As a father; as an educator; as a caring citizen; it means a great deal to have this opportunity to think and talk with you about things that matter - about the importance of improving economic and financial literacy. Besides, I get to do it in Hawaii!

I can't help thinking of the story of the 5th grader who was assigned to do an essay on Socrates. This was a fairly daunting task for a 10 year-old, so off he went, as many of us used to, to the encyclopedia, to see what he could find. And this is what he wrote:

"Socrates was a very wise man who lived in ancient Greece. He knew everybody and everything. He went around telling everyone everything he knew. They poisoned him."

I hope you will not be so tempted this evening.

It is an honor to join with our affiliated Hawaii Council on Economic Education to salute a great citizen, a statesman, a champion of economic and financial literacy - Senator Daniel Akaka.

As the President and CEO of the National Council on Economic Education, I am in Washington regularly. I can confirm for you what you already know; Senator Akaka is and has been a tireless advocate for education both during his tenure in the House, and in the Senate. In 1988, as a member of the House, Senator Akaka was instrumental in securing the enactment of The Native Hawaiian Education Act which sought to raise the educational services available to Native Hawaiians through supplemental programs and services for curriculum development, pre-schools, gifted and talented programs, special education and higher education.

As a member of the Senate, in 1994, his leadership on The Native Hawaiian Education Act continued as the Act was amended and expanded to include community-based learning centers, curriculum development and teacher training and recruitment components - all essential elements of a comprehensive education program.

In 1999, after learning about the NCEE's study on the lack of financial literacy among adults and students in America, Senator Akaka realized that economic and financial literacy should be a fundamental element of our K-12 curriculum. But the Senator didn't give a speech about this important subject; he acted. He introduced legislation which focused on economic education later that year, but with the coming Presidential election, the Senate session drew to a close without much substantive action on any legislation. The arrival of a new session of Congress in 2000 reinvigorated the Senator's efforts as he reintroduced his legislation, titled the Excellence in Economic Education Act, and worked diligently for its enactment. As the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was under consideration on the Senate floor, Sen. Akaka skillfully offered the Excellence in Economic Education Act as an amendment to what became known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. But Sen. Akaka did not stop there. He made sure that his amendment remained in the final conference agreement, which was subsequently signed into law by President Bush in January 2002. For this extraordinary and persistent effort, Senator, we thank you.

All of us in this room tonight know how important these programs are to the overall educational foundation of today's students and adults, but the Senator's own words seem to capture the essence of what we do best. In February of last year the Senator said: "Increased education about basic economic concepts will help people to make better financial decisions and increase opportunities for participation in today's global economy. All citizens need to be prepared, starting from youth, to make informed decisions regarding fundamental undertakings such as purchasing a first home, financing a college education and saving for a comfortable retirement."

The Senator's work continues today. Most recently, Sen. Akaka successfully guided a bipartisan effort with 23 Senate cosponsors to designate April 2003 as "Financial Literary for Youth Month" to further raise public awareness about the need for increased financial literary initiatives in our schools.

There is a saying in Washington that there are workhorses and show horses in the Congress. Sen. Akaka is clearly in the workhorse category.

As you know, Senator Akaka is no stranger to education. It has been his life's work.

As a teacher, assistant principal, and principal, Senator Akaka began instilling these fundamental concepts of economic responsibility in his students and those efforts continue on a national scale today. Who could be a better advocate for financial literacy, but the former Director of the Hawaii State Office of Economic Opportunity? Senator Akaka's entire professional career has been dedicated to education and helping those in our society that need the most help. These goals are the shared goals of the National Council on Economic Education and our Hawaii Council on Economic Education, and it is for these reasons that I am so pleased to be able to join you tonight to honor one of Hawaii's best.

To show what a real admirer I am of Senator Akaka, in 2000, when he was up for re-election, I told Melissa Unemori Hampe that I would be willing to take a leave-of-absence from the National Council on Economic Education to come to Hawaii - any excuse, to come to Hawaii! - and hand out brochures for him. But clearly, given the tremendous support of the people of Hawaii, the Senator didn't need my help!

Our topic this evening is economic and financial literacy. Someone once said that if a talk about economics didn't leave you thoroughly confused, you weren't listening.

I think we can solve that problem by skipping esoteric economic theory and cutting right to the immortal words of the celebrated actor, Cuba Gooding: "Show me the money."

A good place to start. Everybody is interested in money. There probably aren't too many of us who don't wish we had more of it. Undoubtedly, there are more than a few people in the wider world who could benefit from knowing what to do with it.

Getting to money requires making choices - about all that money represents: prosperity, security, comfort, power, status, survival.

So let me share with you something that concerns me greatly.

We conducted a national poll - we being the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) - with the Lou Harris organization. The poll results exposed America as a nation of economic and financial illiterates. In response to questions about basics in economics and personal finance, overall, adults got an average grade of 57% correct, while high school students scored only 45% correct.

