a tablet. >> do you know the retail price? >> do we know? >> we'll find out. >> we don't know. >> okay. >> check the at&t website in a few weeks and they'll tell you i'm sure. >> okay. excellent. >> the communicators series from the consumer electronics show in vegas continues next week. to watch this and past communicators online go to c-span.org/communicators. .

>> i've talked tonight about the deficit of trust between main treat and wall treat, but the divide in the country is just as bad, and it seems to get worse

every year. now, some of this has to do with the corrosive influence of min in politics. together, let's take some steps to fix that. send me a bill that bans insider trading by members of congress. i will sign it tomorrow. [applause] let's limit any elected official promoting stocks in industries they impact. let's make sure people who bundle campaign contributions for congress can't lobby congress. and vice vice versa. an idea that has bipartisan support at least outside p washington. some of what's broken has to do with the way congress does its business these days. a simple majority is no longer enough to get anything, even

routine business, passed through the senate. [applause] neither party has been blameless in these tactics. now, both parties should put an end to it. [applause] >> the senate begins debate on the insider trading bill today at 4:30 eastern time with a procedural vote at 5:30, and you'll be able to find live senate coverage right here on c-span2. the national gay and lesbian task force held a national conference last week in baltimore, and one of the speakers of the group's process on gay, lesbian, bi, and transgender issues and you'll hear from an assistant health and human services secretary in her 30 years of work in

promoting gay rights. this is a little over an hour and a half. >> greetings. as we gather here today and meet in #u people and new -- meet new people and new friends, we know we gather here because somebody loved us, we know we gather here because somebody cared for us, and we gather here because somebody paveed the way. i'm the reverend meredith mother, and i've been asked to help guide you and call to mind those who have gone before in your personal life, the ancestors of our community, our own personal ancestors, and those who have paveed the way for us to be here, particularly those in our community and in our states who have been taken by violence, who have been taken by homophobia, transphobia, taken by sexism and racism.

we remember those names. we love those names. with the love in our hearts, minds, and spirit, we call to them, and we say, we remember you, we remember you, reremember -- we remember you. with the power of our words and our deeds, we say thank you, eternal gratitude, and we send our love. thank you. [applause] >> please welcome back to the stage your mistress of ceremonies, kate clinton. [cheers and applause] >> welcome, it's friday

afternoon. having a good time? [cheers and applause] i know i am. we have an exciting day planned for you, and i just have some housekeeping to do before we start. raise your hands if you have seats near you so people can come on in to my right, but luckily to your left, there's plenty of seats over there if you want to fill in, and living free, send free, sorry, living send free is what we're talking about now, and it's a way to support people with allergies or chronic illness. think about the products you use. most of you have access to fragrant free alternatives, so consider using those. if you use scented products, sit or stand as far as way as possible from the areas designated scent safer.

it's found in key ballroom 12. remember scent free so no one says what's the scent you're wearing. the elder and disability suite is in 1567, and it's also scent free space, so, again, there's seating available over there, and to my right, your left, come in, and again, find somebody around you who you don't know and introduce yourself. come on. [inaudible conversations]

>> so welcome. welcome back. wac -- welcome back. welcome back. please, we've got a big program planned, session today, lots of things going on. we had a wonderful session last night. we had a wonderful award given to joan byron, the cruise in the back which was well, the cake was lovely, and then it was off to occupy the bar. [laughter] [applause] which was unbelievable.

cede, there's more workshops and the plan today is the state of our gay union, and i love creating change. i absolutely love it. i always learn a lot, and it seems like every day it is a teachable moment, and i certainly had one last night when my outside voice said tranny, but i am a 64-year-old lesbian. yes. i am so old i'm still happy to use the word "lesbian" -- [laughter] so my language is in transition, and so no excuses. i would like to apologize to any transgender friends and to my comrades for saying -- [inaudible] , and if you are treating now, and i know you are, it's hash

tag kate apologizes. thank you. [cheers and applause] i apologize because i honor the work of transgender activists. one of the most stunning books i've read in a long time is clearly a blueprint for our lgtb movement written by the activists dean fade, a stunning book. get it. i also honor the incredible work of the ngltf that always supported transgender inclusion, and i don't want to take away from that at all. years ago, kerry labelle said they would not endorse without transgender inclusion. [cheers and applause] it still holds true today with our executive director.

we're so lucky to have her so please welcome to the stage the executive director of the national gay and lesbian task force, ray kerry. [cheers and applause] ♪ >> where did you all come from? you look beautiful. beautiful. thank you for being here. this has already been an awesome conference, and we are just getting started. out ben last night? that was incredible. that was incredible. [applause] ben is a true friend to the task force, and we will be a true

friend to him and to naacp. and to joan byron reminding us the power of images and the power of art in social change. thank you, joan. [applause] hyde like to give a special welcome to friends and family, part of the benefits of doing and creating change in baltimore is right near dc. i want to welcome my friends and family, including my straight friends here today to support me and the task force. [cheers and applause] so as i was preparing for creating change this year, my daughter and i became obsessed by singing along to the brilliant musical, "wicked." [cheers and applause] specifically the song, "defying gravity," and it gave me

inspiration; not my singing, but the song. i'm no president obama when it comes to singing. [laughter] and yes, a particularly gay move on my parred, a broadway musical inspiration for my remarks therefore showing my queer awareness as a gay man. proud of that, and yes, we have a conference session for that. [applause] we have a corchesz session for -- conference to be newt gingrich and his open marriage. those of you playing kate clinton's bingo, put a mark for that. [laughter] i digress. all right. so as the song, "defying gravity" starts in the musical. the people of oz shout that the wicked witch is evil, is wicked, to be feared and driven away. in her questioning the status quo, what those in oz hold to be

true, in standing up for others, she gives voice to challenging limitations, to not play in the game, to doing something extraordinary, and she flies. the feeling of defying gravity is one that i suspect in some way is familiar to many of us here in this room. to work against the forces that drag us down as human beings, that pulls down and limit us as a movement, that portray us as something we are not. yes, lgtb people have been talled a repulsion, a harm to society. we have been called wicked. the fact that we have made it this far, surviving childhood taunts, the kneeing --

neglect of churches and schools, laws and policies of a country that treated us as criminals, this is already a testament it our ability to defy gravity. individually -- [applause] individually and more often together, we've worked to achieve what many couldn't ever envision. we have done what symptom thought impossible, but we know is inevitable. [applause] so here we are together again at creating change, sharing strategies on overcoming the challenges that face us, learning from each other how to defy gravity. i know that many of you sacrifice a lot to be here. you had to save up, take a bus or squeeze a lot of people in a

van to get here. during one of the nation, the most challenging economic time, we have our biggest creating change ever. [cheers and applause] ever. [cheers and applause] >> thank you for everything you had to do, and, in fact, it would not be possible without you. some days it feels like we're not making progress, but we have come a long way since 1969. in fact, the pace of the progress and pursuit of accelerated in the past few years because of your work and not, by the way, just because the last of my high school crushes timely came out --

[applause] after being a partner for over 20 years. i'm waiting for velma on scoobie-doo to come out, and then my list will be complete. [laughter] 2012 is an exciting year because of what us and us together will achieve and those not in the room we share is a vision to work for a transformed society in which no one feels they must hide who they are or who they love not for 20 years, but not even for one day. [applause] in this past year alone, and i couldn't even get everything down we've done together as a movement, we passed laws in

hawaii, new jersey, and massachusetts. [applause] we passed birth certificate laws eliminating surgical standards for transgender people in california and vermont. [cheers and applause] we defeated the anti-transbill in main that would have allowed discrimination around transgender people and set segregated spaces. [applause] bullying prevention policy that is specifically protect lgtb use are now in unexpected places including dallas, texas, jackson, mississippi, oklahoma city, and the entire state of arkansas. [cheers and applause] we finally, finally brought an

end to don't ask, don't tell. [cheers and applause] and, you know, remarkably despite the right wing on having gays serve in the military, when second class officer gave her partner a much publicized and hot kiss, just saying -- [laughter] it didn't sing her ship, and it didn't sink the marriages of her fellow crewmen, and, remember, her ship docked in virginia. just saying. the armed services still stands. this year, our task force organizers helped raise money and taught activists how to build a bigger team for lgtb non-discrimination law to be on the ballot this spring? anchorage, alaska. [cheers and applause] we trained activists and

mobilized voters to fend off a threat to traverse city, michigan giving lgtb inclusive non-discrimination law. we won. [cheers and applause] here in maryland, a statewide gender identity discrimination bill was introduced, and this monday, governor martin o'malley introduced the civil marriage act introducing marriage to same-sex couples. congratulations, maryland. [cheers and applause] just 24 hours ago after two years of public education, field organizing, signature gatherings, and just plain old knocking on doors of your neighbors of more than 100,000 doors, equality gave advocates

and defenders and why marriage matters maine coalition delivered over 105,000 signatures to the state house yesterday announcing they will make maine the very first state to go after -- to go to the ballot box with a proactive measure to pursue marriage equality. [applause] welcome, mainers. [applause] they drove back to portland, hoped on the appliance, and came here to creating change. welcome. [applause] we at the task force are honored to have helped in many of these efforts and to have worked with our colleagues in the statewide equality organizations. speaking of relationships, hawaii, illinois, rhode island, and delaware now have civil unions in place. [applause]

and it is now legal to get married in the state of new york. [applause] congratulations tots activists in -- to the activists in all of these states and in this room who worked so hard to make these and other gains. ..

