. Page 1 . >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the last session of the summit. I'd like to say we can have the-- all the balls stop and the fun and games end although I think we'll have more fun and games going on here in the next hour. And we very much appreciate you attending this last session. We are approaching the finish line, to continue with the sports cliches. My name is Christine Brennan. As a sports columnist for USA Today, and over my career as an on-air commentator for ABC News and ESPN, I have had the privilege of covering many sporting events, including the Olympic games. It's an honor to be here today. To start the afternoon, let's hear from Secretary Thompson. (Applause) >>HONORABLE TOMMY G. THOMPSON: Hello. I'm Tommy Thompson, secretary of Health and Human Services. Welcome to our athletes united for prevention session. I'm so thrilled that we have some great athletes here today, who truly exemplify the value of physical activity. President Bush and I strongly believe that the role of government is to protect the freedom of all people, to be able to take steps, to be able to improve . Page 2 . their own individual health. And these wonderful athletes are helping us to get the message out that even small steps can help us achieve better health for ourselves. Now, here are some public service announcements of how athletes are playing such a valuable role in promoting healthy behavior for our children. (Music) >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: As I said, it's quite an honor for me to be up here today with our distinguished panel, and we're thrilled that you're here with us. We thought it would be an important-- it would be important, as part of the prevention summit, to profile some people who have shown that through their personal responsibility of leading healthy lives, outstanding human performance can be achieved. From affecting teammates to inspiring athletes to motivating fans to reaching out to individuals, these panelists before you here today have truly defined how leading a Healthy Lifestyle can impact themselves and others. As I said, we have six panelists here today to share a few thoughts on their athletic experiences. Our first panelist is a vicepresident of the women's united soccer association, and is responsible for helping to build the first ever professional women's soccer league. . Page 3 . Additionally, she is the first woman to serve as an assistant coach for any of U.S. soccer's national teams. Listen to this resume. She helped coach the U.S. team when it captured the 1991FEFA women's World Cup championship in China, the 1995 women's World Cup in Sweden, and more recently, the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta. You also may remember something that happened in the summer of 1999, one of the most magical moments in the history of women's sports, the 1999 U.S. women's World Cup soccer team's triumph in the rose bowl, a packed rose bowl, 100,000 people. Well, she was there too. Again, assistant coach of that very, very famous Women's Soccer Team. Her personal credentials are also impressive. She earned a master's degree from Harvard, and an undergraduate degree from the University of NorthCarolina. Having served on the President's Council of physical fitness and sports, please welcome Lauren Gregg. (Applause) >>LAUREN GREGG: Thank you very much, Christine. Christine was a great supporter of ours and we go a long way back so it's wonderful to share the stage with her as well-- as well as many of my colleagues here in the effort to lead us to a . Page 4 . healthier nation. And I want to thank you for giving us this opportunity to share a few thoughts with you because you guys are the spokes, you are the heart and beat of helping us ensure the next decade is a healthier one. I think we have a very common goal. When I had the opportunity to speak today, I thought back about, you know, where we are common. In 1999, as Christine alluded to, we won the prestigious women's World Cup in front of a hundred thousand people, and I'm certainly very proud of that moment and it's something I've spent decades working to as an athlete and as a coach, but I'll never forget looking out into the stands and seeing the faces of young boys and young girls and knowing at that moment something had changed. And what had changed is, for the first time these young boys and girls were going to grow up in a different culture than I had grown up, and I was so proud to know that I played some small role in that. When I grew up, there weren't any organized sports teams for girls until I was in high school, and in fact, many of my national teammates, as well as myself, played with boys. In fact, I played for two years on the men's team in college before I transferred to the University of NorthCarolina, to win the first-ever national championship. And I think what's important about that . Page 5 . message is that it wasn't always that way, and when I began, we actually had very few events leading up to the first-ever World Cup. In fact, one or two a year was fairly average. And what it forced us to do was to take