Remarks to the 33rd Annual Rainbow / PUSH Coalition and Citizenship Education Fund Conference

Forty years ago this week – a decade after the Supreme Court declared separate inherently unequal and Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat – the Congress passed and the President signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The bill was signed at the White House, but as Dr. Martin Luther King understood, in truth, it "was ... written in the streets" of America. It was written by the foot soldiers in the sweltering heat of Birmingham and in cities and towns all across the South. It was written by freedom fighters, who climbed aboard buses and marched into the blast of a fire hose and the bark of a dog, without ever resorting to violence. And it was written by men and women like Reverend Jesse Jackson and Dorothy Height, who put their minds and their bodies into the crucible of hatred, so we would all see a better day.

The Civil Rights Act was rooted in the fundamental ideal that all people are created equal – no matter what our race, sex, religion, or national origin. We are all deserving of an equal shot at the American dream – at a good job, a good education, and the right to drink from the same fountain of opportunity.

I'm here this morning to talk to you about that dream and about the opportunity that Reverend Jackson called, a "new vision and new possibilities ... [for a] revival of the [human] spirit."

Because as Dr. King told us, the Civil Rights Act was "only the beginning of a new day ... not the end of a journey." Our journey for equal opportunity in America is far from over. The Civil Rights Act is still being written by the work you do every day. We must "lift it up from thin paper" and put it into "thick action."

That's exactly what Rainbow Push does. Your Wall Street Project invests in new markets in the hardest-pressed communities. Your work with American labor is helping to build an economy that lifts up all our families. And your Reinvest in America project is helping put all of America – beginning with Appalachia – back to work. And as everyone who knows Reverend Jackson can tell you, there's no rest for the weary.

My friends, we can't rest until all Americans, black and white, rich and poor, people of all colors and all backgrounds, truly have the opportunity they need to make the American dream real.

So we are here today in common purpose. We're here to fight for good paying jobs that let American families actually get ahead. We're here to make health care affordable for all of our people. We're here to make this nation energy independent.

We're here to build a strong military, and lead strong alliances, so that America will be safer and more respected, and that young Americans will never be put in harm's way because we insisted on going it alone.

And we're here to ensure that the young men and women who put their lives on the line for us overseas, come home to an America they can be proud of – with good paying jobs, good education, and affordable health care.

During this campaign, you have welcomed Teresa and me into your hearts and you're your homes. We have heard your stories of hope and struggle. The stories of your lives have become the work of my life. I am running for President to be part of making your dreams real again. To fight with you in your struggles.

The poet Langston Hughes put it this way: "Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be" – for those "whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain, whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain must bring back our mighty dream again."

In 2004, we have to bring back our mighty dream again. We have to make America all that it can become.

This Administration says this is the best economy of our lifetime. They say this is the best we can do. They've even called us pessimists. Well, I say, the most pessimistic thing you can say is that we can't do better.

Don't tell us two million lost jobs is the best we can do, when we can create millions of new jobs. We can do better and we will.

Don't tell us overcrowded schools and underpaid teachers are the best we can do. We have the means to give all our children a first-rate education. We can do better. And we will.

Don't tell us $2 a gallon at the tank is the best we can do. We have the technology to make us energy independent of Mideast oil. We can do better. And we will.

Don't tell us it's the best we can do when in the last election two million votes weren't counted. We live in the greatest democracy in the world. We must make sure every vote is counted and every vote counts. We can do better. And we will.

I believe in an America that is stronger at home and respected around the world. And it's time to remember a basic truth: opportunity begins at home.

More than a million Americans who were working three years ago have lost their jobs. African-American unemployment is now at 10 percent – double the rate for whites. And the new jobs finally being created pay an average of $9,000 less a year. But, as wages are going down, your health care costs are going up; your tuitions are going up; your bills are going up.

I have a plan to put and keep good paying jobs at the heart of our economy. How many of you know that your hard-earned tax money is being used to ship your jobs overseas. It is inexcusable. And when I'm President, American taxpayers will never again subsidize the loss of their own jobs. We're going to close tax loopholes that pay companies to move our jobs overseas – and we're going to reward companies that create good jobs here in America.

