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 >>MALE SPEAKER
 Good afternoon.  We are about to begin our program
 for this great luncheon.  First let me begin by
 introducing myself.  I am Michael Steele.  I'm the
 Lieutenant Governor of this great State of Maryland.
 America is a strong place to live through healthy hearts
 and minds, and it gives me a real pleasure to be here
 this afternoon to welcome and introduce one of the
 leaders, the leader in health prevention awareness for
  all of us.  We are very proud that the Secretary
  decided to hold this very, very important summit in
  Maryland and hope all of you will take advantage of the
  sights and the sounds of our inner harbor of the great
  City of Baltimore.  There is plenty for you to see and
  do and all I ask is for you to put the pedometer on,
  keep track, keep moving.  It's a privilege to introduce
  the Secretary as our luncheon presenter.
  The Secretary has invited all of you to join with him and
  indeed the President in putting prevention first and this
  is the first step to a HealthierUS and to those of you in
  Maryland a healthier Maryland.  We are excited about
  that.  Let me share with you a bit about the man that we
  are going to hear, who is an innovative thinker, and
  certainly a strong promoter at the Department of Health
  and human services.  Secretary Thompson is the
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 nation's leading advocate for the health and welfare of
 all Americans, and he has dedicated his professional life
 to public service.
 He became Secretary of the department, which
 employs more than 60,000 personnel in February of
 2001.  Prior to this, he served as Governor of
 Wisconsin and we watched him very closely here in
 Maryland taking some very important cues from him.
 Secretary Thompson made his -- made state history
  when he was reelected to office for a third term in 1994
  and a fourth term in 1998.  It says something about the
  power and the influence of a man, the people of this
  great state love him enough to keep him in leadership.
  During his 14 years as Governor, he focused on
  revitalizing Wisconsin's economy.  He gave attention to
  his leadership in welfare reform, education and
  expanded access to healthcare for low income people
  and those of you who are involved in low income
  communities and access to healthcare resources, you
  know what a challenge that is and to have an advocate
  for them at the highest levels of government is also very,
  very important.
  Secretary Thompson began his career of public service
  in 1966 as a representative in the Wisconsin state
  assembly. He received numerous awards for his public
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 service, including the Anti-Defamation League's
 Distinguished Public Service Award.  In 1997, the
 Secretary received the Governing magazine's Public
 Official of the year award, and the Horacia Alger
 award in 1998.  The Secretary served as chairman of
 the National Governors' Association, the Education
 Commission of the States and the Midwestern
 Governors' Conference.  Secretary Thompson served
 in the Wisconsin National Guard and the Army reserve.
  He received a BS from the University of
  Wisconsin Madison.  And it gives me a great deal of
  pleasure to introduce to you an advocate, the Secretary
  of the Department of Health and human services,
  Tommy Thompson.
  (Applause.)
  >>TOMMY G. THOMPSON
  Governor Steele, let me say thank you.  Thank you for
  your passion, your leadership and what you are doing
  here in the great State of Maryland.  We are in your
  debt and thank you so very, very much.  What a party!
  Do you know that they didn't have a dining room in the
  hotel or any of the surrounding hotels big enough to fit
  all the individuals who have come to a prevention
  convention.  Thank you
  (Applause.)
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 Thank you!
 And am I enthused.  I can just feel, it's almost palpable
 the enthusiasm and the degree of excitement about
 doing something about prevention.  And I tell you, I'm
 in your debt.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart
 for being here, being involved, and yes, ladies and
 gentlemen, we can change the nations because of you.
 Thank you.
 (Applause.)
  A summit like this just doesn't happen.  You know, you
  have an idea.  I come up with these ideas.  I have ten
  ideas a day, but only one is a good one and my staff
  has to find out which one that is.  And this was one of
  the good ones, and then I have such great staff.  And
  Elizabeth Majestic, she actually put this on with her staff
  and what a job she has done.
  (Applause.)
  Just you're a delight and I thank you.  And I'm blessed.
  I have -- as the Secretary of the department, I have
  65,000 employees.  I hate to say this about the other
  departments, but I've got to tell you ladies and
  gentlemen, I've got the best employees working for the
  Department of Health and Human Services.  And each
  and every one of them I think is a star.  They are all
  here.  I'd just like to have the HHS family stand up so I
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 don't miss any one of them.  But they are all stars and I
 thank each and every one of them.
