an take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job an economy that honors the dignity of work.

The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.

Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan， I see my grandfather， who signed up after Pearl Harbor， marched in Patton s Army， and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.

In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift， I think about my mom， who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree； who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.

When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down， I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.

And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business， I think about my grandmother， who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle？management， despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She s the one who taught me about hard work. She s the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for her