It is a tremendous pleasure to come to work here every day. Often times in the day to day routine, it is easy to forget the historic significance of the institution we work for, the legacy we are part of, and the people we serve. A small step and preserving the history of the building and the legacy of service and inclusion at treasury. I want to start off by recognizing someone. It was his idea that we name the Treasury Annex the freedmans bank building, and im delighted this idea came to fruition. [applause] thank you for your leadership and continued commitment to Financial Inclusion for all americans. We are also honored to be joined by liberty bank ceo Alden Mcdonald, and the man who needs no introduction, and ms are young. Ambassador young. Professor William Spriggs could not be with us today, but since his warmest regards. Be first speaker today will mr. Alden mcdonald junior, president and ceo of liberty bank and trust, a position he has held since the bank inception in 1972. He is the longest tenured africanamerican Financial Executive in the country, and on january 11 he celebrates his 50th anniversary in banking. He is recognized [applause] he is recognized as a passionate advocate and a dynamic catalyst in helping people own homes, build wealth, and develop as community leaders. To start us off with more on the history of the freedmans bank. Thank you. [applause] alde thank you very much mr. Secretary. The sting wish guests, members of congress, ladies and gentlemen. Guests, members of congress, ladies and gentlemen, i come before you this afternoon standing on the shoulders of historic men and women who recognize the need to build wealth in the Africanamerican Community to make us a strong and prosperous nation. Today, the u. S. Treasury department is dedicating its Annex Building as the freedmans bank building. Symbol of ourr countrys continued commitment to inclusive asperity prosperity. Treat for me to be part of this historymaking event, because on monday i celebrate 50 years of being in the banking business. [applause] alden i also want to share with you a piece of history. I was the first africanamerican banking officer to be employed in the state of louisiana in 1967. To be able to stand before you today and share this banks history makes me a very special moment for me. The tradition of inclusive prosperity has had it starts and stops in the history of our country. The establishment of the freedmans Bank Following the civil war was one of the most inspiring efforts aimed at developing a stable, diverse middleclass and reducing the disparity between rich and poor americans. Providing Banking Services to the newly freed slaves was hurt by the assassination of president lincoln. A congressional compromise between the north and the south essentially relegated africanamericans to a secondclass citizenship. Environment,ow africanamericans continue to develop avenues for financial growth as witnessed by the dill and by the development of black Banking Institutions following reconstruction. Two of the early blackowned banks to operate in the United States where the Capital Savings Bank of washington, d. C. , which began in 1888. That same year. William washington brown, a next late, found the true reformer savings bank in richmond, virginia. There were many other successful banks that were owned by africanamericans in the United States. One of the most successful of the early blockowned banks was the alabama penny loan and savings bank. Others included mechanics and farmers in durham, north carolina, which is still in existence today. Which is still in existence today. Citizens and southern theadelphia, pennsylvania, Penny Savings Bank of richmond, virginia, whose founder was madam cj walker, the first woman president in the United States. [applause] 1888 to 1934, africanamericans owned more 130 Financial Institutions. During that same time, the number of blackowned businesses rose from 4000 to 50,000 businesses, africanamerican banks in our communities, in our country, make a difference. We help to grow the economy, and we help to build jobs. , and we been history continue to do it today. Orleans citizens found the bank in 1972, followed what i like to call the second civil war, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Historic men and women like my fellow new orleans citizen, ambassador young, who fought and won battles for basic protests nonviolent that ended the denial and access of africanamericans to Public Places and insured our right to vote. Equitytle of economic and overcoming blatant disparity for which dr. Martin luther king was murdered continues today. There are only a handful of africanamericanowned banks. A little over 25. That is from a number when i got into the banking business of , and during the time i mentioned earlier, 130 africanamericandont banks. The assets of these institutions today are nearly 6. 1 billion. They employed 2000 plus people and have Equity Capital of 550ximately 550,000 million. This is a great asset for our communities and country. We grow the community. We grow the economy. And we grow jobs. Unbankedrhoods left by mainstream Financial Institutions. 