on a space station? >> good question. well, i did go to work for nasa which was a big help for me. i decided being an astronaut was a goal. really what i also work on was aircraft control systems. that's where my main work at nasa was on. that could play into working on the shuttle, also helping out. i just got lucky in the selection process. that's really -- there are so many qualified people who try to be astronauts. it takes a little bit of luck just to get in. i just happened to get a little lucky. had all the requirements needed and just a little bit of luck and i made it. >> so commander, in about 30 seconds tell us about the best experience you've had on-board the space station itself. >> well, the best experience is, well always looking out window and the best way to look out the window is not having a window in front of you, that's going on a spacewalk. that's probably the best experience. it's a fantastic feeling. it is a little pressure on you at the same time but, boy, it's quite an experience and it's something i'm looking forward to doing again. >> commander steven swanson, who is on-board the international space station, talking to us about experiences there. commander, thanks for talking with c-span. >> my pleasure. take care. live now at the congressional hispanic caucus institute's 2014 public conference, this is at the reagan building in downtown washington, d.c. we'll be hearing discussions with community leaders and politicians on public policy affecting latino americans. speakers this morning include congressman rubin heene hoe is a and the chair of the congressional latin caucus and the director of the u.s. office personnel management. we'll bring you this morning's session, then later on this afternoon at 1:30 on c-span 2, we'll bring you the continuation of the live coverage ocoverage. ♪ >> also welcome senior manager for data and information at casa de maryland, senior guzman. >> welcome, everyone. please be seated. welcome. i'm privileged to welcome you to the opening sessions of chci's 2014 policy conference. this conference provides a great platform for discussing major policy issues affecting the latina community and our nation. our hope is that these discussions educate, engage and spur action to build a better future for this country. as many of you know, chci has worked for over 37 years to help develop the next generation of latino leaders. i, myself, many am a graduate of chci's fellowship program and i can honestly say that i wouldn't be the man that i am today without my experience at chci. my experience at chci really has impacted my career where i live here in washington, d.c. and also my personal relationships. i'd like to thank chci for the students i was given as a fellow and i know that all of my fellow alumni across the country and the world wish to extend their thanks as well. but the truth is that chci can't do all that it does without the support of many individuals and organizations. so i'd like to thank -- to give a special thanks to our sponsors who make our programs and events possible. to begin our 2014 public policy conference host sponsor. bank of america. donors are time warner cable and hyundai motor of america. the signature premier sponsors are comcast, nbc universal, telemundo and southwest airlines. the signature innovator sponsors are anheiser-busch and morris lewis bakhias. and our signature champion sponsors are api, eli lilly. facebook. mcdonald's corporation. pepsico. state farm. verizon. and walmart. let's give them all a round of applause. >> the sponsors of this morning's session, the society for human resource management, nielsen, union pacific. thank you for making this session a reality. we have a new conference tool this year and our mobile event app which is sponsored by t-mobile. if you haven't downloaded it yet, please go to chci's microsite and get it. i'm sure you'll find it very helpful. this year chci continues to go social. you can add to and follow the discussion on twitter around facebook. also we encourage you to post your photos on instagram. if your friends, colleagues or anyone in your network can attend our sessions in person, well, they are in luck. spread the word because we are streaming live. and now, it is my pleasure to introduce one of chci's signature sponsors for this year's hispanic heritage fund. events. he is not only the senior director and policy council for federal government affairs at comcast corporation but he is also a chci board member, and more importantly, he is a former chci fellow like myself. please become one of chci's biggest supporters, mr. juan odero. >> good morning, everyone. i'm honored, hup balanced to m÷ of comcast nbc telemundo. as a former fellow, 17 years ago, having the opportunity to stand here, something that i didn't envision. it is amazing just to be here and think about the many celebrations we are going to be doing. it is important to remember folks like our former speaker, this is not only something we're celebrating but we're also re-affirming why we're here. it is investment in the youth and investment in the future. i'm proud to say that i work for a corporation that shares the vision, the goal of chci. empowerment of latino population. whether it's having the largest provider of independent affiliate programs, uj investments in terms of vendors, procurement, helping to riz all votes, my company stands proudly with chci. not only in terms of the now but in the future. as we think of how do we empower more latinos, our work on internet essentials, connecting homes, low-cost broadband. not just the folks in this room, the folks following up behind you. when you press that button up, you're taking other people with you. that's what ch krflt i staci st that's what comcast nbcu stands for and we share this vision of ester and my good friend of chairman hinojosa. i can keep going on and on on our many investments and many things we do, the world cup. but i think picture speaks a thousand words. so with key roll that video that we have, folks? >> being a latina in the united states means to me esperanza. >> hope. >> it is about dedication. [ speaking spanish ] >> i'm a latina woman and i love it. [ speaking spanish ] >> to me, the fact that i was born and raised in chilchile, ie in new york and now i'm married to a colombian. >> being one of the only latinas, or sometimes the only lana on the usa olympic water polo team, i've always been able to bring my mexican heritage to the team. they always ask when i can bring tamales or when my parents are coming because they know they'll bring a great cheering section and great food. >> i'm proud to be a latino and a part of the united states marine corps. >> i was born in this country but my roots are in chihuahua. >>. [ speaking spanish ] >> being here, many dreams came true with hard work.for dancinge achieve so many goals, like becoming a salsa champion, bringing my kids to a profess n professional level and now we are on this amazing tv show called "america's got talent." it feels super proud to be there. >> duality is what allows me to pick the best traits of my two cultures to put into one. >> i am a latina and i am an american. i can accept the challenge. [ speaking spanish ] >> ow heartbeat is lur heartbea. >> but our roots are here. [ speaking spanish ] >> celebrating hispanic heritage month on telemundo. >> i love this video because i think it says it all. whether you're from south texas, union city, new jersey, southern california, the grand mosaic, we're all here. we should all celebrate. we should all remember why we're here. and i think i'm especially privileged. my next duty is to introduce my dear friend, someone who embodies everything that chci stands for, ruben hin hoe isojo. our chairman, our leader. let's all give him a round of applause, folks. >> thank you, juan. welcome. welcome to all the attendees to this 2014 congressional hispanic caucus institute public policy conference. before i go any further, i want to take a moment to pay tribute to our nation's veterans, service members, and all of their families. we owe a great debt of gratitude for those that sacrifice so much individually for the benefit of us all. and we know that a high percentage of lass knows serve proudly in our military. so, again, please join me in giving them all a round of applause for their service to this week, we gather in washington to celebrate our commitment to latino youth and honor the vision of our founders. it was in 1978 that a handful of hispanic members of congress set forth what would become the most important leadership development organization in america -- chci. today we have a record number of latinos in congress. 36 from both sides of the aisle. it's amazing to me that for 37 years, chci has educated, has empowered and connected latino leaders who are changing the economic and public policy landscape in our united states. thank you for your support. as the chairman, i am proud to carry on the legacy of our congressional founders and i am especially proud of the opportunities we are providing our young rising stars. i would like to recognize this year's class of interns and fellows, and i'm going to respectfully ask, will chci current interns, public policy fellows and graduate fellows please rise and be recognized. thank you. we are so proud of you. i want to congratulate all of you because, as members of congress, we know that we are looking at our country's future when you all rose and we recognized you. with a combined total of 50, this group represents the largest incoming fall class of chci walmart interns and fellows in our chci history. it also represents the continued growth of our community and the increased need for opportunities. chci must continue to grow and expand to allow these young people to reach their full potential and get them engaged in public policy so our voices can be heard on the issues that matter the most to our community an to our entire country. the theme of this year's hispanic heritage month events is building our future together. at this time last year, i had a call to action. i called it building our future together. and this year it is our team because building our future together is about showcasing latino leaders who are making a difference, celebrating our successes and investing in the capacity of our youth. building our future together is also about focusing our attention on the needs of our community. we need to increase representation of latinos in the federal government employment, as well as in corporate america, as well as in charitable and union sectors. we need greater access to higher education to ensure our latino students graduate from college. we need a renewed investment in job training programs. we need meaningful access to the right to vote. and, yes, we need comprehensive immigration reform. >> the congressional spang caucus h spanish caucus has been working with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to ensure the needs of our latino community are a priority. our struggles are no longer about a community. this is about building america's future together. with latinos representing 1 in 4 americans under 18 years of age, the strength of the united states is tied to the success of this growing demographic. we must ensure that america's agenda reflects issues important to all and that will impact the well being of future generations. we are proud of americans an we are proud of the his stork contributions of our latino community. in closing, i want to thank all of chci's supporters who make the great work of chci possible. stay tuned for thursday night's iconic chci awards gala. we are honored to host president barack obama and recognize our accomplished awardees, starting with jose villard and dr. juliet v. garcia. i want to think our moderator, as well as rita moreno, and all of this morning's panelists for sharing their knowledge and expertise on this important panel that follows, underrepresent underrepresented, where are the latinos. thank you