Text 571, 546 rader
Skriven 2005-03-02 23:33:54 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0503023) for Wed, 2005 Mar 2
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˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ ˙˙˙˙ March 2, 2005 ˙ ˙
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 2, 2005

˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙˙ ˙˙˙˙ March 2, 2005 ˙ ˙



REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT IN A CONVERSATION ON JOB TRAINING Anne Arundel
Community College Arnold, Maryland 10:00 A.M. EST THE PRESIDENT: Thank you
all for coming. (Applause.) I appreciate the warm welcome. (Applause.)
Thanks for coming. Please be seated. Thank you all. Go ahead and be seated.
We've got some work to do. We're here to talk about an important issue, and
that is how to make sure people get the skills necessary to fill the jobs
of the 21st century. That's what we're here to talk about. No better place
to talk about that than at a community college which is working. And we're
here at a good community college. (Applause.) I want to thank Marty Smith.
She is one of our panelists. As you can see, we've got a distinguished
panel. You're about to hear some interesting stories that I think will
pertain to -- will make why I believe the community college system is vital
to the future of our country real evident to you. The Governor is here. How
about that? Governor Ehrlich, appreciate you coming. (Applause.) And we've
got Kendel, First Lady. (Applause.) And we've got Drew. Mom and Dad here?
Mom and Dad -- still listening to Mom, aren't you? GOVERNOR EHRLICH:
Absolutely. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, so am I. (Laughter.) Laura sends her best.
She's back at the White House. She wants to say hello to her friends in
Maryland. She's doing great. (Applause.) She and I are going to go
Pittsburgh next week to talk about her initiative, which I embrace
whole-heartedly, and that is how to help young men realize the great
promise of this country, how to fight off the temptation to join gangs and
instead join society as a productive citizen. Part of that is to make sure
the education system works well. So we're here on an education mission,
really, to make sure education is relevant. I want to thank Jim Fielder,
who's the Secretary of Labor for the state of Maryland. I appreciate you
being here, Jim. (Applause.) A couple of things I want to say. First of
all, freedom is on the march. It's a profound period of time. (Applause.)
Our Secretary of State is returning from her trip to Europe. I will visit
with her tomorrow afternoon. I talked to her on the phone yesterday. I
applauded the press conference she held with the Foreign Minister from
France, where both of them stood up and said loud and clear to Syria, you
get your troops and your secret services out of Lebanon so that good
democracy has a chance to flourish. (Applause.) The world is working
together for the sake of freedom and peace. The world is speaking with one
voice when it comes to making sure that democracy has a chance to flourish
in Lebanon and throughout the greater Middle East. And when democracies
take hold, the world becomes more peaceful; the world becomes a better
place for our children and our grandchildren. So I look forward to
continuing to work with friends and allies to advance freedom -- not
America's freedom, but universal freedom, freedom granted by a Higher
Being. (Applause.) I also appreciate the good growth of our economy in
places like Maryland. Governor, you get -- should -- deserve a lot of
credit for creating conditions where the entrepreneurial spirit is strong.
(Applause.) GOVERNOR EHRLICH: Thank you, Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT:
You've got an unemployment rate of 4 percent in the state of Maryland. That
speaks volumes about good leadership. (Applause.) We've got a national
unemployment rate of 5.2 percent. The fundamental question is, how do we
keep growing? And so I look forward to working with Congress to continue to
advance common-sensical lawsuit reform. We did something on class-action
lawsuits. Republicans and Democrats got together and said, wait a minute,
we've got a problem. The scales of justice are not balanced, so let's
balance them with reasonable reform. We got a good class-action bill to my
desk, which I signed. Now it's time for Congress to do something on
asbestos, to get good reform to make sure that job creators and people who
are harmed -- job creators are able to create jobs and people who are
actually harmed by asbestos get -- get the settlements they're due.