2008, Great Recession of these 25 institutions served some of the most economically challenged markets in our country. Birmingham, montgomery, atlanta, detroit, milwaukee, i can go on and on. These communities today are still challenged in the africanamerican Financial Institutions ares still there supporting economic growth. American Financial Institutions continued to face challenges relative to earnings, capital, and cost of operations. Many continued to improve. According to the fdic Research Study published in 2014, it was stated that the africanamerican banks are very successful in serving the africanamerican population of low and moderate income. It was also stated in that same study that over 60 of the loans made to individuals in these census tracts were made by africanamerican institutions. Approximate 30 were made by nonbanks, and the balance made by the mainstream Financial Institutions. Place in this economy. Grow our place to help economy, grow our community, and provide jobs. We have learned how to effectively serve disadvantaged uild credit, b worthiness, and expand Economic Opportunities for Small Businesses and young professionals. We understand that we have to be engaged in providing greater social, political, and Economic Opportunities for the people we serve. That is why we have invested in ng are youth, expanding homebuying opportunities, and fought for greater inclusion of black businesses in mainstream economy. We can only survive and thrive when the people we serve are making progress and building wealth. Are on american banks the front lines of combating urban decay, battling predatory lenders, and continuing the critical fight for homeownership and wealth building. Opportunities for black americans. I want to take this opportunity to thank the u. S. Treasury department for providing us with creative and flexible financial tools to address disparity challenges. The u. S. Treasury department is ,t the forefront, attempting and have recognized the disparities that exist. The Community DevelopmentFinancial Institution program, cdfi, has proven to be an effective method for closing some of the disparity gaps. There are a number of programs in the toolbox. To name a few, the Bank Enterprise program, technical assistance, empowerment grants, new market tax credits, very important for the africanamerican Financial Institutions to provide. The new market tax credits help provide earnings, help create e, and helpomer bas build and maintain communities that would normally be untouched and create decay in many parts of our country. I would like to encourage the u. S. Treasury department to not tools, butue these find a way to expand these tools. Members of congress, we need more funding for the u. S. Treasury department, because these tools represent an investment in our country. [applause] again, i would like to thank the treasury departments leadership for supporting this mission. While we are here today to dedicate a Federal Building in bank,me of the freedmans one of the nations most important efforts to balance the economic scales in america, i challenge everyone in this room to recommit yourselves to continuing the fight for inclusive prosperity for every american. Sacredstewards of a american legacy that every man and woman has the right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Lets make future generations proud of what we could a college together. Forank you once again keeping history alive by naming this building the freedmans k building and containing continuing the mission of serving the underserved in our country. Thank you very much. [applause] i would like at this time to invite my good friend, the honorable ambassador andrew young to come to the podium for a few remarks. [applause] mr. Young thank you very much. We are really celebrating something that few of us know much about, but as we look back at the freedmans bank, we civile that before the war, there were 27 black millionaires in louisiana alone. Hometown of marion, alabama, there was a school that was built by nine lakh landowners at the end of the toil war, where they wrote the American Missionary Association in boston and said, we have land and we can build a building. , and so thehers American Missionary Association sent down teachers, and they built the Lincoln School in marion, alabama. Out of so happens that that county, when Horace Mann Bond wrote his dissertation in the 1940s, there were more phds for that one county in alabama, black phds, than there were from any state in the union , so there is a relationship there. Too thatso happens key our wives all happen to go to that same school. [laughter] mr. Young so we might not have had a Civil Rights Movement because none of us were any better than our wives made us. [laughter] mr. Young but when we look at the history of the integrationican into our america, the one thing that has been most difficult for us is the desegregation of the money. It wasnt an accident that we didnt talk much about money. Every black institution that had been overturned had been overturned because of some financial discrepancies. So dr. King always said to us know, to be free, you have got to overcome the level of wealth and the fear of death, and so we did not talk much about either. Though we did know that both were very significant in creating the world in which we live. We were right out of the mccarthy era, so to talk about money too much made you a communist, especially if you were talking about sharing the not to mention that that was right out of the new we have had a long struggle trying to make it cannotry work, but work so long as we have the reverse of race, creed, gender, and wealth. Gin, to