thank you for invit me here tonight __PUNCT__
it been a pretti busi week __PUNCT__ but i figur i better do my best to show up here sinc i can't think of an easier target for polit cartoonist than a tall __PUNCT__ skinni gui with big ear and a funni name __PUNCT__
i want to start by congratul frank swoboda and the other member of the herblock foundat for do such great charit work in so littl time __PUNCT__
everi dai he touch hi pen to paper __PUNCT__ herblock made a differ in thi world __PUNCT__ and i sure he look down with pride know that everi dai you walk into the foundat __PUNCT__ you do the same __PUNCT__
when i wa prepar for thi speech __PUNCT__ i thought a lot about herblock philosophi on life that he would mention from time to time __PUNCT__
as a cartoonist __PUNCT__ herb wa alwai abl to illustr deepli __PUNCT__ held convict about complic polit issu with a few brief stroke __PUNCT__
and so it wa with thi simpl __PUNCT__ grace __PUNCT__ yet profoundli challeng philosophi that wa pass down to him from hi parent __PUNCT__
__PUNCT__ be a good citizen __PUNCT__ and think about the other gui __PUNCT__
look back on our histori __PUNCT__ at time thi ha been a lot harder than it sound __PUNCT__
but thank to peopl like herblock __PUNCT__ we still done a pretti good job try __PUNCT__
and when we succeed __PUNCT__ it made america the place where dream ar possibl __PUNCT__ where freedom of speech and press and worship ar protect __PUNCT__ and where the rise tide lift the boat of the mani instead of just the few __PUNCT__
that the america we love __PUNCT__ the america we hope for __PUNCT__ but that not the america we can have by leav thi countri on autopilot and go about our own busi __PUNCT__
that america take work __PUNCT__
it take a belief that we all connect as on peopl __PUNCT__ that we rise and fall as on nation __PUNCT__
it take look at the __NUM__ million american without health insur __PUNCT__ the __NUM__ in __NUM__ children born into poverti everi dai __PUNCT__ and the hundr of thousand of veteran who don't get the care thei need when thei come home and sai their problem ar our problem __PUNCT__ all of us __PUNCT__ and we have a respons to do someth about them __PUNCT__
and sometim it just take a man with a pen who got the courag to draw those problem for the rest of us to see __PUNCT__
be a good citizen __PUNCT__
think about the other gui __PUNCT__
you know __PUNCT__ last week i wa in illinoi visit colleg campus all over the state __PUNCT__
i met some great student __PUNCT__ good citizen themselv who want to work hard for their futur and their countri __PUNCT__
but i also heard these student tell some stori that should give us all paus __PUNCT__
i heard them talk about how thei were work __NUM__ hour a week on top of go to class to help pai for their tuition __PUNCT__
a lot of them aren't look forward to graduat dai with excit __PUNCT__ but with anxieti __PUNCT__ becaus that be the first dai of debt payment that could last a lifetim __PUNCT__
and there ar even some of them who get their tuition bill in the mail __PUNCT__ open it __PUNCT__ and make the heart __PUNCT__ wrench decis to not come back next semest __PUNCT__
__NUM__ young american gave up on their dream to go to colleg last year for the simpl reason that thei could not afford the price of tuition __PUNCT__ which is now rise at the rate of almost __NUM__ __PUNCT__ a year __PUNCT__
over the last twenti __PUNCT__ five year __PUNCT__ it gone up an astound __NUM__ __PUNCT__
add to that the rise cost of health care __PUNCT__ child care __PUNCT__ and a fall famili incom __PUNCT__ and you can begin to get a pictur of what these kid ar face __PUNCT__
the chanc to go to colleg __PUNCT__ the chanc to unlock so mani door of opportun and possibl __PUNCT__ ha alwai been a foundat of the american dream __PUNCT__
it a chanc onc provid to my grandfath and so mani other return world war ii soldier by the gi bill of right __PUNCT__ which led to the creation of the largest middl __PUNCT__ class in histori __PUNCT__
it a chanc that onc made a young african dream come true when the univers of hawaii gave my father a scholarship to studi in america __PUNCT__
and it a chanc given to me by my parent __PUNCT__ who weren't rich but believ that in a gener america __PUNCT__ you don't have to be rich to achiev your potenti __PUNCT__ that it can be realiz through hard work and educ __PUNCT__
todai __PUNCT__ at the begin of __NUM__ centuri __PUNCT__ we know that the high __PUNCT__ wage __PUNCT__ high __PUNCT__ valu job of tomorrow place a higher premium on a colleg educ than ever befor __PUNCT__
more and more __PUNCT__ american ar compet for these job with highli educ worker from india __PUNCT__ china __PUNCT__ and all over the world __PUNCT__
if we want america to win in thi new global economi __PUNCT__ we have to start send more kid to colleg __PUNCT__ not less __PUNCT__
and so __PUNCT__ as i stood in those illinoi colleg listen to student tell me about their problem __PUNCT__ i start think __PUNCT__ when did the cost of colleg stop becom our problem __PUNCT__ when did the headlin about skyrocket tuition start get crowd out by michael jackson and martha stewart __PUNCT__ and when did thi nation prioriti start plai second fiddl to the latest partisan food fight in washington __PUNCT__
