All of our team members in the back or making this happen, thank you so much. So we are going to keep the program rolling. You. Candidate is senator Bernie Sanders. Please join me thanks for being here senator. Here. A lot of love for you today, mr. Senator. This. Jump so you have done such a great ow of clearly articulating h to enact your Economic Policy agenda in the face of g. O. P. Opposition. My question is as president , how would you also persuade or work around those who dont agree with you to protect and expand especially reedoms on abortion care. I is there still room to endorse candidates who do not support this constitutional right . I believe that you had two issues, number one you wanted democrats to regain control of the house and about 98 of the house i believe is prochoice. I think right now, given the attacks that we are seeing in recent years on planned parenthood in particular, and on abortion rights in general, i think what we can do and must do is find candidates in every state in this country and Congressional District in this country who support absolutely womans right to control her own body. [applause] thank you. One more question for you here. You focus a lot of your campaign on healthcare, which we applaud and thank you for that. Youve also been in federal elected office for 42 years. Not quite. I was mayor of burlington for eight years. One of the things we would like to hear more about is the legislation youve introduced while you have been in office to advance sexual and Reproductive Health care and rights. Sanders i think my record is 100 prochoice. It is opposition to the Hyde Amendment. When we talk about health care in general, working with represented jim clyburn of South Carolina, to greatly expand Community Health centers all over the country, which are now the major source of primary health care for the American People, low income and working people who cant get access elsewhere are going in large numbers to Community Health centers and that is what we expanded. Bottom line for me, if you check my record, 100 prochoice over a long time. It is somebody who is committed to saying we have got to stand ofto the absolute hypocrisy republican members of congress who say we believe in small government. We believe in giving the government out of your lives. To the mostit comes difficult decisions that a woman has to make. In my view, the right to control your own body is a constitutional right and you will have a president who will. Efend that right introduce our to. Ext question asked her he served as president of the and currentlyats the senior political advisor at community change. [applause] good afternoon senator sanders. My name is franco and im from miami, florida. Florida. Having vote aswe hear by panel a matter of fact. So im ritful for hem to stand ormer nt of you as a f teacher in a latino school. Organizer inmmunity miami, florida. I see a discussion that happens around women with you decision into the making rooms. And one thing that impacts me is that Promising Students went to a crisis pregnancy advice that was not medically sound and politically motivated and continuinged and misled her about options going forward. Educator and as an educational system. Lk tould not at the time ta her about Family Planning but abstinence only education. See too many of my fellow latinos talk about planned port thood or not sup planned parenthood until the moment when they have to have key decisions for family members whether services whether that be ancer screenings or whatever the case may be. I need to make sure when i cast in florida this next march is coming up, its going to be for someone unafraid of saying the word abortion. In me in hat will jo educating women and about women tea serve control over their bodies and health care. I want to know if youre going to be that champion and how youre going to expand access to my. H care to insure se are ant to say the rying and tritening times for parenthood. This thesethink that difficult times, when women are under attack in alabama, or georgia and around the country, if there was a time for men to stand up this ght now is it. Nd re providing save, a Quality Health care including health issues. To be ands, and needs i think we as a nation and i ed w about these so call pregnancy crisis centers. Nd the antidote to that is making sure that Real Health Care centers are adequately funded. So women can walk in and get dvice and health they truly need. They do a good job about sex education. You know . Where we he hing better job. Ids need honest answers. You. Hank is there anything you want to know . I want to you know in this a sense, were taking it on a lot of folks. A lot of powerful interest specials. O when we fight for medicare or all theyre going to spend it. Ing to defeat they need including ment ask let meom guess, many of you are carrying debt. Loads of student a. Tor. Hank you, sena to me we have we know women do society and that the it begins to recognize work my mom does. Y wife is home with our two boys, one of whom is autistic. Of a thousand dollars i meef would help women to be able to access reproductive services. Stion for you to allowtheyre hoping the counter. Over