responsibility for our own development, and this is the beginning of the commonality of what we share, is that we need to try to empower people to take responsibility for their own health. And it begins in small steps and I think this initiative is fabulous, because often people stop because they see where they are and where they need to get as this huge gap, and if we focused on the four-year track to the World Cup and only focused on the endpoint, it would seem insurmountable. We were on the road 285 days the year we won the World Cup, and instead, we focused on the process. The process of becoming champions. And it is in the small steps that large gains can be made. And I think this is such an important message to the people of America to understand that they can affect their health. When we're trying to compete to win a World Cup or an Olympic games, the margin of victory as it was in-- from '91 through the '99 World Cup, was so small. We couldn't focus on worrying about being 20, 30% greater than the-- our components. We were worrying about a half a percent, one percent, so we . Page 6 . could be one percent fitter, you know, have our nutrition contribute half a percent, and so on and so forth. That amounted to victory. And similarly, if we can convince one person at a time that making these small changes, whether it's improving their nutrition or decreasing their stress or getting out with their kids, that that's going to make a difference and focus on the process, I think they, too, will be able to accomplish their goals of a healthier lifestyle. And it is about this margin of victory and the margin of victory is small, but the rewards are great. And I think my role with the U.S. team-- and every time I've spoken with young people-- is trying to empower them. What I've often found is people want to get to where we want them to be. They want to be healthier. But they often don't know how to get there. And I think a common mistake we make is to assume, as coaches, our players know where to go and as maybe health care providers or health care public assistants we assume people know how to get there. So I think a key role in this is education, and empowerment. The more we can empower people, the we are they'll be able to take responsibility for who they are and who they become. And in turn, encourage parents to be role models. We're entering into a generation of kids that have more . Page 7 . opportunities than they've ever had before to participate in sport, yet we see our children the least healthy they've been in some years, and obviously technology has been a huge advance, but I think our kids have lost a sense of play. Let's get our kids back out playing. And I think it begins with our parents. And I know I am now a parent and I have a 18-month-old child who watches me put my cookie in my mouth and wants that cookie and, you know, we can be great role models and don't think our kids don't emulate what our values are and aren't. And at the same time, we've come a long way. In 1988, we flew to Bulgaria, and when we got on the plane, the stewardess gets up and after they loaded all the luggage down the aisles, the stewardess goes smoking, nonsmoking, and literally on one half of the aisle, on each side, was dividing smoking and nonsmoking and needless to say, we were pulling our shirts over our faces to breathe for across that flight. So we've come a long way, and your work has been incredibly valuable and it needs to continue and just to believe that one step at a time, one person at a time, we can help each American and America become a healthier place. Thank you very much. (Applause) >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: . Page 8 . Lauren, thank you very much. Next, we have a hometown athlete from a nearby football team you just may have heard of called the Baltimore Ravens. Our panelist began his rookie year in the National Football League in 2002, playing safety. Prior to professional football, he played at SanDiego State University, starting his career there as a walk-on during his freshman year. Originally from Palmdale, California, we are very happy to have him in Baltimore. Please welcome Will Demps. (Applause) >>WILL DEMPS: Thank you, Christine. How you guys doing out there today? Are you doing good? Last session and everything, huh? (Laughter) >>WILL DEMPS: But today I want to talk to you about the healthier steps and leading a better lifestyle. As for me, it started at a young age. You know, I wasn't the skinniest, biggest kids. I was real-- you know, had fat potential. So the steps I took when I was a young kid was to get involved. You know, I got-- ask people, ask coaches, ask parents, what can I do to become a better person? For me, I wanted to be the athlete. I wanted to reach out there and just be a better person because I was a big kid. You . Page 9 . know, I was pretty hefty. I was pretty big. But that's a different situation. But... You know, I wanted to build my self-esteem because my self-esteem was real low. You know, other kids around me were skinnier, they were built different and I was wondering why. I asked my coach one