Congress needs to continue to work on legal reform, including legal reform
to make sure good doctors aren't run out of practice. We need medical
liability reform. (Applause.) We need to get an energy bill to my desk. In
order to make sure people can find work here in Maryland, this country
needs to have an energy bill, something that makes us -- that recognizes we
can do a better job of conserving energy, we can spend money on renewable
sources of energy. I like the idea of using corn and soybeans to help
produce energy. I mean, after all, it would be neat, someday, Governor, if
somebody walked in and said, we're growing more crop, and therefore, we're
less dependent on foreign sources of energy. (Applause.) We need to
modernize the electricity grid. And I put this in front of the Congress
three years ago, or four years ago. They need to get it together. They need
to come together, stop debating about an energy plan, and pass one, for the
sake of jobs and job creation. (Applause.) We've got to do something about
the deficit. I submitted a good, lean budget to Congress. Some of them get
carried away when it comes to spending and we have -- we want to make sure
that we meet priorities and cut this deficit of ours in half by the year
2009. It's important. It's an important signal to capital markets, it's an
important signal to the world that we're serious about deficits. And we're
serious about long-term deficits, and we have a long-term deficit when it
comes to Social Security. There's a lot of baby-boomers like me getting
ready to retire. (Laughter.) Fortunately, in my case, later rather than
sooner. And baby-boomers are living longer than the generation before us,
and baby-boomers have been promised more benefits than the generation
before us. And yet, there are fewer workers paying for the baby-boomers
when they retire. And if you add up the math, it's a problem. In the year
2018, the Social Security system goes into the red. In other words, more
money is going out than is coming in. Just catch this statistic: In 2027,
the government will be $200 billion short -- $200 billion -- short. That's
money going out more than coming in on payroll taxes. So if you're a young
person going to school here, you ought to be asking -- you ought to be
asking the question to public officials, what you going to do about the
problem? Now, older Americans have nothing to worry about; nothing changes.
I don't care what the propaganda says, you're taken care of and will be
taken care of. But younger Americans need to worry, because when you think
about a system that goes in the red $200 billion one year, more the next
year, more the next year, and more the next year, you need to be asking
people like me and members of the United States Congress, you better fix it
before it becomes a crisis. Don't be passing on problems to future
generations. You were elected -- members of Congress were elected to solve
problems now. And so I intend to work with members of both parties to get
this problem fixed. (Applause.) And I'm going to travel this country a lot
talking about the issue of Social Security. Friday, I'm off to New Jersey
and Indiana. Every week I'm going to be out talking about the problem,
assuring seniors that nothing will change, and reminding young Americans
that they need to write the Congress, the senators and the House of
Representatives and demand action, so that we don't stick a young
generation with serious problems that will wreck our economy and wreck
their lives. Today, I want to talk about education. Education, making sure
we've got an educated work force, is a vital part of making sure this
economy of ours continues to grow. I've talked to a lot of employers around
and say, what is the biggest concern you have? And one of the biggest
concerns they have is the fact that they don't have workers with the skill
sets necessary to fill the jobs of the 21st century. So that's the
challenge we face. And what we're going to talk about today is a
common-sense solution of how to do address that challenge and solve that
problem. First thing is we've got to make sure our kids can read and write
and add and subtract. The No Child Left Behind Act is working. (Applause.)
The No Child Left Behind Act says states get to control the curriculum and
decide what to do, but it says in return for increased federal money, we
want to see whether or not a child can read. In other words, we believe in
accountability and measuring. There's an achievement gap closing in
America, and that's important. But how do we know? Because we measure. You
don't know if you don't measure. You can't solve a problem until you
diagnose the problem. And for too long, too many children were just
shuffled through the system -- too many minority children, too many
inner-city children were just moved through in the hopes that somebody got
educated. But that didn't work. So now we're measuring early so we can
solve problems early. And No Child Left Behind is paying off. And we need
to extend those high standards to high schools. I appreciate the national
governors coming together to talk about how to build on the reform -- not
weaken the reforms of No Child Left Behind, how to build on the reforms --
so that a high school degree means something. Then the next fundamental
question is, what do we do with people coming out of high school, or people
who have been in high school and have gone in the workplace, but realized
they want to continue to advance by gaining a new set of skills. That's
what we're here to talk about. Let me tell you something about the
community college system. When I was the governor of Texas, I realized what
a valuable asset the community college system was to my state, just like
your Governor recognizes what an asset it is to Maryland. Community
colleges are available, they are affordable, and they are flexible. And
that's important. It's important to have a place of higher education that
has got the capacity to adjust its curriculum to meet the needs of an
employer base, for example. I mean, if all of a sudden, somebody pops up
and says, we need more nurses, it makes sense to have a community college
system that says, we'll help you put the curriculum in place to train
people for nursing. And we're going to talk a little bit about that here in
a minute. When you've got a growing economy in the 21st century, there's a
certain skill set that's needed to fill the jobs. And what we're talking
about today is how to fill those jobs. One of the things we've done in the
last couple of years through the Department of Labor was to encourage
public-private partnerships. And we'll continue -- going to do that over
the next four years. That's -- those are fancy words for saying, look,
we're going to help employers and community colleges match up needs --
demands with supply. That's what that means. Last year, I called upon
Congress to pass a $250-million initiative to support our community
colleges and to fund partnerships between community colleges and local
employers. They funded it. And now, the money is going to start heading
out. And that's an important part of the initiative I'm talking about.
