Remarks by the First Lady at the National Women's Partnership Luncheon

Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C.

1:26 P.M. EDT

     MRS. OBAMA:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  You all, thank you so much.  (Applause.)  Oh, I can’t really see you out there, but I feel you.  (Laughter.) 

     It’s great to be here.  First of all, let me thank Debra for her leadership and her passion and her smarts and her grace and for that really nice introduction.  (Laughter.) 

     I also want to thank Ellen Malcolm for her leadership on your board and for all of her work on behalf of women across this country. 

     I want to recognize Sally Susman for her leadership with today’s luncheon.  I got to see her in the U.K. with the Queen.  She looked mighty fine.  (Laughter.)

     And of course I want to thank all of you for inviting me here to your annual gala luncheon.  This is a pretty big deal here.  It’s a lot of you out there.  (Laughter.) 

     It’s really nice to be back with all of you at the National Partnership for Women and Families. 

     And as you know, I was here three years ago.  I remember it really well.  You honored Deval Patrick, one of our favorite governors.  (Applause.)  It’s a great event.  I was happy to be there then and I am joyful to be here today, especially on your 40th anniversary.  Forty years.  Forty years of progress.  Now, that's something to be really proud of.  

     You know what, let’s think about it.  Let’s think about the challenges women faced 40 years ago.  For example, in 1971, there were no women in President Nixon’s Cabinet.  None.  There was one woman in the Senate.  And we were still 10 years away from the first female on the Supreme Court. 

     I mean, back then, the ceiling wasn’t just glass, I think it was more like concrete.  (Laughter.)  There were no female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.  Only eight percent of women had a college degree, if you can imagine that.  The number of women being appointed to the federal bench was actually declining.  And women earned just 60 cents for every dollar that a man earned.  All that, and we had to deal with polyester, too.  (Laughter.)  Some tough times.  (Laughter.) 

     And that was the world we were living in when this organization was formed.  It was a world where a young girl looked to the future and saw many more hurdles and barriers than open doors and pathways to opportunity.  It was a world that made many of you say, “enough, enough.”

     And that was when a small group of you gathered in a kitchen to talk about what you needed to do to fight for discrimination -- or fight against it and inequality. 

     So, you began by volunteering to take on a few important cases.  And soon enough, you needed more help so you hired some staff.  And before you knew it, you were opening an office.  And as your efforts grew, you began tackling more and more issues, steadily becoming one of the most influential organizations for women and families in our country. 

     And today, as you stop and take a breath and look back for a moment at all that you’ve accomplished, you will see that over the last four decades, you have made such an amazing imprint on nearly every single one of this nation’s major policy achievements for women and families.  And that's something to be proud of.  (Applause.)

     I’ve heard about how back in the ‘80s, one of your staff attorneys spent countless hours in her office with little more than a vision, a typewriter -- because yes, there were typewriters -- (laughter) -- and a whole lot of white-out.  Remember white-out?  (Laughter.)  It’s very challenging.  (Laughter.)  She was pounding away at the first draft of a document, a document that, nine years later, would become the historic Family and Medical Leave Act.

     The Partnership was also a driving force behind so many other major legislative achievements including the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the paid family leave laws in California, Washington, and New Jersey, and the nation’s first citywide ordinance for paid sick days in San Francisco, and, as Debra mentioned, any day now the governor will sign the first statewide paid sick days law in Connecticut.  (Applause.)

     Thanks to your tremendous efforts, the landscape of this nation has been fundamentally changed for the better: our workplaces are more family-friendly, women and girls do have more opportunities, and many discriminatory practices have been completely abolished. 

     Because of you, America is better.  It is a better country, it is a better place to raise a child, it is a better place to work, it is a better place to pursue a dream. 

     But, fortunately, this isn’t a group that rests on its laurels.  Every one of you here knows all too well that there is still so much work left to be done.  And that’s what I want to speak briefly with you about today –- the work that remains and the people that are needed to finish that job.

     And I just want to start with the work of my husband’s administration.  Since day one, we’ve been fighting for American women and families.  As you know, my husband made the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act the very first bill he signed into law as President of the United States.  (Applause.)

