Earlier this week . All right, so youll hear a little overlap. Its in the 30th year of existence, 30 years ago robert ball, wilber cowan, bob meyers, legendary in the insurance, realized we needed an academy for two major purposes, number one, existing social insurance scholars so they could support each other and advance the field and at that time 30 years ago we scoured the country and could come up with just about 100 people in this entire country who were legate get mat social insurance scholars. As you know, today the economy has about a thousand members so in 30 years weve had a very nice growth, but the second goal of the academy and this is the essence of what today is, back as a magnet to attract younger people. At that point, you know, the academy 33 years ago, younger people were me, with the boomer generation and it was a fear that we boomers were just not understanding why we have programs like Social Security, medicare, workers comp, Unemployment Insurance. So the founding members of the economy found about six of us tabbed us on the shoulder and said come help us start this new organization. And the magnet was to attract people to the field. Today is the academys fog network. We couldnt do a program like this without support and our major supporter has been the ford foundation. A phenomenal partner, everything the academy does is through a frame work of inequality, which the academys board really recognizeds as the overriding conditions of our time. And the academys policy work is led by the vicepresident for policy will is moderating this. And then a good round of applause. [applause] its a chockful day. Youll start hearing people give you insights to Social Security. A lot of it in depth from the actuarial perspective. Actuaries are part of the life blood of Social Security in terms of looking at funding. Youll be hearing a lot. The key to my day, i hope to be here the whole day, the last session youll get a chance to put together a Social Security, longterm solvency program. Youll hear a lot of options discussed and have a chance to actually do it yourself. This is an amazing city, i relocated here last july from new york, you might be surprised to think im from new york and what i love about the city, everyone is connected so im taking the uber this morning and my driver says, where am i taking you . I said youre taking me to the Barbara Jordan center. Barbara jordan, theres a center named after her . Yes, do you know who she was . Said i had a radio show in washington 50 years ago on a station that doesnt exist wook and i interfered Barbara Jordan, she hadnt been elected to congress and as i interviewed her, i said, this woman is going to make history and hes shocked theres a building named after her. This is what i love about washington, everybody seems to be connected to somebody else. One of the housekeeping things, theres a white sheet, an evaluation of the program. That means a lot before you leave today, fill it out so that we can assess the presentations themselves. And if you want to participate in the door prize youve got to stay for the whole day, how is that for an incentive and at lunch you need to fill out a card and that will make you eligible for the door prize itself. Before we kick off our first panel, i thought we should play a game and the game is called who said this. Im going to read you some quotes and see if you can guess who said this. These are all famous political figures the and if no one guesses it without a hint, ill give you a hint. I was actually going to impersonate the people until i heard cspan was here and i could not embarrass myself or my family. Who shade this should any Political Party attempt to abolish Social Security and Unemployment Insurance you would not hear of that party again in our political history. Who do you think said that . Its a former president of the united states. Who said truman . Close. A former republican president of the united states. No, not reagan. Dwight d. Eisenhower. Very good. Youve got one. Number two, this one this is not a political figure, but someone i think you know. One line i draw on how to keep Social Securitys future future secure, one line i draw raising the eligibility age for Social Security and medicare, it sounds fair since people are living longer, but it isnt. Lower income workers are the ones who find it hardest to keep working after 65 and theyll get penalized with lower benefits. A hint, its a columnist. A female columnist. The new york times. Not maureen dowd. I wish she would write gail collins. Great work on this. Number three, who said this . I dont believe theres a red state in america where people believe you should put medicare ap Social Security. Who do you think said this, current member of the senate, from a blue state and not a democr democrat. Bernie, who said bernie, very good, bernie sanders. Number four listen carefully to this one. Theres a lot of room for improvement in Social Security. We owe our children the financially sound as possible. They deserve to be protected by it. Senator, republican, a leader of the party. Mitch mcconnell. Amazing, right . Not amazing. Who said this . But here is what i would tell people of my generation, 40 and over. There isnt going to be Social Security. There isnt going to be Social Security if we dont make reforms to save the program now. Take a wild