for joining us and enjoy this conference. >> thank you so much, chairman hinojosa for those wonderful remarks. as you heard a moment ago, one of our sponsors for today's session is the society for human resource management, or shurm. representing them, mike akin. he joined shurm in 2003 and since then has been responsible for all of its governmental affairs endefenses. please welcome mike akin. >> good morning. thank you for having us here today. it's a privilege for shurm to partner with the institute and be part of these important discussions this week. we've been a proud sponsor of this program since 2009 and we look forward are to continuing to partner with chci. as the world's largest human resource organization devoted to hr, shum is here because we share common concerns and common goals with you. we're here because we have many of the same questions that you do and are looking for the same solutions. the question of the hour -- where are the latinos in some of the key sectors of our society, is a question that our members are asking around the world and in their organizations striving to address through recruitment, through hiring, through training, and leadership development. shurm an our members understand that in today's world the most successful organizations are ones that value inclusive and diverse hiring practices and programs. and understand that bringing diverse minds together with the same goals pay off. we understand that in today's world are diversity is just not the right thing to do, or even a good thing to do. it's a business imperative. for an ever-increasing global competitive environment. we need all hands on deck, all available employees to meet the needs of business today. and we must take a had look at ourselves and the hr profession as well. because as leaders come to understand that the real driver of business success is people, and that the talent can be the difference between success and failure and that the hr profession has to play a more strategic role in the organizations as we develop these organizations. hr's a growing and dynamic profession where we cannot accept the underrepresentation of latinos so we look forward to working with chci to develop the next generation of latino leaders and business professionals. as we -- as you hear and have your discussions this week, and share some of your ideas and talk about solutions, know that shurm stands with you and shares your commitment to making sure that people of all backgrounds, from all walks of life, play an important part in shaping our nation's future. thank you very much. >> thank you, mike. along with shurm, another important chci sponsor is nielsen. joining us today, vice president of community alliances, events and engagement with the nielsen's corporate external affairs group, stacy ramos. she provides guidance to external and internal groups, highlighting the value of the latino marketplace experience. please welcome stacy armos. [ speaking spanish ] >> on behalf of our 36,000 associates worldwide, it is our pleasure to sponsor this session on representation of latinos. i want to take a quick moment and go off script to acknowledge the distinguished panelists that we'll have today and of course, to say something short about the amazing rita moreno. i was introduced to her work at a very young age and spent the better part of elementary school snapping my skirts and announcing how much i liked the island ever manhattan. and so -- but truthfully, as the only latina in my circle of friends, she and her beautiful portrayal felt so comfortable and made me be very proud to be a latina. i wanted to just go off script for a moment an acknowledge pa. many topics of incredible value will be discussed at this year's chci conference but this session is very clothes to our hearts at nielsen, in particular because we have a lot to do with our focus a lot on the representation of latinos in media. you are participating in this session because you understand and value the importance of latino representation in all areas. but also in media, both in front of and behind the camera. and you get it. you get that highly positive displays of latinos in media better represent our culture and benefit society as a whole. you get that celebrating our stories and our characters are an important part of the fabric of this nation and you get that supporting chci and its partners and the collective work of those that have come before us promotes opportunity for all and inspires us to be better. so i'm pleased to tell you that at nielsen we get it, too. we get that latinos watch more television. see more movies. listen to more radio and consume more music. and we get that latinos want to see more latino faces in front of and behind the camera telling our stories and portraying ow characters. and we get that by being inclusive and measuring what latinos watch, buy and listen to, that it gives our community a voice through representation. so it's no surprise that we are proud to be a sponsor of this session and it truly underscores the value of our work. diversity, inclusion, and representation are very important to us, not just in our work force but in our measurement services, our panels and throughout our organization. our preferences, latino preferences and opinions and voices must be heard and included and with nearly 54 million of us, we know that we make a difference. recently nielsen released a report on the multi-culture consumer and our music consumption behaviors. copies of the full report can be found on some of the tables that you have there and there are latino-specific excerpts that are available online. we learn quite a bit from the study but most importantly perhaps our work highlighted just how influential latinos are on pop culture and music trends. that our opinions, the latino opinion, continues to be a driving force in shaping music and entertainment trends and that only with proper representation can these trends emerge. for us, this is paramount. in closing, we are pleased to join you today to join this community in supporting chci and what we know will be a spirited discussion on the value of proper representation of latinos. thank you for supporting chci and nielsen's efforts to ensure the hispanic community is counted and the latino voice is heard. gracias. >> thank you, stacy. thanks once again to all of our sponsors. we are pleased to have with us as a moderator for today's panel, veteran journalist ray $x suarez. the permanent host of al jazeera america's program daily program "inside story." ray joined the news channel after an extensive television and radio career. most recently as chief national correspondent for pbs news hour where he worked from 1999 to 2013. in 2010 he was inducted into the national association of hispanic journalists hall of fame and also was a recipient of the award from the national council of -- he's here to talk about the underrepresentation of latinos in the sections of clinical drug trials, federal government, corporate boards and voter turnout. sounds like he and our panel have their work cut out for them this morning. please welcome ray suarez. >> thanks. one thing that wasn't mentioned -- i wasn't going to do this. it is the kind of thing that would make my parents cringe but since i do -- since present company is present company and i do have a book in print on the history of latinos in america, which is available online or in a book store near you, it's called "latino americans, the 500-year legacy that shaped the nation." is t seems very germane to what we're talking about today. after all these years in public media i can finally do a commercial but for myself. i hope that you buy it. it makes a terrific gift. as you heard in the introduction, the panel does have its work cut out for it this morning as we discuss the underrepresentation of latinos in so many sectors of our society. we'll talk about where we're at, why the situation is where it is, and what we need to do about it. the panel stands on the assumption that latinos must expand their decision making voice in every important sector. there are more than 50 millions of us now, as has been mentioned, in a country of more than 300 million people. when you move from a tiny minority to one-sixth of anything, in this case a country, it's no longer a question of how those people over there are doing, whether they're getting over, but a question of whether the whole country can continue to be the affluent, productive place it's been for generations. if the aspirations of one-sixth of its population are not met. if those 50 million people remain concentrated more than other persons in cheap houses, that fund cheap schools, that yield cheap college education, a lot of debt and not much opportunity, that will leave us with lower than average family incomes which is where we're at now to start the cycle all over again. if that's the way the next generation plays out, this is not going to continue to be a rich country. it's as simple as that. in the next 35 years, as we move from more than 50 million people and one-sixth of the whole, to 10 million people and one-third of the whole, it's not kindness. it's not charity. it's not pity that will force america to open the opportunity structure of the united states. but rock-hard self-interest. we are finally able to say to the rest of the country we really are all in this together. if we don't prosper, you don't prosp prosper. there's something else we have to wrestle with here. the taint of eternal foreignness. even though we've been here since before there was a united states, when fortune seekers splashed ashore on the marshy virginia coast and began jamestown, decades later when a boat load of grumpy protestants in black hats and bonnets stepped on to prellymouth rock, santa fe was already an established cities. the missions that became the giant cities of san diego and los angeles and san francisco were already settled span inspeaking towns. so here we are picking your strawberries, cabbages and apples, killing your pigs and chickens, laying your roof shingles, bussing your tables, taking your blood pressure, fighting your wars, changing your oil, taping your drywall. and changing lots of diapers. both your infants and your grandparents. we're with you at the very beginning of your life and when you're close to the very end. and yet, we remain somehow strangers, the most familiar strangers possible. our stories, our accomplishments, our aspirations, our heroes and heroins live in a ghetto of the imagination for most americans, unable to penetrate the core of american life. and thus we're always having to explain ourselves, demand our due, as if we're asking for a favor, for consideration that we have not earned. that a gift given only reluctantly to peep who are forced to check a box on some human resources list. my panelists know very well that the road is long, the battles are complicated, the struggle is re real. but that we're not asking for anything unreasonable and anything unearned. please remember you can join our conversation on twitter. we'll be entertaining questions from the audience during the discussion. there will be roeving mikes in the audience. if you have a question, please raise your hand. in my fading eyesight, my advanced able, i will try to see you and we will bring the microphone to you.ge, i will tr you and we will bring the microphone to you. katherine archuleta. in may 2013 president obama appointed director katherine archuleta to lead the u.s. office of personnel management, the federal agency responsible for attracting and retaining innovative and diverse talent to the workforce. director archuleta is the first latina to head this federal agency. please welcome katherine archuleta. next, rita moreno. she's one of the few performers on planet earth to have received an oscar, an emmy, a tony and a grammy. she'll solidify her reputation as a national tresh thasure by awarded the presidential medal of freedom by george w. bush in 2004. ladies and