We're going to hear from an employer in a community college on how they
work together and how the system functions best when it's flexible. The
second thing that I want to talk to you about is -- Congress is now going
to debate what's called the -- reforms to the Workforce Investment Act. We
spend about $16 billion a year on work force training, except only about
200,000 people got trained. It's not a very good record. See, part of my
job as the President and part of people whose job it is to watch your
taxpayers' money, is to say, is the program actually working? It sounds
good, doesn't it? Let's spend money for work force training. It's just when
you train 200,000 people with $16 billion, I think we can do a better job
than that. (Laughter.) And one way to do so -- (applause) -- one way to do
so is to recognize the problems, the bottlenecks. The system is very
complex and complicated. There's a lot of programs in Washington with all
sorts of different rules across, I think, 10 different jurisdictions. A
bureaucratic nightmare may be the appropriate way to describe it -- kind
of, mandates coming out of Washington, D.C. tend to complicate the issue of
the Workforce Investment boards and make the governor's job more
complicated. And people at the very end of the system kind of wonder what
the heck is going on between the intent of Washington and money actually
making it down into the trenches. And so I've called upon Congress to add
-- to put these monies together, reduce the bureaucracies, the strings, and
to let states -- gives states the flexibility to focus on work force
training that meets the best needs of each state. The best reform possible,
it seems like to me, is to kind of bundle up the programs in a flexible way
that says, Governor Ehrlich, elected by the people, ought to work with the
local jurisdictions to figure out how best to spend the money to meet the
needs of the Maryland citizens. In other words, more flexibility, in my
judgment, will mean more people will be trained for the jobs at hand.
(Applause.) A little problem for some in Washington -- why trust the
Governor? (Laughter.) I encountered that when I was a governor. Good news
is, I was a governor. I trust local people. It's a fundamental part of my
political philosophy, the closer decision-making is to the people, the
better the decision-making will be. And so Washington ought to be flexible.
(Applause.) We at least ought to shoot for 400,000 people trained a year.
(Laughter.) And it's important. The other thing is, is when I've mentioned
higher ed -- community colleges being affordable, they are affordable.
We've got to recognize people still need help coming to a community
college. We spend $80 billion a year at the federal level in student loans
and Pell grants. I've submitted a budget to the Congress that increases
Pell grants from $12.4 billion to $18 billion. And the reason why is --
that's a year, by the way -- because Pell grants are important. I love Pell
grants because they help folks that need help. They really reinforce
dreams, don't they? You got a society that says aim big, dream big, and
what a Pell grant does, it says, for those who can't afford higher
education, the rightful role of government is to help you realize your
dreams. And so Congress, I'm confident, will act on the Pell Grant
increase. The Pell grant increase really talked about increasing the
maximum grant award. It increases the amount each recipient of a Pell grant
can get, and that's good. It needs to be adjusted up, which we want. We
also believe students attending college year-round ought to receive Pell
grants year-round. This will help create flexibility for the students.