 (Applause.)
 Down here is Dr. Ken Morasugu.  He is a very special
 of mine.  He is the deputy Secretary of the Surgeon
 General and you bet the wonderful Surgeon General,
 Richard Carmona is just doing a wonderful job.  But
 Dr. Morasugu lost his wife and he donated her organs.
 And then he lost his daughter in an automobile accident,
  and he donated her organs.  I don't know if any of one
  would be in the category of suffering that much.  But
  then to have the wisdom and the ability and the
  intellectual foresight to decide to do that is a wonderful
  human being, and he is one of those great people we
  have in the department.  I love to single them out,
  because he is an example of giving, of sharing, and
  making things happen.  And when you realize that
  84,000 Americans, our fellow brothers and sisters all
  across America, are waiting for an organ and we will
  only have 22,000 receive them this year, we need to
  get the message out that the good Lord does not want
  your organs in heaven.
  He wants your soul.  And we have to make sure that
  we give our organs --
  (Demonstration Interruption.)
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 >>TOMMY G. THOMPSON
 This is a prevention convention.  And we are going to
 save the global fund.  In fact --
 (Applause.)
 In fact, 55 percent of the money, 55 percent of the
 money going to global fund comes from the United
 States of America.
 (Applause)
 And I happen to be the chairman of the global fund, of
  the Board, and I'm going to save it and improve it, even
  without the help of the demonstrators.
  (Applause.)
  But you know something ladies and gentlemen, I got
  interested in prevention because my father died from
  diabetes and a heart attack.  My mother died from
  cancer and it could have been easily detected.  And my
  brother has epilepsy or had epilepsy.  And you learn,
  you know, through life that being healthy is really God's
  gift.  What we need to do is we need to take care of
  ourselves and our families and our communities.  One
  point oh he 1.4 trillion dollars we spend this year on
  healthcare in America.  And that's going to go to, by
  2011, that is going to jump to $2.8 trillion.  And ladies
  and gentlemen, we cannot afford that, even though we
  are the most powerful wealthy country in America.
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 And it is time for us, ladies and gentlemen, to take our
 message on prevention across America, from the
 sidewalks to the main streets of every community, all
 the way to the state houses and to the White House,
 and the President is with us and we need to convince
 every American to start eating properly, stop smoking,
 and lose weight and to exercise, ladies and gentlemen.
 It's not rocket science and we have got to do a much
 better job.
  (Applause.)
  We spent $155 billion this past year on tobacco related
  (inaudible) and there is no reason why anybody should
  smoke.  I know maybe some of you in this room smoke
  and I don't want to preach to you -- yes.  I do.  I want
  you to get out and I want you to talk to people and tell
  them that it's poison.  If you smoke a cigarette, you
  shorten your opportunity to live a quality life.  400,000.
  19 percent of the deaths last year were because of
  tobacco related illnesses.  And I go around the
  Humphrey building outside and I see some of my
  wonderful great employees go out, and they are out
  there smoking cigarettes and I go out there, take the
  cigarette out of their mouth, true.  And I tear it up and
  stomp it down and I tell them I love them and I need
  them.  The country needs them.  Their family needs
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 them.  And they should not smoke.
 They of course look a little perplexed.  I'm sure some
 day I'm going to get slapped.  And I know I'm going to
 get sued.  But that doesn't bother me because I get
 sued every day anyways.  But you know, it's what we
 need to do.  We need to go out and tell America to
 stop smoking.  And if we're going to have the biggest
 impact on health dollars, that is one way we can do it.
 and I know a lot of you can do the same thing.  And
  when you see somebody smoke, just politely say you
  know it's not good for your health.  They will look
  strange, but maybe we can get that message across,
  just like J. Everett Koop started the message years ago
  and we had the message across America.  Let's ratchet
  it up and let's take the Koop message out across the
  byways and tell America, stop smoking.
  And I can assure you that tobacco companies --
  (Applause.)
  Tobacco companies don't need the money from our
  cigarettes.  And we can do a much better job.