     He created the White House Council on Women and Girls to make sure that the entire government pays attention to the interests of women, girls, and their families.  We’ve improved the earned income and child tax credits, which means that more than 12 million families will find it just a little easier to pay the bills and put food on the table. 

     My husband signed the Affordable Care Act, as you know, which makes it easier for millions -- (applause) -- millions of Americans to afford a doctor.  Because of this legislation, more women can get mammograms and other preventative services with no cost out of pocket.  No one will have their insurance dropped solely because they get sick, and a child won’t be denied insurance because he or she has a pre-existing condition.

     We’ve held forums and launched pilot programs to promote workplace flexibility because we know, all of us, that flexible workplaces translates into more productive workers, more satisfied employers, and more importantly a robust economy.  We all know that.  

     My husband nominated two phenomenal women -- Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan -- to the Supreme Court.  (Applause.)  

     He has made women nearly half of his nominees to the federal bench, which is a greater percentage than any other President in history.  (Applause.)

     And the important thing is that all of these advances benefit not just women, but every American.  Yeah, they benefit men.  (Laughter.)  We’re still looking out for you guys.  (Laughter.)  They benefit our communities, our economy, and the very system of laws on which this nation is built. 

     And we know that none of that could have happened without all of you.  You all are the people who have been fighting for all of these victories.  You all have been building that broad base of support that makes this happen.  You have created a chorus of voices speaking out on behalf of families all across this country.

     And as we look ahead to the work that remains, we know our continued progress on these issues depends on all of you.

     The President established an equal pay task force to mobilize the full force of the administration in support of equal pay.  And, as you know, he supports the Paycheck Fairness Act.  But -- (applause) -- that's my cheerleader right there -- (laughter) -- but this bill and this issue will not move forward without your help.  To make sure that we do not lose ground on the progress we’ve made on health care, we also need your help to better educate people about their rights and how the Affordable Care Act benefits them in their daily lives.  They have to know.  We need your help to continue to give a voice to all of those Americans who will ultimately be affected by these conversations and debates here in Washington.

     It is up to you to tell their stories -- stories of mothers who can’t afford a child care provider, but don’t have the luxury to take time off work; stories of families that will lose their insurance if this health care law is rolled back.  Without you, millions of these families will have no voice. 

     And we need your help as we push forward on issues like paid leave and paid sick days, balance in the judiciary, educational equality.  We need you, because even today, with all the advances that we've made, too many women face barriers and roadblocks for reaching their full potential.  Too many girls are held back by narrow expectations and limited options. 

     So it is our job to just keep working not just for us, but for them.  We’ve got to make sure that we do everything we can so that our daughters and granddaughters can pick up wherever we leave off, which leads to the other part of what I want to talk to you about, and that is the people we need to get this job done. 

     Now, all of you have been leaders on these issues for decades.  You have played a critical role in the battles and the victories that we just talked about, celebrate.  And each of you have made progress.  As we’ve made that progress, you looked ahead to the next frontier.  You've looked at the next way to make an impact for women and families. 

     But if we truly want to keep moving forward, our focus must not only be on the next set of issues, but on the next set of leaders, as well.  And it’s our responsibility to engage and inspire that next generation.  It’s our responsibility to reach back and keep pulling up those promising young leaders.

     And that’s something that I’ve tried to do as First Lady, because I know that my role gives me this unique opportunity to impact young people.  So I feel a deep obligation to do everything in my power to make the most of this limited moment.

     And that’s why I've devoted so much of my attention to working with young women and girls right here in D.C., through the White House Leadership and Mentoring Initiative.  (Applause.)  We are celebrating those girls right after we leave here.  (Applause.)   

     We’re bringing in girls who have never been inside the White House or, for some, have barely been outside of their own neighborhoods, and we’re taking them to places that they’d never thought they’d go.  We’re taking them to meet with Supreme Court justices, sitting in the chambers.  It's a powerful image, meeting with members of Congress, famous musicians and artists, because I want these girls to hear those stories.  I want them to see themselves in these leaders.  And I want them to realize that every path in this world is open to them, even if it doesn’t always feel that way.