(Applause.) And we've got the loans out there. People say to me, do I have
to repay my loan? (Laughter.) Yes. (Laughter and applause.) It's part of a
responsible society, isn't it? We said, we want the loans to be more
reasonable in repayment schedule, and the interest rates to be more
reasonable. In other words, I look forward to working with Congress to help
higher ed become more affordable for people from all walks of life. It's a
good use of your money. It really is. And it makes sense, particularly, in
a changing world, where the job base is changing and the skill sets for
those jobs are changing dramatically. You know, technology changes, but
labor lags behind when it comes to change. And, therefore, we have a duty
and a responsibility to use our assets, like the community college system,
to enable people to get the skills to work. And as that happens, this
economy is going to continue to grow. One of the bottlenecks for economic
expansion and vitality is to make sure we match jobs that exist with skill
sets of willing workers. Somebody who understands that is the Governor.
Governor, thanks for joining us. I'm honored you're here. GOVERNOR EHRLICH:
Mr. President. THE PRESIDENT: Why don't you share with the good folks, the
C-SPAN watchers what -- (laughter.) GOVERNOR EHRLICH: Hi, everybody. THE
PRESIDENT: -- like my mother. Hi, Mom. How are you doing? (Laughter and
applause.) GOVERNOR EHRLICH: And my mom is here, too. THE PRESIDENT: Yes,
well, why don't you tell us what you're doing in Maryland. People are
interested to know. Just give us where you are. GOVERNOR EHRLICH: First of
all, I want some extra credit for wearing my "W" tie today. THE PRESIDENT:
Very good, yes. (Applause.) Hot item. GOVERNOR EHRLICH: He didn't even
charge me. THE PRESIDENT: I don't know about the pink. (Laughter.) GOVERNOR
EHRLICH: Mr. President, we've been joined today by my Cabinet. And if I can
just take one second -- and former Governor Marvin Mandel. Would my Cabinet
please stand up? These are the folks that implement your policies, your
programs. (Applause.) THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. * * * * * THE PRESIDENT:
Let me -- it's important for people to understand what he's saying there,
if you don't mind. See, in order for the way the rules are written, in
order for the state of Maryland to implement a work force training program
that meets your needs, oftentimes, the governor has to come and ask for a
waiver. Think about that kind of system, right? We want to do something, we
want to help the country meet an objective, but we need a waiver, we need
permission. And so, I think there's like -- I forgot how many waivers have
been granted over the last year, but it's a system that says -- it begs for
reform. You know, the more time you ask for waivers, the less time you're
focused on what you're doing. (Applause.) GOVERNOR EHRLICH: The more time
you take up with asking for waivers, the less time you have to put money
into the workplace to train and retrain. At 3.8, 3.9 percent unemployment,
retraining is really part of our focus here. Secretary Fielder, Secretary
Melissaratos, they're living this. So we thank you, very much. THE
PRESIDENT: What are you doing different? GOVERNOR EHRLICH: Well, as I said,
we're ahead of the curve. We have begun one-stop shops. We've consolidated
programs, basically among the line of what you're advocating. THE
PRESIDENT: Nobody knows what a one-stop shop is. GOVERNOR EHRLICH: You're a
worker, you go online; you're an employer, you go online, you match it up.
A one-stop shop. That's taking advantage of technology. Obviously, by the
way, you are one of the best here. Marty is one of the best. You're one of
the best community colleges in the state of Maryland. We'll work with our
community colleges. (Applause.) THE PRESIDENT: Let me ask you something.
Somebody out there listening who's looking for a job in the state of
Maryland, one-stop shop online. In other words, they -- you've got this all
-- GOVERNOR EHRLICH: Call Secretary Fielder's department, his agency, and
we'll put you in touch with -- if you have a resume, you have a job waiting
for you in the state of Maryland today. That's the message that needs to go
out -- not just in Maryland, but around the country. We're at 3.8, 3.9
percent. We want to go to 0.0, Mr. President. I want to report to you 0.0.