to the pregnant wed have different access. So theyre a part of health care. They should be covered and any attempt to stop that wont and behindg i would st as president. Im proud to introduce kim Community Organizer and vift. Thank you, andrew for listening. My name is kim smith from here in columbia, South Carolina. And im an organizer and mother a 13yearold son. I was separated and seeing omeone casually and got pregnant. Years old, making 7 24 an hour with no interest in having a child. Mom tried to shame me and abortion. Om having an my grandmother supported me and helped me pay for half of it and made sure i had a way to get there. Out everyone has that person y person like i have. Some people dont have anyone. And i have no shame and no it was pest e io for me and my body. Ple who have peo medical issues. Ack ont talk about poor bl women who dont want to have kids. A lot of people are treated with disdain when they abortions but lack women, due to racism are treated with a certain type of contempt. Wn communities. O labelled as imes foxed i want them to know it one, its every normal, healthy and save. T sexist, ablist, is phobic system we live in us. For its hard for plaque women. O force a child on us like youve done for centuries with ancestors is not giving us basic human rights. Forced to nt to be have a child. Roe v. Wade is overturned have access. Ill wealthy white women. Its poor women that will be hurt by these laws. So how are you going to ensure poor, black, queer women have what . S to care, no matter thank you. Thank your grand ma, too. Country someone in the is amrient and having abortions. His is a decision women make and its up to you. No one should be feel like to have a child. Which dr. King a mpioned is 12,000 a year, for women trying to an re out how to have abortion. Will at is a society i president. As there are people who pen fit from work and people that are friending it out every day, and n cases for in of you putting harms way i dont legislators should have anything to do with womens rights. Ctive because what is a lot the world we live in, i will fight for to do what you want to do. Thank you. Ks for ou l yang than joining us. Thank you for being with us. You. K all right. All right. You. K amazing day. Have you heard anything today . Tional okay. Anyone willing to share . Can you tell us your name, where youre coming from . Hello. Im lisa shepherd. I have yped on what heard and this helps me to go back and what is more bigger to we have got to change this. You know . Yearold daughter. Everybody,k, because if youve been 25, you know . Everything. E now her to make a decision whether or not to make a decision, its her decision and her life and not to have some go . E safe to done . E this its almost like i dont know. Its madeve the words r my pink cited so wea home. When i go is a community to demand more perfect the folks this awant to represent us. Demand more. The Community Needs it and deeverybodies it right . Ght. Hat is ri right. Know end of the day we right . Congressman eric sal wet . Yes. Representing californias 15th district since 203. Hes a grand new tad. Its true. Welcome congressman swalwell to stage. How . Im if. Im g trying to steal sleep it. Re i can get this group will keep you awake. Right. Right. Two go ahead rust and skruch into the question. Title 10 paing rule puts health care in danger for eople. Million p lion title 10 l recipients. And you comments to rule how to work to expand access to this ram . Yes. We had you list rules but not just here in america but in the we lead in the world. On this issue . D i trust the learn people telling us every state that, you know, 77 of americans support roe. I have worked in a few years to ung women and men, t the conference so i was 31 years old and there are only 14 younger. Our 30s and first job at 31 is it help desk. Pelosi saved me from job. Ke and knowslooks li these issues its ready to leave. Low up. , fol you can five a hand clap. Forum my people. We know you have been busy in a if way. In fact you go to this week in the house to repeal the gag rule through appropriations process. Yes. The only way to make gains is about we win the senate. Nominee. E make me and you wont just see me after the first and south primary but to next november. So we beat lindsay fram and make sure that that can happen. Right. Right. That. Have to do passed a global act this week as well. Repeals the global gag rule. That is right. Can you talk to us about how you would expand access to care . Afraud . G abortion yes. Its an area the United States rest in leading on and reassert moral standing in the world. To sex ans access education and contraception and woman in the world it a womans body and a womans choice. Thank you. Thank you. To introduce a member of the audience here today. Aaron. Ent organizing coordinator. Erin. Hear from hi. Im a first generation thai merican and i had two apportions. My parents sack sacrificed a lot d my sister here o beits my honor and duty t to give back and take care of them. I became a lawyer. The reality of first generation people of color is that our families depend on us. It feels almost impossible to wealth from ional the ground up. And