guess. Close. Got the party right other side of the house, ran for president. My generation, who turns 40. Marco rubio, youve got it. Very, very good. A marco rubio quote when he turned 40. We will keep the promise of Social Security by taking the responsibility steps to strengthen it, not by turning it over towall street. Who do you think said that . Its a former president , no, a recent former president. Barack obama. Youve got two now, ahead of the pack. A few more and well turn it over to more substantive discussion. Actually, let me skip, let me go to a couple others. One thats very important. Ready, its time to stop the raid on the Social Security trust fund and start allowing americans to invest their Social Security taxes in personal savings accounts. Who do you think said that. No you thought it would be george bush, thats what he wanted to do. Its someone in government today. Not paul ryan. Going to keep saying paul ryan until hes right. What was your drivers name this morning . Paul ryan . Hes in the administration today. He is the vicepresident of the united states. Mike pence. Two more to go. I have a statement on Social Security, i consider it a breach of faith to renege on its promise, it would be a rotten thing to do. Who do you think said that . This goes back a long time in history. He with as a congressman, one of the most powerful congressmen of his time in the early 80s. Who said tip oneill . Excellent. And the last one i bet you all guess. Im going to keep Social Security without change, except im going to get rid of the waste, the fraud and the abuse. Candidate donald trump, now president donald trump. Point is a lot has been said about Social Security, a lot based on misconception and misunderstanding and myth. Thats why today were demystifying this program. And we will have a very busy day and let me turn it over to the next panel. Thank you. [applaus [applause] thank you, bill. So, good morning, everyone, thank you for taking the time to come today. I know that many of the things competing demand on your time. And in particular, my colleague has put tremendous thought into making this a day that would be useful fou and fun and interactive and we encourage you to prepare questions as you hear the first two panels. Were starring out with two panels to provide something on Social Security, why its important, how its financed and well try to leave a lot of time at the end of the sessions for questions, so keep those in mind as we go. Then the rest of the day starting around 11 00 is very interactive with discussion among your tables. Presentations, some debate, so it should be a fun day. My background is in social comparatives, and in germany and france and work on international policy. If anyone i have a colleague here from japan, so, welcome. Hes studying the american he thinks about system to help inform the understanding of the japanese system. If any of you are interested in that id be happy to work with you op that today. Talk with you or work with you in the future. I want to echo bills comment to thank our staff. Theyve put in tremendous work to make this event possible so thank you. I know that jill and janelle would appreciate me alert you to our hash tag, its on the screen. If you want to tweet the remarks, your thoughts, please do. We want to create a lively twitter presence for this event as well. We encourage you to participate. There are some good briefs in your packet you might find helpful and beyond today. One on Social Security finances. Theres a holistic understanding of what social insurance is and particularly with regard to Social Security. That its not simply individual savings for retirement, but its an Insurance Program and you pay in and have a variety of protections and this brief, i think it does a good job explaining that. As will our panel today. Id like to welcome our panelists, first im going to lead their full biographies. Its important where you are all young professionals, how they got to where they are today over the course of their careers. It might be interesting to see the different pathways available to you. So, a deputy executive director at generations united, an extent organization with which the Academy Works often. Promoting intergenerational policies, strategies and programs. And included coordinated efforts for the valuable role of Social Security in children and adults. And the National Center on grand families, a leading voice affecting families headed by grandparents or kinship families ap shell tell you more. And helping families ranging from housing to family care giving to welfare. She avenued a pass and shes worked in Child Protective Services and many capacity with individuals and families from a variety of backgrounds. And so many of our interns have gone on to careers in social insurance fields. Lisa is from the National Organization of claimants. And shes been working to protect people with disabilities, focusing on Social SecurityDisability Program and supmentals. Shes with the consortium of individuals with disabilities and Social Security task force. Shes worked for Social Security administration on capitol hill for republican and democratic chairman of the senate health, education and labor and pensions committee. For federal to strengthsen people with disabilities. Theres a range of career paths you can take if youre working in this