FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Thank you Meredith Haney and Jay Heath for the beautiful introduction. And the all the people who served the food thank you so much.

I also want to thank you Ric Matthews, the Board Chair, and Mario Burgos, the President of Junior Achievement of New Mexico. I’d like to thank Julie, who is a teacher, for all of her efforts. Jennifer Thomas, from Bank of America, my sincerest thank you for all that you do. George Rivera, thank you – you will be a CEO one day. Mr. H, thank you and I definitely agree with you that we make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give.

I also want to thank all the sponsors of Junior Achievement of New Mexico and its board of directors for inviting me to speak today and especially all the dedicated Junior Achievement volunteers who go into the classrooms to teach financial literacy to America’s youth.

I would like to especially thank Congresswoman Heather Wilson who helped make my visit here possible. Her ardent support for financial education makes her a great friend of Junior Achievement and now especially a great friend of mine. And she made sure that I visit your chapter here in the great state of New Mexico because she knows how important it is to me.

I am delighted to be here at your board meeting. As many of you know, Junior Achievement holds a very special place in my heart because your organization does one of the most important jobs in this great nation. You have dedicated yourselves to educating young people about personal finances, business and our economic system. Your excellent curriculum and committed volunteers provide America’s youth across the country with the tools they need to become successful in their careers and in their personal lives through the wise management of their personal finances. Financial literacy opens the door to their understanding of the many opportunities this country has to offer. You are not only making basic education fun for our kids to learn, but you are also putting in their hands the skill and knowledge that is the key to their financial independence, freedom, and more importantly, security.

And I want to thank all the volunteers. Many people spend their lives building careers. I know that as volunteers you spend your careers building lives. And I trust that you all experience the sacred joy of knowing that what you do is profoundly helpful to those you care for.

As we all know, the key that opens the door of opportunity for our youth is education.

I can tell you from my own experience that this is the land of opportunity... and with my education I was able to unlock it’s magnificent doors.

In 10^th grade, I was given an IQ test. Everybody had to take this test back when I attended high school. A score of 100 being average, mine came back with a score of 27. My friends and even my teacher laughed at me. But I knew then that the only thing that low score represented was the fact that I did not speak English. Far from making me angry or upset, it gave me resolve. I would learn English to the best of my ability … and so I did. Three years later, I graduated from high school in the top 20 with honors.

Sadly, however, no one told me about scholarships or grants to attend college. Instead, I worked full time to help my family. But even back then, I knew the importance of education, so I attended ELAC part-time for four years to get my two-year degree and I spent three more years at CSULA to finish my bachelors at night. I can tell you, I am very proud of my diploma.

At the same time that I was earning my degree, I was working my way up the ranks of City National Bank where I had started as the assistant to the receptionist. I was about to be promoted to Assistant Vice President and I had just started my Masters Degree. I thought that my life was absolutely beautiful!

But God had other plans. My son Eric was born not just with Downs Syndrome but with a series of other medical complications that are too numerous to state.

I gave up my career at the bank and my MBA to take care of him. I even sold my house because we could no longer afford the mortgage.

The birth of my son led me down a path that I could not have imagined. To be an advocate for those who could not help themselves. But without an education and the skills that I had learned, I would not have been prepared for that path.

Eventually, my public advocacy led me to a career in public service.

I wanted to serve my community so I ran for public office and served on my local city council and later as mayor of the City of Huntington Park. And all of that led President George Bush to appoint me the 41^st Treasurer of the United States.

But I could not have been Treasurer, nor could I have helped my son without a diploma. I credit my education with helping me to meet my challenges and preparing me for unimaginable opportunities.

Now, as Treasurer of the United States, I want to tackle a new challenge by promoting the importance of education, but more specifically, financial education. I want to make all Americans aware of the skills and knowledge they need to secure a financial future.

Many Americans lack knowledge and don’t understand how to conduct their financial activities, which leads them to engage in ineffective and detrimental financial strategies. The cost of these ineffective strategies is high. Too many people work too hard for too many years and at the end of the day they do not reach the level of financial self-sufficiency that they deserve. What really saddens me is that the people who work the hardest and earn the least often pay the highest prices for financial services.