gentlemen, our own national treasure, rita moreno. the chair of the latina corporate director's association here with us today in her capacity as chair of the new ll formed latino corps operate director's association. pat currently sits on the board of levi strauss and company and has served on two other corporate boards as well. she's also been with toyota for over 30 years and is toyota's highest ranking latina. please welcome her. next we have the chief executive officer of doctors hospital at renaissance. israel is responsible for overall operations, as well as the development of a strategic plan, excuse of the corporate mission. israel rocha. and finally, maria kumar, president and ceo of vota latino. she's dedicated her career to empowering latino youth and engaging them in the political process. this is a tough year to be doing any of those things. please welcome maria teresa and again, our panelists. katherine, let me start with you. what do the numbers currently look like for latinos in the federal government? talk to us about what you're doing at opm to address this issue. >> well, ray, the good news is that we are few in number now but we're growing larger and we are on our way. so right now, the representation of latinas in the federal government sits at about 8.3%. more disturbing is the fact that only 4% -- about 4.1% of the5á total federal leadership is latino. so that means we have tremendous opportunity. it's a challenge. but we have the right leadership in government today to really make that happen from the political, to the civilian workforce, we have dedicated individuals who are trying to make a difference every day. as the director of the office of personnel management, i'm very pleased that we set forth a path that will not just change numbers but will also institutionalize the steps that are needed to take to increase the number of latinos in the federal workforce. we're calling this program ready. it's probably an easier way for me to remember all the components but let me tell you about them so that you'll remember them, too. the first one is recruitment. what are we doing to increase the numbers of latinas who are interested in and applying for jobs within the workforce. we're basing this on data, we're being very targeted, we're going to schools to colleges and universities and high schools to talk to young people. mid level executives and senior executives about the opportunities that exist within the federal government. we're also taking a look at our hiring processes. that's really important. the one thing that we will improve over the course of the next 2 1/2 years is usajobs.gov. i know a lot of people will nod their head yes and say i've been on that website, it is very complicated. well, we're changing that. we're creating usajobs.gov 2.0. we're working to change many aspects of it to make it friendlier, we're making it responsive, we're changing the information on the application process that would change how people apply for jobs. we're doing this based on what we're hearing from users themselves. we've just instituted a whole focus group process that will help us design this and we're using social media as part of the focus group strategy. we're also now taking a look at those individuals who are on-board right now. how do we keep them? how do we make sure that they don't feel isolated and unengaged in their workplace? so the issues of engagement are very, very important and we've created a new dashboard are that goes out to our senior leaders in government to inform them about diversity and inclusion in their own work forces. finally, we're thinking about the whole issue of diversity an inclusion. how do we make sure that all of our employees, including those who are few in number, who do we make sure that they feel included in the decisions that are happening every day in the federal government that impact the latino community no matter how big those decisions or how small they are, we need to be included. finally, i would say that i'm developing partnerships across the board, across this country, certainly with colleges and universities but non-profits like chci and also making sure that organizations like nhla, gi forum, are all engaged in this effort. finally, i'm using the most important tool that we have and that's our own government employees. how do we work with employees we have on yoboard, young latinos, latinas, making sure that they have the opportunity to talk about why they've come to government for that purpose-driven mission. we can't compete with the private sector on the perks but we can compete on the dedication, the purpose driven mission that our federal employees have. so we may be small now but with the work of the incredibly talented team at the office of personnel management, we're really working hard to institutionalize the changes that will happen. and continue to happen well after i leave government. >> we have just a little time left. 8%-plus when latinos are 17% of the population. that's roughly half parity. is part of the problem that a lot of people don't even think of government service when they're coming out of school? >> i am astounded at the number of young people today who don't know anything about government. they actually believe that all government jobs are in washington when in fact 85% of all federal jobs are across the states. so my job and our recruiters' jobs and the recruiters in the various departments are very, very targeted in going out and talking to young people today about the opportunities that exist in government today. going to the hsis, going to other schools and high schools and community colleges where we can reach latino students right when they're thinking about their careers. >> katherine archuleta, thank you. rita, over the course of a long career in show busy, iness, i'm sure you've seen a lot of changes but probably not enough. are we looking at a glass half-full or half-empty? or could you not even have imagined this day when you were earning your way ahead in the business? >> i think you just answered the question but i'll give you another answer. >> good. >> yes, it has changed. quite a bit. and the former complaints that the latino community used to have about hispanics in this media, my profession, have changed immensely. ricardo mon toll bon used to say the door is ajar. i think the door has really opened considerably. but i have to tell that you it is a long, long way from what i experienced as a young actress in hollywood and playing all of those, what i call derisively and on purpose is those dusky maidens. all those ladies who were uneducated, almost always, who were illiterate, who were suspiciously easy sexually speaking, who rarely wore clothes that were modest. those were all the kind of ladies i played for years. far too many years. ladies who would say things like, "you stole me people's gold." it is funny now. but i did a lot of that and that has changed really considerably. i think now what we need to do is become more of our own producers and writers and directo directors. i think we have become part of the -- pardon the expression -- the modern family. yes, we are brash and we are sexy and we are all of those wonderful things, but we are also other things. and i think it's really important -- here's the trap though. this happened with the black community. the trap is that if we become our own producers, directors, and writers is that we will, if we're not careful, ghettoize ourselves if films where we suddenly have films about hispanics for hispanics. i think that's a very serious trap and we have to be very careful to stay away from that. but we need -- in my business right now, we really are in desperate need of writers and producers and directors. if they exist. and i know they do. we don't know about it. and that is the problem. how to get that changed is beyond me. i wouldn't know what to tell you about how that can be helped except to make noise. you know, to keep on making noise and mentioning it. those of us who are in positions to help, have those people who have serious show business connections help out in that manner. because i think without that, it's going to be very, very difficult. >> a big commercial release. you talk about ghettoization. but it part of the problem that while we are expected to turn on the television and see our general humanity in other people's stories, other people are not expected to look at our stories and find connection, universality and association. they say, oh, that's not me, that's not my life, so therefore that's not for me. >> well, the big, big problem is a lack of understanding of who we are. and i think what you see in films nowadays, as well as television, you don't see a real world are represented, because if you did, there would certainly not only be more latinos, there would be nor asians. i mean do we ever, ever see asians? very, very rarely. and when we see them, they're in a lab somewhere. for some reason, they've been type cast into being lab persons who do blood tests for detectives. so i think how to make people more -- i mean think of what we bring to this country. we bring such riches. our heritages, our histories are so rich, filled with music and dance, yes, but also filled with the most amazing histories and nobody, nobody seems to know this about us. we are still in the minds of too many americanos, if you will, entertainers. do i have a moment left or no? i remember. many. years ago -- >> a moment. >> okay. i don't know, i'm a latina. >> don't take advantage. >> okay. >> just tell the story. >> impossible but never mind. i remember meeting ronald reagan when he was president and i was there with about six or seven astonishingly successful people, one of whom, by the way, was an admiral who had the pacific fleet. he was puerto rican. nobody had ever heard of someone like this. nobody. and all of the people that i was with in that little group were extremely accomplished people. and reagan, as always, was a very gentlemanly person. thank you very much, and yes, i appreciate, blah blah. we started to leave and i thought, you know, i have to say something. and i stopped and i said, president reagan -- and my little group went -- what's she going to say? and i simply said to him, it is something that i'm still saying which is what's killing me was, i just want to remind you that this little group represents many, many of us in this country. there aren't just seven of us who are very accomplish. there are many, many, many more and i want to remind you of that. and he was very gracious and all that. but there's such a mindset. you're laughing at me, sighing, right? >> well, no. i was just thinking about how much more opportunity there is in the u.s. navy than the puerto rican navy which has always been small. thank you for your story. pat, corporate america may be one of the places where the toughest challenges lie. the numbers are terrible. lots of customers, not a lot of bosses. how do you work to improve that situation? how do the captains of industry change their view of who should be sitting around the board room table? >> so, let me just say that any consumer brand in this country that is not currently involved with the u.s. latino market is missing a huge opportunity. and is in danger of becoming irrelevant. today, 54 million latinos represent 17% of the u.s. population. and by 2050 we're projected to represent one out of three americans. [ applause ] our purchasing power is projected to be $1.5 trillion next year. and $1.7 trillion by 2017. and research indicates that overall hispanic consumer spending will increase 74% between the years 2012, and 2022. versus 51% for non-hispanics. our per capita income is steadily increasing and in 2012, 69% of hispanic high school graduates enrolled directly into college, versus 67% for their white counterparts. [ applause ] they've accomplished -- and our population skews young, with an average age of 27 years. versus 37 years for everyone else combined. and 41 years