How about that for a goal? (Applause.) I told you we set high benchmarks
around here. THE PRESIDENT: That's right. I like the fact that the state
has got a system, a kind of a virtual work force agency where people can
get on the Internet and find out what's available, I presume, where the
closest one-stop shop is, if they want to go in in person. At a one-stop
shop people can find all kinds of advice on how to get a scholarship,
what's available, the closest community college, what the curriculum looks
like in your community college. It is a place all designed to help somebody
who wants to advance receive the help necessary to advance. GOVERNOR
EHRLICH: And our ability, by the way, to do what we've been able to do and
get some waivers, although it is time-consuming, has allowed us to put
additional dollars where it belongs, what you're talking about. More bang
for the buck for the taxpayer -- in this case, the federal taxpayer and the
Maryland taxpayer; dollars into the field so that employers can truly find
the employees they need, and particularly given this economy and how
quickly we turn over, post-industrial Maryland, post-industrial America,
retrain our workers. THE PRESIDENT: Good job, Bobby. GOVERNOR EHRLICH:
Thank you. THE PRESIDENT: They call you Bobby? Q Absolutely, Mr. President.
You can call me anything you want, Mr. President. (Applause.) THE
PRESIDENT: Dr. Marty Smith. She is the -- (applause.) She's not going to
give you an A just because you're cheering loud. (Laughter.) You have been
here how long? DR. SMITH: I'm in year 11. THE PRESIDENT: As the President.
DR. SMITH: Yes, sir, I am. THE PRESIDENT: And so, is this your only
community college experience? DR. SMITH: Actually, I was president of
Dundalk Community College, just up the road, for about seven years. THE
PRESIDENT: Good, good. Give us a sense of how the community college system
-- what's changed and what hasn't changed, just over the last 18 years. DR.
SMITH: Sure. First of all, I have to say, on behalf of all of us, we are so
honored to have you at Anne Arundel Community College. THE PRESIDENT: Thank
you. DR. SMITH: Thank you so much for selecting Anne Arundel Community
College. (Applause.) THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. DR. SMITH: You're welcome.
THE PRESIDENT: Appreciate you putting up with the entourage. DR. SMITH: Oh,
they were wonderful. They were wonderful. THE PRESIDENT: That's good.
That's the way they should be. DR. SMITH: And I also want to thank you for
our outstanding support and understanding for our country's community
colleges. You really get it, as we just heard, related to job training --
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. DR. SMITH: -- so thank you so much. * * * * * THE
PRESIDENT: For those of you who are, like, market advocates, who believe
the market is a powerful way to have an efficient delivery of service,
listen to what she just said. We respond; we respond to demand. We adjust
-- we don't adjust because government said adjust. We adjust because our
customers, the students and the employers have said adjust, stay relevant.
Otherwise, if you don't adjust, you become irrelevant. Great statement. I
think it's very important for people to understand the great assets.
(Applause.) These are tremendous assets you have in your state. So, anyway,
the reason I ask what has changed over 18 years is because it was a way for
me to lead the witness to say -- (laughter) -- a lot has changed.
(Laughter.) Because community colleges have got the capacity to change.
Seriously, I mean, I presume the emphasis has shifted quite dramatically.
DR. SMITH: Well, it has. Traditionally, we have talked about associate
degrees and certificates and the credit program, but what we understand now
is that students don't necessarily, when they're looking for a job that's
going to pay them an appropriate salary, they don't care whether it's
credit or non-credit. They want it now. They want the skill set and the
knowledge set that's going to help them get into that work force quickly
and be successful and advance in that profession. So it's changed
incredibly. Every year, we are developing 20 new short-term programs to
really try to meet the specific needs of the industry, and as you know,
things are changing so quickly in every industry that it's imperative that
we change. THE PRESIDENT: So how do you know? How do you -- what do you --
how are you structured so that information is able to get to you and your
curriculum designers? DR. SMITH: Well, we have a number of program advisory
committees where we have business leaders and employers who give their time
and energy to meet with us on a regular basis to say, this is what we see
is coming down the pike for our industry. We have a wonderful Governor's
Workforce Investment board that is investing incredible amounts of time and
energy, analyzing each and every one of the high-growth industries so that
they can say, these are the levels of employees that we are going to need
in the next five years; community colleges, we look to you to make it
happen. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, interesting, isn't it? Fascinating, I think.
It's such a hopeful system, and it's working. So Joyce Phillip is with us.
You work with Joyce, right? DR. SMITH: I do. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, okay.