     And that’s the same message that I carry with me as I travel outside of our borders, because in so many ways, especially for young people today, those borders really don’t mean much anymore.  Our economies, our health, our dreams globally are all interconnected.

     So when I visited London just a couple of weeks ago, I told teenage girls there that no matter where they come from, if they push themselves and believe in themselves and work hard, they can succeed just like anyone else.  We know that.  And I delivered this message to them at Oxford, because I wanted those young women to walk through those courtyards and hallowed halls, be a part of one of the most renowned universities in the world, because I wanted them to talk to students and faculty there and begin to envision a life for themselves in such inspired settings.  It was a beautiful thing to watch.

     In Chile, I told young girls that they can compete with boys, that they can break with tradition, that they can build their own careers and fulfill every last one of their dreams. 

     And, in a couple of weeks, I’m traveling to South Africa and Botswana, because I believe that today’s generation of young women leaders in that country can carry forward the legacy handed down by those who led the fight for freedom and democracy.  (Applause.)   

     And I do this work joyfully, because I know how big an impact young people can and must make on our world.  And I believe it is so important for them to know that there are so many of us here in America who not only care about them, but who believe and will invest in their future.

     But, in the end, no matter the issue -- whether you’re organizing a campaign for health care, or workplace fairness, whether you're putting more women on the federal bench -- the truth is so many of these issues may not be resolved in our lifetime. 

     And we can never forget that it’s the next generation that will carry these issues forward.  It will be our sons and our daughters, our grandchildren attending this luncheon in 20 or 30 years.  Yeah, kind of scary.  (Laughter.)  But they're ready.  They’ll be the ones fighting for every last penny in the pay disparity.  They’ll be the ones who sit down in their office with some next-generation iPad to write tomorrow’s landmark legislative victories.  They're going to be the ones to do it. 

     So it is up to us to inspire them, to engage them, to make them believe that they have the power and the ability to get this done.  It is up to us to reach back and keep pulling and pulling and pulling more people up, so that we make way for the next leaders and they can keep this country moving forward. 

     And I know we’re up to it, particularly the folks in this room.  You all have shown that kind of leadership and passion throughout this organization’s history.  Every time a challenge has come your way, you’ve delivered.  It's been a marvel to watch.  Every time there was a need, you’ve filled it.  And I know that as long as we’ve got you, as long as we keep making progress on today’s issues and then building tomorrow’s leaders, then we will achieve the progress we seek.  We will do it.  

     So I want to thank you for all of your work, because it has inspired me.  It keeps me going.  Thank you -- and for all that you’ll do in the years and decades ahead not just for women, not just for families, but for our country and for our world.  Congratulations.  Take care and let's get to work.  (Applause.)  

END 1:44 P.M. EDT 

Remarks by the First Lady at Let's Move! Child Care Announcement

CentroNia Child Care Center, Washington, D.C.

12:21 P.M. EDT
     
     MRS. OBAMA:  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you so much.  Everyone, please be seated.  Hello.  Hola!
     
     AUDIENCE:  Hola!
     
     MRS. OBAMA:  Doesn’t get any better than that.  (Laughter.) 
     But I am just thrilled and delighted to be here. 
     
     First, I want to thank General Cartwright for that moving testimony as well as his introduction.  This is an example of where the several issues that I work on intersect so nicely.  And I think General Cartwright made it very clear how health and nutrition, our child care facilities, the work that we do to support our military families, this is all about the same thing in so many ways.  And we are so grateful for his leadership and his service and his family’s sacrifice on so many issues, particularly these.  We are grateful, and I am so sorry you didn’t get the nap.  (Laughter.)  I know we did promise it, but you didn’t get snack time, either.  (Laughter.) 
     
     I also want to thank Secretary Sebelius for joining us today as well as her work.  And I have to say, Secretary, it’s actually called The Dougie, not The Doogie. (Laughter.)  It’s okay, you know.  I know your cool factor just went down by one, but it’s okay.  (Laughter.) 
     