for the white population. so when i look at these demographics, one thing becomes very clear, just as u.s. companies are looking at the potential growth of china, india, brazil, and other emerging markets, and adding international board members, they should also be looking at the growth potential of the u.s. latino market, and adding hispanic board members who can bring culturally relevant market perceptives to their board rooms. yet as ray points out the number of hispanics on corporate boards is abysmal. and it's not because there aren't qualified latinos, because we all know that there are. it's simply because many companies do not have the desire, or the will, to add hispanics to their board. so what is being done about this underrepresentation? well, i said the hispanic association for corporate responsibility has been and continues to be a very strong advocate for hispanic corporate board representation. in addition with full support a number of us and latino corporate directors decided two years ago to form a hispanic corporate director membership association led by latino corporate directors and it's called the latino corporate directors association. and our association is in the very beginning phases of working to address this underrepresentation through what we hope will be a positive and fruitful collaboration with corporate america. i'm the chair of the board and i'm very proud to tell you that over the last year we have recruit ed 35 hispanic corporat director members. many of whom -- [ applause ] many of whom are prominent latinos you all know. another very important effort under way is the public advocacy of our elected hispanic leaders such as senator bob menendez. congressman javier deserra, and congressman ruben hinojosa. all of whom have been vocal about the underrepresentation of hispanics on corporate boards, and in the "c" suite. another important voice is that of u.s. securities and exchange commissioner luis ago u lar who strongly supported the disclosure regulation requiring u.s. publicly traded companies to disclose whether diversity was considered as they assessed board candidates, how diversity was a part of the process, and how they assessed the effectiveness of their policy on diversity. but clearly we need more leadership op-ed, shareholder, and consumer voices, actively advocating for hispanic corporate board members. >> thank you, pat. [ applause ] israel you are on the front lines of providing health care to the latino community and you're the only man on the panel. we know that there are hundreds of clinical trials taking place to develop drugs, cures, for any number of diseases and ailments. and i'm wondering if what they're looking for reflects the needs of one sixth of the united states, and terrible diabetes, hypertension, other maladies, that particularly inflict our community, but also the clinical trials themselves very rarely include latinos. how does that affect the way diseases are attack ed the way drugs are developed, and the way health care is delivered. >> first i want to start by saying good morning to everybody and thanking the hispanic caucus for having this event. i think it's an important panel. the topic for latinos is a question we ask ourselves when we look at clinical trial research. at doctors hospital of renaissance we serve a largely hispanic community. we represent a growing populace like all of hispanic america around the nation and we are very proud to also reflect pat's comments on the age. we deliver almost 800, and a record growing to 900 babies a month at our one hospital alone. so we are quickly showing the ages as actually we're getting younger not older. but when we looked at clinical trials in america where hispanics were we were a little bit disappointed with what was happening. the reason we started looking into that was because when we started looking at consistently some of the medications we had to do were always having to modify the dosages that we were having. you would see -- you would see diabetics with conditions where the drugs on the current dosing patterns weren't working the same way they were supposed to be working. we had to create a partnership at the jocelyn center which is the first diabetic clinic in partnership with harvard university. we worked on how we would be able to control diabetic conditions and better pace. and a lot of it was we had to start modifying the dosages. then we started doing research into why that happened. what was going on. we had consistently, whether it was trying to treat a condition for liver cancer, whether it was trying to treat a condition for stomach cancer, if it was diabetes, any spectrum of conditions we had to consistently be changing dosages. and so we started looking into that issue. and it was that that we learned that while hispanics are 16 growing 17% of the u.s. population, we're less than 1% of the participants in clinical trials. and that's really important, because if you are not participating in clinical trials, when they're establishing the dosages and how medications work and how they actually interact with the trial panel, then anything less than 1% can be dismissed as an outlyer not really the condition. and if you're not at the table in the engineering and pharmaceutical developments you're not at the table in curing disease. and that really became a concern to us when you look at the fact that hispanics today are twice as likely to be diagnosed with stomach cancer, twice as likely to be diagnosed with liver cancer, twice as likely to have diabetic -- to be diagnosed with diabetes as their non-hispanic caucasian counterparts. and that is a serious condition that we're looking is that we represent now when you ask the question for the latinos, they're very well represented in the conditions unfortunately in the diseases that we see in america. but they're not represented in the trials. and we started doing research as to why that happens. and i don't think there's any real intent for it. it was research goes to where you have researched based institutions. large communities with large hospitals. and that, unfortunately, doesn't have a lot of minority populations. so we've been working diligently for the past year and a half to create a research center at our hospital. we have recruited great talent from around the country to come start working with that research center. we've created partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry. we even worked with them to create a campaign to educate the community that in order to be a hero in health care all you have to do is sign up for a clinical trial. to be a participant today you can come up with a cure for tomorrow's diseases. and we need hispanics to stand up and be counted in the development of that farm suit cal industries in curing illness. >> but you know, if there's a cultural problem, and when you say to americans, think of an average american, and they don't think of us, that's a problem but it's not something that will kill you or shorten your life. but these kind of findings that you're making are shocking, because they involve the koubds we put in our bodies to make us well, and instead of making us well they could be making us sick. the pharmaceutical industry should be dead-set on the idea that clinical trials have to represent a broader swath of american humanity. women have had this problem with dosen changes. blacks in other medicines and in other treatments. it's shocking that big pharma has not responded more quickly to that kind of thing. cultural problems we can fix. if you're putting medicine in your body, that's tough. >> mm-hmm. i think that they're working with us in the campaign but i think it really comes from the expectation we have to create. there are two things at odds here. you have to get a drug to market that you know has the ability to save a life. and so you want to be able to do that. they go with researchers that are based at large centers where they know they can fill those trials quickly. we have to incentivize new centers like our hospitals working to create one that have large-based minority concentrations that are minority serving hospitals to be able to get them ready to be able to get those trials just as fast as the traditional centers in other countries. and we have to demand that when drugs go to market they've actually been tested on a demographic that represents that of america. as we sit here today, talking about how we need to make sure that hispanics are represented in life saving diseases. life saving cures for diseases that we have, we also are mirroring something that's happening in auckland, new zealand, which you have a researcher who actually found that heart medication in women was not working for them, either. and that they had -- it had not been tested. when they went back to the trial they found women were not a large enough segment of that population. so we sit here today in d.c. talking about hispanics, they're in new zealand talking about heart medications for women. and all with a single purpose is that we have to make sure that in the future going forward we demand that clinical trial research panels look like america, in order to ensure that they're helping to cure all americans. [ applause ] maria teresa it's getting to be that time again. i'm glad you're here because i'm sure you're very busy. we're trying to mobilize latino voters to come out and exercise their rights as citizens. voto latino has been doing registration, turnout generation for years, and with great success. but it always seems like you guys are reinventing the wheel. that, 2014 doesn't stand on the shoulders of 2010 which stands on the shoulders of 2006 and on and on and on. why is that? and where are the latinos? >> well, thank you so much, ray. and happy hispanic heritage month everyone. i want to take the community before i dive into it to recognize two women that have been incredibly important to the voto latino journey and they are sitting on the stage with us. one is rido moreno who has been not only a treasure in hollywood but she has been an incredible political activist and has been a mentor to the co-founder rosario dawson and i think it talks about the importance of hollywood playing in to shaping minds. but also mentoring. and the other individual i'd like to recognize is katherine archuleta. katherine became a mentor before i met katherine. she was working behind the scenes promoting voto latino, recognizing the importance and the need to have this community engaged in talking to our young people. and i say this because oftentimes latino community right now, today, we feel a little stuck and don't recognize the people working behind the scenes and the difference they make. ray you mentioned that today right now we are not meeting the needs of the community by registering voters. voto latino recognizes that and responded to that by creating a coalition in conjunction with mia familia voto and over 85 organizations that have come on board in seven days to meet this answer and meet this need. as a latino community we have to stop following our vote. and the efforts of registering. it is the responsibility of every single person in this room. we are no longer in the day where we have to worry about marching and knocking on doors to register a voter. not only can we do that, but let me let you in on a secret. there's something called the web. right now sitting here in conjunction with over 85 organizations voto latino, united states hispanic chamber of commerce the latino coalition, cosmo latina, comcast herbal i've. i say these as examples, have all taken a responsibility saying we're going to register voters together. we're registering at a clip not our best but around 300 registered voters every single day online, and that doesn't include the efforts on the field. now, imagine if we can actually get corporate america, all of us here, our churches, our media, to recognize that in order to have more individuals not only in corporate boards but more clinical