A political casualty. But after the constitutional onvention, which, of course, washington sanctioned and mason it spelled in , many ways an end to their friendship. Twitter, george and Martha Washington, quite the power couple. We close out bringing us full circle, what are the important things for people to the influence of Martha Washington. I think its important to powerful she and on and how dependent he was her. His achievements were his achievements. Him aving her there with made them much more possible. I think thats true. Defined influence in a way that perhaps contemporary have difficulty understanding. But the fact of the matter is, she was the most influential of the earth face with the president of the United States. This says Richard Norton of george graphy washington patriarch Still Available if youd like to learn weve been talking about the book martha ashington with the striking portrait of young martha on the cover and widely available for people who want to know more. The partners for this series is the White House Historical association. Us with a n helping lot of documentary evidence and with our Background Materials as series. Ready for the and we have to say thanks to them as we finish up this first and we have a group of academic advisors. Mr. Smith is one. Youll see many of them and we them for their help. Website with st lots of information. If weve whetted your appetite youd like to learn more, c spahn first ladies. Obama on rom michelle the role of first ladies throughout history. Of available for the price 12. 95 plus shipping at cspan. Organize products. A special section welcome the produced by the White House Historical association which chronicles tenure of each of the first ladies. Find out more at cspan. Org firstladies. Tonight on cspan, wendy davis at the National Press club. At martha k washington for the first season of first ladies. Health news on insurance law. S under the health care Democratic State senator wendy davis. Delivered remarks at the future press club, her plans, and the filibuster she held against the texas abortion bill. The bill did eventually pass in july. This is just over an hour. [ gavel ] good afternoon. Welcome to the National Press club. Im a is angela and reporter for the Bloomberg News president of the National Press club. Were committed to our future with our programming such as this while fostering a free press worldwide. For more information, please visit our website at www. Press. Org. Offered too programs the public through a national institute, ournal visit press. Org institute. Members, i our would like to welcome our speaker and those of you in the today. E the head table includes our journalists who are club members. If you hear applause in the members id note that of the club are attending so lack of just a journalistic objectivity. Are features on our memberproduced pod casts. The conversation npclunch. Using the i will ask as many questions as time permits. To introduce our head table guests. Briefly as your name is announced. Worthubesdorf, maria, ft. Star telegram. David calloway. Usa today, editor in chief. Adrian garcia, Harris County sheriff. Kevin, washington post, managing editor. Honorable rodney ellis, texas state senator. Podium, alisonhe manager for roject financial and state news and the National Press club speaker committee. For the the speaker moment. The Committee Member who lunch. Ed todays thank you, bob. Bobby patton, a ft. Worth owner of the and l. A. Dodgers. Executive producer and manager of political for nbc news. Reporter with the voice of russia and a blogger the washington post, she the people blog. Former National Press club president. It seems now like the whole country was watching when our literally stood up for her beliefs on the floor of the texas state house. For 14 12 hour, she filibuster a sponsored bill on her feet without being able to sit, drink her desk, or water. That temporarily blocked the made her a l and pro choice activists. She began working after school she was 14 to support her siblings. 19, she was a single mother n hopes of creating a better life for her young daughter. She enrolled in Community College. Soon after, senator davis became attorney in ft. Worth and served nine years on the ft. Worth city council. Recruited to run for the texas senate and defeated a well entrenched incumbent. Hang on she won election in 2008 in race that as considered one of the biggest upsets in texas politics in recent times. Reelected in 2012 every rick perry and ther statewide Office Holder campaigning against her. Named freshman legislator of the years in 2009 one of the states best legislators. She likes to filibuster because one that got her attention, she drew attention to cut in texas schools. Set blocked the cuts and the stage to the legislature restoring most of the money in 2018. A steep climb for a democrat in such a red state. Ere hoping she might tip her cards here today on what her future might hold. A warm elp me give National Press club welcome to senator wendy davis. [ applause ] thank you. [ applause ] thank you all so much for having me here today. Inviting angela, for me to be here. Such anleasure to be in esteemed group of people. Get nervous when i approach a podium these days. And im sure that you obviously happened on june 25 in the texas legislature. Of the ase you were one few people who was not Live Streaming it, i thought i would you t the entire thing for today. So yall need to get comfortable. Seriousness, im very honored and so grateful that youre from sted in hearing more me. Im constantly reminded what a voice,ege it is to have a a voice in a decision that ffects everyones lives and their future. Nd though i mean voice figuratively, my initial understanding of the power of actually quite literal. Girl, my s a young family tried to spend as