We don't know how the world works that we go to work in.

We don't know the difference between a budget deficit and the national debt. Apparently, quite a few of us don't know that you can't retire on good looks!

And what we don't know can hurt us.

Suppose I told you that nearly half the people in the United States could not read. You would have trouble believing me. A 50% literacy rate would place the world's richest and most powerful nation - where every child is guaranteed an education - well below Botswana and Mongolia.

Unthinkable. And yet, astoundingly, this is true for economic and financial literacy, a skill as necessary as reading for success in today's world.

What happens to those of us who begin our adult lives without basic economic and financial literacy?

• We fail to adequately save and invest. An estimated 30% of Americans have not put anything aside for retirement.

• Our credit cards turn into unmanageable debt and bankruptcy - and we're maxing out those credit cards at younger and younger ages. How many college students know that paying the minimum each month on that new credit card means you'll never pay it off?

• We make poor purchasing decisions.

• We fail to calculate the real cost of products and services.

• We are vague, if not ignorant, about how public policy affects our pocketbooks.

Too many people are assuming too much.

If we want a prosperous society, if we want a competitive workforce, if we want the world today and tomorrow to make sense to our young people, the key - and I don't have to tell you this; I know I'm preaching to the choir! - is education.

We have to add basic, practical, and applied principles of economics and personal finance to what we teach our young people. In fact, we have to place it much more at the center, in the core, of what we teach, so that people have a grounding, a framework for making good decisions in their lives, as workers, consumers, investors, and above all, as responsible and ethical citizens. It needs to start when they're young, in school, with well- trained and well-equipped teachers.

So how are we doing?

To establish baseline and benchmark data, in anticipation of the first-ever National Assessment of Educational Progress in Economics to be conducted in 2006, the National Council on Economic Education has just conducted a Survey of the States, a Report Card on the Nation, which was published in April - "Financial Literacy for Youth Month."

This Report Card was done at the end of 2002. It identifies the states that have education standards to promote economic and financial literacy, whether these standards are required to be implemented or assessed, whether courses are required to be offered to students and/or required for high school graduation, and which states do testing and assessment in these areas.

We're making some progress in Economics, not so much so in Personal Finance.

In recent years, the number of states having economics standards has grown. In 1998, thirty-eight states included economics in their standards. By 2002, that number had grown to 48 states, plus the District of Columbia - the 2 hold-outs are Iowa and Rhode Island.

Hawaii has content standards that include economics and mandates that the standards be implemented. Personal finance education presently makes a poorer showing. Considering the sustained media interest in applied personal finance education, the NCEE findings for 2002 are somewhat surprising. Standards for personal finance education exist in only 17 states. Only four states, New York, Kentucky, Idaho and Illinois, currently require students to complete a course that covers personal finance before graduating from high school.

Hawaii includes Personal Finance concepts in Economics and Career and Life Skills standards - so you're on the right track! However, in 1988, 24% of Hawaii's high school students were exposed to an Economics course before they graduated; in 2002, this number had dropped to 5.1% - so there is urgent and important work for you and all the Hawaii Council on Economic Education to do!

What we need to do, rather urgently, is elevate Economics, including Personal Financial Decision-Making Skills, to be the fourth "R" in education: Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic... and the Real World.

We live in a rapidly changing world and globally interconnected economy. Understanding this world - the "real" world - is essential for surviving, let alone thriving, in it.

Consider, for instance, the changing world of work and workforce preparation and the changing concept of "net worth":

Basketball legend Michael Jordan's income, including various businesses and $40 million dollars in endorsements, adds up to about $2.00 every second. Whether he's working - or playing - or not. Day and night. In 2001, he made more than twice as much as all past U.S. Presidents for all of their terms combined. But, if Jordan sustained that income and saved every penny of it for the next 250 years, he'd still have less money than Bill Gates has today.

Gives a whole new meaning to the term "career path," doesn't it?

We know that this is not a world in which it's advisable to lurch from paycheck to paycheck, hoping you'll somehow figure out how to manage retirement.

• It's a world in which more and more working people are managing their investments themselves, using the Internet.

• It's a world in which international policy decisions directly affect our standard of living.
• It's a world in which our children need to learn the skills that will help them make good choices-choices that will prevent them from being left behind.

• It's a world in which that fourth "R" is a compelling challenge, and it's high time we focused on it, on purpose.

The cost of illiteracy in any form is too high - but economic and financial illiteracy could cost us our future. But when we make economics and personal financial decision-making skills the fourth "R" in education, we give our children survival skills to manage the 21st century.

Not a bad legacy. And an absolutely necessary one.

So the Board and staff and nationwide Network of State Councils and University Centers of the National Council on Economic Education salute the Hawaii Council on this splendid occasion. Keep up the good work! We need you!

And together we gratefully salute Senator Daniel Akaka. I am pleased and proud to present this plaque to him as "a Champion of Economic and Financial Literacy."

Thank you, Senator.

And thank you all!