and in maine we helped beat back one of the many recent attacks on the very right to vote in this country. if we had lost that vote we wouldn't see marriage or many other progressive ballot measures anytime soon. well-done, maine. [applause] federal progress has been made as well. despite a congress that has been proven resistant to any lgbt specific legislation, our work to build alliances, our strategic thinking, and our mobilization has led to progress. like getting lgbt people explicitly included in the health, equity and accountability act. also in the home bill, housing opportunities made equal and for the very first time historically in violence against women's act, our lives are included. [applause]

these are bills that are not lgbt specific but with our hard work and becoming, excuse me, with our hard work, these bills are becoming lgbt inclusive and have the potential to affect the economic security and the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of lgbt people and their families. i know that about 300 of you participated in our first-ever creating change lobbying day. i saw y'all coming off the buses. amazing. amazing. [applause] not quite sure if the senate will ever be the same. fabulous. i saw amazing hairstyles. but i also heard stories that members of congress need to hear and i appreciate those of you who went and shared them. [applause] but we're not stopping with just lgbt inclusion in

bills. we are after concrete changes that make our lives better. the task force's new beginnings initiative, a coalition of 26 organizations, has been working diligently to improve the lives of lgbt people and our families in tangible, meaningful ways by changing federal policies. and together, as a community, we have pushed and with the obama administration, we have improved lives. [applause] when the executive branch, when the executive branch of the u.s. federal government issues guidelines to assist lgbt refugees and asylum seekers and department of justice states for the first time, quote, we consider lgbt families to be families, we made life better. [applause] when the department of

veterans' affairs issue as national directive to all of its health facilities regarding the appropriate and respectful care of transgender veterans, we made life better. [applause] when lgbt families can no longer be turned away from public housing or a home loan, we made life better. [applause] and when we, when we get to say who our families are, so we can be by each other's side when we are sick or hurt in a hospital, we made life better. [applause] just this past year because of your advocacy, and the obama administration's actions, that became the case in over 90% of the hospitals in this country like rolling hills hospital in tennessee and washington adventist hospital down the

road in takoma park. in both these hospitals when they turned away partners at the door, and then they were reminded of the federal rules, they had to apologize to the families and train their staff. this rule has teeth and hospitals are being held accountable. [applause] when we hear, when we hear these words from a white house cabinet member, gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights, to lgbt men and women worldwide, wherever you live and whatever your circumstances please know that you are not alone. we most definitely made life better and thank you, secretary of state hillary clinton. [applause]

thank you secretary clinton. plus there has been teeth added by president obama in a presidential memorandum, so there might be money on the table for some of these countries. the truth is, the truth is, we can appreciate both the progress that we've made and feel frustrated by the incomplete and sometimes slow pace of change. there is still much work ahead. we know the truth and the old addage, when the people lead the leaders will follow. creating change family we'll be called upon to lead a lot in this coming year. we will have to play both offense and defense this year with marriage in play here in maryland and in washington, new jersey, maine, minnesota, and north carolina, we will be

called to lead [applause] in states across the country, we must press forward on securing protections for people who have experienced discrimination because of their gender identity, including michigan, new york, and right here in maryland, we will be called to lead. [applause] in some states like oregon, hard but strategic and disciplined decisions have been made to not push for marriage until the time is right to use our movement's resources well and to win. they have expressed leadership in doing so. [applause] many of you will be called to lead in your communities on immigration reform. making schools safe. fighting anti-affirmative action measures and on

economic justice and transgender rights. [applause] but what's important to remember is that leading doesn't always have to mean winning. i know we won't win in all these places but what i do know is that we are strong and determined and with perseverance like ours, we can not be denied for long. we can not stop until they the abuses of transgender immigrant detainees stops. [applause] we can not stop, we can not stop until our brothers and sisters who can now serve openly in the military can share their benefits with their spouses and until transgender people can choose to serve. [applause] we can not be fully free if

after 30 years of aids, we know more about prevention, more about treatment than ever before, but infection rates for gay and bisexual men, especially men of color are actually rising while funding and services are decreasing. [applause] progress for some is not progress for all and we will not stop until we are all, until we are awfully free. [applause] there are some challenges in our pursuit of freedom that are just beginning for us. challenges other movements before us have seen. one challenge is that we've already won, did you get the memo? we've already won. 90% of voters already

believe we have federal employment protections. and this includes lgbt people who end up surprised when they're fired from their jobs and they have no recourse. over the last 20 years, we have been so successful as a movement at winning employment protections in cities and states across the country, now over 52% of the people live in a jurisdiction with sexual orientation protections and 44% live in jurisdiction with gender identity protections. more and more live in a place where they have protections through labor contracts or corporate employment policies. but what about lgbt people who live in states without employment protections or work for companies that don't include us in their policies? 90% of voters think there is already federal employment protections, which makes it a bit of a challenge to

mobilize them to fight for one. why would they when we already have a law, except we don't. we don't have a law yet. in order to defy gravity, to not stall out, we must make clear to decision makers, our friends and families that many lesbian, gay, by sexual and transgender people go to work every day terrified, terrified that someone will find out who they are or who they love and we need a federal law to protect them. [applause] and our second challenge, well, marriage. marriage puts us between the rock of limited hard-won and

celebrated successes and the hard place of positive, yet almost singular media attention. specifically now that we have overturned "don't ask, don't tell", many now believe that our movement, all of us, and our movement across the country, that our movement is about one thing and one thing only, marriage. so let's talk about marriage. the richness of our families and how we create them, whether we choose to get married or not, when our families are ignored or denied, the very institution of marriage is weakened, not strengthened. when our lives are denied the institution of marriage is weakened. and we won't stop fighting until the choice to get married is the law of the

land for everyone who wants it. [applause] but, but, that's not all we're fighting for. the lgbt movement is not a movement for marriage only. [applause] we are a movement for the full dignity of our lives. for a transformed society. the challenge is, when lgbt movement is framed by the media or seen by others as a single issue, marriage-only movement it limit what is we can achieve. having the spotlight on wins and losses and steps towards marriage creates a lot of excitement and energy and

directs much-needed funding toward our movement for work on marriage. marriage has motivated our allies and captured the attention of people who were never paying attention before. we saw this in 2008. but some day, when we succeed in nationwide recognition of our marriages and we will, we will likely see that the engagement in our movement drops off, severely. where we have achieved marriage already, there has been a significant drop in donations, attention, and engagement for our movement's organizations. some have even had to lay off staff while struggling to get attention for the other very pressing issues facing our community. we have learned that with a win, we usually have to turn right around and defend that win. we also know that people who aren't included in that win

remain vulnerable to discrimination. we have seen this dynamic before in other movements. consider the women's movement and roe v. wade. almost 40 years after the supreme court decision declaring a woman's reproductive decisions are hers to make, women and men still must fight every day to stop the erosion of reproductive health services for women. the lesson here is that we must continue to build support for our gains, whether poor decisions or legislative victories. the roe decision did something else too. it added to the women's movement being seen as a single-issue movement, abortion. so over the last 40 years it has been a challenge to get equal pay for equal work, to create appropriate and affordable child care in this country, to get full equality for women. think about it.

if we could all choose to get married anywhere we wanted to without limitations, if a marriage in one state was recognized as a marriage in all states, would our aspirations be fulfilled? >> no!. [inaudible] >> all right. [applause] would society be transformed so that all of us, every single one of us, live in dignity and with full respect from cradle to grave? of course not. as a task force we say we're more. at the task force we say we want more than marriage. there is no singular solution to the many ways we experience discrimination, violence and bigotry. as a task force, we insist that immigration and housing

and health care and fair wages and social security and ending systemic racism and sexism are lgbt issues! [cheers and applause] now, please don't hear me wrong. i will fight like hell for marriage equality and i am proud to be married to margaret. [applause] and within the existing structure of how benefits are provided in this country, if we don't overturn the so-called defense of marriage act and secure marriage across the country we will hit a brick wall in the changes we seek for lgbt

people and our families in immigration policy, in social security benefits, in the very economic underpinnings that give us security. we must overturn doma. [applause] so in this political moment, while our movement is experiencing intensely focused attention on us, because of marriage, we must take advantage of this moment by pushing to make visible the fullest scope of the social change we seek. we, and the lgbt movement, must defy the gravitational pull that frames our as a single-issue movement. [applause] i know we can overcome these

challenges. with work i've seen us do this before. we've been at this a long time from the task force. we know from experience that a wayne remains a win only if sustain it and build on it and stay fully engaged. in 2012 will require a lot of political engagement. the sheer number of pieces of state legislation and ballot measures that will affect the lives of lgbt people and our families this year is staggering. staggering. with all of our collective work we can make progress. our work on these measures is important. but there is one issue that we all must pay attention to this year. our opposition, those who do not believe in our full humanity or equality are on the attack. but mobilizing the right-wing base to come out

and vote on marriage isn't actually their trump card anymore. it's much deeper than that. it's the very ability to cast a vote. [applause] they could delay our progress for years by focusing on something that our movement could easily mistake as not our issue. believe me, it is our issue when we and our allies find ourselves without access to the polls. [applause] 2012 promises to be a harder playing field more than 2011 because the entire political playing field is under threat. there is a systemic effort in states across this country to take away the vote from people of color, from students, the working poor, and unemployed.

people who have lost their homes. young voters. people with disabilities and the elderly. a plan to cut out the base of progressive voters from the process. this massive voter suppression is also having a devastating effect on the ability of transgender people to vote. we're talking about executive orders in 14 states and 20 new laws that will make it harder for five million people to vote in 2012. ben, those of you who were here last night, shared heart-breaking and infuriating stories about just that. it's one of the last, desperate ploys by those who can no longer compete with the power of their ideas. voters suppression laws, some taken right out of the

jim crow playbook, are part of a series of strategies to take away the voting rights of millions and keep this nation's decision-making power in the hands of a few. having lost ground on lgbt and racial justice and equality over the last 40 years, and not having enough respect for our democracy to accept it, the right is now doing all it can to complicate the rules, to register, get a ballot, vote early, you name it, they will do it as long as it disensfran choices certain types of people. and so, we are called to lead and to protect access to voting. this is in our self-interest and in the interests of standing with our allies. we are people of color. we are students. we are transgender and we want to vote. [applause]

so let's look where these voter suppression laws are being played out, where they're being put up to vote. of course many of these laws have been implemented or are on the ballot in the south. don't get me started. in over two dozen bills or ballot measures will be in play in the next two years including in michigan, new jersey, maine, minnesota, north carolina. sound familiar? michigan, new jersey, maine, minnesota, north carolina. if we do not protect the right to vote, we will not win on immigration, we will not win on nondiscrimination,

we will not win on affirmative action and we will not win on marriage. we must register voters the right doesn't want registered. we must get the voters to the poll the right is trying to keep from the polls. in this coming election we stand for ourselves by also standing for and with others. we stand for ourselves by occupying the voting booth! [cheers and applause] that's right. yes, we have come to this again, to vote is an act of resistance. but it is also an act of insistence. we insist that all potential voters have a voice. [applause] as people who know more than

our fair share about mistreatment, inequality, and unfairness, this is our fight. so in this room of the best grassroots activists i know, i say occupy the vote. vote, take others to the polls if you can't vote yet. but speak out against voter suppression. and if you get to the ballot box, and you are turned away for any reason, i want you to cast a provisional ballot, to document your story, post it on facebook, tweet book and contact the civil rights division of the u.s. department of justice. let people know this is happening. [cheers and applause] and to give you a little help in this act of insistence, we have partnered with rock the vote and set up a voter registration right here in

the exhibit hall. and, you can text vote 2012 to 69866 to pledge to vote and to get more information about voter registration. [applause] i see we have some voters here. next year the task force will turn 40 years old. [applause] we've got a few gray hairs to show for it but we also have a lot of funds to show for it too. since 1973 the task force has been building power, taking action and creating change. we have been defying gravity. when you become an organization that turns 40, it makes you think. just as when we opened our doors we must be fearless and driven by innovation and the power to envision what

some think impossible. 40 years ago, what we thought was impossible is now a day-to-day reality. i can't wait to see what 40 years from now looks like. and that's what this has always been about. this is what is creating change has always been about. learning, innovation, developing strategies to win. the next big ideas, bringing people together to push the boundaries of what is possible and to move us all forward. what does defying gravity look like? defying gravity means creating space, or breaking new ground for others. it looks like a gay man volunteering on a pro-choice campaign. it looks like an immigrant who is hiv-postive, telling his story of detention mistreatment despite risking

deportation. because people held in immigration custody deserve dignity, respect, and access to medication. [applause] defying gravity looks like girl scouts in my home state of colorado, standing up for a trans-girl joining that group. [cheers and applause] i know what your favorite cookies are but i'm joining the thin minutes. buy some cookies. defying gravity looks like a transhigh school student holding her head high as she walks through the hallways with pride and confidence in her fabulous self no matter what others think or say. [applause]

defying gravity means doing something despite fear of criticism or negative consequences. it is digging deep to tap into our own strength, to resist that which attempts to bring us down. it looks like the ideas and the innovation and the passion in this room. [applause] this is our time. this is our time. to defy gravity and create change. i can't wait to see what comes out of this weekend. thank you and have a fantastic conference. [cheers and applause] . .