  Diabetes.  One of my real passions.  When I see my
  very good friend Fran Kaufmann here, who is the head
  of the American Diabetes Association.  She traveled all
  over America with me and for me and I've been to
  California for her and doctor Speigel from NIM.  132
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 billion dollars a year on diabetes related illnesses and
 200,000 Americans die.  At NIH, which does such a
 great job, and Dr. -- where is Dr. Ellias.  He does a
 great job.  NIH did a great job under the auspices of
 Dr. Spiegel and they concluded the study after 2 and a
 half years, after 3500 people were involved in the
 testing program.  It was supposed to run five years, but
 after 2 and a half years, it was so conclusive, they said
 that if you walk 30 minutes a day, and you lost 10 to 15
  pounds, we would reduce the incidence of diabetes by
  60 percent.
  Now, with 17 million Americans that are diabetic, 16
  million more that are prediabetic, if we don't do
  something in the next five years, that 132 million dollars
  will be 265 to 300 billion dollars a year and we can do
  something.  And we have to go to the Native American
  communities, the African-American, the Hispanic
  communities, because it's an epidemic in those minority
  communities and we want to make sure that we get the
  message out.  Eat properly.  Walk.  And we will be
  able to reduce the incidence of diabetes by 60 percent.
  And I need you, ladies and gentlemen, to carry that
  message to every community across America and I
  thank you for your passion and your compassion and I
  thank you for the wonderful job that each of you have
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 -- that you do in regards to this thing.  And we can
 make it happen.
 The third thing --
 (Applause.)
 The third thing is obesity.  Obesity, 117 million dollars.
 And all of us, you know, chunky is good, but healthier
 is better.  You know, we look around and we don't
 have to look too far.  We can look at each other in the
 mirror each morning and some of us, including me, can
  lose a few pounds.  I put the whole department on a
  diet.  And you know something?  It works.  People
  start making -- thinking about their diet.  They start
  losing weight.  And once they start losing weight, they
  feel better about themselves.  Dr. Bender over here
  tells me that he heard me speak and he lost 15 pounds
  and I think that's darn good.  Stand up so we can
  applaud you for 15 pounds.
  (Applause.)
  Dr. James Marks, who is doing a great job on
  prevention, he heard the message and he lost how
  many, 20 pounds?  15.
  (Applause.)
  Stand up.  James Marks.  I'll tell you, right there.
  I tell the people in the department, how can we go out
  and talk about prevention if we look fat?  And how can
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 we go out and talk about diabetes when we ourselves
 don't exercise.  So if we are going to be in the
 Department of Health, we are going to act like the
 Department of Health.  We are going to get healthy
 ourselves and we are going to spread that message
 across America and that's what we're doing and that's
 what you need to do and you need to take it back to
 your communities all across America and that's how we
 will change human nature and human habits and we will
  be able to improve the quality of health of every
  American.  Are we going to do it ladies and gentlemen?
  I say it's time we do it.
  (Applause.)
  And then of course we have got these little walking
  meters.  You know, some people think, you know,
  they're a little foolish.  I wear two of them, to make
  sure that they count correctly.  I don't want to -- I want
  to make sure, you know, that I'm not over doing it.  I
  want to make darn sure that I've got my 10,000 steps
  in.  But you've got them in your pamphlets today.
  You've got them in your packages.  I want you to put
  them on and wear it.  You know, they become
  addictive and you know what?  You start looking at
  them and deciding, you know, I haven't done my
  10,000 steps today.  And so you start walking up the
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 steps instead of taking the elevator.  Instead of eating
 that hamburger and cheeseburger that you decide you'll
 take a walk out in the park over lunch hour.
 And that's what we have to do.  And so I want you to
 do it.  I want you to sign up and put that walk a meter.
 I wear it every day.  I hand them out.  They cost 15
 bucks a piece.  So I tell the people, I'm a conservative.
 Don't let me down.  That's taxpayers' money.  You've
 got to use it.  And we do it.  And now you've gout an
  individual, James hill from the University of Colorado.
  He has his own walk-a-meter, ped-a- meter program.