i not sure __PUNCT__ but i do know that i met enough good citizen who think about the other gui and want to chang thi __PUNCT__
and i believ there ar enough member of both parti who want to start thi countri down the path of make colleg afford and access for everi american __PUNCT__
i look around thi room tonight and feel both fortun and hope that i in the compani of folk who ar alreadi do their part to get us there __PUNCT__
when you announc the winner of the first herblock scholarship thi year __PUNCT__ you not onli fulfil herblock wish __PUNCT__ but the dream of kid who just want the chanc to succe __PUNCT__
i believ it time for congress to follow your lead __PUNCT__
thi week __PUNCT__ i introduc the higher educ opportun through pell grant expans act __PUNCT__ the hope act __PUNCT__
thi bill will make colleg more afford for __NUM__ american by increas pell grant award __PUNCT__
todai __PUNCT__ __NUM__ million undergradu student us these grant to fund their educ __PUNCT__
but the award just haven't kept up with the rise price of tuition or even inflat __PUNCT__
as a result __PUNCT__ the current __MONEY__ pell grant maximum is __MONEY__ less in real term than the maximum grant __NUM__ year ago __PUNCT__
pell grant now cover onli __NUM__ __PUNCT__ of the total cost of the averag four __PUNCT__ year public colleg __PUNCT__
the hope act would correct thi problem by rais the pell grant maximum to __MONEY__ and it would continu to rais thi maximum in futur year to keep up with inflat __PUNCT__
the bill would also make sure that no student see a reduct in pell grant assist due to recent chang in the elig formula __PUNCT__
i know that some of you might be think that it imposs to get anyth done in washington these dai __PUNCT__ but i think we can get bipartisan support to pass thi bill __PUNCT__
becaus work famili ar alreadi burden with too mani tax __PUNCT__ thi bill is paid for without ad to the deficit or rais a dime of tax __PUNCT__
instead __PUNCT__ it will close two loophol that guarante bank and privat lender an addit __MONEY__ billion in taxpay subsidi a year on top of the interest that colleg student and their famili pai __PUNCT__
now __PUNCT__ i don't blame the bank for want to make an extra __MONEY__ billion in profit everi year __PUNCT__ but it our job as a societi to tell them that send our kid to colleg is a higher prioriti __PUNCT__
in a countri fill with so much wealth and opportun __PUNCT__ it hard to imagin that there ar hundr of thousand of parent everi year who ar forc to turn to kid who work hard and studi hard all through school and tell them __PUNCT__ no __PUNCT__ we can't send you to colleg __PUNCT__
but it harder to imagin that ani of us could rest until those parent can start sai __PUNCT__ ye we can __PUNCT__ to their kid __PUNCT__
we have the opportun to give them that chanc __PUNCT__
we have the opportun for thi to be on of those time where we succe at make america the place where good peopl who care do great thing __PUNCT__
we have the opportun to build the america that herblock dream of draw __PUNCT__
but to do thi __PUNCT__ we need to show the same courag to challeng the public debat that herblock show __PUNCT__
i haven't been in washington veri long __PUNCT__ but sometim part of the problem is that veri import issu becom reduc to simpl partisan talk point and silli exagger __PUNCT__
these get report back and forth in the mainstream media in a he __PUNCT__ said/sh __PUNCT__ said fashion __PUNCT__ and pretti soon we get a __PUNCT__ convent wisdom __PUNCT__ that end up be much more convent than it is wise __PUNCT__
but what i love about polit cartoonist __PUNCT__ at least __PUNCT__ what i love about them until i open up the paper and see a draw of my big ear accompani by someth that came out of my big mouth __PUNCT__ is that thei cut through the convent wisdom and just tell it like it is __PUNCT__
peopl like herblock and toni auth and other can jolt us awak from our polit cynic with a few ingeni imag and a clever phrase that can often speak more truth than a thousand word __PUNCT__
and thi is the kind of wake __PUNCT__ up call our polit need todai more than ever __PUNCT__
you know __PUNCT__ the other dai i wa look through some of the cartoon in the librari of congress __PUNCT__ onlin herblock collect __PUNCT__ and i came across on that wa given to herblock by fellow cartoonist joel pett a few year ago __PUNCT__
the cartoon show a man and a woman look at a galleri fill with herblock cartoon __PUNCT__
and as the man stop in front of on particular cartoon __PUNCT__ he turn to the woman and sai __PUNCT__ thi gui isn't record __URL__ gui is make histori __PUNCT__
thi wa not onli herblock life __PUNCT__ but hi lesson to all of us __PUNCT__
be a good citizen __PUNCT__ think about the other gui __PUNCT__ but most importantli __PUNCT__ do someth about it __PUNCT__
whether it through cartoon or campaign __PUNCT__ by take it to the street or take it to your editor __PUNCT__ tackl the biggest issu or lend a simpl hand to your neighbor __PUNCT__ these ar the wai we leav our mark on the land we love __PUNCT__ the same wai herblock left hi mark on the page of the washington post everi week __PUNCT__
and that a legaci we can all aspir to __PUNCT__
thank you __PUNCT__