♪ [cheers and applause] >> everywhere, we are every. let's hear it. [cheers and applause] we are everywhere. we want everything. [cheers and applause] we are everywhere. >> we are everywhere. >> and what do we want? >> everything. >> all right. ray kerry. what a fabulous speech. the only thing missing was

michelle obama in a blue dress. [cheers and applause] we had a state of the union address bingo win e and big prizes are involved. anyway, oh, my goodness, on to more of the session. i want to introduce you to mike l -- michael adams, services and advocacy for lgbt elders. it's the oldest and largest organization in the country transforming the lgbt experience. it serves, advocated -- i meant to do this sober. i did. [laughter] let's try that again.

serves and advocates for countless lgbt older people all across the country. in 2009, the health and human services selected sage to establish and run the country's first and only national resource center on lgtb aging, and all of this makes michael the perfect person to give our next award, the sage advocacy award for excellence in leadership in aging issues to kathy greenley, assistant of secretary of aging at u.s. department of health and human services. please welcome michael adams. [cheers and applause] ♪ >> thank you. it's great to be here, and looking out at a beautiful room of lgtb activists, and i'm looking at a beautiful person, a

beautiful woman. her name is eddy y windsor. [applause] you may know her when she stepped out in the 1960s when she met her beloved partner. they lived an extraordinary life together for decades, and we know eddy in many ways, but one of the ways we know her now is at the ripe beautiful age of 8 # years -- 82 years old, she's fighting the federal government for the recognition of that beautiful relationship. please thank you eddy and every other lgbt in this room. [applause] for many years, sage, the task

force, and our lgtb aging partners across the country pushed the federal government to take actions to address the particular challenges faced by lgtb older people. those pie pioneers paveed the wy for us to be in the room and do the activism that we do. it was central to our work because the federal government is the largest funder of community based aging services and sets the tone for aging policy at all levels of government, but year after year, our efforts to get the federal government to pay attention when -- went nowhere, and then along came kathy, appointed assistant secretary for aging by president obama in early 2009. what a difference a leader makes. [cheers and applause] especially when the leader is

determined to level the playing field so with the most vulnerable and marginalized elder communities including lgbt elders get the attention they deserve. that's the kind of leader catny greenley is. from the earliest days of her senate confirmation back in the day when the senate co-confirmed obama appointees, she threw open her door for mettings not just with aging leaders, but leaders from the african-american, latino, api, indian country, and other diverse elder communities who have been effectively frozen out of meaningful conversations with the administration on aging for years. i have to say it was incredibly refreshing to finally have a federal leader on aging who talked the talk, but we soon

found out that assistant secretary greenley was also prepared to walk the walk. in october 2009, less than a year after assistant secretary greenley took charge, the administration on aging awarded a historic, first of its kind community innovation for aging grant to a los angeles gay and lesbian center allowing the l.a. center to dramatically expand services to lgbt older people. soon after that, kathy played a leading role in funding the creation of the country's first and only national resource center on lgtb aging. led by sage in collaboration with ten partners around the country, the national resource center is founded on the promise that lgtb older people have unique needs and the federal government has a responsibility

to help meet those needs. the assistant secretary greenleehas been a path breaker and should not be a surprise. she's been a leader on progressive causes since her earliest days in kansas where she served as the executive director of the kansas coalition against sexual and domestic violence and as the co-chair of the pioneering lgbt group, quality kansas. [cheers and applause] let's hear it for kansas. [applause] and, and she has been a tireless advocate for aging people, serving the aging and long term care on budsman for the state of kansas. i could go on and on, but i think you get the point. elders with decades of sweat and blood and sacrifice have earned the right to an advocate in the federal government, and now finally they have one. nobody is more deserving of this

year's sage award for excellence in leadership on aging than kathy greenlee. please, join me in congratulating the assistant secretary on aging, kathy greenlee. [cheers and applause] ♪ [applause] >> if i stay afterwards, can we dance? [laughter] i thought i'd be dressed up in a suit, but i should have worn lavender. it's a tremendous honor to be with you today, and i want to acknowledge michael and sage, we

have partners from sage sitting here. thank you for this tremendous, tremendous award. this means a lot to me both professionally and permly. i was thinking that in many ways i feel i arrived here right on time and 30 years too late, and i want to describe both. i'm very honored to serve as the u.s. assistant secretary for aging. i'm honored to serve in a department of health and human services with kathleen sebelius, a woman i worked with for about 17 years, and i'm truly honored to serve in the obama administration and be one of the gay, lesbian, bi, and transgender appointees. [applause] i'm not the only one. before i even began my job, and the lights up here with blinding, somewhere out there is brian bonds, and he was doing

outreach from the white house to all of us assuring guidance and leadership, and we had support from the beginning. it's been about two years ago that the department of health and human services established a working group on lgbt issues, and i've been proud to be a co-chair in those who two years. we had our monthly meeting, and we had quite a substantive agenda to go through, but galvin knows us and what we've been doing and comprehensive engagement we have. he was impressed at our roll call. i want you to think about the department of health and human services, and when we say we have every agency involved what ma means. the food and drug administration, the centers for medicare and medicaid services,

the center for disease control, substance abuse and mental health administration, resources administration, the administration on aging. i will miss some. we have representation at hhs from every single agency in the department, and they touch every life in america, and what we have been able to do in two years i'm so honored to represent and pleased to talk about. we have been able to work forward for lgbt youth. i was happy to see the video get filmed, we help seniors as michael talked about, we have done curriculum through both samsa and hersa because they have broad scope reach to health care providers, and we are training health care providers

all across the country about cultural sensitivity and talked to the community about the significance of data, the number one issue our community needs. please help us document the health disparities that exist. we have tremendous support with the national institutes of health. the list goes on and on. when the president issued his memorandum two years ago about hospital visitation, there were three sections. one was on visitation. one paragraph was on advanced directives, honoring them, and the third basically says secretary sebelius, what else can you do? we've taken that to heart. the president's request that we produce, and in response to that, a year ago in april, we published a list as we responded to the president. here are our ideas for 2011, and we are systematically tackling every commitment we made to our community, to hhs, and to the

white house. we are now gathering the list for 2012. our work continues, and we believe we are one of the most successful collaborative efforts within the federal government as we've been able to move forward and work on our issues. the other thing that i just want to convey in terms of how wonderful it is to do this work is the allies that we have at the table. to have dr. collins, the head of nih, and dr. burwick, speak publicly at the staff meetings about their commitment to the work means a lot for our community, and we also are sophisticated enough in this work that we actually understand the differences between the l, the b, the g, and the t. we pay attention to those. [applause] as we develop priorities for next year and engage in the community, we look through that lens. we have to have something for the transgender community.

oh, look, we have something that covers the bisexual community, gay and lesbian issues are different. we know that at health and human services, and we are trying. i lost power -- there's, it's back on. we are approaching all the communities in that respect, and i'm pleased to be here. working in the field of aging has been an interesting part of my career. i just have, i guess, good news and bad news. i'm 51 years old, and so i have been out now for 31 years. and what i want -- [applause] what i want to say for all of us who are 50 and older, those of us who have been out doing this work for so long is we don't get to retire from this advocacy work. [laughter] we don't because the issues of lgbt seniors are significant. they are the generation ahead of us. they are the people we knew personally. they are the people who mentored

us. i knew no one when i was 20 who was older than myself who was gay or lesbian at that point. i knew no other lesbians over the age of 2 # 2. it was a lesbian from my mother who showed me the way. i knew nothing about gay rights unless the 1990s. these are the pioneers, and they need us as we find a way to deliver services to them as we age. they are also us. we cannot retire. one of the best opportunities i had was going to the los angeles gay and lesbian resource, and i met with the old lesbians. that was my favorite part of the trip. you know what they need? they need beer reevement groups with their partners die that are accepting, long term care services that are sense tie. the list goes on and on, and it

you're transgender, the issues are complicated in the nursing home, and we have to tackle those issues. in many ways, i arrived at a wonderful time in washington working with tremendous people committed to the work we're doing. i'm also 31 years too late. this is the first time i've been here, by i have been with you my whole life. i have been a meb -- a member, done the work as a kansas lesbian in the middle of nowhere, worked on civil ordnances in our community. i have been doing this work, and it all joins for me personally on the stage, the opportunity to do our work and on behalf of this president and administration and to tell you we have more to do, and i want to end by pointing to one poster i saw as i walked around, and that was those of you here talking about out at work. when i came out in 1980, i didn't know how i would support

myself. i had no idea what i could do professionally, and in my 30s i decided i had to be myself, and i came out at work well before i began working for kathleen sebelius. i decided i had a law degree, i could feed myself. i have privilege in many ways. i'll be out of work. i'll see how far it takes me. i never believed it would take me to washington as a senate confirmed person appointed by the president of united states who he, himself, is african-american. we have done many things in 30 years. we have much more to do, but i'm very proud to see this all here now and be able to celebrate with you our successes as a movement and the challenges that we have ahead. thank you so much for this award. [cheers and applause]

[applause] >> thank you for being here. this has already been an awesome conference, and we're just getting started. how about ben last night? that was up credible. that was incredible. ben is a true friend to the task force, and we'll be a true friend to him and to naacp. and to joan byron reminding us the power of images and art in social change. thank you, joan. [applause] i'd like to give a special welcome to my friends and family. i'd like to welcome my friends and family including my straight friends here today here to support me and the task force.