My plan calls for tough enforcement of our trade agreements. We're gonna stop other countries from violating those agreements and walking away with the store. And we're gonna fight for labor and environment protections in every single trade agreement. Because I'll tell you what I've seen traveling across this country, if you give American workers a level playing field, there's no one in the world that the American worker can't compete against. And there's one other thing I want to say about a level playing field: the right to organize is a basic right and it ought to be protected and honored in this country.

If we want America to thrive and succeed in the long-run, we have to look beyond today. We have to create an opportunity economy for tomorrow. We must invest in our human capital, so America has the best trained, best educated workforce in the world.

Since our nation was founded, the number one engine of America's growth has been the mind and might of our people. That's something Horace Mann realized more than a hundred sixty years ago, when he demanded free and universal education for all of our children. He knew that our economy would always grow if our citizens grew with it.

By the end of the 19th century, every single child in the United States got an elementary school education – and soon, universal high school education was the norm. As Mann had predicted, the economy shot right up with the knowledge they received. Between 1880 and 1920, the American economy soared, growing more than 300 percent – ushering in what we know as the "American Century."

In 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt transformed America once again, when he opened the doors of college to millions of veterans returning from World War II. The GI Bill prepared America for the great post-war boom, training half a million new engineers, scientists, and physicians.

In today's global economy, more jobs require higher levels of skills, and the demand is only getting greater. And with advances in technology, the world is getting smaller. Today, workers in Illinois aren't just competing against workers in Michigan or Ohio; they're competing against workers in India and Indonesia. And they're all competing for high-skilled jobs. If America wants to win, if we want to succeed in the 21st century marketplace, our workers need a 21st century education.

But the truth is, we've fallen behind in the race. At a time when college is more important than ever, too many Americans can't afford to go. And too many of those who are going to college aren't finishing. In an era when college graduates will earn $900,000 more than high school graduates over the course of a career, less than a third of all Americans have a four year college degree – and less than a fifth of all African Americans do. If that's not an argument for expanding college education, then I don't know what is.

On top of that, we're falling behind our competitors in math and science, the building blocks for the jobs of tomorrow. Studies show that only a third of American students are proficient in math and science – and the figure is even lower for women and minorities. In fact, our colleges are only graduating 60,000 engineers a year – one tenth the number that India and China graduate. As Andy Grove, the CEO of Intel, puts it: "[our] scientific and technical education has reached an emergency [level]." We're not just falling behind in the race for high skill jobs; we're barely making it to the starting line.

We must move toward the day when four years of college is as universal and affordable as a high school education is today. To meet the economic challenge of the future, we need to make sure all Americans – no matter what they do – have the skills to adapt and succeed in their careers.

We need an education revolution, a GI Bill for the new century, and the next economy.

Here's how we'll do it.

First, we need to help young people afford the college education that's so important to their future. My College Opportunity Tax Credit will make four years of college universally accessible, with a credit on up to $4,000 of tuition for four years of college. And unlike most tax credits, students will be able to get this one in advance, so they can actually pay their tuition when the bill comes.

We also need to hold down the costs at colleges and universities that are sending out the bill. In the last three years, college tuition has shot up 35 percent, five times faster than the cost of living. It's no wonder students can't afford college. And if you don't think rising tuition costs are squeezing America's families, then you should spend some time – as I have – talking to working families trying to put their kids through school. As President, I will help keep college costs down by making a new deal with states. We will offer states $10 billion to invest in their public colleges and universities. But they will only get their share if they hold tuitions in line with inflation.

Second, we will make sure those who go to school, stay in school, and leave with a degree. Too many young people graduate from high school without the skills they need for college. Too many colleges focus on getting kids to sign up, but don't stick with them so they can make it through. That's especially true with minorities. Right now, almost 50 percent of college freshmen don't graduate, and more than 60 percent of minorities never wear a cap and gown. An acceptance letter won't land you a high-skilled job, but a good education will. And that begins in high school, where studies show that a rigorous curriculum is the best preparation to succeed.