     SECRETARY SEBELIUS:  You had to call me out.
     
     MRS. OBAMA:  I had to.  I said it back there.  I said I’m calling her out, calling her out.
     
     But obviously all the progress that we have made, we could not have done it without her leadership, without her staff support, and we are again so grateful to you for being so focused on these issues.  Thank you again for being here.
     
     I also want to thank Renata Claros and Myrna Peralta also for hosting us in this wonderful facility.  You all are doing some magnificent work here at CentroNia.  It is amazing, and I’m so glad that we had the cameras on to see the quality of care that you all provide here.
     
     Just want to thank a few other people, as well:  Dr. Jim Gavin, who is from the Partnership for Healthy America -- Healthier America; David Lissy from Bright Horizons Family Solutions; David Bailey from Nemours Foundation; Linda Smith from NACCRRA.  All of these groups have come together today to help put together this event and the initiative that we’re announcing today. 
     
     Again, I am thrilled to be here.  Este es un lugar maravilloso.  (Laughter and applause.)  I can say that because it is absolutely true.  That is easy to say.  This is a perfect setting for us to launch our latest effort with "Let's Move.”
     
     As many of you know, for almost a year and a half we’ve been bringing folks together to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity.  We’ve been working with some of our biggest corporations and non-profit organizations across the country.  We’ve been signing up hundreds of schools for the HealthierUS School Challenge.  We’ve been kicking off efforts to enlist support from folks all over this country -- chefs, and health professionals, mayors, and faith leaders.
     
     But in addition to all of this work, we’ve also been doing a lot of listening, as well.  And one of the things that we’ve heard across the board -- from child care providers to health experts to moms and dads -- it is how vital it is to get our kids started on the path to a healthy life from the very beginning.
     
     These early years are pivotal.  When you look at the statistics -- and Secretary Sebelius talked about some of them -- but more than half of obese children become overweight before their second birthday.  It starts that early. 
     
     Obesity rates among kids ages two to five have doubled in the last few decades.  And some children as young as three are showing warning signs of heart disease.  And that wasn’t always the -- that wasn’t something that many of us grew up -- these statistics didn’t exist when many of us were younger. 
     
     And with more than half of our nation’s kids under the age of five in some type of child care arrangement, day care facilities and home-based providers oftentimes play a very central role in providing the healthy foundations that our kids need.
     
     And that's why we are so excited to launch our Let’s Move Child Care.  Through this initiative, we’re going to be providing Let’s Move Child Care participants with an easy checklist so providers know some very easy steps that they can take to make kids healthy.
     
     And it’s as simple as five steps.  That's the beauty of this stuff.  It’s not complicated.  It is not costly.  It’s just a matter of knowledge and implementation.
     
     One of the steps -- one to two hours of physical activity, things that we saw up in the playroom.  It is not easy to make young kids sit still.  (Laughter.)  They like to move.  So that's their natural way of being.  You just have to give them the environment, and a couple of balls, and some plastic containers, and have them move for a couple hours a day.
     
     The second is limiting screen time for all kids, but making sure we eliminate it for kids under two.  And I know a lot of parents get shocked by that -- not the TV! -- but that's one of those small things at an early age that keeps kids, their minds active.  It forces us as parents to engage them in a different way.  So turning off the TV, creating some limits is another one of the steps.
     
     The third is serving a fruit or a vegetable at every meal.  At every meal.  Not just once in a while but at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and throwing it in at snack time, as well. 
     
     This is one I like, the fourth one:  Serve only water, low-fat milk, or 100 percent juice.  That's something that a lot of parents don't understand, is the high level of sugar content that are in the average juice box juice drink.  And if kids are geared towards drinking milk and water, that's all they’re ultimately going to want anyway, and that is going to be a huge lifesaver, at no cost for most families.
     
     And finally, supporting mothers who choose to breastfeed.  Whether we do it in our workplaces or in our child care facilities, breastfeeding, as we have learned, is one of the ways to reduce the level of obesity in a child.  The longer a mother can breastfeed, the better off a child will be on a whole range of health issues.  And I know here at CentroNia that you all are working to make sure that mothers can bring their milk to their child on a daily basis.  Those are the kind of things that workplaces -- that we all need to understand is an important part of a family’s well being and a child’s health.
     