trials, every single industry here represented goes back to government and representation. we have 800,000 latino youth turning 18 every single month -- every year. some day every single month. every year. that's a congressional district. but the only way we're going to change is if we show up at the polls. one of the reasons oftentimes that we're missed in clinical trials is because clinical trials are also based on census. the government runs the census. if we are not participating at the polls, if we're not filling out the census, we're going to be missed in clinical trials. oftentimes when corporations decide where they're going to market to, it's also based on the census. everything leads to government in small or short forms. and until we try to actually recognize as a community that our number one initiative is to organize each other, and it's fairly easy to do now, we're always going to be left behind. and it gets to a point that it's no longer anyone's fault but our own. so i hope you guys will join latinos2014.com. not only can you register to vote but they give you a crib sheet. how many here know what crib sheets are. thank you. someone's being honest. a crib sheet is a cheat sheet guys so you literally can go online and we provide you with the graphics, we provide you with the tweets, we provide you with everything that you need to do in order to mobilize online, and on the ground. but we're not making our numbers. in the 2012 election everybody patted each other on the bang because we're working very hard. both campaigns, and all the voter registration organizations combined registered 650,000 people. we didn't even meet the 800,000 that are coming on to our opportunity every single day. we're not living up to our potential. but not because it's increasingly hard. but it's because sometimes we feel like government doesn't reflect us. but government's not going to reflect us if we're not participating. and i want to thank you again, rita, and katherine, for believing long before we did on this possibility. but we're just getting started. but we need every single person in this room, and your friends and your family, to realize that this has to be a collective priority. [ applause ] >> thank you, maria teresa. where are the mikes? >> house lights. >> there's the mics. your questions? your elegantly phrased, and short questions. yes. let's get a mic back there. >> good morning. >> right here. >> okay. we'll start here. >> all right. to answer your questions where are the latinos, the latinos are here. the only problem is that some companies, corporations, including the federal government, are sort of reluctant to keep their doors open to all of us. how do they do that? the first question goes to miss archuleta. >> yes. >> you say that there are 8.3%. i just wonder what levels are you talking about? can you split it up? are they administrators? are they in management level? midlevel? what are those numbers coming from? >> well, i -- >> let's get an answer to that question. >> well, i broke it out, the 8.3% is governmentwide. and the 4.1% is the management level. >> so what grade and above? >> so management, the scs level which would be the gs system goes up to 15 and then the next levels are -- include the scs. so the scs is the 4.1. >> 4.1%. >> yeah, i'm sorry. and the follow-up question, as far as hiring practices, sometimes i have applied so many sometimes, going to usajobs, honestly, hundreds of times. but, sometimes i get e-mails say yeah, well, you're qualified and so on, blah, blah, but at the end here comes a veteran and takes over my position. i understand that it's, you know, with all due respect to veterans that i just want to understand that rationale of placing veterans on top of the finalists. so therefore, they kick us out, the ones at the bottom. >> let's get an answer to that. there are points and preferences for various kinds of americans, right, katherine? >> veterans preferences is a law. and i would be the very first to say that i stand very tall, and very supportive, for veterans preference. veterans preference does not eliminate the opportunities for other individuals to apply and to be hired. it gives them a preference to be in the group of individuals who can be considered for a job. you know, we can look back, and i can spend a lot of time talking about the 8% or the 4%. i'm not that type of person. i want to look forward. how do we, how do i, as the director of opm, make a difference. and one of the ways to the gentleman's question is really how do i improve usajobs.gov. how do i make sure that the process of application is working? and then after that, after the application process, that 2.0 i talked about, how do i improve that? and the next thing i need to do is take a look at the selection. how do people get on that certification list? we're doing that, as well. the next thing i'm looking at, or at the same time, is looking at how are we hiring managers really looking at those certified lists. that's really important. all of that is important. there's not one single answer for why we're at 8.1%. i've got to take a look from the applicant, to the application process, to the screening, to the certification, to the hiring, and then to the actual hire and engaging. all of that is happening right now. that's my responsibility. i can't speak to what happened in the past. but i can speak to what's going on in the future. my role. what is your role? we need to talk about, to maria's point, we need to be talking about it ourselves. those of you who are in federal government, you need to be talking about the role that you play. how important it is. and encouraging young people, people of all experience to join in. they're like the corporate community, the jobs are becoming fewer. the skills are becoming more target targeted. s.t.e.m. skills are very, very important to the federal government as it is in the corporate community. those are things that we have to deal with. we don't have to be stopped by. and so, as we take a look at going forward, about what we're changing, we're looking at everything that is implicated in how we hire better talent, stronger talent, more talent, to the federal workforce and making sure that latinos are part of that. >> let's go next to the back. yes? >> my name is raul gonzalez, i'm a kindergarten teacher and i'm here with the california teachers association and my question is prefaced with a little story about going to purchase a car with my dad. and my dad saying to me, just don't -- be very respectful. let's hope that they finance out. and then i thought wait a minute, dad, aren't they supposed to earn our business? isn't it supposed to be the other way around and my dad not really having a real good concept of that. so that's kind ofwñçx the tone the question, are we not -- are we hoping that they're financing us, instead of demanding their business. how much more do we have to do as latinos, and being a little bit more vocal. i wouldn't go as far as militant, but more vocal and really demanding that we're recognized, really demanding that these companies are acknowledging our participation in this economy. even with our undocumented immigrants, our spy on americans i call them, they're not acknowledged with the marketing, and just with the potential that they have for the contribution to this economy, we're not acknowledging that. so how much of it is a demand? we really have to stand up and say, hey -- [ speaking spanish ] >> pat, why don't you take that one? >> i couldn't agree more. we need more voices. because clearly the underrepresentation cuts across all sectors, and until we start to talk about the need for hispanic representation, all these sectors, it's not going to happen. you know, i want to share with you some data points that underscore the underrepresentation. in 2013, hispanics only held 3% of all fortune 500 company board seats. 70% of the fortune 500 companies did not have a single hispanic on their board. and latinos held less than 1% of those seats. and overall hispanics held only so we have to become more vocal because nobody's going to do this for us. >> what's next? >> from the university of texas at austin, and i represent the disability community, and i'm wondering if there are specific strategies that we can use to really organize ourselves, because there are so many arenas where we are underrepresented. and i'm particularly concerned with non-english speaking children with disabilities who have such poor access to education, and for the disability community at large that has such a high dropout rate, and such high rates of underemployment. so i think we're talking about so many sectors of our community that require services that i'm looking for the strategies that allow us to organize so that we can in some systematic way address those issues. so how do we bring those voices to the table, but in an organized way to address the problems? >> well, organization and access, that sounds like maria tere teresa. >> sure i can go first. the best way can by really making a conscious effort. the role to representation which are both questions. it's a partnership to getting representation. i can't simply be we're going to be here and why aren't they finding us? we have to go and be active as everyone has talked about here in that representation. so i think the best way is forming coalitions. so we found when we were starting to go down the path of clinical research trials, health care, we had always to go out there and be the advocates for ourselves. to go and put ourselves in the tables where we needed to do. if we weren't being able to manage the diabetic population the way we needed to because we didn't have dosing patterns we're going to go to the best clinic at harvard, and we're going to sit there until they work with us. and sure enough they were willing and created a partnership. and what we have found is that happens over and over. if you are determined, it may not happen the first time, but if you consistently organize yourselves in a way that you are able to create those partnerships, those collaborations, to be able to start getting those barriers out of our way, i think that that's really how you get there. so it has to be a conscious effort where you bring together resources locally, if you have challenges with disability or non-english speaking individuals or any kind of challenge, bring together a large faction of individuals who represent that coalition, then together go in partnership to the organizations that you feel are where you have barriers to getting access. and they will listen to you. i think that our biggest thing has been that there are power in numbers. so if you can put a coalition together that represents what you're trying to address, and that challenge, then you go to the source that has the barrier, i think eventually they will hear you. and so, i think the getting representation did that it's not, when will they find us? we have to make sure we speak for ourselves and we have to do it over and over and over until they hear us. and i think that that's something that we learned from our experiences and from the people we've worked with. >> i think that the coalition building is incredibly important. but we have to wake up the light of political empowerment in our community. because if you are the person representing families, and mothers, and fathers, and all of a sudden they are empowered to go represent their children at the school, as well, it's an incredible effect. doing latino politics is not the political thing to do in i'm sick and tired of that. because that basically is telling us that we have to sit in the back of the line. so we have to figure out what the pro-choice movement did so well and what the lgbt movement did so well who are also hearing that it wasn't the political thing to do. you know what they did? they changed the politics. and the only way we change the politics is that we have to get every single person involved. because as much as hard as you're