As President, I will work with states to strengthen their high school curriculum, so that every child leaves high school ready for college. We will also create a College Completion Fund that will reward schools for the number of underprivileged students they graduate. And we will fund programs, like pre-college academic boot camps and intensive mentoring, that help students from the day they set foot on campus to the day they graduate – so that no one falls through the cracks.

Third, we will close the math-science gap that threatens both our standard of living and the future strength of our economy. When the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite, America invested in a new generation of scientists and engineers, whose innovation paved the way for the information economy. But in the last 30 years, the US has fallen from third in the world to fifteenth in the number of new scientists and engineers in our workforce. And women and minorities, in particular, are choosing other careers. Women make up only 10 percent of engineers – and only fifteen blacks and eight Hispanic Americans received PhDs in computer science a year. That's a brain drain we can't afford in this global era. But it's one we can fix.

Early on, too many kids are steered away from math and science – by their teachers, by their parents, or their friends. Too many are told they're not good at it or that it's not the cool thing to do.

In fact, surveys show that in fourth grade, girls and boys are equally interested in math and science. But by eighth grade, twice as many boys want to go into math and science careers.

As President, I'll give all Americans, especially women and minorities, that same encouragement. And we have to give it early on. We're going to pay math and science teachers better and then train them better, partnering high school teachers with scientists and colleges. To get girls and minorities engaged in math and science, we will fund special programs in middle school and high school. Programs like Rainbow PUSH's Digital Village in East Palo Alto which has organized internships at Silicon Valley companies for disadvantaged students. And the program in Philadelphia that teaches girls who are athletes about the science behind their sports.

And its time we make a major effort to address the subtle discrimination and low expectations that cause too many young women to believe that math and science is somehow not for them. As President, I will support all-girls' schools designed specifically to prepare girls for careers in science and math. Here in Chicago, one of the most promising of these schools is the Young Women's Leadership Charter School. 85 percent of the graduates are minorities; 65 percent come from low-income families; and more than 40 percent of those who graduated now plan to major in math, science, or engineering in college.

Finally, in our high-skill economy, we have to remember that today, high school and college are just the first steps in a lifetime of learning. More and more Americans change jobs as the economy changes. It's hard to believe, but a decade from now, many of our workers will hold jobs in industries that don't even exist today. The key to success not just in this economy, but in the next one, is to give them new learning every step along the way.

If we are serious about lifetime learning, we have to be serious about helping young people just entering the workforce and parents balancing work and family – so they can find the time for more education. And we have to get away from the old notion that education and training are only for those who lose their job – not those who are trying to keep it or get a better one. As President, I'll make it far easier for working Americans to get the new skills and new training they need. We will invest in state of the art on-line courses, so that people can get the highest-quality instruction right at their kitchen table. We will also change our outdated financial aid rules, so that distance learners can get the same assistance as traditional students. And we'll build new partnerships between businesses and community colleges to improve technical training and offer apprenticeships in cutting-edge fields.

Success in this economy – and the next – is a two way street. We need to secure the best possible education for all Americans. But it's up to each American to make the most of it.

When I was in Vietnam, I served on a small boat on the Mekong Delta with men who came from places as diverse as South Carolina and Iowa ... Arkansas and California. We were literally all in the same boat – and we came together as one. No one asked us our politics. No one cared where we went to school or what our race or backgrounds were. We were just a band of brothers who all fought under the same flag, and all prayed to the same God.

Today, we're a little bit older, we're a little bit greyer. But we still know how to fight for our country. And what we're fighting for is an America where all of us are truly in the same boat.

In great movements for civil rights and equal rights and the environment, we have come together as one America to give life to our mighty dream. So come together again and stand up for a great purpose – to make America stronger at home and respected in the world. We're a country of the future; we're a country of optimists. We're the can-do people. And we just need to believe in ourselves.

Let America be America again. Thank you, and God bless you.