day, I was like, why can't I be like that kid? It takes a lot of hard work, dedication and for me, I wanted to set goals to do that. So for me, I had to work hard. I started jogging, started losing weights, taking little steps. And asked people to get involved, how do I do certain things. Because I knew that was the steps to helping lead to a brighter future. You know, for me going into a college, I was a walk-on, like you said. I had to work hard because, I wasn't always the fastest person and I had take the steps to get there and for me to do that, I had to get involved and ask people how to get healthier because I wasn't eating right. You know, I was eating sugars, I'd drink a lot of sodas. You know, kids these days drink a lot of sodas and they sit around the couches and get A bees and I didn't like that. And for me, I wanted to go out there and tell people you don't have to eat those foods. The sugar in there just sits in your system and it comes into your system and you don't want that to happen. And for me, I took that to the next level and just worked out and got . Page 10 . involved. And with my profession, you can't do those things no more. You got to be involved. You got to be healthier. I want kids, people out there to know that if it wasn't for the steps I took to become healthier, I wouldn't be here today talking to you guys. It-- you got to get involved and let kids know that to build their self-esteem, you got to let them know the key steps, take them baby steps. I call them baby steps. The baby steps to take. You know, the first examples is start off, you got to eat out and you got to work out. It doesn't have to be hard. You know, play catch, play hide and go seek. That's what I did when I was a little kids. Heads up, 7-Up. Just kind of got involved. Because once you kind of get involved and work with other kids you kind of build your self-esteem up and then hey, mom, can I go outside and play and then start evolving and you can start doing things, you can see your kids and other people start to get involved. Because when you get to the age I'm at and get further, how is that going to affect my life? It's going to affect my life big because I knew those steps before that I don't want to be that person I was when I was a small kid, and-- and I always want to live a Healthy Lifestyle because I look good, feel good, so I play good and I can meet people and talk to people bus I know I feel good and work out . Page 11 . good and I think that's from me living a healthier lifestyle. So that's the key things I have for you guys today and I hope you guys had a good session this week, and thank you. (Applause) >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Thank you, Will. Our next athlete emerged as America's best woman distance swimmer during the early and mid- 1980s. She was a member of the U.S. swimming team at the 1984 LosAngeles Olympic games, winning a pair of gold medals in individual events, and setting two Olympic records in the process, and I might add I had the pleasure, as a young writer at the Miami herald, of covering every second of it. It was a delight to watch on those beautiful sun-splashed days in LosAngeles in July of 1984. Following her Olympic triumphs, they enrolled in the University of Texas, adding even more titles to an already accomplished career. Now a member of the international swimming hall of fame, it's an honor to introduce to you Tiffany Cohen. (Applause) >>TIFFANY COHEN: Thank you, Christine, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. And might I add, even though the last time . Page 12 . we met was 19 years ago, neither one of us look any different, right? (Laughter) >>TIFFANY COHEN: All because we've taken steps to be healthier. Anyways, I'm very pleased to be here today. As far back as I can remember, physical fitness has been a part of my life. From the moment I took my first few steps to when I was running after my older brother so I could keep up and stay in his hair and keep bugging him. Finally, I think it took its toll at home and in order to get some peace and harmony, my mom got me involved in sports. And from the time I took my first dive into the pool, I can remember what an impact physical fitness and athleticism has been on my life. It's really empowered me, has increased my self-esteem, and that's really what I share with people when I go around and speak. For me, I was doing what other-- willing to do whatever it took to be successful as an athlete. I trained anywhere from 30 to 35 hours a week and that's what I needed to do to achieve my goals. And in the athletic culture, sometimes people can take it a step too far. We don't listen to our bodies, we push ourselves to extremes, and that's something that I have done. In order to actually-- actually in college after the Olympics, I had a goal weight . Page 13 . that my coach wanted me to meet and I took it a step too far and developed bulimia as an effort to reach my goal wait and there's many reasons-- I'm sure everyone can relate to the fact that everywhere we look today, we're constantly bombarded by in ideal image of thinness and people sometimes