much time as we could with my grandparents. They live in a small city called muleshoe. Grandfather made his living his entire life as a tenant farmer. In his mid 60s, he stroke. D a massive from that point forward, he ived the rest of his life in a nursing home. He was partially paralyzed and difficult time forming words because of his pral sills. Hen my mom and siblings and i would pile into my moms old and drive olkswagen to muleshoe to visit him, we pick him up in the nursling home and keep him in the weekend with us. Grandfather , my would beckon me into the kitchen and i would sit with them at micah table, the ones that have the silver band side. Goes around the and he would bring a piece of aper out, point very determinedly at it. And i knew my task. A letter ictate to me that he hoped to communicate to friend. Nd as you can imagine, hes si sitting there with his legschair, me with my tiny stuck to the plastic chairs in summer tchen on a hot day. It was a lot of hard work, it was slow. Could be very, very difficult. It was challenging not just for him but challenging for me as well. On those occasions, my start crying, ld which meant that i would start crying too. Its a very hard lesson for a yearold to witness the despair in her grandfathers face. By the experience drove home a lesson for me, the importance of having a voice. It, ainful it is to lose and how important it is to speak foror those who cant speak themselves and to be true to if they would say could. Many of you heard my name for the first time last month when alison said in the last hours in power attempted to pass not just an abortion a bill that would block Health Care Access to the state of texas. In the process, the partisan seeking to rob texas women of their voice. At use when women showed up the capitol to testify, and they thousands, many of them were turned away. Were unable to give voice to an issue that had a real impact on their lives. That i took the floor morning for the longest 13 hours of my life, i worked with my track down testimony that had been submitted in but had not ring been read. And during the next hours, i ead every single one of their stories out loud. With were real people very, very personal stories to tell. Of whom had never ever given voice to their story another human being. At first, my staff was worried that i was reading them a little too fast. Because 13 hours, as you can imagine, is a long time to fill. Amazingly, throughout the ay, as word spread through the capitol about what was happening, our email started illing up with stories that were coming in from women and texas. Over the state of in fact, by the time that day over, we received over stories, 16,000 people who were hungering to be had to tell you at some point in the day, i stopped about running out of stories, instead, i started about running out of time. When i stood up at my desk that ay, i had no doubt that filibustering the bill was the right thing to do. Ut i had no idea it would trigger such an overwhelmingly ositive response around the country. Across the state and of course across the country, there was an texas ing of support for women. And the most remarkable thing that it is that stories otherwise never would have been told were national news. That we heard in support of my filibuster that are not the ones we ormally hear amplified in the state of texas. A lot of people who live outside our state are surprised they even exist. The voices in s the state that shout the loudest ones that speak for everyone. That night, the nation was ouroduced to a force within state, a force thats going to ave a lot to say about the future of texas take, the shape that america takes. Biggest state and the countrys second largest outsized e have an influence on the direction of americans and many already see texas as the gateway life. Better number one tions internal n for migration. A lot to be proud of, diverse and fast growing conomy, Abundant Energy resource, long coastline, low of ployment, and low cost living. Theres as importantly, a fervent belief a better our row for ourselves and children is just within our reach. Seen texans , ive create those tomorrows for themselves and their families. Ive seen them raise themselves up by their boot straps and sling backs and in my shoes. By pink running texans work hard. Should pay ard work off and the majority of texans state is stronger when it makes investments in help them reach their full potential, and texans areas that we can and must do better. Public of every ten School Students in the united tates goes to school in texas yet we produce the lowest ercentage of High School Graduates in the entire country. Our children, 1 4 live in poverty. In rag about our economy texas but the highest number of hildren are living without insurance. Thats nothing to brag about. We do have a lot to be proud of. Joined today by a few of not only leaders who know we can do better but are helping to make texas better. Some of them in the county today, commissioner roy brooks. Thrilled to be joined by a Faith Community leader and school board trustee, pastor michael evans. My incredible sbufl sister in texas senate who was the one who asked finally at 10 30 that at what point would it take for a womans voice to be texas senate. Who t frost, joel burns represents my Old City Council justice in ft. Worth, of the piece, serge you deleon. At the head table, we have amazing people with us. A little n introduced bit to them. Obby patton truly defines what means to be a texas success pioneering true entrepreneur. Arris county sheriff Adrian Garcia and dear friend and senate colleague, rodney ellis. In the remember afternoon of the filibuster, a ator ellis helped me with back brace on the senate floor. Say think its fair to that from this point forward know that senator ellis is has our back. [ applause ] these leaders, amazing leaders, part of the growing movement state that is more star and less lone and theyre roud to talk about how great texas is, theyre also ready to alk about how it can be even greater. The majority of texans are ready that conversation. Too often oices are rowned out by people in power who provoke division. Serious damage to the lives and opportunities to the texans that they claim to represent. Low brag about our unemployment while at the same dramatically and underfunding Public Education. Awaytlafl to states as far as california and new York Business to texas while at the same time, ignoring he needs in our Community College and our Higher Education ystem to make sure that opportunities are available to all of our young texans. Nd soon, we know the consequence of that will be that well have to travel to other states to import brain power too. Not being true to what people in texas are actually saying. People who they claim to represent. It would be just as if i listening to e what my grandfather had to say whatever i down felt. You all know the saying and some of you may know the verne gosden my first is aint rodeo. And as alison said, this was not my first filibuster. 2011, i took a stand against 5. 4 tisan plan to strip billion from our already very underfunded Public School system. And i dont know if you are this, but after that budget cut went into place, became 49th out of 51, counting dc, in what its the future of the School Children in this country. To filibuster because it helped put us into a special and on where teachers parents finally had an opportunity to come to the and it was be heard very, very important to me that be part of the conversation. Why. S i have seen education is bsolutely a path way from poverty. 30 years ago, i could not have imagined standing in front of washington, in d. C. Before a group of people like you. Because back then my life looked very, very different. In fact, it looked a lot like my life. My mom has a sixth grade education. Divorced, my parents she had no husband, no financial children to four raise. And every meal that my mother a struggle able was for her. I was 19, i also was married and divorced and raising myself living r in poverty and facing the same hardships that id seen my mother face. Anyone who believes that everything is bigger in texas that my ee the trailer young daughter and i lived in. Was always on the brink of a financial disaster back then. A flat tire on my car meant a belonging to pawn at my local pawnshop. Often at the grocery store, i would stand at the checkout and have to choose what i would have to put back. For amber was nongaucheble. Often for me they were 99 cent tinos pizzas that i would make four rners and meals. Experiences like that can vision, ly narrow your can crush your optimism. For me, it came down to a simple calculation. Wanted to make a better life for amber, i had a responsibility to improve my own. For a heart full of love for her when i started that journey. Working as a receptionist for a pediatrician. Even though my paycheck was worth it to work there. I had no health insurance. My daughter had free medical care. Medicine and she had free formula. One day at work, one of the and dropped a pamphlet on my desk for tarrant college. Ommunity and when i opened that pamphlet, it opened a door for me. I had always thought of college belonged to that something else. But that day, i began to believe erhaps it could belong to me too. And the state of texas helped by for a it affordable, even single working mom like me. In addition to going to school, worked full time and i waited tables four nights a it wasnt easy n the texas that i grew up in, it was possible. When i transferred to texas christian university, i received academic and financial needs scholarships that covered the my tuition. But today students who are challenges that i once faced are unfortunately able to receive the same kind of assistance from our state. There is so much greater need, so many qualified students in need who simply cant get that because theres not enough to go around. There were other things that my future possible too. Health care basic services, i had a Womens Health care clinic very close to where i lived. For the next few years, thats where i received the entirety of my health care. Oday, of course, in texas, partisan legislation on top of years of severe budget cuts has of that access from tens thousands of women across the state. Of them has lost the theyve th care that ever known. Regardless of the politics, i agree that ne would is just bad policy. Go to i was able to college in law school, i was able to be a part of starting a Small Businesses and to become part of contributing of my state. Conomy and thats how it works. Very much to make sure that more people have the chance to do that. And so the challenges that ive taken on as a legislator are things t two a path and a voice. Ive been characterized by our overnor and some others in the legislature as a bit of a problem, my record is really find solutions. I started my politics on the ft. Worth city council. And in texas, we do not run for ocal office with a Party Affiliation next to our name. So as a consequence we dont govern with one either. Nd i got in the habit of working on issues that arent from ered naturals democrats, shell gas drilling to ransportation planning to serving as the chair of our citys Economic Development fostering a great deal of Economic Development and public ate partnerships. I was determined to take that austin. Ty to its one of the reasons i ran for the state senate. Represent, t i actually, wasnt drawn for a democrat. But the people i represent are a interested in seeing problems solved than they are in labels. They know how seriously i take voice to austin and how willing i am to work don