passenger ships. these ships -- you could get over to europe if you just count the time in passage in maybe 14 days but a jet could take you over in eight to ten hours. it certainly wasn't as luxurious. you didn't get the kind of attention or the kind of food, but we're interested as a people in convenience more than luxury and what happens is that most of the american passenger liners begin to sell off ships and good out of business. the excambian was put into mothballs on the hudson not far from west point and stayed there -- this was 1959 -- said there up until 1964 or '65. that's when this new school in texas, this school i teach at, which was then called the texas maritime academy -- today it's texas a&m university at galveston -- that's when the school began and it needed a training ship because it was a merchant marine academy. the students who went there trained to become third mates, those are the navigators or third assistant engineers the people who run the power plant. their training included lots lots of stuff in the classroom but more importantly, it needed sea training. before they had a ship the students used to go out on a passenger ferry that was part of the texas department of transportation system going between galveston and port bolivar to the east, and they used to learn rules of the road by being on the ferry. after that ship came in they now had the opportunity to good on a summer training cruise. so when school was out, they would board the ship and beginning of june and sail in. >> july, and come back in august having done just about everything you could do on a ship including visiting many of the ports. the ship was renamed when it was claimed for the texas maritime academy, it was renamed as the u training ship texas clipper. i got to teach on the ship for a dozen year doing that teaching students english composition. that was the reason when the ship was put in mothballs, this time in beaumont, and looked like it wasn't going to go anywhere at all, just kind of sink and rust in the bottom of the harbor, it was the texas department of transportation claimed it to make it an artificial reef, and i had the idea of writing a book about it, and my book is called "the ship that would not die." and it's about that history from 1944 up through the time when it was sunk deliberately as a reef in 2007, and now it is the home to flora and fauna under the sea, and the home to many divers who can go there and theirs crystal clear waters and dive on the texas clipper. >> for more information on booktv's recent visit to galveston, texas and the many other cities visited, go to c-span2.org/local content. >> next, book signing and talk with senator marco rubio, on his book "american dreams." [applause] thank you very much. thank you. thank you for coming today. thank you for that introduction. thank you, miami-dade college for hosting us here today and i'm very proud to be here to an institution -- said this a week ago at an event we did here with small businesses. i don't know any institution in america that has opened the doors to more american dreams than the miami-dade college has, and it's a true treasure for our communities and we thank you for your service to our community and ultimately to our country. so thank you for being here today. i want to spend a few moments talking about the book. the title of the book is "american dream. "the american dream has nothing to do with hutch money -- how much money you make. it's not about getting rich although that may be your dream and a lot of americans would dream that. the american dream is about achieving happiness, and for most people the american dream and happiness is about simple things like owning a home in a safe and stable neighborhood being able to raise your family in a safe and stable environment having a job you find rewarding and that pays you enough to be able to enjoy the things you like, save for retirement and be able to leave your children better off than yourself. of all the communities i've spoken about the american dream in many places -- there's few if any russian have to spend less time describing the dream than hours because both in this audience and our community there are hundreds of thousands in fact millions of people in south florida, throughout the three counties, who have lived that dream despite starting from very difficult backgrounds and circumstances. i want you to imagine for a moment being born into a society where your future was determined by who your parents were. imagine growing up in a society where you only got to do whatever your parents did before you. if your parents were rich, if your parents were connected, if they had influence, then you got to move ahead. but if you didn't if you came from parents that were poor or disconnected from power, then no matter how hard you worked or how much you tried or how much talent you had you would not be allowed to succeed. imagine living in a place like that. [inaudible] >> thank you. [inaudible] >> let me finish my description of the book. and so the book talks about that dream. that millions of people in this country have. i think i'm the only one that gets human being eled by both sides of the immigration debate. amazing. [inaudible] >> all right. [inaudible] [shouting] >> we're going to wait for them to finish and then we'll continue talking about the book. we're just going to wait for them to finish and then we'll talk about the book. >> this is my -- [inaudible] >> i apologize folks. [shouting] >> that's all right. they'll be gone in a second. [shouting] >> i just hope they bought the book. [shouting] >> all right. thank you. [applause] [chanting] [applause] >> thank you. listen -- [applause] >> if i what they wanted was a discount on the book we could have worked it out. the american dream -- so think about for a moment living in a country like that in a place where no matter how hard you work or how much you try you can't get ahead. that has been the rule not the exception, throughout human history. most people have grownup societies like that. what has made us different is that here people can achieve anything if they work hard and play by the rules. that's been the rule for 230 some odd years,. [shouting] >> here's what -- is this nor discount too? >> get out of here! >> all right. [shouting] >> doctor, apologize we want debt through you're vent. we'll wait a few minutes so we can continue to talk about the important topics in this book. so the question now is, what is happening today was the fact that millions of people in america -- i promise you we'll get through this. -- millions of people in america now feel