[applause] so as i was preparing for creating change this year, my daughter and i became obsessed by singing along to the brilliant musical, "wicked." [cheers and applause] specifically the song "defying gravity," and it gave me inspiration; not my singing, but the song. i'm not president obama when it comes to singing, but -- [laughter] and, yes, it's a gay move on my part, a musical as inspiration for me remarks, thus revealing my gender queerness as a gay man. [laughter] [cheers and applause] indeed. proud of it. yes, we have a conference session for that. we also have a conference session for newt gingrich and his open marriage. [laughter] for those of you playing the

bingo, you can put a mark for that, but i digress. all right. as the song, "defying gravity" starts in the musical, the people of oz shout that the wicked witch is evil, is wicked, to be feared and driven away. in her questioning the status quo, what those in oz hold to be true, in standing up for others, she gives voice to challenging limitations, to not playing the game, to doing something extraordinary, and she flies. the feeling of defying gravity is one that i suspect in some way is familiar to many of us here this this room. to work against the forces that drag us down as human beings, that pull us down and limit us

as a movement, that portray us as something we are not. yes, lgbt people have been called a repulsion, a harm to society. we have been called wicked. the fact that we have made it this far, surviving childhood taunts, neglect of churches and schools, the laws and policies of a country that have treated us as criminals, this is already a testament to our ability to defy gravity. individually -- [applause] individually and more often together, we've worked to achieve that many could never envision. we have done what some thought impossible, but we know is

inevitable. [applause] so here we are together again at creating change, sharing strategies on overcoming the challenges that face us, learning from each other how to defy gravity. i know many of you sacrificed a lot to be here. you had to save up, take a bus, or squeeze a bunch of people in a van to get here. it says everything that during one of our nation's most challenging economic times, we have our biggest creating change ever. [cheers and applause] ever. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you for whatever you had to do to be here with us. creating change would not be the same without you, and, in fact, it would not be possible without you. [applause]

some days it feels we are not making progress, but we have come a long way since the stone wall rebellion in 1969. in fact, the pace of progress and pursuit of justice has accelerated in the last few years because of your work, and not, by the way, just because the last of my high school crushes finally came out -- [applause] after being with her partner for 20 years. i'm just waiting for thelma from scoobie-doo to come out, and then my list will be complete. 2012 will be an important year because of what we together achieve. those who are with us who share a vision will work for a transformed society in which no one feels they must hide who they are or who they love, not for 20 years, not for even one

day. [applause] in this past year alone, in this past year alone, and i couldn't even get everything down we've done together as a movement, but with our work together, we've passed statewide transgender laws in connecticut, hawaii, virginia, and massachusetts. [cheers and applause] we passed birth certificate laws eliminating surgical standards for transgender people in california and vermont. [applause] we defeated the anti-trans bill that would have allowed discrimination against transgender people and set segregated spaces. [applause]

bullying prevention policies that specifically protect lgbt youth are now in some unexpected places including dallas, texas, jackson, mississippi, oklahoma city, and the entire state of arkansas. [cheers and applause] we finally, finally, brought an end to don't ask, don't tell. [cheers and applause] and, you know, remarkably despite the right wing's thing with gays serving in the military, and when she gave her partner a much publicized hot kiss, just saying, it didn't sink the ship or the marriages of her fellow crewmen, and,

remember, her ship docked in virginia. just saying. [applause] the armed services still stands. this year, our task force organizers helped raise money and taught activists how to bill a bigger team for a lgbt nondiscrimination law to be on the ballot this spring in anchorage, alaska. [applause] we trained activists and mobilized voters to fend off a threat to traverse city, michigan and giving lgbt inclusive non-discrimination law. we won. [applause] here in maryland, a statewide gender identity anti-discrimination bill was introduced, and this monday, governor martin o'malley formally introduced the marriage act introducing marriage to same-sex couples. congratulations, maryland.

[cheers and applause] just -- yeah, 24-36 hours ago after two years of public education, field organizing, signature gathering, and just plain old knocking on doors of your neighbors on more than 100,000 doors, equality maine and why marriage matters maine coalition delivered over 10 # -- 105,000 signatures to the state house yesterday making maine the first state to go to the ballot box with a pro-active measure to pursue marriage equality. [cheers and applause] welcome, mainers. they actually drove back to portland, hopped on the planes, and came here to creating

change. welcome. [applause] we at the task force are honored to have helped in many of these efforts and work with our colleagues in the statewide equality organizations. speaking of relationships, hawaii, illinois, rhode island, and delaware now have civil unions in place. [applause] it is now legal to get married in the states of new york. [applause] congratulations to the activists in all of these states and all of the activists in this room who worked so hard to make these and other gains. we also made progress in many states where our task force staff engaged in the broad range of issues affecting lgbt people and their families. in mississippi, we join our

women's health and reproductive justice allies to defeat the anti-choice personhood measure. [cheers and applause] in california, we partnered with the aclu of southern california to gather signatures for a future campaign to abolish the state's death penalty disproportionally affecting people of color. [applause] in maine, we helped beat back one of the many recent attacks on the very right to vote in this country. if we had lost that vote, we wouldn't see marriage or any other progressive developments there any time soon. well done, maine. [applause] in federal progress has been made as well. despite a congress that's proven resist tent to any lgbt specific legislation, our work to build

alliances, our strategic thinking, and our mobilization has led to progress. like getting lgbt people explicitly included in the health, equity, and accountability act. also in the home build, housing opportunities made equal and for the very first time historically in the violence against women's act, our lives are included. [cheers and applause] these are bills that are not lgbt specific, but with our hard work and becoming lgbt -- excuse me -- with our hard work, these builds are becoming lgbt inclusive and have the potential to affect the economic security and the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of lgbt people and their families. i know that about 300 of you participated in our first ever creating change lobby day. i saw you all coming off the

busses. it was amazing, amazing, not quite sure if the senate will ever be the same. [laughter] it's fabulous. i saw some amazing hair styles. [laughter] i also heard stories that members of congress need to hear, and i appreciate those of you who went and shared them. [applause] but we're not stopping with just lgtb inclusion in bills. we're after concrete changes that make our lives better. the task force's new beginnings initiative, a coalition of 26 organizations has been working dill gently to im-- diligently to improve the lives of lgbt people and our families intangible meaningful ways by changing federal policies. together, as a community, we have pushed and with the obama administration, we have improved lives.

[applause] when the executive branch of the u.s. federal government issues guidelines to assist lgbt refugees and the department states, "we consider lgbt families to be familyies." we made life better. [applause] when the department of veterans affairs issues a national districtive to all of its -- directive to all of its facilities for the respectful care of transgender veterans, we made life better. [applause] when lgbt families can no longer be turned away from public housing or a home loan, we made life better. [applause] whether we, when we get to say who our families are so we can

be by each other's side when we are sick or hurt in the hospital, we made life better. [applause] just this past year because of your advocacy and the obama administration's actions that became the case in over 90% of the hospitals in this country like rolling hills hospital in tennessee and washington adventist hospital. in both hospitals when they turned away partners at the door and then they reminded them of the federal rules, they had to apologize to the families and train their staff. this rule has teeth, and hospitals are being held accountable. [cheers and applause] when we hear these words from a white house cabinet member, "gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights," to

lgbt men and women worldwide wherever you live and whatever your circumstances, please know that you are not alone. we most definitely made life better, and thank you, secretary of state hillary clinton. [applause] thank you, secretary clinton. plus, there's been a teeth added by president obama, a presidential memorandum, so there might be money on the table for some of these countries. the truth is we can appreciate both the progress we've made and feel frustrated by the incomplete and sometimes slow pace of change. there is still much work ahead. we know the truth and the old adage that when the people lead,

the leaders will follow. creating change family, we're going to be call upon to lead a lot in this coming year. we will have to play both offense and defense this year with marriage in play here in maryland and in washington, new jersey, maine, minnesota, and north carolina. we will be called to lead. [applause] in states across the country, we must press forward on securing protections for people who are experiencing discrimination because of the gender identity including michigan, new york, and here in maryland, we'll be called to lead. [cheers and applause] in some states, like oregon, hard, but strategic and disciplined decisions have been made to not push for marriage

until the time is right to use our movement's resources well and to win. they have expressed leadership in doing so. [cheers and applause] many of you will be called to lead in your community, on immigration reform, making schools safe, fighting anti-affirmative action measure, and on economic justice and transgender rights. [applause] what's important to remember is that leading doesn't always have to mean winning. i know we won't win in all of these places. what i do know is that we are strong and determined and that with perseverance like ours, we can want be denied for long. we cannot stop until the abuses of transgender immigrant detainees stops.

[cheers and applause] we cannot stop, we cannot stop until our brothers and sisters who can now serve openly in the military can share their benefits with their spouses and until transgender people can choose to serve. [cheers and applause] we can want be bully free if after 30 years of age. we know more about prevention and treatment than ever before, but infection rates for gay and bisexual men, especially men of color, are actually rising while funding and services are decreasing. [applause] progress for some is not progress for all. we will not stop until we are all -- until we are all fully

free. [applause] there are some challenges in our pursuit of freedom that are just beginning for us, challenges that other movements before us have seen. one challenge is that we've already won. you didn't get the memo? we already wop. 90% of voters already believe we have federal employment protections. this includes lgtb people who end up surprised when they are fired from their jobs and they have no recourse. over the last 20 years, award for excellence been so successful -- we have been so successful as a movement and winning employment protections in cities and states across the country that now over 52% of people live in a jurisdiction with sexual orientations and 4 # 4% live with identity protections, and

many more live and work in a place where they have protections through labor contracts or their corporate employment policies. what about lgbt people who live in states without employment protections or work for companies that don't include us in the policies? 90% of voters think there's already federal employment protections, which makes a bit of a challenge to mobilize them to fight for one, and why would they when we have a lot, except we don't. we don't have a law yet. in order to defy gravity and not stall out, we have to make clear to decision makers, our friends, and family that many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people go to work every day terrified, terrified that someone will find out who they are or who they love, and we

need a federal law to protect them. [applause] our second challenge, well, marriage. marriage puts us between the rock of limited hard one and celebrated successes, and the hard place of positive, yet almost singular media attention. specifically, now that we have overturned don't ask, don't tell, many now believe that our movement, all of us, and our movement across the country, that our move. is about -- that our movement it about one thing and one thing only, marriage. let's talk about marriage. the richness of our families and how we create them whether we

choose to get married or not, when our families are ignored or denied, the very institution of marriage is weakened, not strengthened. when our lives are denied the institution of marriage is weakened. we won't stop fighting until the choice to get married is the law of the land for everyone who wants it. [applause] but, but that's not all we're fighting for. the lgbt movement is not a movement for marriage only. [applause] we are a movement for the full

dignity of our lives, few for a transformed society. the challenge is when lgbt movement is framed by the media or seen by others as a single issue marriage-only movement, it limits what we can achieve. having the spotlight on wins and losses and steps towards marriage creates a lot of excitement and energy and directs much needed funded towards our movement for work on marriage. marriage motivated our allies capturing the attention of the people never paying attention before. we saw this in 2008, but someday when we succeed in nationwide recognition of our marriages, and we will, we will likely see that the engagement in our movement drops off severely. where we have achieved marriage already, there has been a significant drop in donations,