     And with the help of the Nemours Foundation and NACCRRA, we have the tools and the information that can help parents and providers answer questions and implement the checklist either in their environments or in their homes.  So all people have to do to get more information is to go to letsmove.gov or they can also go to healthykidshealthyfuture.org to learn more.
     
     On these websites there will be plenty of how-to tips and ideas to help create a healthier environment for kids.  It’s as simple as that. 
     
     But, you know, the one thing that you won’t need for this, you won’t need a fundraising plan.  No one’s going to need to start a capital campaign to take part in Let’s Move Child Care.  No one’s going to have to hire new staff or completely overhaul their programming. 
     
     Here at CentroNia you all have found ways to save money in how you feed these young people, or at least keep the costs neutral.  So there are ways to implement these five simple steps in a way that doesn’t have to require more funding.
     
     But everyone is going to see that these small changes can make a big difference.  And that's been the beauty of "Let's Move.”  We’re not talking about grand-scale changes.  These are small, basic, simple things that people have to reincorporate into our lives at every level because what we have learned is that if our kids get into the habit of getting up and playing again, and turning off the TV, and finding other ways to engage themselves other than the computer, which is wonderful but it shouldn’t be the only way, if they relearn how to do that, that's a good thing. 
     
     We know that if we open up children’s palates to new tastes -- I mean, one of the things we watched upstairs -- babies, little bitty babies eating salad and fish and strawberries and mashed sweet potatoes, and loving it, because that's what they’re used to eating -- that that's going to -- starting that at an early age is going to set their palates for what they will eat and what they can tolerate.  You’ve seen that here. 
     
     And if they’re not glued to the TV screen all day, those are the things that set the stage for habits for a healthy life early on.  Just small pieces of information; things we want to make sure people know.  Whether they -- and how they implement it, that's a whole different story.  But a lot of families don't even know.
     All of this comes as a response to parents across the country who have voiced their support for healthier child care centers.  Again, moms and dads know.  They are relying on these health care centers.  Many of them would much rather be at home with their own kids doing this, but they can’t.  So they come to places like this, and they are counting on all of you, all of us, to make sure these options don't thwart what they’re trying to do in their home.  And we’re so excited that many child care providers are already committing to implement the checklist at their facilities.
     
     The Department of Defense is signing up all of its facilities, which, as the General mentioned, is serving more than 200,000 children each day.  So they’re on board.
     
     Head Start is going to be encouraging its programs to meet this goal, so they’re on board.
     
     The General Services Administration will enlist 100 percent of their facilities, which serve nearly 10,000 kids to follow this checklist.
     
     And through our Let’s Move Cities and Towns program that we’ve also launched, we have several mayors in places like Omaha, Nebraska; and Greenville, South Carolina; and Avondale, Arizona that are coming up and making commitments to improve the child care in their communities. 
     
     The Partnership for a Healthier America is working with private providers like Bright Horizons.  That's the nation’s second largest private child care provider, and they’re going to implement this checklist at nearly 600 child care centers across the country.
     
     So we already have commitments that are going to affect hundreds of thousands of children today.  Again, that's why we’re excited to be able to launch this.  That's why these partners here today are so important, because we wouldn’t have this announcement if we didn’t have the folks ready to step up and invest and get the ball rolling and be the models as CentroNia is to show we can do this, and it can work, and it can work really, really well.
     
     And I got to see a lot of that, walking around this morning.  I saw and heard about all the steps they’ve taken right here right in our own community that include -- they cook their own meals on-site.  They have a chef who cares deeply about what she is doing and how she is feeding the kids and the quality of the food, and that information is then being used to educate families. 
     
     I saw the menu -- fish -- it was a good-looking lunch.  (Laughter.)  Let me tell you.  And I haven’t had lunch yet, and I was tempted to take a strawberry, but I thought, you know, that might not look that good -- First Lady stealing food from children.  (Laughter.)  So I left their plates alone.  But I was hungry.
     
