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Over the decades,

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my colleagues and I have exposed
terrible misdeeds and crimes

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by large corporations,

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which have taken many lives

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and caused injuries and diseases,

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on top of damaging economic costs,

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affecting many incidents.

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But exposure was not enough.

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We had to secure congressional mandates

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to prevent such devastation.

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As a result, many lives were saved
and many traumas prevented,

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especially in the areas of automobile,
pharmaceutical, environmental

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and workplace health and safety.

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Along the way, we kept getting
one question again and again:

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"Ralph, how do you do all this?

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Your groups are small,

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your funds are modest,

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and you don't make campaign
contributions to politicians."

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My response points to an overlooked,

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amazing pattern of American history.

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Just about every advance in justice,

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every blessing of democracy,

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came from the efforts of small numbers
of individual citizens.

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They knew what they were talking about.

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They expanded public opinion,

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or what Abraham Lincoln called
"the all-important public sentiment."

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The few citizens who started
these movements

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enlisted larger numbers along the way

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to achieving these reforms
and redirections.

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However, even at their peak,

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the actively engaged people never
exceeded one percent of the citizenry,

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often far less.

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These builders of democracy and justice

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came out of the antislavery drives,

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the pressures for women's right to vote.

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They rose from farmers and workers
in industrial sectors

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demanding regulation of banks,
railroads and manufacturers

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and fair labor standards.

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In the 20th century,

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improvements of life came
with tiny third parties and their allies

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pushing the major parties
in the electoral arena

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to adopt such measures,

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such as the right to form labor unions,

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the 40-hour week,

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progressive taxation, the minimum wage,

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unemployment compensation

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and social security.

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More recently came Medicare

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and civil rights, civil liberties,

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nuclear arms treaties,

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consumer and environmental triumphs --

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all sparked by citizen advocates

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and small third parties

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who never won a national election.

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If you're willing to lose persistently,

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your causes can become winners in time.

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(Laughter)

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The story of how I came
to these civic activities

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may be instructive

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for people who go along
with Senator Daniel Webster's belief,

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"Justice, sir, is the great interest
of man on Earth."

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I grew up in a small,
highly industrialized town in Connecticut

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with three siblings and parents

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who owned a popular restaurant
bakery and delicatessen.

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Two waterways,

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the Mad River and the Still River,

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crossed alongside our main street.

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As a child, I asked
why couldn't we wade and fish in them,

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like the rivers we read about
in our schoolbooks.

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The answer: the factories
freely use these rivers

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to dump harmful toxic chemicals
and other pollutants.

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In fact, the companies took control
of rivers that belonged to all of us

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for their own profitable pursuits.

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Later, I realized the rivers
were not part of our normal lives at all,

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except when they flooded our streets.

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There were no water pollution
regulations to speak of then.

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I realized only strong laws
could clean up our waterways.

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My youthful observation
of our town's two river-sewers

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started a straight line
to my eighth-grade graduation speech

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about the great conservationist,
national park advocate John Muir,

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then to my studies at Princeton
on the origins of public sanitation,

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and then to Rachel Carson's
"Silent Spring."

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These engagements prepared me

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for seizing the golden hour
of environmental lawmaking

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in the early 1970s.

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I played a leading citizen role

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in lobbying through Congress
the Clean Air Act;

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the clean water laws, EPA;

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workplace safety standards, OSHA;

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and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

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If there's less lead in your body,

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no more asbestos in your lungs

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and cleaner air and water,

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it's because of those laws over the years.

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Today, enforcement of these
lifesaving laws under Trump

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is being dismantled wholesale.

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Rolling back these perils
is the immediate challenge

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to a resurgent environmental movement

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for the young generation.

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As for consumer advocates,
there are no permanent victories.

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Passing a law is only the first step.

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The next step, and the next step,
is defending the law.

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For me, some of these battles
were highly personal.

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I lost friends in high school and college
to highway collisions,

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the first leading cause of death
in that age group.