Joyce, tell us, everybody, what you do. MS. PHILLIP: I'm vice president of
human resources as Anne Arundel Medical Center -- THE PRESIDENT: Good. MS.
PHILLIP: -- which is a 260-bed not-for-profit regional medical center, a
wonderful place to work. THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, yes. (Applause.)
So why are you -- besides being invited -- (laughter) -- why is this
conversation relevant to you and your hospital? MS. PHILLIP: This
conversation is so relevant to me and to our hospital and to all the
industries in Anne Arundel County. We work very closely with the community
college. For instance, you know that there are great shortages in our
health field. Last year, we were able to hire 97 applicants from -- who had
attended Anne Arundel Community College. Thirteen of them were nursing
students. (Applause.) THE PRESIDENT: Yes, it's interesting, isn't it? So
the health care field, it's changing. MS. PHILLIP: Oh, it is changing
tremendously. THE PRESIDENT: Skill sets -- new skill sets are required. MS.
PHILLIP: Yes. And when there are new skill sets that are required, we're
able to go to our community college, which is right there, tell them what
we need, ask them how can we do it, and they come up with creative ways to
do it and they make it happen. THE PRESIDENT: Isn't that interesting? So
the hospital system says, we need -- how many people did you hire last
year? MS. PHILLIP: Ninety-seven. THE PRESIDENT: Ninety-seven. MS. PHILLIP:
Thirteen nurses. THE PRESIDENT: Thirteen nurses. So somebody says -- well,
you say to the community college, in order for us to hire these people,
they've got to be able to do X, Y, and Z. MS. PHILLIP: That is correct. THE
PRESIDENT: The community college then says, okay, fine, we will provide
professors, teachers, to teach people -- MS. PHILLIP: Develop the
curriculum. THE PRESIDENT: Develop the curriculum for X, Y and Z, and then
the people are able to get work. That's -- it's as simple as that. MS.
PHILLIP: They are. It sounds simple -- THE PRESIDENT: It's not. (Laughter.)
MS. PHILLIP: It's not. THE PRESIDENT: I read your mind. MS. PHILLIP: When
you are able to partner -- when you're able to partner with the community
college, and when you're able to partner with an employer and put some of
our money together, some of your Pell grant and federal money together, we
can do it. THE PRESIDENT: Right. Yes, it's good, interesting. And so, is
this a field that has got a -- constantly in need for new workers? MS.
PHILLIP: It's definitely going to be a need for new workers. All you need
to do is look at the population as we age. We're going to need people who
are going to be able to meet the needs and take care of those people who
have served America and take care of those people who are there. THE
PRESIDENT: Do you have programs within your hospitals where you take people
who already have a job and enhance their skill set at the community
college? MS. PHILLIP: I want to say something. That makes me more excited,
because we have a program that the community college and the Department of
Labor work on, and it's called School at Work. * * * * * THE PRESIDENT:
There's something we're about to talk about here. There's a -- the term of
art these days is productivity and how does the worker become more
productive. Well, there's one way a worker becomes more productive, and
that is to enhance skills through education, additional education. And when
you hear the word, productivity, you think about -- you need to think about
higher wages. A more productive society is one in which a worker makes more
money. That's just a fact of life. (Applause.) So you need to look at the
community college system as a way to enhance an individual's productivity.
Or another way to look at it is, one way to increase your wage is to come
back to school and gain a new skill set. This is a wage-increasing
institution. And it's a -- somebody who knows that and understands that is
Jeannetta Smith. She's with us today. Thanks for coming. MS. SMITH: Thank
you for having me. (Applause.) THE PRESIDENT: It's an interesting story. So
where were you raised? MS. SMITH: I'm from North Carolina -- Rocky Mount,
North Carolina. THE PRESIDENT: There you go. If you've never been there,
it's a beautiful part of the world. And so what were you doing there? MS.
SMITH: Shortly after high school, I started working in a textile plant,
textile factory. North Carolina had lots of textile plants, and the textile
industry was leaving. THE PRESIDENT: The textile industry was leaving is
right. A lot of people were getting laid off. So what did you do? MS.