attention, and engagement for a movement's organization. some have even had to lay off staff while struggling to get attention for the other very pressing issues facing our community. we have learned that with a win we usually have to turn right around and defend that win. we also know that people who are not included in that win remain vulnerable to discrimination. we have seen the dynamic before in other movements. consider the women's movement in roe v. wade, almost 30 years after a judge declaring a woman's reproductive decisions are hers to make, women and men have to stop every day to stop the erosion of reproductive health services for women. the lesson here is we muse continue to build support for our gains whether poor decisions

or legislative victories. the roe decision did something else though too. it added to the women's movement as being seen as a single issue movement, abortion. over the last 40 years, it has been a challenge to get equal pay for equal work, to create appropriate and affordable child care in this country, to get full equality for women. think about it. if we could all choose to get married anywhere without limitations, if a marriage in one state was marriage in states, where our aspirations be fulfilled? >> [inaudible conversations] [applause] would society be transformed so that all of us, every single one

of us live in dignity and full respect from cradle to grave? of course not. in the task force, we say we are more. the task force, we say we want more than marriage. there is no cingular solution to the many ways we experienced discrimination, violence and bigotry. the task force, we insist that immigration and housing and health care and fair wages and social security and any systemic sexism r. lgbt issued. [applause] now, please don't hear me wrong. i will fight like hell for marriage equality, and i'm proud

to be married to margaret. [applause] and within the existing structure of how benefits are provided in this country, if we don't overturn the so-called defensive marriage act and secure marriage across the country, we will hit a brick wall in the changes we seek for lgbt people and our families in immigration policy, in social security benefits, in the very economic underpinnings that give us security. we must overturn doma. [applause] in this political moment while our movement is experiencing intensely focused attention on us because of marriage, we must take advantage of this moment by

pushing to make visible the fullest scope of the social change we seek. we and the lgbt movement must defy the gravitational pull that frames ours as a single issue movement. [applause] i know we can overcome challenges with work i've seen us do before. we have been at this a long time at the task force, and we know a win remains a win only if we sustain it, build on it, and stay fully engaged, and in 2012, we'll require a lot of political engagement. the sheer number of pieces of state legislation and ballot measures that affect the livings of lgbt people and families this year is staggering, and with all of our collective work, we can make progress.

our work on these measures is important. there's one issue that we all must pay attention to this year. our opposition, those who do not believe in our full humanity or equality are on the attack. mobilizing the right wing base to come out and vote on marriage suspect actually their trump -- isn't actually their trump card anymore. it's much deeper than that. it's the very ability to cast a vote. [applause] they could delay our progress for years by focusing on something that our movement could easily mistake as not our issue. believe me, it is our issue when we and our allies find ourselves without access to the polls.

[applause] 2012 promises to be a harder playing field more than 2011 because the entire political playing field is under threat. there's a systematic effort in states across this country to take away the vote by people of color from students, the working poor, and unemployed, people who lost their homes, young voters, people with disabilities, and the elderly. a plan to cut out the base of progressive voters from the process. this massive voter suppression is also having a devastating effect on the ability of transgender people to vote. we're talking about executive orders in 14 states and 20 new laws that will make it harder

for 5 million people to vote in 2012. those of you here last night, ben shared heart breaking and infuriating stories about just that. it's one of the last desperate ploys by those who no longer can compete with the power of their ideas. voter suppression laws, some taken right out of the jim crow playbook, are part of a series of strategies to take away voting rights of millions and keep this nation's decision making power in the hands of the few. having lost ground on lgbt and racial justice and equality over the last 40 years and not having enough respect for our democracy to accept it, the right is now doing all it can to complicate the rules, to register, vote early, get a ballot, you name it, they'll do it as long as it

disenfranchises certain types of people, and so we are called to lead and to protect access to voting. this is in our self-interest and in the interest of standing with our allies. we are people of color. we are students. we are transgender, and we want to vote. [applause] let's look where the voter suppression laws are put up to vote. of course, many of the laws are implemented or on the ballot in the south. don't get me started. and over two dozen bills or ballot measures will be in play over the next two years including in michigan, new

jersey, maine, minnesota, north carolina -- sound familiar? michigan, new jersey, maine, minnesota, north carolina. if we do not protect the right to vote, we will not win on immigration, we will not win on non-discrimination, we will not win on affirmative action, and we will not win on marriage. we must register voters. the right dent want them registered. we must get voters to the polls that the right is trying to prevent in the polls. in this coming election, we stand for ourselves by standing for and with others. we stand for ourselves by occupying voting booth. [cheers and applause]

that's right. [applause] yes, we've come to this again. to vote is an act of resistance, but it is also an act of insistence. we insist all potential voters have a voice. [applause] as people who know more about our fair share of mistreatment, inequality, and unfairness, this is our fight. in this room of the best grass roots activists i know, i say occupy the vote. vote. take others to the polls if you can't vote yet, but speak out against voter suppression supprd if you get to the ballot box and you're turned away for any reason, i want you to cast a provisional ballot to document your story, post it on facebook,

tweet, and contact the civil rights division of the u.s. department of justice. let people know this is happening. [cheers and applause] to give you a little help in this active insistence, we have partnered with rock the vote and set up a voter registration here in the exhibit hall, and you can text vote 2012 to 89866 to pledge to vote and get more information about voter registration. [applause] i see we have some voters here. next year, the task force will turn 40 years old. [cheers and applause] we got a few gray hairs to show for it, but we have a lot of fun to show for it too.

since 1973, the task force has been building power, taking action, and creating change. we have been defying gravity. when you become an organization that turns 40, it makes you think. just as when we opened our doors, we must be fearless and driven by innovation with the power to think what's impossible. 40 years ago what we thought was impossible is now a day-to-day reality. i can't wait to see what 40 years from now looks like. that's what this has always been about. this is what creating change has been about, learning, innovation, developing strategies to win. the next big ideas, bringing people together to push the boundaries of what is possible and to move us all forward.

what does defying gravity look like? defying gravity means creating space or breaking new ground for others. it looks like a gay man volunteering on a pro-choice campaign. it looks like an imgrant who is hiv positive telling his story of detention, mistreatment despite risking deportation because people held in immigration custody deserve dignity, respect, and access to medication. [applause] defying gravity looks like girl scouts in my home state of colorado, standing up for a transboy joining in on that group. [cheers and applause] i know what you're favorite

cookies are, but i'm joining the boy cot with thin manipulate. -- thin mint. defying gravity is with a high school student holding her head high walking through the hallways with pride and confidence in her fabulous self-no matter what others think or say. [applause] defying gravity means doing something despite fear, criticism, or negative consequences. it is digging deep to tap into our own strength, to resist that which is attempting to bring us down. it looks like the ideas and innovations and the passion in this room. [applause]

this is our time. this is our time to defy gravity and create change. i can't waits to see what comes out of this weekend. thank you, and have a fantastic conference. [cheers and applause] ♪

>> and the u.s. senate is about to gavel into start the day. general speeches up first until about 4:30 p.m. eastern at which point lawmakers will have turned to legislation to ban congressional insider trading. that bill's known as the stock act, and it'll get a vote to move the measure forward around 5:30 p.m. eastern. taking you live to the senate floor here on c-span2, and let you know on c-span3, a look at

the secretaries of state meetings and the effect of the 2012 elections, but for now, to the u.s. senate floor. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain: let us pray. eternal lord god, from whom we come and to whom we belong and in whose service is our peace, may your kingdom come. use our lawmakers to do your

will on earth, as it is done in heaven. create in them courageous hearts that will beat undaunted by fear, unconquered by adversity, and unstained by sin. give them the wisdom to put themselves in others' places before judging them. strengthen them to lift downcast, stricken lives. we pray in your holy name. amen.

the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c, january 30, 2011. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable christopher a. coons, a senator from the state of delaware, to perform the duties of the chai. signed: daniel k. inouye, president pro tempore. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: following leader remarks the senate will be in a period of morning business until 4:30 this afternoon. senators during that period of time will be allowed to speak for up to ten minutes each. following morning business, the senate will resume consideration of the stock act. at 5:30 there will be a roll

call vote on the motion to invoke cloture to proceed to the stock afnlg act. americans believe congress is broken. it is no mystery why. political division s in this chamber are so great. they often prevent the senate from performing even its most fundamental duties. the divisions are so great, they prevented this body from confirming presidential nominee, which is a constitutional obligation that we have. these days it's no longer enough to be a qualified nominee. it is no longer good enough to have bipartisan support. in the case of judicial nominees, it is no longer enough to be reported unanimously out of the committee. last year my republican colleagues blocked or delayed scores -- scores -- of outstanding nominees. why? because they want to defeat president obama. they said so. that was their number-one goal. and it's him that made these nominations. so that's the number-one goal,

to go after him in any way they can. at the end of the last year, the republicans refused to allow votes on 16 judicial nominees who were reported ow of the committee unanimously -- out of the committee unanimously, democrats and republicans. unfortunately, this year they bring more of the same. already this year, the last few weeks, some republicans have gone to the floor and threatened to drag out the confirmation process for every nominee for the rest of the year. this republican obstructionism is supposedly retribution for president obama's recess appointment of richard cordray. no one questions his qualifications, no one. he was called upon by the president to head the consumer financial protection bureau. with a qualified leader at the helm, this bureau would be able to effectively protest things that are wrong and protect middle-class families from the

greed and excess of the big wall street banks. it will not impact smaller financial service firms and help americans who don't want to use banks. tndz iand it will not impact nos from dealing with consumers. but it will affect banks who are ripping consumers off. this bureau will serve as a watchdog against the kind of abuses that nearly collapse our financial system in 2008. president obama was right to appoint mr. cordray. that is a constitutional obligation, a benefit that president obama has or any president has. it is in the constitution. president obama had the same right to make recess appointments, even though democrats kept the senate in pro forma session. bush didn't exercise that right or challenge the pro forma sessions in court because democrats worked with him to confirm hundreds and hundreds of his nominees.