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Then, the blame was put on the driver,

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derisively called
"the nut behind the wheel."

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True, drunk drivers had responsibility,

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but safer-designed vehicles and highways
could prevent crashes

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and diminish their severity
when they occurred.

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There were no seat belts,
padded dash panels,

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no airbags or other
crash-worthy protections

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to diminish the severity of collisions.

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The brakes, tires and handling stability
of US vehicles left much to be desired,

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even in comparison
with foreign manufacturers.

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I liked to hitchhike,

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including back and forth
from Princeton and Harvard Law School.

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Sometimes, a driver and I came upon
ghastly crash scenes.

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The horrors made a deep impression on me.

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They sparked my writing
a paper at law school

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on unsafe automotive design and the need
for motor vehicle safety laws.

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One of my closest friends
at law school, Fred Condon,

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was driving home one day from work
to his young family in New Hampshire

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and momentarily drowsed
behind the wheel of his station wagon.

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The vehicle went to the shoulder
of the road and tipped over.

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There were no seat belts in 1961.

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Fred became a paraplegic.

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Such preventable violence
created fire in my belly.

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The auto industry was
cruelly refusing to install

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long-known lifesaving safety features
and pollution controls.

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Instead, the industry focused on
advertising the annual style changes

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and excessive horsepower.

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I was outraged.

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The more I investigated the suppression
of auto safety devices,

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publicized evidence from court cases
about the auto companies

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negligently harming vehicle occupants --

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especially the instability
of a GM vehicle called the Corvair --

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the more General Motors was keen on
discrediting my writings and testimony.

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They hired private detectives
to follow me in order to get dirt.

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After the publication of my book,
"Unsafe at Any Speed,"

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GM wanted to undermine
my forthcoming testimony

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before a Senate subcommittee in 1966.

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The Capitol Police caught them.

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The media was all over
the struggle in Congress

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between me and giant General Motors.

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With remarkable speed compared to today,

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in 1966, Congress and President Johnson
brought the largest industry in America

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under federal regulation

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for safety, pollution control
and fuel efficiency.

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By the year 2015,

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three and a half million deaths
were averted just in the US,

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millions more injuries prevented,

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billions of dollars saved.

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What did it take for a victory
against such overwhelming odds?

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Well, there were:

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one, a few advocates who knew how
to communicate the evidence everywhere;

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two, several key receptive
congressional committee chairs

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led by three senators;

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three, about seven reporters
from major newspapers

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who regularly reported on
the unfolding story;

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four, President Lyndon Johnson,
with assistance,

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amenable to creating
a regulatory safety agency, NHTSA;

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and five, a dozen auto engineers,
inspectors and physicians

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who divulged crucial information,

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and who need to be better known.

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One more factor was critical:
informed public opinion.

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A majority of people learned about
how much safer their cars could be.

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They wanted their vehicles
to be fuel-efficient.

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They wanted to breathe cleaner air.

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The result: in September 1966,

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President Lyndon Johnson signed
the safety legislation in the White House

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with me by his side, receiving a pen!

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(Laughter)

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Between 1966 and 1976,

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those six critically connected factors
were used over and over.

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It became the golden age
of legislation and regulatory action

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for consumer, worker
and environmental protection.

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Those connected elements
of our past campaigns

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need to be kept in mind
by people striving to do the same today

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for drinking water safety,

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antibiotic resistance deaths,

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criminal justice reform,

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risks from climate disruption,

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bio- and nanotech impacts,

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the nuclear arms race,

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peace treaties,

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dangers to children,

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chemical and radioactive perils,

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and the like.

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According to a solid study in 2016
by Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,

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preventable hospital deaths

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take a mind-boggling 5,000 lives
a week in America.

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The 1980s climax:

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our dramatic struggle
to limit smoking in public places,

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regulate the tobacco industry

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and establish conditions
for reducing smoking.

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Their struggle began in earnest in 1964,

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with the US Surgeon
General's famous report

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linking cigarette smoking
to cancer and other diseases.