working and trying to represent coalitions we're 54 million people strong. everybody's working day in and day out. they have their head down, they're trying to make ends meet. but if we won't care about the minimum wage, education, health care, the ability to make sure that we are achieving that american dream, our powers in numbers only reflects them. so i'm going to plug one more time, latinos2014.com because it's not about one organization. it's about making sure that we are sharing information, and leapfrogging what people have done in the past so that wire ready not only for the present, but for the future. and the only way we do that is by sharing that information, and empowering ourselves. because it's time that we change the politics. so thank you. >> is there one quick one? you going to promise to be quick? >> good morning. my question is for mrs. archuleta. i am a high school teacher on long island. i teach high school students esl in a school district of 70% latino population. opportunities into my classroom and share with my students about federal government jobs? >> well, there's lots of things that we can do. and one of the things that we're working on is how do we reach young people in the way that they want to be reached and that's social media. we know we're the highest users of social media and one of the largest groups of social media users in the country. and we need to be able to bring that message through social media and we're focused in on that. how do we tell those stories? and how do we really portray the face of government? if you look at that -- how many of you are federal government employees? okay. a lot of you are federal government employees. you are the face of government. and it can't be katherine archuleta who is up there who is the face of government. we need to have the face of government be the young people who are coming in. the young millennials who are coming in and dedicating themselves to this purpose-driven mission of federal service. and reaching young people today in the ways that we can reach them. and working with high schools, community colleges, colleges and universities, so that we can talk about the path that there is. you don't have to have a baccalaureate to join the federal service. indeed, in fact, that there are jobs that are available for high school graduates and community college graduates. we need to talk more about what those opportunities are. and really present the vast array of where government can be. i spoke with a -- this is a little bit different from the high school. but i'll tell the story. we met, i talked with a bioengineer at the university of texas brownsville. and he was on his way to a medical career. never once thought about what bioengineering could mean in the federal government. we talked a long time. he came up afterwards. he said i've never really thought about that. but i am going to look at it now. and it's that word of mouth. it's katherine archuleta. it's all of you who are in federal government who are supporting the purpose of federal government. you need to be talking about it. it's what maria says. it's not one spokesperson, it's all of us together. who have to accept the responsibility of how we vote. how we get our medical care. what part of our decisions in medical care are we making. how are corporate decision making? and certainly how do we portray ourselves in the arts and culture of this country. it is up to us, not one of us, but all of us, to do it. >> that's all the time we have for questions. we have to finish with a lightning round, because we're getting close to the end of our time. final comments from the panelists. let me start with pat, move to the end, and then come back around. >> for corporate america, adding hispanic corporate board members to their board is no longer simply the right thing to do morally. it's the fiscally responsible thing for companies and boards to do. after all, we know that in order for companies to be successful today, they need to be able to compete in the u.s. marketplace, which is now significantly latino. >> israel? >> increasing the role of hispanics in health care is monumentally important for addressing our diseases and conditions that will challenge us not only today but for a lifetime. from a microperspective and individually being able to ensure that the trials that we have in america that were probably tested on our community starts with us volunteering, and with us working to the. but it also starts with a cure for our own health and from a macro perspective on what hispanics and the future will hold together. we can always make sure that we address health care but it starts with ensuring that we have cures for tomorrow's conditions and by making sure the clinical trials are representative of the american population we can ensure that we have cures for the american people. >> maria teresa? >> thank you. i don't know how many folks saw there's an old novella -- [ speaking spanish ] the vote is one of the great equalizers of our democracy. there's a reason why people are trying to challenge and prevent us from the booth. the only way we do that is we have to show up. i also want to commend ray suarez. ray you have been such a voice of our community, oftentimes people don't understand the latino community because they don't see us and they don't share our stories and you have done that. you are breaking through to general audience so that they can get a glimpse not only of who we are but the possibility that we can contribute. thank you for the work that you do. >> thank you. [ applause ] katherine? >> by 2050 we're going to be 24% of the civilian workforce. we have to start right now to make sure that we are at every decision table that impacts the families, the communities, our neighbors, ourselves as latinos. we can do this together. >> rita, take us home. >> for years my biggest ability -- liability was listening to the voice in my head that said, you're not good enough, you're not blessed with the right ethnicity, white enough, popular enough, liked enough, and i would finally come to see how internalizing those awful names like garlic mouth the taunts that greeted me as a 5-year-old really affected me. and at some point i had to face a choice, which is to speak the truth to that accuser, or be defined by her. it was a long row with many squirmishes but i chose to fight and as i result for a large part of my life i have lived the american dream, for which i am profoundly grateful. you know, one can adopt a victim mentality and fall prey to mean stereotypes or grow beyond them rr be a cop-out. for me integrity trumps playing the race card. i choose to define myself, not be defined by others. which is why i believe we are here. i mean, i know it's why i agreed to be here. and i want the world to know me, to know us, we are doctors, and patients, natural-born and immigrants, inventors, factory workers, we are gay and straight, we are politicians, and lobbyists. we are poor, hungry, homeless, and we are philanthropists, we are well-fed and homeowners. we are incarcerated, and we sit on the supreme court. we are americans. [ applause ] and we have an allegiance to the very same flag and pursuit of liberty and justice for all. thank you. >> thank you. >> katherine archuleta, rita moreno, pat pineda, israel rocha, maria teresa kumar, panel, thank you very much. one thing i want you to take away from all this is that impatience, and gratitude, and just demands do not contradict each other. impatience and gratitude and just demands live very comfortably in us, or should. take that with you. watch al jazeera america, check out my show. thanks a lot. [ applause ] if you missed any of this morning's session of the hispanic caucus conference you can watch it any time. we'll have it up on our video library at c-span.org. and c-span returns live to the conference 1:30 eastern time beginning with a panel discussion featuring latina members of the house of representatives, and an audience q and a. we'll have that live 1:30 eastern on our companion network c-span2. currently under way a hearing on the seek rhett service over on c-span. testifying before the house oversight committee the director of the u.s. secret service julia pierson and others. they're testifying before the house on secret service protocol after a recent breach at the white house. you can tune in to that hearing live now on our companion network c-span. and join us and other viewers on facebook, where throughout the hearing, we're asking whether or not you trust the secret service to protect the president. you can weigh in with your thoughts at facebook.com/cspan or sent us a tweet using t the #cspanchat. our campaign 2014 debate coverage continues. tonight at 9:00 eastern on c-span, live coverage of the final texas governor's debate between state senator democrat wendy davis and state attorney general republican greg abbott. wednesday night at 8:00 on c-span live coverage of the minnesota governor's debate between incumbent governor democrat mark dayton. republican candidate jeff johnson and independence party candidate hannah nicollette. thursday night at 8:00 eastern on c-span live coverage of the oklahoma governor's debate between democrat joe dorman and the incumbent governor republican mary fallin. also on thursday on c-span2 the nebraska governor's debate between democrat chuck hasbrook and pete rickets. and saturday live coverage of the montana u.s. house debate between democrat john lewis, and former state senator republican ryan zinke. c-span campaign 2014. more than 100 debates for the control of congress. we go now to a conference on mars exploration at george washington university, it includes senior officials from nasa. in this part of the conference, nasa administrator charles boldin tells the audience that humans have to become a multiplanet species in order to survive. his remarks are about half an hour. thank you very much, and thanks to all of you for allowing me to be with you this morning and it kind of kick us off, i hope. i also want to thank explore mars as well as g.w. president steve knapp and scott pace of the g.w. space policy institute for bringing us together for this second annual humans to mars summit. i'm just going to leave that slide up. i'll talk to it every once in awhile and we'll talk about it all day long so i thought i'd let you get used to it. you can always refer to that. you don't have to look at me. with mars making it's closest approach to earth last week and currently appearing as the brightest body in the eastern sky during the month of april, this is an ideal time for this conference. as the red planet draws nearer to earth, nasa with your help in drawing nearer to our goal of sending humans to mars. sort of as art miss, i'm surprised maybe she remembered, maybe i'm not surprised she remembered but we did talk last year about my three granddaughters, the number one being 14-year-old mccaylee who wants to be the rocket scientist who has begun telling me i'm thinking short-sightedly when i talk about going to mars. she talks about going outside the solar system. so i told her, one thing at a time. let's get to mars first. during the next three days, you're going to get an update on nasa's steppingstone approach to mars from some of the leading experts at the agency including ellen stoven, bill gersenmyer associate administrator for operations commission director and mike gazirik, national technology space admissions director. and i will be learning and listening to all of you as you share your thoughts on the best path forward. let me set the stage by reminding us of why we're all here. while humans have been fascinated with mars since the beginning of time, there are a number of very tangible reasons why we need to learn more about our closest planetary neighbor, for one thing, mars's evolution and formation are comparable to earth and we know at one time mars had conditions suitable for life. what we learn about the red plant may tell us more about our