Campaigning For Peace.(youth violence )(Transcript)

PREVENTING YOUTH VIOLENCE IN AMERICA

Good afternoon. I am honored to be with you today -- leaders of the AMA, leaders of American medicine, leaders for a safer, healthier United States. I'm especially pleased to be at this conference because what I want to talk about requires every ounce of our collective leadership.

Fifteen months ago, my predecessor, Ann Hansen, asked the AMA to stay engaged with the issue of youth violence in America -- to put your formidable voices and hands and hearts into the fight to wage peace in America.

I'm here today to underscore that call.

Of the many threats to our public health, youth violence is the one that threatens not only each of us as individuals but also the very fabric of our nation. As we discussed at our session on youth violence this morning, reducing this mortal threat is not the work of a single battle but of a sustained campaign.

On behalf of your AMA Alliance, I urge you to join that campaign. The stakes are too high, the situation too dire to stand on the sidelines.

I'd like you to imagine 300 students from our public high schools among us now. Three hundred students would fill about one third of this room. That's how many students will be attacked or robbed in our country during the 10 minutes I'll be speaking to you. More than 17,000 every day -- more than half-a-million every …