SEN. MARCO RUBIO, R-Fla.:

They can be. And here is why.

So, we look at, what is the thing that has distinguished us from the world? It's the idea that, no matter where you're born in life or what the circumstances are when you're born, like your parents being poor or not connected to power, you have a chance in this country to go as far as your talent and your work will take you.

We pride ourselves on that, and rightfully so. It made us exceptional. What troubles us now is that there are — research now shows that there are other countries where the circumstances of your birth matter less than they do here. It's mattering more here than it is in other places. And we don't want to accept that and we shouldn't accept that.

So second question is: Why is that happening? Why is there an emerging opportunity gap? And the primary answer is because this new economy that we now live in, which is not an industrial economy, it's a post-industrial economy, is a knowledge-based one.

In order to have middle-income, middle-paying jobs, the kinds of jobs that allow people to get ahead, you have to have higher level of training and skill acquisition and education than ever before. And we have too many people that don't have those skills. And, in fact, the people who would most benefit from acquiring those skills are the ones least likely to get it because of its cost or because of the way the system is structured.