unfortunately, republicans have refused to work with president obama, as we did with president bush. this brand of obstructionism is the reason americans are disillusioned with congress. they believe continen congress t anything done. it will take cooperation between republicans and democrats to turn that perception around. so we should show the american people that it will work with cooperation between the two bodies. the stock act, i'm glad to see that spirit of cooperation is aive alive as we move forward to the stock act. we hope so. it is bipartisan legislation. members of congress and their staffers have the duty to the american people. they may not use privileged information they get on the job to personally profit. but the perception remains that a few members of congress are using their positions as public

servants to serve themselves instead. insider trading laws were created to level the playing field and stop wall street excesses. and members of congress are not above the law. we must play by the same rules every other american plays by. the stock act will clear up any perception that it's acceptable for members of congress to profit from insider trading. it will end any confusion over whether members of congress can be prosecuted for the serious crime. they can be. mr. president, i'm really disappointed that i had to file cloture to stop a republican filibuster on this worthy legislation, but i did. they're not going to let us move to this. we had to file cloture to stop this filibuster. so when we get on this bill -- and we will get on this imil -- we're going to have an amendment process. it is my wish that the republicans will not abuse the rules in the senate. i hope that the amendments

offered will not be nongermane and nonrelative. i hope we can legislate on the issues that are in the context of this legislation and i repeat, it is too bad we had to file cloture. would the chair announce the business of the day. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. and under the previous order, the senate will be in a period of morning business until 4:30 p.m. with senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes ees minutes e. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from arizona. mr. kyl: i ask unanimous consent further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kyl: president obama's re-election campaign on a soak the rich platform. he argues that income inequality and economic fairness are two of the defining issues of our time. in his narrative, a more prosperous and fair society requires more balance or redistribution. unfortunately, i think, for the president, polls suggest that americans aren't lining up behind this politics of resentment. for example, the gallup poll reports that just 2% of americans rank the divide between rich and poor as the most pressing economic issue facing our country. that americans are now less likely to view u.s. society as divided between the haves and have notes than they were back

in 2008. and that only 46% believe reducing the wealth cap is extremely or very important, whereas 82% say that about accelerating economic growth. despite the class warfare rhetoric they hear on a daily basis, most americans instinctively understand that adopting pro-growth policies to boost mobility is wiser than adopting antigrowth policies to curb inequality. they realize that if washington increases tax rates, for example, and the size of government to achieve greater economic balance, the result will be less job creation and less opportunity for everyone. americans don't really want the federal government to penalize success. they want the federal government to make it easier for them to succeed on their own. as american enterprise institute president arthur brooks wrote in his book "the battle," earned

success is the key to true human happiness and flourishing. here's how he put it." if we know we have the possibility of earning success, we know we can improve our lives and our lot. most americans, he notes, support principles that aim to stimulate true prosperity, not treat poverty." end of quote. if we're looking to expand opportunities for earned success and prosperity, the best place to start is with a sweeping overhaul of our very inefficient tax code. pro-growth tax reforms would make the system fairer and simpler. right now, it functions as a mechanism to deliver wealth to favored constituencies rather than a means to pay for government. in fact, syndicated columnist george will recently noted that the tax code has been tweaked 4,500 times in the last ten years. most of these tweaks, he wrote,

have benefited interests sufficiently strong and sophisticated to practice rent seeking, end of quote. in other words, to get special benefits for themselves. a fairer and more growth-oriented tax code would feature permanently lower rates, rates that were flatter but still progressive. such a tax code would benefit small business owners and entrepreneurs who are america's biggest job creators. many small businesses currently have the cash to invest, to invote, to -- to innovate, to expand and to create jobs, but they're sitting on the cash because of the threat of higher taxes. cutting the corporate tax rate would also fuel stronger growth and greater mobility. the statutory u.s. rate is now the second highest among advanced economies and it has damaged american competitiveness while holding wages down. indeed, the most recent global competitiveness index from the world economic forum ranked the united states now fifth behind

finland, sweden, singapore and switzerland. in 2008, america had the top ranking. coca-cola c.e.o. muttar kent recently underscored this development when he said that china now has a more business-friendly environment than america. kent cited tax policy as a particularly large hindrance. now, his experience may be different from a lot of others, but even for a major c.e.o. to talk in these terms suggests that we have work to do here at home. beyond tax reform, policymakers must also stop shackling entrepreneurs with more and more regulations. the explosion of new highly complex rules over the last three years has spawned a new class of bureaucrats entrusted with decoding and enforcing thousands of regulations that will affect american businesses. my republican senate colleague susan collins of maine has

introduced a bill which i have cosponsored that would impose a temporary moratorium on new regulations that adversely affect jobs and the economy. it would also help if we could repeal the obama administration's two signature laws -- the affordable care act and the dodd-frank act, both of which have dramatically increased regulatory uncertainty and created new economic distortions. obviously, republicans are not against all regulations, and we support a strong social safety net, but we are against economically damaging regulations that fail a simple cost-benefit test. both the a.c.a. and dodd-frank would fail such tests, as would the 2002 sarbanes-oxley law. in late 2008 and early 2009, the securities and exchange commission surveyed publicly traded firms affected by section 404 of sarbanes-oxley, and it found -- i'm quoting now --

"that a mowing felt that the costs of compliance outweighed the benefits. this was especially true among smaller companies." while president obama pays lip service to economic growth on the campaign trail, many of his policies have undermined that goal. it's hard to create jobs at the bottom when you're obsessed with attacking people at the top. the case for growth and success-oriented policies is not just practical, it's moral. the biggest economic favor that policymakers can do for americans is to support policies that make more opportunity, mobility and the possibility of earned success. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: mr. president, i rise today as we enter a new year and

i rise to honor a brave young soldier who sadly did not see this new year. army sergeant pernell ajeda died while serving in afghanistan. he was 33 years old. at times like this, words of elected officials seem so inadequate. words will not ease the profound loss of staff sergeant ajeda's family. words will not fully express our gratitude for staff sergeant ajeda's service to our nation. but the death of a young soldier like staff sergeant ajeda demands our attention, it demands our respect and it demands that we remember. pernell ajeda just wanted to serve his country. he enlisted in the new mexico national guard in 2006. he was assigned to c company, first battalion, 171st aviation regiment, and he served

honorably over the last five and a half years. his journey ended in the course of that service. we are forever in his debt. when we talk about our fallen soldiers, we honor their sacrifice and we also honor their life. pernell ajeda was born in los alamos, he grew up in espanola and graduated from espanola high school. he leaves behind a son julian and a daughter alicia. pernell wrote in his facebook page about himself the following description -- "i'm a very easy-going dad of one son and a daughter. they are the biggest joys of my life. i enjoy spending my free time with my mom and brother, family and friends. i'm currently in afghanistan with the united states army. i have served in the military

for five years." end quote. in the decade that our military has been fighting in afghanistan, thousands of our fellow citizens have volunteered in service to our country. they have put their own safety at risk to protect the safety of others. in defense of the ideals we hold so dairy, and some -- so dear, and some of these brave warriors like staff sergeant herrera do not come home. to staff sergeant herrera's family, i offer my deepest sympathies. we mourn your loss while we also honor his dedication to our country and are thankful for his service. i yield the floor.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from north dakota. without objection.

mr. hoeven: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to speak about legislation that i am introducing. i am pleased to introduce today into legislation, along with 43 cosponsors, 44 members of the united states senate, together sponsoring legislation to approve the keystone x.l. project. the legislation would approve keystone x.l. under article 1, section 8 of the united states constitution. that provision, the commerce clause, gives congress the authority to regulate commerce with foreign countries. and it's that authority that congress needs to use just as congress used that authority in 1973 to approve the alaskan pipeline. moving forward with the keystone project will create tens of thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs for our

country at a time when we badly need those jobs, at a time when we have more than 13 million people out of work, 8.5% unemployment. and it will create those jobs without spending one federal taxpayer dollars, not one. this is private sector investment, more than $7 billion that will help generate tens of thousands of jobs at a time when our economy -- the economy badly needs them, when we need to get people back to work. also, it will reduce our dependence on oil from the middle east. 830,000 barrels a day. keystone x.l. pipeline will move 830,000 barrels of oil a day from canada and from states like my own state of north dakota, and that's 830,000 barrels a day that we don't have to get from the middle east, at a time when we have rising tensions in the middle east, at a time when iran

is threatening to close the straits of hormuz, at a time when we could see gas prices going to $4, maybe even $5 a gallon. and the reality is if we don't build the project, the oil will still be produced. the oil in canada will still be produced. it's just it won't come to the united states, it will go to china, and we'll have worse environmental stewardship, not better. building a project will actually help us provide better environmental stewardship because we don't need to haul that oil overseas, around the world. we don't need to continue to bring in oil from the middle east. that 830,000 barrels will go to our refineries are higher standards, with better environmental stewardship. now, president obama recently turned down the project, and he

turned down the project because he said he couldn't make a decision in 60 days. said he couldn't make a decision on the project in 60 days. that was too soon. but the project has been under review for more than three years. let me repeat that. this project has been under review by the administration for more than three years. the e.p.a. and the state department have been reviewing the project, and in our legislation, we just said hey, this has been under review for more than three years. it's time to make a decision. it's time to move forward. and furthermore, for the one portion of the route that was contested, the nebraska portion, we say, you know, take as much time as you need to reroute in nebraska, after three years, making sure we provided enough time for the decision. i have got a chart here that shows this time line.

let's take just a minute and go through it. the application was originally submitted in september of 2008, september of 2008 is when the process started. so as you can see, it's been under review in 08, 09, 2010,the 2011. the state department itself, neep through the nepa process in the state department had responsibility for had responsibility to make a decision on the project, and as you can see, on their own timeline they had planned to render a decision before the end of last year. as a matter of fact i received a letter from secretary of state clinton indicating that they intended to have a final decision issued before the end of the year. but yet when we passed our earlier legislation, the president says we can't make a decision in 60 days. you mean three years and 60 days? i mean how long does it take to

study this process and make a decision, particularly when in the last bill that we passed, 89-10 by this body, and now on this legislation again we say as to the only contested portion of the route where you may want to reroute through nebraska due to the ogallala aquifer, we provide as much time as needed to do the rerouteing but at some point we've got to make a decision to move forward with the project. so maybe as you say, well, okay it's been studied for three years, but more time is needed somehow because it's a unique project. i'd like to go to my second chart here. actually it's not a unique project. before coming to the senate last year, i was the governor of north dakota for ten years. while i was governor, trans-canada built a very

similar project, the red line here is the keystone project. goes from calgary down to 35 talka, illinois -- patukah, illinois, bringing oil from canada into our refineries. that was permitted not in three years, today was permitted in two years. in two years that was permitted. we've been studying keystone x.l., a sister pipeline, very similar,, to kushing to the gulf coast, already been studying more than three years. a very similar project, already approved in two. you say, well, i don't know still you've only got kind of one project there and, you know, maybe there's some, you know, new or challenging things you have to take into account so yeah, we've been studying it for three years and you need that kind of time because somehow we're re-creating the wheel or doing something new and different. that's not quite the case' he either. let's go to my third start here. these are the oil and gas

pipelines in the united states. all these red lines show oil and gas pipelines throughout our country. already existing. already in place. already moving oil and gas around the country. so now we're going to bring another one through here with all these pipelines. the latest technology, latest safeguards. and you mean to say that after three years that's not enough time to figure out whether we can approve another pipeline when we have hundreds of pipelines all over this country that people count on every day for their supply of oil? for their supply of gas? that's the situation. so clearly we can make this decision. clearly after more than three years of study it doesn't make sense to not move forward. particularly when we're talking about tens of thousands of jobs today we need, not only will it not cost our federal government

revenue, it will generate hundreds of millions in revenue back to local, state, and federal government. in addition to creating jobs, it reduces our dependence on middle east oil, and if we don't do it, the oil goes to china. still produced, goes to china. so we actually have better environmental stewardship with the project. the u.s. chamber of commerce last year did a study. in that study 1993 cited 351 infrastructure projects that are being held up in the country right now, 351 infrastructure projects that are being held up in the country right now due to regulations and bureaucratic delays. if we can get those projects going based on the study the u.s. chamber did, that would generalate it -- generate almost $1.1 trillion in gross domestic product for our country. it would generate, their estimate, 1.9 million jobs. not with more government spending.