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Over 400,000 deaths a year
in the United States

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are related to smoking.

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Public hearings, litigation, media exposés
and industry whistleblowers

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joined with crucial medical scientists
to take on a very powerful industry.

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I asked Michael Pertschuk,
a leading Senate staffer,

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how many full-time advocates were working
on tobacco industry control at that time.

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00:11:30,304 --> 00:11:35,630
Mr. Pertschuk estimated no more
than 1,000 full-time champions in the US

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00:11:35,654 --> 00:11:37,785
pressing for a smoke-free society.

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00:11:38,230 --> 00:11:43,511
I say that's a remarkably small number
of people making it happen.

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They had a public opinion majority
of aroused people, nonsmokers,

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behind them.

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Many smokers were quitting
the nicotine addiction.

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00:11:53,746 --> 00:11:57,185
Just think: from 45 percent of adults

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00:11:57,209 --> 00:12:01,287
down to 15 percent by 2018.

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00:12:01,746 --> 00:12:04,574
The tipping point was when
Congress passed legislation

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00:12:04,598 --> 00:12:07,109
empowering the Food
and Drug Administration

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00:12:07,133 --> 00:12:09,566
to regulate the tobacco companies.

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00:12:09,590 --> 00:12:12,955
Keep in mind that advances
for consumers and workers

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00:12:12,979 --> 00:12:17,347
are usually followed by
a variety of corporate counterattacks.

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00:12:17,371 --> 00:12:20,893
When the fervor behind such reform fades,

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00:12:21,734 --> 00:12:28,065
then legislatures and regulatory agencies
become very vulnerable to industry capture

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00:12:28,089 --> 00:12:31,060
that stalls existing
or further enforcement.

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00:12:31,719 --> 00:12:32,896
What's that saying?

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00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:36,633
"Justice requires constant vigilance."

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We see the difference between

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00:12:38,671 --> 00:12:43,700
the driven stamina of counterattacking,
profit-driven corporate power

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00:12:43,724 --> 00:12:47,760
and the fatigue that overcomes
a voluntary citizenry

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00:12:47,784 --> 00:12:50,980
whose awareness and skill need renewal.

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00:12:51,799 --> 00:12:53,704
It is not a fair contest

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00:12:53,728 --> 00:12:57,636
between large companies
like General Motors, Pfizer,

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00:12:57,660 --> 00:13:01,623
ExxonMobil, Wells Fargo, Monsanto,

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00:13:01,647 --> 00:13:05,325
plus other very wealthy
companies and lobbyists,

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compared to people protection groups
with very limited resources.

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00:13:10,070 --> 00:13:13,016
Moreover, the corporations
have immunities and privileges

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00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:15,923
unavailable to real human beings.

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00:13:16,443 --> 00:13:22,150
For example, Takata was guilty
of a horrific airbag scandal,

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00:13:22,174 --> 00:13:25,060
but the company escaped
criminal prosecution.

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00:13:25,084 --> 00:13:31,371
Instead, Takata was allowed to go bankrupt
and its executives kept nice nest eggs.

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00:13:32,077 --> 00:13:35,910
But organized people need not
be awed by corporate power.

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00:13:35,934 --> 00:13:38,605
Lawmakers still want votes

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00:13:38,629 --> 00:13:43,857
more than they need
campaign finance from corporations.

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00:13:44,616 --> 00:13:48,998
We far outnumber corporations
in potential influence.

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00:13:49,506 --> 00:13:52,247
But voters must be connected clearly

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00:13:52,271 --> 00:13:57,017
to what organized voters want
from the lawmakers.

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00:13:57,041 --> 00:14:02,043
Delegating the constitutional
authority of "we the people,"

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00:14:02,067 --> 00:14:05,607
we want them to do the people's work.

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00:14:06,584 --> 00:14:08,402
A people's Congress,

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00:14:08,426 --> 00:14:11,806
the most constitutionally powerful
branch of government,

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00:14:11,830 --> 00:14:16,673
can override, block, or rechannel
the most destructive corporations.