take it to extremes. And I think there's a very big difference out there in the athletic culture or just when you're trying to be fit. There's appearance thinness and there's also performance thinness. So for me, basically my message is that I had realized that when I was in recovery for my eating disorder, that I wanted to lead an active, healthy life, and I went from one extreme of being active and healthy as an elite athlete to being very unhealthy and very weak. And so when my message when I talk to people, high school and college students about eating-related issues is about establishing a balance. And sometimes more is-- is not always better. And I think I've made a commitment to myself and the people that I speak to and my children that when you get out there and you're working out, it shouldn't be, necessarily, about how you look or how you appear, but how you-- how you feel inside about how it makes you feel, how it increases your self-esteem, how it empowers you. And this is what you can relate to your people when-- when you speak to them and talk to them about . Page 14 . taking steps to be a healthier U.S. I know it's really helped me, having competed in a couple of triathlons in the last couple years, two-and-a- half iron man's and various other Sprint triathlons. I wouldn't have been able to do it if it was about how I felt versus how I look. Because I think people are willing to go to extremes to look good today regardless of how we feel tomorrow. And in my family, there is a history of obesity, and there's diabetes, and when I lost my dad to heart disease in his 50s, that's when I made my personal commitment. And when I talk to my kids-- I have a 5 and a 7-year-old-- one of the things that I do is I tell them that, you know, we can go out instead of driving to the store to pick up a few things, we can ride our bikes, or we can go for a walk and, you know, they don't know the difference when they're out there exercising, having fun, playing hide and go seek, running after a ball, you know, playing tag with their friends. They don't know. And so if fitness is related to having fun, then they are going to go out there and participate in athletics. And I think just as athletics performing and training was important in my success as an athlete, I think that being physically fit and taking steps to be healthier can really affect our performance in life. Thank you. (Applause) . Page 15 . >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Tiffany, thank you very much. Our next panelist was honored as the 2002 Chevy young male athlete of the year, one of world soccer magazine's top 100 rising stars in the year 2000, and ESPN, the magazine's, next 2001 athlete for soccer. Clearly, we have a panelist with a bright future. At age 17, he became the third youngest player in the U.S. men's soccer national team history to earn a full cap when he played against Mexico. In 2000, he made his rookie debut for the DC united, where he became the youngest player to appear in a major-league soccer game. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Bobby Convey. (Applause) >>BOBBY CONVEY: Thank you. All those things sound pretty impressive to me, actually. I mean, I'm very happy that I could-- I mean, I've never heard someone say all those things before, so-- (Laughter) >>BOBBY CONVEY: It's-- I mean, so far, everyone up here has-- we all have the same thing in mind here. We wouldn't be able to do the stuff we do if we weren't healthy. We-- I-- I'm learning, just like every one of you and I'm sure all the . Page 16 . athletes did, Ms.Cohen I guess that's what I have to call you. In those pictures, she was my age, so-- (Laughter) >>BOBBY CONVEY: I just-- (Laughter) >>BOBBY CONVEY: I-- I'm learning right now-- I mean she looks pretty cute in those pictures, though. (Laughter) >>BOBBY CONVEY: No. Just it was-- (Laughter) >>BOBBY CONVEY: They-- no, I mean, it was just-- it's just one of those things where for her as a swimmer, it was-- it's just incredibly, I guess-- I don't want to say-- not impossible, but it's-- she has to be so. (audio difficulties) >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: In the 1993 world championships in track and field, his team in the 4-x-4 hundred relay set a world record with a time of 2 minutes 54.29 seconds. That's pretty fast. Now, an associate head coach for Georgetown University's men's and women's track and field teams, he . Page 17 . helped lead the men's team to back to back indoor and outdoor ECAC championship titles. (audio difficulties). >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: -- guy and very fast young man, Andrew Valmon. (Applause) (audio difficulties) >>ANDREW VALMON: What I believe in every day in my life, which is I'm going to echo what Tiffany said, which is balance and moderation. I think when you go through life, if you can have some semblance of balance and moderation, you can go ahead and do anything you want to do in life. You know, we all want to be perfect and drink 8 glasses of water but really and truly to do that, you got to start from somebody. We all want to run a marathon but we have to