just enabling the private investment to go forward by taking the bureaucratic delays out of the way, by reducing the regulatory burden, by green lighting projects like keystone x.l. which has been under study for more than three years. from my home state of north dakota, back to one of these earlier charts, home state of north dakota, we now produce more than 500,000 barrels a day of oil. we need to put 100,000 barrels a day into this pipeline so that we can get it to market, so that we can get it to consumers. to consumers and companies throughout this country. that's 100,000 barrels a day right now that we have to move through other means like truck or rail. that's equal to 500 truckloads a day or 17 million truck miles a year. think of the toll on our roads.

think of the traffic fatalities that result when that product should be going through pipeline. and at the same time, at the same time that we have less traffic safety, tremendous wear and tear on our roads, we suffer a discount. our companies, our mineral owners, our people suffer a discount because it's more expensive to transport that product by rail and by truck. that's the realities of getting our economy going. and again, i go back to the national security concern. 830 barrels a day --, 830,000 barrels a day we've got to get from the middle east. now, with these kinds of developments, with this kind of infrastructure, together with canada and some oil that we get from mexico, by building keystone x.l. pipeline we can produce more than 80% of the oil we consume right here in our

country. that means we don't have to get it from the middle east. and look what's going on in the middle east. look at iran threatening to block aid the -- blocked a the strait of hormuz. that's a fundamental security issue. unions across this country have said we need these jobs, we support this project, we want to move forward with this and other infrastructure projects. but it's not just about the jobs and the economy although that is violately important to all the people -- vitally important to all the people, it is a vital national security issue and will be a more important national security issue as we continue to see gas prices rise and as we continue to see instability in the middle east. and again, back to the environmental issues. this oil will be produced. it's either going to china or it's coming here. if we bring it here we have better environmental stewardship

because it goes in a pipeline to refineries that have the lowest emission standards. if we don't,about the pipeline goes to the west coast, they load it on tankers, you have to haul it to places like china where it's refined in refineries with higher emissions and then guess what -- we have to ship oil in from the middle east, generating more emissions to bring 0 our refineries. again, makes no sense. it's time to move forward. there is clear precedents and clear authority. article 1, section 8 of the constitution gives congress the authority to act. the constitutional authority to act, under the commerce clause. congress exercised that authority in 1973 for the alaskan pipeline. it is time for congress to exercise its authority again for the gooth good of our economy -- for the good of our economy and for the good of our country. thank you, mr. president. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

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the presiding officer: the senator from michigan. mr. levin: mr. president, i'd ask that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. levin: mr. president, the lifeblood of our democratic government is the contract between the people and their

elected representatives, a contract that must be based on trust that elected officials will act for the good of our nation and in the interests of their constituents and not for personal gain. to ensure that we maintain that trust, our nation has laws and our congress has rules. they establish clearly the responsibilities of government officials, members of congress and their staffs and provide for the enforcement of violations. the legislation before us is, in a way, preventive maintenance to protect that trust. it is a tightening up of our legal and ethical guidelines as part of what must be a constant effort to assure that the interests of our nation and our constituents come first. our constituents confidence that

members of congress and our staffs will not use our positi positions for our personal financial benefit. now, there should be no doubt that regardless of our action on this stock legislation, the stock act, it is a violation of trust that our constituents place in us, a violation of the democratic process, a violation of the securities laws, and a violation of congressional ethics rules if members of congress or their employees engage in insider trading, the use of information not available to the public, to make investment decisions. insider trading is and will remain prohibited for members of this body to seek private profit through their public responsibilities, no matter what the fate of this bill. but questions have been raised by insider trading by members of congress. the legislation before us today is designed to ensure that those questions are answered.

it removes any doubt that insider trading by members and employees of congress is against the law and against congressional rules. it's important to remove that doubt because any appearance of a breach in trust between congress and our constituents is so corrosive to honest, open and effective government. back in december, the homeland security and governmental affairs committee held extensive discussions on the need to preserve that trust, including a very productive hearing on december 1. later in december, the committee held a markup and approved the "stop trading on congressional knowledge act," or the stock a act. i want to commend our chairman, senator lieberman, our ranking member, senator collins, for their leadership and the many members of the committee, democratic and republican, who made contributions to that process. two things became clear during our hearings and our markup.

the first is that there was consensus that we should remove any uncertainty about the prohibition against insider trading. the second -- the second thing that became clear was that there was a significant bipartisan desire to avoid any unintended consequences as we sought to remove any uncertainty. we reported out the legislation because of widespread agreement on our goals but there remained concerns about the means. and it was understood that we would attempt to address those concerns before this bill came to the floor. and so a number of us have worked in the weeks since to make sure that our goals and our means are in concert. the revised legislation which will be before us meets that objective. it should remove any uncertainty over the prohibition of insider trading and it avoids unintended harmful consequences that concern some of us.

and i point to two provisions that i believe are important in achieving those goals. first reassures the american people that there are no barriers to prosecuting members and employees of congress for insider trading. it does so through language establishing that members and employees of congress have a duty arising from -- quote -- "a relationship of trust and confidence" with the congress, the government and, most importantly, with the american people. establishing such a duty removes any doubt as to whether insider trading prohibitions apply to congress. it is also important that the bill's language makes clear that in offering this new language, it does not in any way prevent enforcement of the antiinsider trading -- anti-insider trading provisions contained in current law. and again i'm confident that under current law, members of congress and our staffs are prohibited from insider trading. this bill will ensure that the current prohibition is

unambiguous and thereby strengthened. the second major provision of the legislation instructs the ethics committees of both chambers to issue clear guidance to members and staffs on the prohibition and profiting from inside information. this guidance will clarify that existing rules in both chambers relative to gifts and conflicts of interest also prohibit the use of nonpublic information gained in the conduct of official duties for private profit. finally, one other provision let me briefly mention unrelated to insider trading but nonetheless an important step forward in terms of gaining the confidence of our constituents. as one of the originators of the lobbying disclosure act of 1995, i'm well aware of the value of transparency in government. the bill before us improves congressional transparency by requiring that personal financial disclosure filings required of members and certain staff are made available

electronically to the public. i want to commend senators beg pitch and tester -- senators begich and tester for offering legislation that improves that transparency of government. mr. president, it's important that we pass this legislation, that we clarify, strengthen our rules and our laws, and end any uncertainty about insider trading by members of congress and i hope we can promptly pass this legislation. again, i commend our chairman, ranking member, all the members of our committee for the work that they put into this bill. the presiding officer: morning business is now closed. under the previous order, the senate will resume consideration of the motion to proceed to s. 2038, which the clerk will report. the clerk: motion to proceed to the consideration of s. 2038, a bill to prohibit members of congress from using nonpublic information derived from their official positions for personal benefit and for other purposes. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the time

until 5:30 p.m. will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. mr. lieberman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: i thank the chair. i would like to ask unanimous consent that a presidential management fellow on detail to our committee be granted privileges of the floor for the duration of the debate on s. 2038. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lieberman: i would like to begin debate and i do so with gratitude that both the distinguished ranking member, senator collins, is here and senator brown of massachusetts, whose original legislation along with senator gillibrand's, forms the basis of this proposal that comes out of our committee. mr. president, i am going to go back to the beginning to president washington whose farewell address seems to take more relevance as time goes by, though it's obviously more than 200 years old now. washington said in that farewell address that i quote, "that

virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government and that we cannot look with indifference at anything that shakes the foundation or," if i -- well, continuing his metaphor, "dries the spring." i think we have to say this in the long, proud course of american mother since then there have been very few times where the springs of trust in popular government have been more dry than they are in our time. i'm grateful that my colleague, senator mccain, is not on the floor now because when we get to this subject, he usually says that when you look at the public opinion polls on congress, the numbers of people who have a favorable impression of this body are so low that we're down to close relatives and paid staff. and usually when i'm with him, i

add, i'm not so sure about all the paid stavment bu staff. but, in any case, we have an opportunity here with this piece of legislation to take a small step forward toward rebuilding public trust in congress, and if i can, to restoring those necessary springs of popular government, the trust of the people in us. this goes back just to last fall and early winter. a book appeared by an author called peter schwiezer who made allegations that some members of congress and their staffs have used information gained on their jobs to enrich themselves with timely investments, particularly in the stock market. those allegations, as washington might have said, certainly dried

the springs of trust that we should have with the american people, even more than they already are. so, mr. president, today i'm proud to rise to bring before the senate the stock act, which stands for "stop trading on congressional knowledge" act of 2012. this piece of legislation puts into law language and reporting requirements that will make clear to the american people that we understand that being a member of congress means that we have a responsibility to the public, a public trust, and that any member of congress or staff member here who violates that trust will be punished. this bill was reported as an original bill out of the committee on homeland security affairs on december 13 with a bipartisan vote of 7-2. in advancing this bill, as i've said, senator collins and i worked closely with senators

gillibrand and brown, both of whom sponsored versions of the stock act and senator levin who has just spoken, who worked closely with us on the substitute amendment that is being filed today. i want to thank them all for their contributions on this piece of legislation and also i want to thank the senate majority leader, senator reid, for making sure, for deciding that this important piece of legislation is one of the first items that we're taking up in congress this year. mr. president, the specific rules making insider trading illegal are found in a large body of securities and exchange commission regulatory activities pursuant to section 10-b of the securities and exchange act of 1934 and court decisions interpreting those activities. our homeland security committee held a hearing on this topic in

december, and the securities and exchange commission actually filed a statement with us for the record indicating its belief, declaring its belief that currently there is authority in the law to investigate and prosecute congressional insider trading cases. the chief enforcement officer of the s.e.c. said, and i quote, "trading by congressional members or their staffs is not exempt from the federal securities laws, including the insider trading prohibitions." end quote. but other witnesses at that hearing, including georgetown university law professor donald langavort, and john coffee told us, that while the s.e.c. mighting technically rierkts in their opinion, there was ambiguity in the law and they couldn't be sure how a court would rule if there was a challenge to the s.e.c.'s authority to bring an insider trading case against a member of

congress or a staff member. that is because, as the professors explained, a person may be found to have violated insider trading laws only if he or she breaks a fiduciary duty, a duty of trust and confidence owed to somebody, tiply t typico the shareholders of a company. they argue that it's possible that a judge might decide that members of congress do not have a fiduciary duty in the way in which it's normally been interpreted to anyone with respect to the nonpublic information that we receive while carrying out our duties. now, i must say that i find it hard to see it that way. it seems to me self-hevident tht public office is a public trust and that members of congress have a duty to the institution of congress, but of course to the government as a whole, and