We have also seen that a poor grasp of personal finances can lead to bankruptcy, inadequate planning for retirement, vulnerability to predatory credit arrangements and other social problems such as divorce, depression and personal difficulties.

Here are some troubling facts that illustrate just how bad this problem is:

• When a group of Americans was given a 14 question test of their financial literacy, they scored an average of 42%. That means that they answered less than half the questions correctly.

• An average family carries $8,123 in credit card debt with double digit interest rates. According to a recent article in The Dallas Morning News, if that family pays the minimum amount, on a credit card with an 18% interest rate, it would take them approximately 53 years to pay off that debt. (That’s because most of the payment goes toward interest.)

• 82% of high school seniors failed a 13 question quiz examining their knowledge of issues like interest rates, savings, loans, credit cards and calculating net worth.

• An estimated 10 million Americans have no relationship with a mainstream financial services provider.

• 40% of these "unbanked" are Hispanics.

• 75% of Hispanics have not accumulated enough savings for retirement.

• A major reason why millions of Americans do not set up checking or savings accounts is that they do not have any knowledge about how banks and other financial institutions work. So they just stay away.

These facts show a glimpse of why financial education is so important. That is why I am making it my mission to help remedy this dire situation by bringing the need for personal financial education to national attention.

At Treasury, we have already met with representatives from hundreds of private and public organizations to discuss their efforts to educate Americans of all ages about financial education.

Junior Achievement has been part of this discussion because you already have a successful track record of going into our local schools and providing financial literacy education to our youth.

I believe that we will have the most impact by providing financial education starting at an early age.

To that end, financial education must begin with basic literacy. A person must have reading skills to understand a credit card application or a Truth in Lending Disclosure form. A person must have math skills or he will never be able to balance a checkbook or compare credit card interest rates.

President Bush’s "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" ensures that our schools focus on those basics. The Bush Administration’s support for financial education stems from our goals to provide opportunities for all Americans to be part of America’s shining promise.

Financial literacy truly is the rising tide that lifts all boats and the swift current that guides them into the harbor of prosperity and success.

Of course, financial literacy and skills also greatly enhance opportunities to make wise financial investments; however, we must make sure that companies provide accurate information and honest financial statements to investors.

To achieve this and restore confidence in our investors, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law corporate accountability legislation, which has put into effect the toughest new restrictions on accounting practices since the 1930s. This legislation is one of the many important changes that have taken place since the financial scandals came to light. The SEC, the stock markets, and individual companies have taken steps to improve the timeliness and accuracy of corporate financial disclosures. Holding CEOs accountable and strengthening our auditing system will ensure investors that they have the necessary facts to make informed decisions.

President Bush and the U.S. Congress are united with the vast majority of reputable business leaders in their determination to restore faith in our financial and economic system for the reality is that the pillars of our economy are strong. As both Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill have reiterated, the fundamentals for economic recovery are there. Interest rates and the inflation rate are low and the economy is growing.

We have the power to bring prosperity to our world, wealth to our nation and success to ourselves. To do so, we need to make sure that our youth are educated to understand the fundamentals of personal financial management, business and economics so that they can make wise choices for their future. And we need you!! Executives who are role models of integrity and responsibility and who are willing to instill those ideals and values into America’s young people. And who are the examples of the very best that corporations have to offer our nation.

Our economic system has created opportunities for us that are undreamed of elsewhere. Our nation’s strength and our economy’s strength are one and the same. Both rely on the drive and creativity of American citizens who are well educated in the fundamentals of personal finances and sound business practices.

We are the envy of the world because an educated citizenry is the engine that produces freedom and prosperity in the world. Again, I would especially like to thank Junior Achievement for dedicating themselves to the goal of educating our nation’s youth to appreciate and understand the importance of personal finances.

And I would like to thank Congresswoman Heather Wilson for her work in Congress to pass education and corporate responsibility legislation. She has been a stalwart supporter of financial education.

And thank you all for your efforts. I know that with your continued hard work to make financial education in the classroom a reality, and with President Bush’s leadership, no child will be left behind when it comes to education and opportunity.

May God bless you. And may God bless the greatest country in the world, America.