be able to run a mile or walk a mile. You guys probably have no idea how big that is, and I think one of the reasons that we're all successful in life, and especially in our sports, is because someone took the time to say, "Good job," to say thank you, and they acknowledged that we were doing something that was right. And through sports, and a healthier lifestyle, that's something that we can bestow upon for the rest of the world to say that we can be better in everything that we do. I think . Page 18 . one of the things that this audience should take from this is that you guys can empower the young minds to do something else. We definitely need physical fitness back in the schools. It's not there just to make us faster, better and stronger, but it's also an opportunity to give us some balance. What I see every day on the college life is when my athletes are injured, their grades suffer. They're miserable, they have notify way for an outlet. But when they come back off the injured list, the grades come back, their self-esteem is there, and that balance is one of the things that I think will take them far in life. And I think one of the things that we all have in common, especially from hearing everyone, is that we try to have a balance. We try to live life. We're not always perfect, but we try to do it one day at a time and I just want to say one thing, which is the most important thing, that if you have balance, you can do anything you want. Thank you. (Applause) >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Andrew is fast. I think that was the quickest yet, Andrew. (Laughter) >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Thank you. That was terrific. Thanks. Our final panelist is described as practically being born . Page 19 . on skis. She began at 3 years old and was racing by the ripe old age of 7. Her sites were set on the Olympics until she veered off course and crashed into a tree. Crushing her back and becoming a paraplegic. But this didn't stop her. Oh, no! After graduating as the valedictorian of her high school class and receiving a degree from Stanford, she returned to skiing. As a member of the UnitedStates disabled ski team, she won three silver medals in the 2002 Paralympics two World Cup titles in 2001 and 2002, a bronze medal at the Paralympic games in 1998 and the list goes on and on. She is a founding member of sun valley adaptive sports, a program designed to provide recreational opportunities to individuals with disabilities. Ladies and gentlemen, an inspiration to all of us, Muffy Davis. (Applause) >>MUFFY DAVIS: Thank you, Christine, and thank you, everyone, for having me here. It's an absolute honor to be up on stage with the elite and quality athletes that we have here. I learned at a young age how fleeting and how precious health and life are. Fortunately, I survived, and I was able to get back out there. And I have to thank my parents because they got me involved in athletics and . Page 20 . sports at a young age, where I set my lifetime goal at 8 years old to go to the Olympics. And I knew that it was out there competing, skiing racing, whatever it was that I was doing, it was on the athletic field, playing sports, where I was truly free and my spirit was free. And so when I had my accident at 16, I knew I had to get back out there. I knew that that's where I was going to find my freedom and my peace. And fortunately I was still able to get back out and accomplish that lifelong dream and goal, and go to the Paralympics where I won my medals. I learned that I had to be creative and find another solution, that life and health are fleeting, that we have to take advantage of each and every day. We only get this one chance to do it, so we'd better make it the best we can. And I'm very thankful that I was able to accomplish that dream and that goal and go on, and still every day, I realize how precious life is and that we have to wake up and do the best we can with each and every day. Keep getting out there. Stay active. Make it the best that we can. Finally, I'd like to say what's most important is people with disabilities like to think and often society enables them to sit back and not be active, to just be complacent and steady. And I think it's just as important, if not more . Page 21 . important, for people with some kind of physical ailment or disability to stay as active as possible. I like to say that nowadays it's a great time to be disabled because truly, I believe if you can dream it, you can achieve it. There are people out there that can help you accomplish any of your dreams. And if you have a desire that you'd like to try and do, you can get out and accomplish it and I'm so happy to see in some of the promos, advertisements, kids with wheelchairs out there playing and participating because they need to see representatives and models and role models that they can get out and be active. And so I urge you all to go out and to continue seizing the opportunity and pushing everyone to be the best that they can be, and don't let anyone have an excuse. Make them be their best. Make them get up. It doesn't have to be reaching for