FINANCIAL LITERACY DAY ON CAPITOL HILL April 22, 2004 Aloha. Welcome to Capitol Hill for our second annual event on financial and economic literacy. The theme for this event seems to be growth, and I am very pleased about that. I was impressed by the quality of last year's exhibition and the good turnout for Financial Literacy for Youth Day. However, I am doubly impressed by the increased number of participants in this year's Financial Literacy Day event, and I thank all of you for being here. Even the number of sponsors for the event have doubled, and I commend Jump$tart, NCEE, Junior Achievement, and the Goldman Sachs Foundation for making today's event possible. All of this increased attention seems to bear out the argument that financial and economic literacy is indeed an important issue, and that it is important for people of all ages, not simply for youth. As a former teacher, I continue to emphasize the importance of starting individuals on the path to financial and economic literacy when they are young and forming habits and methods of making decisions that will stay with them all their lives. I also believe that we must focus on ensuring that adults have the necessary tools to obtain for themselves the means to reach financial contentment or self-sufficiency, protect themselves from abusive marketing practices and schemes, and, in turn, be able to pass on to their children valuable lessons in terms of good money management practices and economic decisionmaking. I am pleased that we have Financial Literacy Month to highlight and expand successful efforts in this area. I would like to note progress that is occurring in Hawaii. First of all, I cosponsored a successful Economic and Financial Literacy Conference last year in August with the Hawaii Council on Economic Education that brought interested public, private, and nonprofit entities together to understand where Hawaii stands and what we can do as we move forward. I am pleased to report that, as a result of a conference recommendation, the Council is now working on a coalition for Hawaii– including financial institutions, business, state entities, and organizations such as Junior Achievement–that will focus on bringing financial and economic literacy to more students and adults. I look forward to the second annual conference, which is scheduled for November 4th. Last week, the Council welcomed double the number of students for its economics challenge event above the 2003 attendance record, and triple the number of participants in the Hawaii Stock Market Simulation. It also facilitated student participation in the most recent Jump$tart survey that should produce very real, comparable results for the Council to act on. Finally, the Council's efforts seem to have successfully defended against a threat to K-12 economics and personal finance education when the Board of Education signaled that it will not reduce the number of social studies credits required for graduation from four to three, which would have effectively kept students from signing up for an elective economics or personal finance course. I am very pleased by these reports of great progress being made towards increased financial and economic literacy in my home state, which I know is being paralleled in other states in our great Nation. I invite Hill staffers who are here today to speak to exhibitors to find out what is happening on the ground in their states, and determine how your office can aid these important efforts. In closing, I would like to thank everyone here for their commitment and dedication to financial literacy. Mahalo nui loa, thank you very much, and enjoy the event today.