ultimately, most important, to the american people, not to use information gained during our time in congress in unavailable -- and unavailable to the public to make investments for personal profit. but, the fact is, that there are some very experienced and intelligent legal experts who told our committee that they couldn't validate, couldn't certify that a judge would see it exactly that way. and that's really the purpose -- the first purpose of this act, the stoct act. it clarifies the ambiguity in securities laws by explicitly stating that members of congress and our staffs have a duty of trust to the institution of congress, to the united states government, and to the american people. a duty that members of congress violate, if we trade on nonpublic information we gained by virtue of our public position. the bill also requires the ethics committees of both houses

of congress to issue guidance to clarify that members and staff may not use nonpublic information derived from our positions -- their positions in congress to make a private profit. besides these changes -- and this is different and important -- our committee decided that the stock act should require members of congress and their staffs to file public reports on our purchases or sale of stock, bonds, commodities, futures, or other financial transactions exceeding $1,000 in value within 30 days of the transaction. right now, as the president of the senate knows, these trades are reported once a year in our annual financial disclosure statements. so this proposal would change that to within 30 days of the trade. more timely reporting of this

kind will allow not just the s.e.c. but the public to assess whether there is anything suspicious or wrong about the timing of the trade and conduct here in the senate. and that kind of early transparency will be an additional deterrent to unethical or illegal behavior. the bill also contains another important provision offered in committee by senators jon tester and mark begich that will require that financial disclosure forms filed by members and staff to be filed electronically, and perhaps even more significantly, therefore be available online for public review. the fact is our reports are now available for public review, but you've got to go to the office of the secretary of the senate and ask for copies of them. there's no sensible reason to

make someone physically come to the house or senate to see a copy of one of our financial disclosure forms. they are public records, and they ought to be easily available to the public online, and this proposal will make sure that that happens. mr. president, those are the three major provisions of the proposal as i see it: to establish a clear fiduciary duty under the insider trading laws so that it is clear that members of congress and our staffs are covered by them; secondly, to require disclosure of trades in excess of $1,000 within 30 days; and, third, that those trades and our annual financial report will be electronically filed and, therefore, available online. may i say that, as we begin this second session of the -- of the 112th session of congress, we begin with so much distrust of

our federal government that i think passing the stock act could really have a positive effect on how we're being perceived and particularly if, as i hope, we will pass it on a bipartisan basis. the stock act was passed out of our committee in exactly that way. it has the support of members and leaders, i believe, of both pearlts i -- of badge parties in the house and president obama has promised to sign it as soon as it comes to his desk. so let me end by quoting from our first president, this time from his inaugural address where he set the ideals for the new government that our country would have. he said, "the foundations of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality. the preeminence of free government will be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its

citizens and command the respect of the world." unquote. connecting this proposal -- enacting this proposal into law will say to our disappointed, our skeptical, our troubled constituents that we understand and accept washington's wisdom. i thank the chair. and, at this time, i'd yield to my dear friend, the distinguished ranking member of our committee, senator collins. ms. collins: thank you. mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from maine. ms. collins: thank you, mr. president. i'm pleased to join the chairman of our committee, senator lieberman, and the sponsor of this bill, senator scott brown, today in urging our colleagues to begin consideration of what is known as the stock act. this legislation is based on a bill that was first introduced in the senate by senator scott

brown and a similar one introduced by senator gillibrand. put simply, the stock act is intended to ensure that members of congress do not profit from trading on insider information. senator brown's bill, i want to commend him for his leadership in this area. i also want to recognize chairman lieberman for moving this important bill forward in such an expeditious manner. mr. president, press reports on "60 minutes" and elsewhere have raised questions about whether lawmakers have been exempt either legally or practically from the reach of our laws prohibiting insider trading. at a time when polls show record low public confidence in

congress, there is a strong desire on our part to address the concerns that underpin the public skepticism and assure the american people that we are putting their interests ahead of our own. the stock act is intended to affirm that members of congress are not exempt from our laws prohibiting insider trading. while several of the witnesses who appeared before our commit's hearing on this bill testified that there is no legal exemption for members of congress, confusion and uncertainty nevertheless persists. for example, on the eve of our markup, the "wall street journal" published an op-ed by a yale law professor who wrote that -- quote -- "the securities

and exchange commission has determined that insider trading laws do not apply to members of congress or their staff." end quote. this, however, is directly contradicted by the statement for the record submitted to the committee by the s.e.c.'s enforcement director who said -- quote -- "there is no reason why trading by members of congress or their staff members should be considered exempt from the federal securities laws, including trading prohibitions." end quote. mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the s.e.c. statement and the "wall street journal" op-ed be entered into the record at the conclusion of my comments. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. collins: mr. president, to me, this illustrates the confusion over this issue, so i'm pleased that the committee not only reported senator

brown's bill, but unanimously adopted an amendment that i offered with chairman lieberman that states clearly that members and their staff are not exempt from insider trading laws. the need for this unambiguous statement can likely be traced back to the nature of the insider trading laws. as our committee has learned, our nation's insider it trading laws are not, generally speaking, based on statutes passed by congress, but rather on court precedents. as one of our witnesses, a law professor from indiana university, pointed out during our hearing, congress has never enacted a federal securities statute that explicitly prohibits anyone from insider trading. that explicit statutory ban on

insider trading is entirely absent in u.s. securities law. rather, mr. president, the s.e.c. pursues insider trading cases under the general antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws, most commonly section 10-b of the securities exchange act of 1934 and rule 10-b-5, a broad antifraud rule promulgated by the commission. therefore, what constitutes insider trading has largely been determined by the courts, including the supreme court, on a case-by-case basis. under the case law, two different types or theories of insider trading violations have developed. one, where the defendant is a

classic corporate insider using nonpublic information to trade on the company's stock. and a second, where the defendant has misappropriated insider -- inside information in violation of a duty owed to the source of the information, such as a lawyer who trades on advance notice of a business transaction. both types of cases, however, share common elements. there must be a breach of a duty, such as a traditional fiduciary duty or a duty of trust and confidence. the breach must involve material information which is the type of information a reasonable investor would consider important in making a decision to buy or sell stock. the information must be

nonpublic, and the defendant must receive a personal benefit which the supreme court has said may include not only financial gain, but also reputational benefits. as the supreme court has held, under section 10-b, the chargeable conduct must involve a deceptive device or contrivance used in connection with the purchase or sale of securities. and in criminal prosecutions for insider trading under rule 10-b-5, the government must prove that a person willfully violated the provision with culpable intent. although the witnesses who came before the committee generally agree that congress enjoys no exemption from insider trading

laws, they also stress the need to clarify the relevant duty that applies to members. the board reported by the committee in language refined by senator levin addressed this issue by affirming the duty arising from the relationship of trust and confidence already owed by members and their staff to the congress, the united states government, and the citizens we serve. at our markup, we clarified that this does not create a new fiduciary duty in the traditional sense, but rather recognizes or affirms our existing duty. as reported, the bill would also have amended the congressional accountability act to prohibit members and staff from using nonpublic information gained

through the peformance of their officials *fr official duties for -- official duties for personal benefit. this proposed prohibition, however, was not limited to the trading context or otherwise tethered to financial transactions. because it was not anchored in financial transactions, i expressed some concerns about the potential breadth of this term and the potential for unintended consequences. these concerns were echoed by several members of the committee during our consideration of the bill. therefore, following the markup, we continued to refine the bill while adhering to the fundamental principle that members of congress should be subject to the same insider trading laws as other americans. i believe we've come up with a

solution that addresses the potential problem that really troubles all of us, and that is public officials using public office for private gain. we need, however, to make sure that in doing so we do not inhibit our ability to gather information so that we can serve our constituents to the best of our ability. the proposed substitute offered by senator reid, senator brown, senator lieberman reflects the work of our committee members as well as other bill sponsors. it would require the senate ethics committee and the house committee on standards of official conduct to issue guidance on the relevant roles of each chamber, clarifying that members and staff may not use

nonpublic information derived from their positions in congress to make a personal profit. this would cover insider trading matters as well as land deals and other financial transactions where nonpublic information could be wrongly converted into a private gain. like the reported bill, the substitute includes a straightforward statement making clear that members and their staff are not exempt from insider trading prohibitions arising from the securities laws. in keeping with an amendment that senator paul successfully offered at our markup, the substitute applies the same framework, the clarification of the prohibition against using nonpublic information for private profit and the affirmation of the existing duty

that we have to the employees of the executive and judicial branches as well as the legislative branch. and like the reported bill, the substitute includes earlier deadlines for financial reporting requirements and greater transparency for financial disclosure statements. as the chairman mentioned, by requiring that they be available online and in a searchable format. mr. president, i believe that we need to reassure a skeptical public that we understand that elective office is a place for public service, not private gain. that it is an honor and a trust that we have been given by the people that we represent.

underscoring that important message is clearly the intent of this bill, and that is why i support it. i urge my colleagues to vote "yes" and invoke cloture on the motion to proceed. and i now yield the floor to the sponsor of the bill, senator brown. thank you, mr. president. mr. brown: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from massachusetts. mr. brown: thank you, mr. president. i want to thank obviously ranking member collins and chairman lieberman for really doing something very unusual around here, which is to get something out in a very short period of time. having it not only come up, being filed by senator gillibrand, her bill and me with my bill, and then you both working together to move it forward for a hearing, and then that hearing going very well and coming out so quickly is unheard of. i want to thank you for that. i want to thank senator reid for bringing this bill to the floor

today as well as, as i said, chairman lieberman, ranking member collins and senator gillibrand. we've worked together to draft a bipartisan version of the stock act, an act that passed homeland security and governmental affairs committee by an overwhelming margin. and that's appropriate because this is -- it isn't a partisan or ideological issue. it's about cleaning up washington. abraham lincoln spoke at gettysburg fighting to preserve government of the people, by the people and for the people. i think if the approval ratings are any indication, the american people have lost faith that we are living up to lincoln's ideal, and we need to do it better. they have lost faith that congress works for them. they believe too many members of congress have come to washington to make themselves rich or do other things instead of taking care of the people's business. and that congress only steps in to bail out the people with the most money or the most lobbying

power. and that's not right. with the bill before us today, we can take a small step to reestablishing the trust between the american people and congress. if we pass the stock act this week, it will send a very strong and unified message to the american people that congress does not -- does not -- consider itself above the law. we can start to finally address that deficit of trust that the president referenced in his state of the union address. members of congress must live by the same rules that govern every other american citizen. as you recall from a "60 minutes" investigation only two months ago, we learned members of congress, their staff as well as other federal employees may be using material nonpublic information for their personal gain either through stock trades, real estate deals or other financial activity. everyone agrees that this should be illegal, or it already is as referenced by the ranking member aner