the top of the Olympic podium. It's each and every day, one step, like all the athletes mentioned today. It's balance, it's moderation, but it's doing the best with what you have each and every day, and seizing the moment and realizing how precious life truly is. Thank you so much for being here, and I wish you all the best and go out there and-- we set our goal, now let's reach for it. (Applause) >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: . Page 22 . Muffy, thank you. Thanks very much. Also terrific. Each message individually and collectively, obviously, of the entire group here has got a lot of things to tell us. We're lucky that we have a few extra minutes so we have time for questions. That being my job. I thought we would start out with those who are no longer currently playing, and for those of us weekend warriors in the audience, if you could, in a very few sentences, each of you talk about what you do now to stay active and healthy. If we-- do we have-- well, why don't you start, Muffy. >>MUFFY DAVIS: Sure. I just retired from competitive sports last year and I realized how challenging it is when you get into the business world and every day seems to eat up all your moments. What I made the effort is to make small steps and it's walking my dog, it's getting out there, it's maintaining that if I don't do it today, I may not be able to do it tomorrow. So keep doing it each and every day and working the best that I can. >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Andrew? >>ANDREW VALMON: I proclaim that I'm Tiger Woods. . Page 23 . (Laughter) >>ANDREW VALMON: I dressed the part. I can't play well but I can dress and I can go hit some balls and I'm on the track every day with the kids and so that's a balance for me just to get automatic and do something different, you know, just to look at another side of life. (Laughter) >>FEMALE SPEAKER: Well, I'm pretty active just chasing my kids around, basically. That's the deal. But when I'm not in meetings and working all day, I try to squeeze in, whether it be 20 minutes at the gym on the treadmill or just going for a bike ride with my kids. I really just try to make it part of my recommended daily allowance of activity that I need to do each day, or as many days in each week, to feel good. And sometimes I'm not competing in swimming anymore and not really competing in triathlon but I still truly enjoy getting out there and running and biking, so when I do have the time, when I can't get out there for-- or actually when I can get out there for a couple hours, I take advantage of it, and just do it recreationally and push my body until it gets to a point where it doesn't feel good anymore. That's it. >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: . Page 24 . Lauren? >>LAUREN GREGG: I also am chasing around my little 18 month old going on 15, I think. But I do a lot of cross-training, actually. I'm very fortunate. I actually fractured my back about two years ago and spent two years in a wheelchair so I took a lot of steps to get back to where I am as well and I do a lot of cross-training which I think is very important. I think the young kids today that are forced into these year-round programs, it's really, really important to cross-train them. We really advocate it. Even with our national team program, at the level we're training at, it prevents injuries, it helps injure longevity as an athlete, and I love tennis and walking and biking and I think the key even for all of you, just to take care of your own health because you're so conscious of helping everyone else and taking care of so many other people, is to make sure it's part of your day. And I think sometimes we forget to take care of ourselves, and the leadership adage is, take care of yourself first so you can take care others. So make sure you're caverning out time each day for yourself and next. >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Will, we'll go to you next, will and Bobby, for the current-day athletes. How do you stay in shape year- . Page 25 . round and how do you fight off the human tendency to say oh, the season's over, it's time to relax and eat bonbons. >>WILL DEMPS: That's funny but for me just coming back to Baltimore was hard because it's cold. You know, my body just wanted to stay inside and sleep. So little things for me just like for me, I do a 20 minute run and come back, just kind of burn some fat, knowing that after 20 minutes, your body fat is going to start burning. And go to the gym, take some boxing classes. You know, gyms these days have a lot of activities you can go do, yoga, boxing, kickboxing. There's a lot of various activities you can do to become involved in the winter. And you know, I use every day as a tan day, you know, go out and run, go on the shore or something out here. It's not a beach like in California, but just do some, you know, productive things so I can kind much just get-- you know, get ready for the season because the season itself is going to come around soon and I've always got to be active and do my body right and that's the example that I always use