  And he hands them out to students and he wants to get
  people to sponsor it all over America.  I think it's a
  good idea.  Let's start competing.  Let's start to be able
  to develop wayness which we do the right thing, get
  these out and make sure that people do it.  And ladies
  and gentlemen, we also, we have some great ideas out
  there.  I had the opportunity this morning, you know, to
  listen to some individuals that came in and talked to me
  about how we can work together.
  And some of the ideas, you know, there is an individual
  here from -- Roger Greenlaw, from Rockford, Illinois,
  which is a suburb of Wisconsin --
  (Laughter.)
  Well, it is.  And Roger Greenlaw started a program
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 called CHIPS, Coronary Health Improvement
 Programs.  He is a doctor. He starts teaching this
 program in Rockford and he started getting people
 referred to him from other doctors.  And they started
 talking about eating properly.  Then they went out into
 the corporations and now they have got 27 restaurants
 in Rockford that has at least five healthy meals on their
 menu and each one of them, they have a sign in their
 restaurant.  That's an example that we can replicate
  across America.  Dyersville, Iowa, a small community,
  also a suburb of Wisconsin, Dyersville, Iowa,
  everybody walks.  Everybody decided to lose weight,
  get out and start walking.  Now it has become
  contageous and everybody in the community is doing it.
  The hospital association up in Maine has got a program
  on healthy living.  And what we want to do is we want
  to replicate those programs all across America.  So we
  decided, I took the idea to the President, took it to
  Congress, they gave us $15 million this year, and we
  are going to hand out $15 million for healthy cities.
  Small communities and large cities, to show what they
  can do to develop a way to be able to reduce diabetes,
  obesity, set up walking trails, reduce asthma, reduce
  smoking,  and then be able to be declared a healthy
  city.  Can you imagine what that is going to mean for
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 those communities that get designated as a healthy city?
 They can put that on their, when they come into town,
 when they leave town, hand it out in the hotels and the
 motels that this city has been declared by the President
 of the United States and the director of HSS as a
 healthy city.
 It will attract individuals who want to live in a healthy
 community.  Hopefully next year we will bet 125 million
 dollars.  In two weeks you can apply for this money.
  So I want to you go back to your community, find out if
  your community wants to do it.  Sign up for these
  dollars, and then let's set up action agendas in each one
  of the communities and be able to do something like
  Dyersville, like Rockford and like all the communities
  across America.
  John Streep, the Mayor of Philadelphia said we are
  eating too many cheese staeks.  Let's put the whole city
  on a diet.  What is wrong with that?  That is a
  wonderful example that we can do this all across
  America.  And that's what the announcement is in
  regards to the healthy cities.
  Then I had a chance to meet with the Michael Melkin
  Foundation and I also meet with Pepsico today and
  they decided -- Pepsi hasn't agreed to, but I'll
  embarrass them if they don't, so I'm sure they will.  I
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 had one idea, I decided at 11:30 this morning, about an
 hour and a half ago, the Melkin Foundation pledged
 200,000, it came to me over lunch.  At the end of the
 year, we will have a President seal or a secondary
 medal for the best community, the largest, the smallest,
 the best hospital, the best company, the best individual
 to do something on prevention.  We are going to have a
 big party, a big dinner, and we are going to hand this
 out, just like the Baldridge award.  And we will do it
  this year, we will not wait.  And I want to thank
  Pepsico and Melkin Foundation for coming up with the
  dollars in order to do it, ladies and gentlemen.
  (Applause.)
  This convention is an action oriented convention.  And
  the third thing I found out is I brought in a lot of your
  groups and I said you know we have such great ideas
  here.  Everybody around the table was pumped up and
  excited today and they decided you know we have to
  do something.  And I said you know?  We are all
  talking about the same thing.  Why don't we come
  together?  Why don't we come together with an
  organization, and I don't care who wants to be involved
  in it.  You'll have to select some people and I hope you
  do that.  Let's develop an action agenda before we
  leave tomorrow on ten things we can do.  Ten things,
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 things that we want Congress to do.  And if we go to
 Congress and ask for some money, we can do it, ladies
 and gentlemen.  Because you individuals are motivated
 and I'll tell you, Congress and a bipartisan basis, I
 talked to them, they want to do something about
 healthcare in America and about prevention.