SMITH: I thought about it, and I thought I should leave before I got cut.
(Laughter.) * * * * * THE PRESIDENT: Good. By the way, this is -- Maryland
has got a fantastic community college system; so does North Carolina. And
it's been a vital part of helping people transition from what was once a
viable industry to the new viable industries within the state, including
health care. Anyway, so you did the seven-year deal. Then what happened?
MS. SMITH: I relocated, I did some travel nursing, and I ended up here in
Maryland. THE PRESIDENT: I found that interesting -- travel nursing. It's
kind of like an itinerant preacher in the old days, you know. (Laughter.)
What is travel nursing? Explain that. MS. SMITH: A travel nurse is a nurse
that contracts with a hospital in different states or different cities, or
even in your hometown. You contract for either three months or six months.
Your company finds you an apartment; they furnish it; they provide
everything in your work. So you get to be a tourist for free. THE
PRESIDENT: Yes, that's interesting, isn't it? (Laughter.) Kind of an
interesting concept. It does say there's certainly an opportunity for
people. If you're having to -- if a hospital has to staff a hospital staff
with a travel nurse, I presume that they're looking for full-time nurses.
Not to say the travel nurse isn't important, but just goes to show there's
a demand for nursing. And then, anyway, so you're a travel nurse, and you
settle here? MS. SMITH: Yes. THE PRESIDENT: I don't blame you. (Laughter.)
It's a beautiful part of the world. MS. SMITH: It's a wonderful state,
also. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, it is. And so what are you doing? MS. SMITH: I
work at Northwest Hospital. I'm an LPN -- but I decided because LPN
positions are limited, I wanted to explore other options. I decided to go
to the community college here in Anne Arundel County because it offered a
flexible program, LPN to RN transition, which would take one year, and it
would increase my salary 50 percent. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, listen to that for
a minute. (Applause.) Hold on for a second. If you're out there listening
as to whether or not somebody who had a high school degree and has spent a
few years working after the high school, whether or not going back to a
community college makes sense, just listen to what Jeannetta said. By going
back to school for a year, she increases her pay by 50 percent. That's an
important benefit for people. Was it hard to go back to school? MS. SMITH:
It was very difficult. As most adults start working, they get bills,
mortgages, car payments. So to go back to school requires a commitment of
time, which usually means they can't work full-time. THE PRESIDENT: Right.
And did you get help? MS. SMITH: Yes, I did. I was able to benefit, not
from Pell grants, but from federal student loans, which have been
wonderful. I have a 3 percent interest rate, which is a great investment.
(Laughter.) THE PRESIDENT: It's not exactly a grant, but 3 percent is
pretty low. MS. SMITH: Three percent is great. THE PRESIDENT: Was it easy
to get the loan? MS. SMITH: Yes, yes. No credit check. (Laughter and
applause.) THE PRESIDENT: We don't need to go that far. Wait a minute. Of
course, you would have passed anyway. (Laughter.) Whew. (Laughter.) MS.
SMITH: But in addition to the federal -- (laughter) -- in addition to the
federal student loan, Northwest Hospital also offers tuition reimbursement,
which has been fabulous in helping me make my ends meet as I work a
part-time schedule there. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, smart employers all across
the country are interested in partnering with a potential employee, or
current employee, by saying, we'll help you. People should recognize
there's a lot of help available if you have the desire to go back to
school. Government can't make you have desire. The government can't say, be
desirous. (Laughter.) But government can say, if you are desirous, we want
to help you. And that's what Jeannetta found out. So where are you in your
course right now? MS. SMITH: Well, I graduate in May -- May 26th. THE
PRESIDENT: There you go -- good. (Applause.) MS. SMITH: And you're invited.
THE PRESIDENT: I'm invited? (Applause.) Thanks for the invitation.