field. And she hfrom Northwestern University a member of the National Academy of Social Security insurance. And my third panelist will come to us in the middle of the panel because she had to finish up a previous speaking engagement. Let me go ahead and introduce. President and Global Policy solutions, a social change Strategy Firm and a nonprofit think and activist organization. Shes interesting because she started her own organization, both a nonprofit and a forfederal government and for 20 years in the government and of the directed Successful Research for an array of nonprofit, sfch and corporate clients. She was named Aspen Institute and shes aperiods on cnbc, fox, cspan. And shes insight experts of color network, she holds a ba in Political Science, ma in ph. D. And Political Science from purdue university. A Board Academy member of Social Security insurance. With that, ill welcome my panel. I believe youre up first. Good morning. Its an honor to be here. As ben mentioned i was a 2000 intern and my experience there was a beg part of may 17 year career in washington d. C. After being a social worker for a number of years and connections i made during my internship why really key in terms of building text connections in washington. Hang onto those connections and work them, theyre important and its a privilege to be an alumni of this program. Im here to talk about the Social Security as for all generations and to give you abouting on my organization will help with the context of that. In the mid 1980s, there was talk of pitting generations against each other. We have an image of an older person and younger person back to back in fatigues. The image is theyll turn around and shoot and we did not think this was helpful or realty. And there was a council of aging, aarp and Childrens Defense Fund to really say, you know what . We are actually a Caring Society and we recognize that investments in one generation actually benefit the other. And investments in the Younger Generation benefit old and old are young. We all live in families and we need to be advocating together and look at our communities and care for each other. With that in mind we focus on issues that connect generations and certainly Social Security epitomizes a program that shows our independence as a community. And really recognize when were sewing together the social fabric of our communities, we are sewing the social compact that makes us healthy and strong as a country. Interdependence is a good thing and we need to focus and nurture that. Im focusing on Social Security is more than a program. We look at the Retirement Program and focus on the disability components. Im going to focus specifically how Social Security benefits children and use throughout its multiple components. On that note we know that 6. 5 million children receive Social Security as part of their Family Income. In 2016 the Social Security administration distributed 2. 6 billion each month directly to benefit children. And in fact, more benefits go to children from Social Security than any other federal program. So lets talk a little about the types of Social Security that children and families, again, its Family Support program. Well start with the survivors benefit, which is perhaps the most obvious for children. It goes to unmarried children under 18. T the it protects 98 of children in the case where they would lose a parent. So i want to tell you a little story where were playing guessing games this morning and tell you a story of a couple of successful individuals that benefitted from Social Security so were going to start with franny. When franny was a baby she lost her father, who was a decorated world war ii veteran in a car accident leaving her mother widowed including with franny. As soon as her second sister went to school, she got a job. The small paycheck and survivors benefit from Social Security wasnt always to make the winter any guesses about who franny is . Franny is married to senator al franken. Next, when his father died unexpectedly from a heart attack, a 16yearold boy and his family were left to fend for themselves. However, they had Social Security survivors benefits to help them. And this individual says i did a lot of information there. A quick lesson that life was short and make the best of it, but Social Security was key in providing for his family. That young mans name is paul. Any guesses . [laughter] you finally got it, thats right. Next, i just want to mention the disability benefit in terms of benefit for children. This disability in terms of the disability by Social Security, not only do adults that have disabilities get a benefit themselves, but if they are caring for children theres additional child benefit thats critical for children so we have more than 400,000 in disability benefits that are provided and serves approximately 17 million children. Next well go to the requirement benefit. Again, folks are familiar typically of retirement as a program for retired adults, but did we know that theres actually a requirement benefit for children. And thats available to dependent children for retired individuals and we have more than 350,000 children receiving that benefit. This benefit is quickly important for families we called grandfamilies where grand parents are raising children. This particular picture is a woman raising her grandson who has