 Let's do something in regards to communication.  Let's
 get the right people and media together.  They can do
 some programs.  And we can highlight it all across
  America.  Let's do something for healthy cities and get
  everybody together and let's go and get an action
  agenda and let's work on that action agenda.  Let's
  have ten items, and let's have a summit each year and
  find out how well we're doing on a report card and
  how well we're doing on improving the quality of health
  of every American.  That's what this convention is all B.
  and with your help we can do it.  You are 1,000
  messengers all across America.  You're the individuals
  with the passion, the compassion, the intellect and the
  ability, you know what has to be done.  Now let's go
  out and do it, ladies and gentlemen.
  (Applause.)
  How excited I am about what we can do together as
  partners to make it happen.  And I did want to mention
  just a bit about AIDS, because they came in.  We have
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 a serious problem in the world on HIV/AIDS.  I have
 been to Africa.  Chairman of the global AIDS fund
 currently.  And here in America we do not recognize
 the problem as much as we used to.  And we have got
 to make sure that we do not let down our vigilance.
 But we also have to let America know about this
 insidious disease until we find a vaccine or find a
 treatment that is going to prevent it.  I've been to
 Africa.  I've been to Botswana where 37 percent of the
  country is infected.  The country is going to have a very
  difficult time surviving.  As a lot of countries are, when
  you have that number of people infected.  Therefore, if
  those countries start failing, that's going to be a
  tremendous economic problem for the United States
  and for the world economy.
  And that's why it's important that the United States of
  America to stand up and take this fight on, just like we
  are taking on the fight on prevention.  And we need to
  you go out and carry that message as well, ladies and
  gentlemen.  And I know that you will and I thank you
  very much for that.
  (Applause.)
  And finally -- and finally, my other cause that I'm
  fighting on right now, besides prevention and many
  others is my quest to build women and children's clinics
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 in Afghanistan.  I'm going to Afghanistan on Easter
 Sunday to open up our first clinic.  I was there in
 October.  And I was absolutely horrified to find out that
 16 percent of the babies in that country die in childbirth.
 It's the worst country in the world for maternal health,
 maternal deaths.  One out of four children die before
 age 5.  And I sent three expatriots over there before I
 went in October, individuals who were born, raised,
 and educated in Afghanistan, now practicing medicine
  in the United States.  They went back there.  They
  made an assessment for me.  And they found out that
  there are no medical -- really very few medical facilities
  for women and children because the Taliban destroyed
  them.
  They destroyed the laboratories, the equipment in the
  medical schools.  And I decided then that it would be
  wonderful for America to stand up and build maternal
  children clinics.  We can show the Muslim world that
  the United States of America cares for women and
  children.  And what a way to show the difference
  between the Arab world, like Iraq and like the Taliban
  and like the Al-Queada, they are peddling hatred and
  we come back and do what is right for the women and
  children.  I came back and we got money to build the
  first clinic and we are going back there on Easter
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 Sunday and opening up the first clinic.  And I'm taking
 some expatriots back with me and they are going to
 teach midwifery so that the women will be able to teach
 other women how to birth and raise children.  And I tell
 you this, because there are so many wonderful things,
 wonderful people, wonderful corporations and
 wonderful things happening in America.
 And for those individuals who want to come in and
 demonstrate.  That's well, that's their American right.
  But I want to tell you there is so much good going on in
  this world and in this country, and if we keep doing it,
  ladies and gentlemen, we can improve the quality of
  health of every American, but we can also improve the
  quality of health of citizens worldwide.  That's why I got
  in to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
  With what we are doing, we can do so much more.  So
  ladies and gentlemen, you're 1,000 messengers.
  You're individuals that can carry this message all across
  America.  And we need your help.  And together,
  ladies and gentlemen, we can improve it so the quality
  of health of ever American and hopefully every person
  that lives in the world is better tomorrow than it is
  today.
  That's why you're in healthcare.  That's why you're in
  prevention.  That's why I'm Secretary.  So it's partners,
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 ladies and gentlemen, as partners we have a great
 opportunity to continue to improvement.  So God love
 you and God love the United States of America.  So
 thank you very much.
 (Applause.)
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