Congressman Bonilla, thank you so much for the beautiful introduction. And I also want to thank you and Senator Hutchinson for organizing this very important summit. The subject of financial education and its role in creating financial security is very important to me. So I am very happy to be here with you to discuss this critical issue for our Hispanic community.

Before President Bush appointed me as the Treasurer of the United States, I served as a councilwoman and later as a mayor of Huntington Park California, a city with a 99% Hispanic population. My experience there, as well as in many cities across the country like Huntington Park, has profoundly influenced me on the need for better personal financial education.

Many cities, like Huntington Park where many new Americans reside, are what I like to call "a cash only society" where everything is purchased by paper money or coins. Now, as someone who has her signature on every federal reserve note, I should be encouraging other cities to follow suit. I am, however, here to promote the opposite.

Our financial system provides opportunities for anyone, for example, to buy a car, house or even to start a business with a small amount of capital. Many Americans, however, lack the knowledge or simply don’t understand how to conduct their financial activities, which leads them to engage in ineffective and even detrimental financial strategies, the cost of which can be very high.

I have said many times that 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 including payday loans, check cashing services and high remittances costs.

I was recently in Waco, Texas attending President Bush’s economic forum, where I heard many people voice the same concern over and over again that we need to do more to improve financial education across America. I participated on the panel on "Small Investors and Retirement Security." All on the panel agreed that the best way to encourage people to save and invest wisely was to ensure that they had a sound grasp of the fundamentals of personal finances.

We have 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 including divorce, depression and personal difficulties.

Here are some troubling facts that illustrate just how bad this problem is, especially in our Hispanic community:

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.

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.

Some people do not even know what net worth is.

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

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

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.

40% of these "unbanked" are Hispanics. And as you know, we are not 40% of the population.

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

These facts show a glimpse of why financial education is so important. That is why I am dedicating my efforts 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. In June, Treasury, along with the Education Department, hosted a panel discussion on the importance of including financial education in the school curriculum. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and Education Secretary Ron Paige, who has devoted a lifetime to improving education standards, opened the session.

At this meeting, experts from various financial education organizations discussed the importance of beginning financial education at the earliest levels of school.

I believe that we will have the most impact by providing financial education starting at an early age and continuing through life. 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 interest rates on credit cards.

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

However, financial education cannot end at school graduation because our financial needs change as we get older. Therefore, financial education must become a lifelong tool, which will ensure that people build for their future and especially for their retirement.

The ability to plan for retirement has become crucial to America’s future because we will not be able to rely on the Social Security system alone to provide for a secure and comfortable retirement. The first wave of baby boomers will retire at a time when life expectancy has increased and birth rates have fallen. What that means is that there will be less workers to pay into the Social Security system to support the increased number of retirees. And by 2032, shortly after the youngest baby boomer retires, the trust fund will be depleted and revenues will support only 75% of guaranteed benefits.

That is why it is so critical to educate all Americans about personal finances, especially the over 75% of Hispanics who have not saved enough to meet their retirement needs and still need the tools that financial literacy can provide them.

It is incumbent upon us to help all those who need these tools so that they can save for retirement. We want to give all American workers the opportunity to own and control their own retirement accounts.

It is our goal to encourage people to invest wisely and save more for their own retirement. Last year President Bush, with the help of Congress, signed into law the "Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001," which increased the amount that individuals could contribute to their IRAs and 401(k) plans. Although all of these measures will give Americans greater control over their own financial future, we need to give our investors reassurance that their investments will be safe. To provide this reassurance, the President and Congress enacted a corporate accountability law. This law puts the toughest new restrictions on accounting practices since the 1930s to ensure that the SEC, the stock markets and individual companies take steps to improve the timeliness and accuracy of financial disclosure. By holding CEOs accountable and strengthening our auditing system, investors will now have the necessary facts to make informed decisions.

President Bush is determined to make sure that small investors are protected from the few unscrupulous CEOs who would use deceptive practices to further their own interests.

In order for all of our citizens to take advantage of this valuable legislation and these initiatives, Americans must have basic knowledge of sound investment principles. They also must be comfortable using banking and other financial systems to conduct many basic transactions such as taking out loans and saving money.

They need to understand how to build a good credit rating. All this depends on the kind of education in personal finances that starts early and continues through life. If we give people the gift of personal financial education, we put in their hands a very powerful tool that can help them build a secure future for themselves. Brick by brick they can erect a future that includes sufficient funds to make their retirement the perfect reward that their hard work has earned them.

That is the promise of America and the opportunity that it provides people.

Again, thank you for inviting me to speak to you. And may God bless you and God bless this great country, where even unimaginable dreams come true!