desegregate, to get the right , and notn a democracy have access to capital is to only be halfway free. We have always known that. [applause] in fact, it was the Poor Peoples Campaign in which Martin Luther king gave his life, which brought not black people together we had 23 of differing ethnic groups throughout america, which vivian, who is here, help to organize in january of 1968, and we were beginning to raise those economic questions of economic justice. We have sort of made it work in atlanta despite the fact that it was stopped nationwide. John brians moving to atlanta with operation hope constantly nags us and pushes us not to , and we haveney really demonstrated first that the fortune is at the bottom of the pyramid, but second, four people can save capitalism. When you look at atlanta, atlanta is a city that is really thriving, because we have made it inclusive financially. Embarrass akali care , whentlanta, bill rogers we were trying to keep dr. Kings papers and atlanta, Shirley Franklin went to him and said we have to have 34 million, and got it. , but we have ak Civil Rights Museum and we have dr. Kings papers there because of an active relationship andeen the whole Community Access to capital. I know some people dont like wall street, but in atlanta, we like wall street. [laughter] because Maynard Jackson told us how to go to wall street and get money and build an airport, and we have an have put 14we. Illion in , butng aaa bond ratings last year that airport generated 38 billion worth of Economic Activity and generated 400,000 jobs, and there are about 35 or 40 of that jobs and wealth is managed by people of color and women who were also locked out of the economy before Maynard Jackson became mayor, so an inclusive economy grows. Milliongrown from 1. 5 to 6 million, so we want everybody else to go somewhere else and use capitalism to grow their city. [laughter] but reminding us of the history of the freedmans bank is a significant part of and we arec legacy, doing a lot to try to spread that legacy not only to the cities of the south, but to the rural areas of the south. The Civil Rights Movement came out of rural poverty, but right now i think the best place to live and raise a family in the in thes the small cities south of the United States of america, where since we got integration and airconditioning [laughter] mr. Young it is kind of hard to find a better place to live. Treasury isetary of part of that legacy, though he has been so much behind the scenes that and thats one good thing about being a secretary of the treasury i was taken on my first trip to africa by one of his predecessors, good republican, george shultz. I was introduced to the world bank and to World Markets by secretary shultz. At the same time, he was working oneilloneill tip in congress, and hes worked with just about every Administration Since then. Know, thoughwe america does not know, that in a world which is dominated by the struggles of a global economy, i say that it is not that we need more boots on the ground. We need more fairer, was on the ground. More stacy adams on the ground. Bankers, investors, people to create jobs, because as johns friend says, the way to stop a bullet is a job. Are onto something here. We are onto the idea that we have got to make Free Enterprise here in the United States, but through the United States we have got to make Free Enterprise work throughout this planet, because stable lysing a global economy, which we did not create. It was created by all of these things we have in our pockets. We cant get away from it. There is no turning back, and a man who understands that and who struggles every day to keep america secure and probably has saved as many lives as the whole pentagon by his economic dealings with countries that are in constant conflict, but thank not know muchdoes about it, and neither does the press. I would like to introduce our secretary of the treasury and thank him. [applause] mr. Young for his leadership in keeping america strong and safe. Mr. Lew thank you best of young for that kind introduction. Thank you to all of you for being here today. I was saying earlier that we have to create our on special days, and this is one of those. Im sure many of you were reminded at the ceremony today about the incredible history that lives forever in this neighborhood where we live and work. Our neighbor to the west gets much of the attention, but Lafayette Square itself has a own, hosting of its protest and parades, housing government buildings, including the treasury department. Today we are shedding light on an important chapter of this neighborhoods history, and a story that deserves to be better known. Do, i would like to thank Alden Mcdonald for his wise words and all the people who were critical in putting today together, starting with our assistant secretary and all the treasury staff who work to make this happen. , controllervivian , thank youector watt all for being here and for the dedication that so many of you have every day to the cause of Financial Inclusion. I also want to thank john hope bryant, chairman and ceo of operation hope and the member of the president S Advisory Council on Financial Capability for young americans. He really did help make this day possible. The outstanding work that he does every day on Financial Inclusion is really an inspiration to many. [applause] mr. Lew since about a year ago, john suggested to me t