like that's no longer possible for them and what is frustrating to people is they open the newspaper or watch on the news and it says the economy is getting better. wall street is having record years. companies are making record profits. the wealthiest americans are better off today than have ever been but they're wondering when the prosperity will reach them. and there's reasons why this is happening and that's why -- one of the cores of our book. one of the many reasons why that is happening is the very nature of our economy has rapidly transformed. the very nature of our economy has rapidly transformed. for example, 25 years ago, if you were willing to work hard there would always be a job available in america that allowed you to achieve happiness. maybe not a job that made you rich or a job that made you famous but a job that allowed you to do the things we talked about. buy a home raise your family, leave them better off. but today, people are finding more and more what they're getting paid doesn't keep up with the cost of living which continues to grow. the reason is not because of some terror downturn not because of economy is going through a tough time and it's going to get better again. the reason is because our economy is undergoing deep rapid, permanent, structural changes. in the very outline of the economy. globalization is real. globalization has changed the nature of our economy. we now competing with know nations than ever before for jobs investments, for creativity, for innovation. that mean wes have to be more globally competitive than we have ever been. the nature of work has changeds a well. if my parents came near 2006 instead of 1956, it would have been very difficult for them to achieve what they achieved working at a bartender and as a maid because those jobs don't pay enough anymore compared in most places, to what the cost of living has become. there are jobs in the 21st 21st century that pay more but they require higher level of skill than ever before. and the problems we have are twofold. one, our policies haven't adjusted to this new century, and, two increasingly we're led by people at every level of government that don't understand that we're living through the fastest, most rapidly evolving economic times in all of human history. we are basically having the equivalent of the industrial revolution every three to five years. so what are the answers to that problem? that's walt weoutline in the book first as we describe the stories of real people. of a single mom who is struggling to raise her two daughters while making nine or ten dollars an hour not one but two college students in this community who graduated with degrees and now cannot find jobs and they owe a bunch of money in student loans. of a small business in central florida run by a couple that is struggling to stay ahead and compete in an increasingly complicated environment, where big companies who can hire a bunch of lawyers and lobbyisted can comply with rules and regulation but small businesses like them struggle to do that. and about a young lady named india we met through a great program called take stock in children who overcame some extraordinary obstacles in her life to achieve some truly extraordinary things. we also talk about poverty, the fact there are tens of millions of americans today living in poverty. and why our programs to deal with poverty don't work? because our programs to deal with poverty today often alleviate the pain of poverty but do nothing to cure it. the ultimate cure for poverty, the real cure for poverty, is a good paying job. and too many of our programs don't address that. they simply alleviate the pain of poverty. what are the steps we need to take to address these things? the first is straightforward. we need to become globally competitive again. we have to understand we're not the only economy in the world anymore. there are now dozens and dozens of countries competing against us for investment and for innovation and that is why we need things like a simpler tax code need to reduce regulations, need to deal with our national debt need to take advantage in a reasonable way but in a responsible way of our energy resources. the second thing we talk about is even as you grow the economy -- there is where fault my party. sometimes the republican party stops at economic growth and says if we just grow our economy everyone will be better off, and theoretically that true but in the 21st center there's a second step. even if you grow your me, if you're prepared to create millions of better paying jobs, those better paying jobs tired all require more skill and more education than ever required. the problem is we still have a 20th century higher education system that tells everyone and the only answer to that is a four-year degree. and four-year degrees will always be wasn't of our choice always be a legitimate choice but we need to have alternatives to that as well. for example, some of the best paying jobs of the 21st 21st century require more than traditional high school but less than four years of traditional college. welders and plumbers and electricians and airplane mechanics and bmw been technicians. these are also good paying jobs that are in demand in the 21st 21st century and we need to have systems that allow people to acquire those skills in particular i believe that the high schools in america should be grad weight more students ready to work right away and many of these professions, which are good paying jobs that are critical to 21st century success. perhaps the most challenging area for us to face is what you do if you're 30 years old, you have to work full time to provide for yourself and you're trying to raise two or three children on your own. you're making nine dollars an hour as a home health aide or twelve dollars an hour as a receptionist. the only way you are ever going to improve how much you make and ultimately your life, is to acquire skills that allow you to become a paralegal or to become a dental hygienist. the problem is that in order tie chiefs those skills often times, depending on where you live, that requires you to drop everything and go to school for two years. and most people facing these circumstances just can't do that. and so what we need are innovative and creative new programs that allow people who have to work full time and are raising families, to ultimately be able to go back to school at their pace, online at night, on weekends. now i will admit there are some for-profit programs that do a great job who are trying to address these needs. but they're also incredibly expensive and as a result we have seen people