(Laughter.) And so then what happens? MS. SMITH: Well, I'll start working
at least one year in Maryland as a nurse at an area hospital to get my
skills up and experience as a registered nurse. And the sky is the limit
after that. THE PRESIDENT: You're going to be the travel thing, travel
nurse? MS. SMITH: Yes. THE PRESIDENT: Fantastic. I love the story. Think
about it -- think about this. Textile worker, hears the textile industry is
laying off, which they were in North Carolina, decides to do something
about it. Community college provides an opportunity to enhance the skill --
her skill set. The government provides ways to help, and this person is
living the American -- American Dream. I mean, this is -- I thank you for
sharing that with us. MS. SMITH: You're welcome. Thank you. (Applause.) THE
PRESIDENT: All right, Elliott Ward. Glad you're here, Elliott. MR. WARD:
Glad to be here, sir. THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for coming, brother. MR. WARD:
Thanks for having me. THE PRESIDENT: What are you doing? MR. WARD: Working
hard. THE PRESIDENT: Me, too. (Laughter.) It's what you expect of me,
though. (Laughter.) Give me a little bit on your background. Went to high
school -- MR. WARD: Went to high school, and immediately out of high school
I went into the military. I served four years in the U.S. Army. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: That's good. Thanks. What high school? MR. WARD: -- in
Baltimore City. Born and raised Baltimore City. THE PRESIDENT: Are you a
Ravens fan? MR. WARD: I am a Ravens fan. THE PRESIDENT: That's good. That's
the right answer if you're from Baltimore. (Applause.) Went to high school,
went to the Army. MR. WARD: Once I got out of the military I entered into a
period of security positions. And a while after that, I was blessed with a
son, who is here this morning. THE PRESIDENT: Where is the man? MR. WARD:
Malcolm is right over there. THE PRESIDENT: Hi, Malcolm. I'll see you
afterwards. (Applause.) As I understand, you're a single dad. MR. WARD:
Yes, I am. THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for doing your duty. (Applause.) * * * * *
THE PRESIDENT: That's good. Good job. By the way, the Labor Department
entered into a contract with Johns Hopkins and the Baltimore Community
College in order to have one of these collaborative efforts, a little extra
funding to help employers and employees match up. Keep going. MR. WARD:
Well, upon completion, I was offered employment as a pharmacy technician as
Johns Hopkins Hospital, which I gladly accepted. I continued to go to
school as -- a part of the also added benefit is the tuition-assistance
program that Johns Hopkins offers, and after this semester, I'll be 15
credits -- about 15 away from having enough credits -- 65 credits to enter
pharmacy school. (Applause.) THE PRESIDENT: Yes, see, that's interesting,
isn't it? So then you get to pharmacy school. How long does that take? MR.
WARD: That will be four intense years instead of four intense months. THE
PRESIDENT: Yes, that's okay. (Laughter.) * * * * * THE PRESIDENT: Are you
getting any help to afford all this? MR. WARD: Well, the tuition assistance
through Johns Hopkins helps a great deal. THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Part of the
grant, by the way, is to help pay for tuition assistance. MR. WARD: It's a
wonderful thing. (Laughter.) THE PRESIDENT: It sure is. What's even more
wonderful is both your desires to use what's available to improve your
skill set so you can realize dreams -- in your case, be as good a dad as
you can be. That's wonderful. That is what -- that is what is possible and
is happening all across the country. (Applause.) So the reason we have
people come and talk, other than me, is so, one, you'll listen, and two --
(laughter) -- so the stories make sense. These stories make sense to me. It
makes sense to support the community college system, a system that is able
to adjust to meet the needs of the people that we taxpayers expect the
community college to serve: people wanting to work, employers trying to
find a skill set so the communities can stay vibrant and whole and jobs are
available. I told you, one of the objectives of government is to set the
conditions right for job growth. And a lot of that always times -- a lot of
times focuses on tax policy. And obviously, good tax policy matters. And --
but also what matters is to make sure people understand the relevance and
importance of education. We must never lose sight of the need to have an
education system which not only provides -- give people the basic skills
working their way through elementary and secondary and high school, but
equally importantly, an education system that's capable of keeping this
country competitive by adjusting to the workplace as it really is. I've
come to herald success and a Governor who's successful in implementing a
vision because he's got community colleges, and community college
presidents who are responsive to the needs of people. Again, I want to
thank you all for letting me come. I hope you have found this as
interesting as I have. May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless
our country. Thank you. (Applause.) END 10:50 A.M. EST
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