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00:14:17,736 --> 00:14:21,899
There are only 100 senators
and 435 representatives

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00:14:21,923 --> 00:14:25,327
with just two million
organized activists back home,

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00:14:25,351 --> 00:14:27,334
a Congress watchdog hobby.

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00:14:27,798 --> 00:14:31,521
Congressional justice
can be made reliable and prompt.

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00:14:31,545 --> 00:14:34,603
We've proved that again and again
with far fewer people.

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00:14:35,183 --> 00:14:38,464
But today, Congress,
marinated in campaign money,

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00:14:38,488 --> 00:14:42,486
has been abdicating its responsibilities
to an executive branch

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00:14:42,510 --> 00:14:46,834
which too often has become a corporate
state controlled by big companies.

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt,
in 1938, in a message to Congress,

258
00:14:53,106 --> 00:14:57,464
called concentrated corporate power
over our government

259
00:14:57,488 --> 00:15:00,266
quote -- fascism -- end quote.

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A modest engagement
of one percent of adults

261
00:15:04,231 --> 00:15:07,855
in each of the 435
congressional districts,

262
00:15:07,879 --> 00:15:11,577
summoning senators and representatives
or state legislators

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00:15:11,601 --> 00:15:13,966
to their own town meetings,

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where the citizenry presents their agenda,

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backed by a majority of voters,

266
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can turn Congress around.

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00:15:20,723 --> 00:15:26,142
Our representatives can become
a fountainhead of democracy and justice,

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00:15:26,166 --> 00:15:28,166
elevating human possibilities.

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00:15:28,618 --> 00:15:30,368
I dream of our schools,

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00:15:30,392 --> 00:15:31,849
or after-school clinics,

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00:15:31,873 --> 00:15:36,510
teaching community civic action skills,
leading to the good life.

272
00:15:36,534 --> 00:15:39,034
Adult education classes
should do the same.

273
00:15:39,058 --> 00:15:43,976
We need to create citizen training
and action libraries.

274
00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:48,888
Students and adults love knowledge
that relates to their daily lives.

275
00:15:49,375 --> 00:15:53,852
Large majorities of Americans,
regardless of political labels,

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00:15:53,876 --> 00:15:55,364
favor a living wage,

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00:15:55,388 --> 00:15:57,105
universal health insurance,

278
00:15:57,129 --> 00:16:00,717
real enforcement against
corporate crime, fraud and abuse.

279
00:16:00,741 --> 00:16:03,175
They want a fair, productive tax system,

280
00:16:03,199 --> 00:16:06,897
public budgets returning value
to the people back home

281
00:16:06,921 --> 00:16:08,589
in modern infrastructure,

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00:16:08,613 --> 00:16:11,193
and an end to most corporate subsidies.

283
00:16:11,217 --> 00:16:15,785
Increasingly, they're demanding
serious attention to climate disruption

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00:16:15,809 --> 00:16:19,960
and other environmental
and global health perils and pandemics.

285
00:16:20,563 --> 00:16:23,236
Big majorities of people
want efficient government,

286
00:16:23,260 --> 00:16:27,850
an end to endless,
aggressive wars that boomerang.

287
00:16:27,874 --> 00:16:32,536
They want clean elections
and fair rules for voters and candidates.

288
00:16:32,560 --> 00:16:35,539
These are changes
that bring people together,

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00:16:35,563 --> 00:16:38,233
changes Congress can make happen.

290
00:16:38,257 --> 00:16:40,991
People around the world favor democracy

291
00:16:41,015 --> 00:16:45,119
because it brings the best
out of its inhabitants and its leaders.

292
00:16:45,143 --> 00:16:47,963
But this objective requires citizens
to want to spend time

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00:16:47,987 --> 00:16:51,244
on this great opportunity
called democracy,

294
00:16:51,268 --> 00:16:53,458
between and at elections.

295
00:16:53,922 --> 00:16:57,066
History gives examples
that encourage us to believe

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00:16:57,090 --> 00:16:59,920
that breaking through power
is easier than we think.