sometimes. >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Thanks. Bobby? >>BOBBY CONVEY: Right now, I-- like I said before, I play on four different . Page 26 . teams so I don't really have an off season. I'm in the middle of-- when I-- well, when my professional team, DC United, has their off season, I travel with a national team. I play on the under 20 national team, the Olympic team and then the full men's team, so I have been traveling the last five months. I've probably been here in- - well, not in Baltimore but in DC for about a month for the last five months, so I just-- my days, I just make sure that I have a couple days that I can rest, actually, because I train so much that when I come back, I have a trainer that I just go to the gym and just keep in shape, just ride the bikes a little bit. I just don't-- I just don't over- exhaust myself because I train so much throughout the year. >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: All right. Thank you. I am getting word that we should-- we should call it quits here. I wanted to say on behalf of all of you, thank you so much. It's-- what wonderful answers and what terrific role models. Don't you agree? (Applause) >>CHRISTINE BRENNAN: So thank you. We have role models like the athletes here today speaking out on the importance of physical activity. We may all not be world-class athletes, but as you have heard, throughout the summit, small healthy changes over . Page 27 . time can yield extraordinary results in achievements of all areas of life. Again, we say thank you to you and thank you to our panel, and now I'll turn the event over to Dr.Carmona. (Applause) >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA: Good afternoon and thank you and thank you to our young athletes for spending some time with us and showing us-- well, actually, we're so proud of you. Thank you. That's really what I wanted to say. Thanks so much. You know, after this two days, I am so happy that I am a recovering surgeon now. I'll tell you. And hanging out with public health people after all these years. I want to make a couple of closing comments but before I do, I think it's real important that-- this has been-- in talking to all of you, and a lot of the people who aren't here now-- and I understand they had to leave-- and others, it's a beautiful day and they're working on prevention along the waterfront and such-- (Laughter) >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA: But I-- I have just been thrilled with the remarks. I mean, everybody's inspired. I mean, gosh, Secretary Thompson was absolutely incredible. I mean, I put him in . Page 28 . that category with Denise Austin. We shouldn't give him caffeinated beverages anymore. Just so enthusiastic about prevention. But in-- in just sidebar conversations with all of you, everybody seems to be sensing the same thing, that this is a very critical juncture in our administration, in our-- in this time, that we are embarking on this prevention. Now, for most of you who have been doing prevention for years like I have, it's not a big deal. But finally, our time has come. And as many of you know, there are wonderful ideas that are sometimes brought to the forefront prematurely and they die or fall by the wayside, and I think we've got the right timing now, as far as prevention and everybody seeing that we need to embark on a different path because where we are as far as disease burden and economic burden is unsustainable, and quite frankly, we have a lot of people that are not experiencing the quality of life that they can experience with the appropriate prevention, interventions. But all of this could not have happened if it wasn't for the vision of Secretary Thompson, President Bush, putting this on the forefront as demonstrated through much of his policy, as well as funding, so President Bush and Secretary Thompson really are the ones that have empowered me to get out here, but I recognize that I'm . Page 29 . the Surgeon General and get to talk about these things. I know the communities that enact this and the link with those communities is what's so important and that is our Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and I would like Elizabeth majestic and her staff and my predominantly pal deputy secretary of health, to stand up because these are key people who made this all happen and their leadership you should all recognize because that's why things went so well. Elizabeth, stand up. (Applause) >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA: Where's your staff? (Applause) >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA: This was really a team effort, and, you know, a few of us get some ideas, but these people live and breathe this all the time, and I venture to say after a day or two off, I'll get the first call from Elizabeth saying, okay, we got to start planning for next year. And-- because that's the way they are, they are so dedicated. But, you know, from my own vantage point, again from-- as a clinician and understanding first hand the burden of things that used to come before me in an emergency room and a trauma center that didn't have to be