own home planet's history and future and help us answer the fundamental human question does life exist beyond earth? while nasa has been on a path to mars for decades, with our earlier mars rovers and orbiters, a critical national policy statement in support of our strategy, was on april 15, 2010 during a visit by president obama to the kennedy space center, where he challenged the nation to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and to mars by the 2030s. the u.s. national space policy set in 2011 further supports those goals. and over the past several years nasa has been developing the capabilities to meet these goals through a bipartisan space exploration plan agreed to by the administration and congress in the 2010 authorization act and embraced by the international space community in the 2013 global exploration road map. while robotic explorers have explored mars for more than 30 years, nasa's plans for the exploration of mars begins in low earth orbit aboard the international space station, our springboard to the exploration of deep space. even as we speak, astronauts aboard the iss are helping us learn how to safely execute extended missions deeper into space. we're guaranteed this unique orbiting outpost for at least another decade by the administration's commitment to extend the iss until 2024. this means an expanded market for private space companies, more groundbreaking research and science discovery and to live, work, and learn in time. and as most of you know, we're working to return both cargo and human launches to the iss to american soil. the president's 2015 budget supports the administration's commitment that nasa be a catalyst for the growth of a vibrant american commercial space industry. already two american companies spacex and orbital scienceses, are making regular cargo deliveries to the space station. in fact i think most of you know we had an easter sunday delivery of dragon and it has now birthed to the international space station and will be there for a number of weeks.úvc while the russian space agency with cosmos remains a strong and reliable partner, later this year nasa intends to select from american companies competing to send astronauts to the station from american soil. if congress fully funds our 2015 request, we believe we can do this by the end of 2017. our next step in deep space, where nasa will send the first mission to capture and redirect an asteroid to orbit the moon, astronauts aboard the orion spacecraft will explore the asteroid in the 2020s, returning to earth with samples. this experience in human space flight beyond low earth orbit will help nasa test new systems and capabilities such as solar electric propulsion we'll need to support human missions to mars. beginning in 2017, nasa's powerful space launch system or sls rocket will enable these proving ground missions to test new capabilities. human missions to mars will rely on orion and an evolved version of the sls that will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever flown. i have made reference several times now to earth and the proving ground and you're here to talk about mars, so just sort of as reference to my chart, since mike's going to use it, bill is going to use it, ellen's prob going to use it and anybody else that comes from nasa is probably going to use it because we want it indelibly emblazed in your brain. we today are earth reliant. we are dependent on being on this planet. we are not a multiplanet species yet. i don't know whether buzz is going to talk to you about it later. but buzz and i agree on a number of things and one of them is that only multiplanet species survive for long periods of time.0o here in the western world, we think very shortsighted and some of you have heard me say this before. we think about the time in which we're going to be on this earth or which our kids or our grandkids are going to be on this earth. many other civilizations think much longer than that. and we need to start thinking that way. we need to remember that we're dependent on a star. the sun is a star. and just like many other stars that we study all the time, and many of you who follow the exploits of the hubble space telescope almost daily get a picture of a star that used to be but is no longer. one of these days that is going to be the story of our star, the sun. so if this species is to survive indefinitely, we need to become a multiplanet species. one reason we need to go to mars is so that we can learn a little bit about living on another planet, so when mccaylee, my granddaughter is ready to move out of the solar system, we'll know a lot more about living away from this planet than we know today. so that is mars is a stepping stone in the stepping stone approach to other solar systems. and other galaxies. and things that people have always dreamed of, but frequently don't talk about. so we're earth reliant right now. and our stepping stone in the earth reliant system is the international space station. i hope i don't need to remind this audience, but i will take advantage of it anyway, because i find that sometimes people don't remember. we have now been on the international space station continuously without interruption for almost 14 years. continuously, without interruption, for almost 14 years. everybody's excited right now because of what's going on in the ukraine, although i'm cautious, i'm cautiously optimistic because we went through this when the russians went in to georgia and station continued to operate the way it is now. we continue to operate just as we always have today with cosmos and jaxa and esa and the canadian space agency and all of our partners. so the iss continues to move on as our stepping stone to the rest of the koss most. the proving ground is where we need to go. so we're going to present our case to you over these next three days and hopefully you will pummel us with questions. i'm having trouble with the lights, but i think i may see, michele, are you down there? there's michele on the third row. michelle gates is here, i don't see gers yet, i know mike was there, but you should pummel us with questions about why we chose this path. there are all kinds of ways we could go to get to mars. to include those that some people espouse which is just go right now, forget about all this other stuff, just go. we don't think that that's the right idea. so we don't think we can just go, but we need to take a measured approach as we go. so we have chosen an asteroid in lunar orbit as our proving ground. where we can develop the technologies we need to make it the distance to mars. we can learn how to operate in that environment, because mars will probably not be like mars and its moons will probably not be like operating in low earth orbit. you know we're accustomed to -- i tell people -- i give them the example of when i was a young snotty nosed astronaut candidate, and i was one once. and i remember going to the johnson space center for the first time and they said you're going have a class on orbital mechanics and you're going to go over to the simulator and you're going to fly a rendezvous and learn how to rendezvous and dock. i said piece of cake. i've been flying airplanes for 14 years now, you know, i've got i don't know what i had several thousand hours, i don't need to learn any of this rendezvous stuff. all you got to do is put your nose on the airplane that you want to rendezvous with and just go. so first time i got in the simulator, you know, the instructors, they didn't push back. they just said okay another little snotty nosed kid who thinks he knows everything, we'll let him see. so i got in the shuttle mission stimulator and off shuttle to rendezvous with space station or something and i didn't come within hundreds of miles. and it was because i was flying an airplane in the atmosphere that doesn't have to worry about orbital mechanics or anything of that stuff. and you know it seemed like the more i fought to get there the farther i got away. and then i learned a little bit about orbital mechanics and how you have to do stuff. when we go to mars, we're going to find the same problem, it's not like flying in low earth orbit. we already know that. what we don't know is what is it like flying? we're going to use rendezvous and approach to an asteroid in lunar orbit, which is a little bit less than our gravity, to try to figure out how do we maneuver out there? and then we're going to stepping stone manner go out and probably maneuver around the moons of mars, and then figure out, okay, how do we finally get down to the planet safely with human beings? so that's sort of what we talk the proving ground, and then on to being mars ready. and we think right now, with some modest increases in nasa's budget over the years we're going to be able to get to mars in the 2030s, as president obama asked us -- or actually didn't ask, he doesn't ask us to do anything, he just tells us. and then we make it happen. a fleet of robotic spacecraft and rovers already are on and around mars dramatically increasing our knowledge about the red planet and paving the way for future human explorers. the mars science laboratory, curiosity rover, measured radiation all the way to mars and is sending back radiation data from the surface today. this data will help us plan how to protect the astronauts who will explore mars. future missions like mars 2020 rover, seeking the signs of past life, also will demonstrate new technologies that could help astronauts survive on mars. engineers and scientists around the country are working hard to develop the technologies astronauts will use to one day live and work on mars and safely return home. this conference is bringing together the best minds to share ideas about the path ahead. it's important to remember that nasa sent humans to the moon by setting a goal that seemed beyond our reach.fe! with mars as our focus, we're steadily building the capability to enable human missions to mars. the challenge is huge, i don't want to fool you, the challenge is huge. if you don't think so, then please listen up as we talk over these next three days. but we love huge challenges. we're making real progress right now as a radiation monitor on the curiosity rover records the martian radiation environment that our crews will experience. advanced entry, descent and landing technology are ready for entry speed testing high above the waters of the pacific ocean in june. orion is finishing preparation for a heat shield test in december. and flight hardware for the heavy lift rocket necessary for mars missions is already beginning manufacture in new orleans. we're counting on the support of congress, the scientific community, and all of you in this summit to help us realize that goal. the future of space exploration in my estimation is bright. but it will be up to all of us in this assembly to bring the rest of the world along on this great adventure that awaits all humanity. so with that, i'll finish my formal comments and then, do i have time for questions? can i do that? >> yes, you do. >> great. [ inaudible ] uh-oh. >> you're now -- >> oh, that's okay. >> welcome to our company. >> that's all right. so i think they told me they have mics that way and that way right here. so if you all will come down, i'll try to answer questions that you have. and if i can't answer them, trust me, there are enough people out here in the audience, that i'll let ask and you can answer some of them. and there are two mics. are you all awake? yeah, come on up. >> my question's not directly about mars, but it's about, you know, human access. >> yeah. >> american human access to space. congress was not especially polite to you last time you had to testify before congress, they wanted a contingency plan about how can we quickly get american access back to space. spacex thinks they can do it by 2015. i think a kosovo contingency plan if we could give them additional funding so that they're not just flying their own crews, but can in fact fly nasa crews