297
00:17:00,328 --> 00:17:02,915
People say to me,
"I don't know what to do!"

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00:17:02,939 --> 00:17:04,580
Start to learn by doing.

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00:17:05,074 --> 00:17:07,015
The more they practice citizen action,

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00:17:07,039 --> 00:17:09,373
the more skilled and innovative
they become at it.

301
00:17:09,910 --> 00:17:14,472
Like learning a trade, a profession,
a hobby, learning how to swim,

302
00:17:14,496 --> 00:17:17,378
their doubts, prejudgments and hesitancy

303
00:17:17,402 --> 00:17:20,497
begin to melt away
in the crucible of action.

304
00:17:20,521 --> 00:17:23,746
Their arguments for change
become deeper and sharper.

305
00:17:24,361 --> 00:17:27,704
From 1965 to 1966,

306
00:17:27,728 --> 00:17:30,983
when I was making the case
for safer automobiles,

307
00:17:31,007 --> 00:17:34,402
I realized that there were a lot
of industries making a lot of money

308
00:17:34,426 --> 00:17:37,956
from dealing with
the horrific results of crashes:

309
00:17:37,980 --> 00:17:42,384
medical care, insurance sales,
repairing cars ...

310
00:17:42,408 --> 00:17:47,034
There was a perverse incentive
to do nothing but maintain the status quo.

311
00:17:47,058 --> 00:17:50,766
By contrast, preventing these tragedies

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00:17:50,790 --> 00:17:54,755
frees consumer dollars to spend or save
in voluntary [routes?]

313
00:17:54,779 --> 00:17:56,881
for better livelihoods.

314
00:17:57,430 --> 00:18:01,692
What it takes is a small number of people
to exert their civic muscle,

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00:18:01,716 --> 00:18:04,275
both as individuals and organized groups,

316
00:18:04,299 --> 00:18:06,877
on our legal decision makers.

317
00:18:06,901 --> 00:18:12,055
Ideally, it only takes a few enlightened
rich people contributing funds

318
00:18:12,079 --> 00:18:16,745
to accelerate citizen efforts
against the commanders of greed and power.

319
00:18:16,769 --> 00:18:19,972
Why, in our past, rich people
donated essential money

320
00:18:19,996 --> 00:18:24,505
for the antislavery, women's right
to vote and civil rights movements.

321
00:18:24,529 --> 00:18:26,021
We should remember that.

322
00:18:26,045 --> 00:18:28,148
With the onset of climate catastrophe,

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00:18:28,172 --> 00:18:32,915
every one of us needs to have
a higher estimate of our own significance,

324
00:18:32,939 --> 00:18:36,451
of our own sustained
dedication to the civic life,

325
00:18:36,475 --> 00:18:39,856
as part of a normal way of daily living,

326
00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:42,512
along with our personal family life.

327
00:18:42,536 --> 00:18:45,800
Showing up thoughtfully
is half of democracy.

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00:18:45,824 --> 00:18:49,199
That's what advances life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness.

329
00:18:49,581 --> 00:18:53,015
Remember, our country
is full of problems we don't deserve

330
00:18:53,039 --> 00:18:55,569
and solutions which we do not apply.

331
00:18:56,022 --> 00:19:00,964
That gap is a democracy gap
that no power can stop us from closing.

332
00:19:00,988 --> 00:19:03,719
We owe this to our posterity.

333
00:19:03,743 --> 00:19:05,540
Don't we want our descendants,

334
00:19:05,564 --> 00:19:09,750
instead of cursing us
for our shortsighted neglect,

335
00:19:09,774 --> 00:19:12,256
don't we want them to bless our foresight

336
00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:16,740
and bright horizons which can
fulfill their lives peacefully

337
00:19:16,764 --> 00:19:18,660
and advance the common good?

338
00:19:19,135 --> 00:19:20,384
Thank you.

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00:19:21,028 --> 00:19:23,341
(Applause)