there, as I mentioned in any remarks, whether it was injuries, . Page 30 . whether it was illness, the commonality was for almost all that was preventable was that that given day, somebody made a bad decision. Usually, again, that was the drunk drivers and the violence and so on. And then we had the others that would come before us after a series of bad decisions that could be years in the making and that might be a stroke or an aneurysm or a heart attack or a number of other diseases. But the fact remained that I was making a pretty good livings caring for people by trying to put good science to undo bad behavior that happened on that day or over a long period of time. And finally, I think the groundswell is there. We've come to the recognition that it's unsustainable, that we need to move forward with prevention, and shift that agenda in such a way that people begin to understand that it is within their control. Every single day in everything they do to make themselves healthy, keep themselves well. Whether it is choosing the right foods that you eat, getting a little physical activity, reducing the risk, whatever that risk is in your life-- as I said, whether it's not wearing a helmet, seat belts, or anything else, as we categorize risk, if we look at just those three simple measures and we project that out over time, therein lies the simple cure for what is preventable. Because most of what we have before us today is . Page 31 . because people don't think about the consequences of eating poorly, said Terry behavior and accepting high risk in their life on a daily basis. The so, again, I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I ask all of you, I charge all of you to be more vocal in your communities, wherever you are in spreading the word of prevention. We are fortunate that we have a President and a secretary who get it. They understand. They understand that this is unsustainable. And they want to support it not only in word but in deed and, in fact, legislatively, policy, and financial support for all of these programs. So in summing it up, I am thrilled that you are all as passionate as I am and the Secretary is about prevention. It will be on the forefront of all of our agendas, whatever those agendas happen to be. The mantra coming from the office of the Surgeon General will be prevention first. And where I was challenged on this one day where I-- I also have some responsibility for preparedness now, and somebody says, "You can't do it for everything because preparedness doesn't fit." I said, "Yes, it does, because preparedness, we deal with terrorism. Counter terrorism is prevention. Early warning, all of the high-tech things we're doing to somehow figure out what bad pathogens may be in the air, intelligence, all of that is actually prevention. So really everything I do and everything I will . Page 32 . be doing will be based on prevention first. In the traditional public health model, which is what you all are involved in, I think it's clear that we always have to ask the question, "How do we prevent these things from happening?" One thing I'm going to make an equipment to you today that I several months ago began discussions with my staff, I says, "You know, there's never been a Surgeon General's report on prevention." And I talked to the White House, I talked to the Secretary over the last few months. Everybody thought it was wonderful. I said, you know, because I've read the reports before and usually there's one page in 200 or 300 that says, you know, this could have all been prevented, and-- but the meat of the report is about some bad disease or illness that we should do something about. So I said why don't we have a Surgeon General's communication that's just all about prevention? So I'm here to tell you that's going to be done. We're forming the committee right now and we will have a Surgeon General's communication on prevention. (Applause) >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA: And you guessed it. Elizabeth and her staff will be the driving force behind it. (Laughter) . Page 33 . >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA: So she's saying thank you, right, Elizabeth? (Laughter) >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA: Another unfunded mandate, right? (Laughter) >>DR. RICHARD CARMONA: Well, I'm thrilled to have been here and been a small part of this. I am overwhelmed at the response we have, and I'm certainly not happy about all the people we had to turn away. We may have to do this in a stadium across the river next year to get everybody in, but that's a good thing. Because people are catching on and they understand. This is where we need to be. We need to be in prevention. Prevention has to be first. I thank all of you for your commitment. On behalf of President Bush and Secretary Thompson, who know that our strength is in our communities and each of you who is bringing the word to change, to leave a legacy of positive change, of health and wellness, thank you so much for your commitment. I look forward to working with you this year, and see you at the next conference. Thank you. (Applause) .