     But they are serving their own meals and doing it in a cost-neutral way, and expanding that to the employees of the center.  I understand you all have the opportunity to buy this good food, and I hope everybody is, because it was really good.  (Laughter.) 
     
     And they serve their meals family-style, which is -- seems like a small thing, but sitting down -- how old were the little ones we were sitting with?  Babies.  Little itty-bitty babies, right?  They were serving themselves, using the tongs, learning manners, having conversation -- not with real sentences or anything -- (laughter) -- but all the expression that goes along with sitting at the table and having a glass of milk and passing the food. 
     
     The ritual of sitting down and re-introducing that activity into the life of kids, it also helps them balance what they eat, because if you’re not just sitting down, chowing down, you can moderate what you eat because the meal isn't just about feeding yourself physically.  It’s about feeding your emotional soul.  So they serve it family-style.  And this is also a learning tool for the young kids here.
     
     And they’ve been using the MyPlate, just to put another plug in there for MyPlate.  We haven’t talked about that enough.  (Laughter.)  But learning, helping the kids understand the proportions that they need, that they mostly should be eating fruits and vegetables at each meal; that protein is a smaller portion, and, you know, that -- what is a grain?  I mean, all of that is going on right now in the school at mealtime.  It is beautiful.
     
     They use local parks and community spaces so that the kids can get outside on a regular basis.  They planted a garden for fresh foods, which security wouldn’t let me see -- (laughter) -- but I got the picture.  It’s there.
     
     They built a dance studio that we got to see, where a lot of good moves happen -- even The Dougie.  (Laughter.) 
     
     And they’ve plopped a playground on the top of their roof here, which, again, I didn’t get to see that, either, but I know that it’s nice.
     
     And now -- and this is interesting outcomes -- the nurse here says that the number of kids visiting her office with stomachaches has dropped significantly.  Immediate benefits.  Things we take for granted at how our kids eat and what they put in their body affects how they feel every day, which then it in turns affects how they perform each day. 
     
     They say that they’re noticing that more children will try new foods, again, because if you’re introducing it at 12 months and 20 months, then it’s not so foreign when they’re four.
     
     And since kids like what they’re trying, they’re even asking their parents for healthy things like salad once they come home.  And let me tell you, a lot of parents say, how do I get my kids to enjoy vegetables?  We have to give them to them.  I mean, that's really the simple answer.  They have to eat it and eat it regularly until they understand that this is the new flavor, this is how it tastes, this is how the crunch feels.  They have to play around with their food, in a way.
     
     And that's really what this is all about.  Just like the drawings they sketch here, they find their way to the refrigerator, just like the songs that they sing here start to echo throughout their homes, all of these healthy habits that the kids here are learning will also find their way home, and these young people, as small as they are, will become leaders in their own homes, because they’re going to ask for things that their parents never knew they would even try. 
     
     And that's why I am so excited about Let’s Move Child Care, because I know that child care facilities and home-based providers can be a real building block for an entire generation of healthy kids.  That's the power that you all have, and the potential and the opportunity.
     
     So I want to thank you for sharing this wonderful few hours with me.  It has been truly joyful.  Your children are amazing.  And that must mean they have some amazing parents, and I know some of them are here, because many of the employees have children who go here.  (Applause.)   So well done.
     
     The staff here is incredible.  You can tell in just a few short minutes that they care deeply about these kids, and the kids care deeply about them, because they certainly weren’t coming to us.  (Laughter.)  They knew who they were with.
     
     So I congratulate you on the success that you’ve had.  Our goal is to show you off as a model.  I know that there are many other facilities around the country that are doing cutting-edge things.  Our goal is to lift them up, give people tools and steps, if they choose to implement this, to show them that there is a way and there are people who have done it and can give some guidance and some support.  So we are grateful to you all for the work that you have done.  And I look forward to working more with you in the months and years ahead.
     
     So let’s just keep on moving.  Thank you so much.  (Applause.)

END 12:41 P.M. EDT