June 12, 2020

We only have 330 million people in this country.  Sounds like a lot of people, but compared to China, it’s a quarter of what they have; India, it’s a quarter of what they have.  And we have to compete with them in the future.  So we need to develop all of our people.

And, you know, education, in particular, played a big role in my development.  I was not a particularly good student — and that’s putting it mildly.  Everybody thought I was stupid, except my mother.  (Laughter.)  She was always saying, “Benjamin, you can bring home much better grades than this.”  But I would agree that I could, but I didn’t.

But interestingly enough, you know, my mother studied the homes of the — that she cleaned as a domestic.  She came from nothing — my mother.  Twenty-four, children, got married when she was 13, dire poverty, discovered her husband was a bigamist.  But she was still smart enough to study those people who had these beautiful homes.  And she figured that the reason they did so well is because they were well educated and they read a lot, and they didn’t watch a lot of TV.

So she came home and imposed that on me and my brother.  (Laughter.)  And we were not happy campers, let me tell you.  If it were today’s world, we would have called social services and they’d taken her away.  (Laughter.)

But — but what a difference it made, you know, starting to focus on education, starting to read books, to read about people from lots of different backgrounds — entrepreneurs and scientists and explorers and surgeons.  And I begin to recognize that the person who has the most to do with what happens to you is you.  It’s not somebody else.  And nobody can stop you once you decide that that is the case.  (Applause.)

And that’s why, with the council, there is so much emphasis on education, because it doesn’t matter where you came from — you get a good education and you write your own ticket.  And we must reject those people who are trying to prevent school choice, who are trying to prevent the presidential scholarships, all the things that are there to empower people.  And you will see a lot of that coming out of this administration.

And, you know, these investments and innovation give me a tremendous amount of hope for the future of this nation.  Mr. President, under your leadership, I’m confident that the American people will emerge stronger from this pandemic and more determined than ever.  And we, the people, will recognize, despite all the forces to the contrary, that we are not each other’s enemies.  And — (applause) —

THE PRESIDENT:  That’s great.  Thank you, Ben.  Boy, that was pretty good.  Standing O for Ben.  (Laughter.)  He’s used to that.  He’s used to it.  Great job, Ben.  He’s done a fantastic job at HUD, I have to tell you that.