to iss. you think that's a possibility? >> if we had selected spacex as one of the providers then i would be able to do that. which haven't selected a provider yet. you may know more than i know. i don't know that spacex is the best provider for -- they haven't provided any human rated vehicles yet. but they're in competition. there's a blackout right now so i don't know how they're doing. we're going to select the best potential providers and then we'll go with them. they may be ready before 2017, but nasa's -- our goal right now is to be ready by 2017. and as i told the congress two weeks ago, you know, the contingency plan for rockets is years away and multibillion dollars. the contingency plan for having an american capability to put humans on orbit is $858 million next year. and three years away. so that's better than the contingency plan on rockets. >> okay. >> they didn't like that answer i know. >> thank you. >> but there is no instant access to space on american rockets. it just ain't going to happen, because we didn't pay attention, you know, years ago. >> a big part of that was congress' fault. >> i'm not going to -- i don't want to get into the position where i'm blaming congress alone. it's been a number of administrations. the decision to do this, okay, and i'm going to help some people here who don't -- who don't remember history. the decision to start this path came in 2004 when we lost colombia, the "columbia" accident investigation board met and gave a report and one of my predecessors, the nasa administrator at the time said i'm going to accept every recommendation in that report. now whether that was wise or not, i don't know. but that was the decision that was made back in 2004. so we started on this path. and i think we've kind of picked it up. we have picked up the pace at least in the five years that i have been nasa administrator. we only talked about commercial cargo. we now have it. we only talked about commercial crew. and we had no money that the administration put toward it to be quite hangist. not even a proposal. so you know when the president came in, i think the first time we requested -- and congressman wolf corrected me. the first time in the budget although we knew we needed a billion dollars, i think the first time in the budget we asked for $500 million. and we got $312 million. now i don't care what congress says or what staffers say or anything, $312 million is not $500 million. okay. and it's not more than $500 million. we have never gotten what the president asked for commercial crew. and we really need the support of congress. and it's my intent to get down on my hands and knees and beg and plead and help them understand that this nation needs our own capability to get humans into space. and we can do it. >> hi, we have no experience whatsoever with gravity, 38% gravity as we have on mars with any biological system, much less humans, so previous conferences i've heard american folk, european, and russian all say we need to put a centrifuge on the space station, and do something with mice or something. >> yes. >> so why don't we see nasa doing that? >> well, because back when the space station was envisioned, and again, i wasn't here, so i'm going to tell you what i heard, international space station, it fell victim to what things usually fall victim to, the budget. so it just fell out when we looked at how much money was going to be available for station. but we're looking for alternative ways to do it. if you look at that chart, the proving ground, we're going to be orbiting in -- you know, in sis lunar and transorbital movement. some people will hopefully take an opportunity to drop out of lunar orbit to the surface. we have international partners who are saying we can't do it on our own, but if you can help us, we think we can get to the surface of the moon. we have challenges going on right now, to see if commercial companies or entrepreneurs can put things on the surface of the moon. we are not going to get 4% of the federal budget. so in this group, if you are serious about wanting to go to mars, then start thinking about reality. and reality is the budget. and we are not going to get 4% of the federal budget to go to mars or any other place. so we're going to have to figure out ingenious ways to do it, based on the present budget plus some modest increases. and i think we can do it. and you all may not agree. but if you feel we have got to have the apollo era funding levels, then forget it right now, don't even spend your time in this conference. because we are not going to get that. people told us we couldn't see commercial cargo. anybody in here who works in nasa will tell you five years ago, people said it won't happen. some of my predecessors said commercial crew and cargo, forget it. i'm not putting money -- i'll give you $500 million and that's all you're getting for commercial cargo. and we took $500 million and we now have commercial cargo. so we're just saying, you know, we got some smart people too. and we do listen to you. and so that's really what we want to hear in the three days of this conference, is given the budget realities of today, how do we make that happen? and no, we won't have four slss out orbiting, there are pieces of this chart -- truth be told, okay? sometimes even we are not real good at chartsmanship. slss are not going to be flying around mars. i know there's some purists out here who are going, look, he doesn't even know what he's talking about. he's got slss going around mars. they do like most first stages and second stages and all that, they end up in the ocean somewhere. we do know that, so don't -- humor me. question? please come -- don't let him talk all this time, just come right up. >> yes, sir, two questions actually. >> okay. >> question one, what do you say to the public when they say that nasa is dead. that's question one, after the space shuttle, that's a popular perception. and question two, please speak to education of k-20 and what you guys are going to do to help get your message out to kids. >> when people talk about nasa being dead, i say i wish i could agree with you, but we're still working really hard keeping curiosity going all the over the lunar surface, we have orbiters that are orbiting mars right now, giving us data, we've got juneau on the way to jupiter. we've got pluto new horizons on the way to pluto. we already put messages around mercury, we had never done that before. we're working with our international partners, there are 15 nations contributing monetarily to life on the international space station, we now have commercial cargo that's going back and forth to the international space station, we have three companies in serious competition to carry crew to the international space station, we hope to make an announcement, sometime end of the summer, early fall. if that's dead, so be it. i can't -- i can't help, you know, you understand. i'm a shuttle person. i love shuttles. it was time for shuttle to go w and it was time for shuttle to go long before we phase it it out. because shuttle was not -- and i know there's some shuttle people in here. i talk to bob thompson all the time. i spent a saturday with him not very long ago down in houston over beer, you know--he helping me understand why if i had just kept shuttle going, we could have used shuttle to get to mars. that's true. we could have. you know, if we had on object -- on orbit fuel depots and the compang rockets the way they will someday, we could have done that mpt a so those of you who are shuttle fans who still think it should be around, i'm not going to argue that point. like i said, there are 1,000 different ways to do what we want to do. as a marine, i was taught as a second lieutenant. lieutenant, make a decision, because if you don't, the troops are not going to follow you anywhere and they're going to leaf you at the start line. to they'll tell you their mission is over when they come back and talk about it. we made a decision, some people in this room don't like it, but we're on our way, and you can either go with us or figure out how to start all over again, and everybody in this room i think knows what happened when you start all over again. we're favorite down this road -- we're farther down this road than we have been in a long, long, long, long time. if you don't want to admit that, i can't help you. but if you stop and think about it, we never had a commercial capability to get anything to space the way we're doing today. we're oh, so close to having a commercial capability to get crews to space. and nasa is finally freed up to work with all of you to do exploration, which is what everybody in this auditorium, i hope, came here to talk about. so, you know, get over it. to be blunt. this is the path we have chosen. help us get it right. i mean we can tweak it along the way, everybody knows that, if you don't start down a road, you know, and figure out, okay, we took a wrong turn, how do you ever get to the destination? we can tweak this, i can't tweak just constant ideas with nothing. we now have hardware under construction, we can do this. but i need your help. question here?6q@  >> excuse me. >> okay, that's all right. one more. >> okay. michele will answer them when she gets up and bill will answer too. >> i would like to put a bug in your ear, there's an example, of gravity, that could operate on space station which has been sitting in the wings for probably a decade. have yourself or your mignons reexamined the mars gravity biosatellite? it was a joint task between georgia tech and m.i.t. years ago, it sits in moth balls, can been flown on small boosters, it's a centrifuge full of mice, female mice as a matter of fact. >> is that important? >> well, it is for the statistics of the biophysics. it can be marked outside the space station, you don't have to add the centrifuge of the space station, spin it up and take it out. the other question -- >> that wasn't a question, that was a statement. >> the question is, have you considered it? >> i didn't know got it but i will go back and look. mars gravity bio satellite. and second question, is it automatically crazy to imagine more money? we have spent less in terms of gdp in geo sciences and now we're down to more than 22 in the budgets that we spent to become great in the world. there's no reason i can see why we should not redress that grievance, although obviously it's an uphill battle. >> no, i don't -- >> why not go for the big money? >> well, we're going for the biggest money we think we can logically go for right now. but i just think it's unrealistic to assume that this congress and any future congress is going to jump to 4% of gdp. i just don't think -- >> 1%. >> we may get to 1%. now 1% is -- 1% would be like a gold mine. >> indeed. >> and i'm not saying -- i'm just -- i said a modest increase, but we have to be able to demonstrate that we can do what we said we can do. commercial cargo was a first step. people said it couldn't be done, we have done that. we have got to get a commercial crew and we have got to demonstrate that can do it consistently. we are going to fly orion in the fall. that is important. that's really important. step by step, otherwise people are just not going to support us. >> thank you all very much. i really appreciate it. thank you. more from george washington university's mars exploration summit. the discussions moderated by science reporter miles o'brien, it's 50 minutes. all right, thank you very much, michael. so, gentlemen, let's get this straight. because what michael lays out there is a lot of technological challenges that requires about six to eight eureka moments that if you're keeping score. can we go to mars today in a perfect world if we had a blank check, could we go today? or is it impossible right now? >> i don't think it's impossible, but we clearly need to work on things we have talked about. it's not just going to mars, but actually landing on the surface.

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