pursuing programs graduating sometimes with tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. some that realm is a good point to to and congratulate miami-dade county for the work it does. miami-dade community college -- miami-dade college for the work it's doing to fill the gap in our community. we need nor of that. we need continue vest in more of that because the truth is the only way that the receptionist who is making nine dollars an hour, is ever going to make $50,000 a year if he or she can become the paralegal or the dental hygienist or some other profession like it, but we need to acquire education systems that allow them access to that. lust about not least i would say to you that the four-year colleges will continue to be a legitimate way forward, but we cannot afford to continue to graduate people with degrees that do not lead to jobs. we can't afford is as a country. one thing we propose is before anyone faces that alone for a degree -- [shouting] -- of of before wrench can take out a loan for a degree you should be told this is how much you can expect to make when you graduate from this school with that degree. look i myself graduated with eve $100,000 in student loans, which i was only able to pay off after the publication of my first book, an american son, which is now available on paperback in case you're interested. so something i hold deeply personal and important. we cannot continue to graduate people in this country with degrees that do not lead to jobs. we have over a trillion dollars or student loan debt in america, much which may over in be paid off. it's bad for the people that can pay it off. student loan debt stays with you-for. can't be discharged in bankruptcy locksout out of entrepreneurship and home ownership and ruins your credit. we have to have alternatives and in that space i talk about creating alternative ways to credential people, including the ability too package learn nothing matter where you acquire it from, the able to come forward and say here is who i am. i've worked for ten years in the private sector and these are the things i have done. i've studied these three or four things online or on my own. i've taken these courses and this college and these courses and that college. i served in the military. whatever it may be. someone should be able to package that experience and learning into the equivalent of a degree that the private sector recognize, and i outline an alternative to the traditional student loan that would be beneficial to graduate students, called the student iminvestment plan which allows private sector investors to pay your college coases in exchange for perch of your income over a period of time. almost like an investment fund within a company. it's not a for everybody but one more alternative to the traditional student loan. i would also be remiss if i didn't point out one more aspect of our book, and that is the impact of societal breakdown. the breakdown of families -- and this has been documented -- on both the left and right -- is one of one ofle largest contributors to poverty today. that doesn't mean i can pass a law to make someone a better husband or wife. if i could pass a law to make people a better husband, my wife would run for office. but it does mean we need to recognize it and we need to recognize it in two ways. first, we need to recognize as elected officials and policymakers that stable, intact families are good for people. we also need to recognize that children that are growing up and disadvantaged backgrounds with broken families and dangerous neighborhoods neighborhoods and substandard housing with no access to a quality education those children are going to struggle to succeed statistically speaking unless we do something to intervene, unless we do something to break the cycle, unless we do something that allows them to overcome these things and in that realm there's a lot government can do. but. maltly it's on us as people members of communities, neighbors, husbands and wifes and fathers and mothers and members of communities groups, tied all together the general theme of the book is optimistic because while we face real challenges, i ask you what nation would you trade places with? what country would you rather be than us right now? every nation on earth faces challenges. every nation -- and every time in our history we face challenges, too. but i believe we have it within us to confront these challenges and solve them. and i believe that everything it takes to succeed in the 21st 21st century are things we're better at than anyone necessary the world. the 21st century will be about productivity and the american worker is still the most productive worker on the planet. the 21st century will be about innovation and the american people are the most innovative people on the planet and most of all the 21st century will be about big as aspirations and big deems and the american people have those too. i honestly believe if we confront the challenges and embrace the opportunities of this new era the 21st century will also be an american century. i i believe that nothing not only will we save the american dream but we will allow it to reach more people than it's ever reached before. and for me that's the deeply personal principle. it's one i hold very dear to my heart. i tell people all the time what compelled me to enter public service is the reality that america doesn't owe me a single thing if have a debt to this country that no matter how long i live or how hard i work i will never be able to repay. i've been able tie chief things in my life and live a life that would have been impossible had my parents not come here. had this nation not existed. had america not been exceptional. some what we not now is not just for that continue gut to reach more people than ever before. is a said at the outset every country in the world has successful people. there have been other countries that have large militaries and big geopolitical importance other, nations with large economies and big companies. i truly believe that what separates us, not just from the other nations on the earth but other nations in history, is that here we have been united by the belief that every human being deserves the chance to achieve they're god-given potential to go as far as their talent and work will take them. if we ever were to lose that we will lose what makes us different. we'll still be big still be important, we'll still be powerful still be important to, still matter on the global stage, but we won't be as special. and i for one don't want to be part of

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