i have asked myself a times, how do we ket back . Had i first to the i gnant and unprepared and wasnt ready to become a mom yet. And i knew would it have plans i had for me, for my family. So. Yes. Because i had that abortion i was able to go to college. I was 24 pregnant the second time and shocked. I was on Birth Control. I didnt think i could get pregnant then. It was an extremely rough time for me. It was my first year of law hard trying to avigate post grad as a First Generation College student and it wasnt the right time for me then, either. Have had in doubt i would an abortion. Thanks to that second abortion i grad waited and landed had my when, job, working at if, how, loierring for reproductive ustice and i get to train law students like my younger self to justice uctive advocates and these are the country. Awyers of the its a dream for me to be able to do that work. And im here talking to you those two se ade made my dreams possible. I dont regret my abortions and im very, very proud of them. I was confident then and confident now they were the best for me. S our state of california abortion is accessible. That is not the case all over the country. So congressman swalwell, how are oing to expand access to sexual and repro uktive health care so folks like me can have matter what . So what i would do is have health care for all. For medicare so you have access to make decisions. Omen of color in particular are affected by inaccessibility to health care. Second, as president , and i will gotiate up on this issue rather than down. A cultural issue. Were told just like on gun prevent us so we discriminatory Hyde Amendment, and also to expand in the United States Contraception Services and something that bothers me, i see n communities of color, when you go to the razors ket its buying and you had to pull a ticket and go behind the Customer Service counter, you see locked behind counter, the raisers and i supermarket, s there are also condoms. Its just a young person ask permission to open up the key. We should have free contraception in the united board. Across the my wife and i are raising a young family. If you have a young family in the white house youll have a president believes its a womans body and choice. A first lady that will echo that personally d talk about what it means to her and boy well arold raise a male feminist in the that. On lk directly as a 38yearold that we have a duty nd responsibility to make sure this stands. Fighting same rites fights now theyre fighting 20, 30, 40 years ago. My question is, thinking about long term change, what would you ve change thate ha is durable . Generation so a your kids wont have to fight the same fights. Get rid of the dirty money and dirty math that held us back. Met a nts never congressman until their son got elected and people like me congress. They were people who were millionaires. If we enact the for the people of act, pass it in the senate, every state with have an independent redistricting commission. Tand up andmericans s issue. Th us on this down to have to strip the studs, the ruling to make thanyour voices are louder interests. S and much. Nk you so thank you. You. K candidate is senator r ew jersey, forme senator cory booker. Thanks for joining us. Again. See you thanks for joining us. Its good to be here. Extraordinary to see this gathering and momentum and willingness to fight back at a reproductive rights are under assault. So thank you. Thank you. To, first oing foundon, senator, a study price of up the health care, Reproductive Health care. Ck yidz have lived for de in a low income inner city community. Wealth with fuse worth but deal with challenge. Ies every day l making difficult decisions because paychecks dont go far enough because of costs from child care to prescription drugs outrageous. Em running for president of th United States there are too many communities where people dont is a athways to what fundamental american ideal. So specifically, we need to take on the most broken system this the developed world and repay loped nationany deve for health care and get the outcome. So i dont want to be a political slogan. I believe to get there we have to create a public option for people, you do things like lower rait for ty right medicare. We can defend the games, made , include care act free contraception for low income women. Make eve we can prescription drugs, raise their prices too high and proportion other nations to undercut them to refuse the power of negotiation through medicare and medicaid to drive down prescription costs. In Public Office has been about doing things, whether as mayor or senator, and i will accomplish them as president , which will be driving down costs. The last thing i want to say is most people dont realize that planned parenthood is one of the only providers of contraceptive care in many counties. What i saw in new jersey when we had a republican governor, and they were doing a tax on contraceptive care, a tax on funding for planned parenthood. Of the president United States, i will lower cost to make sure we fund organizations like planned parenthood, and expand the funding necessary, not just to make contraception affordable, but to elevate salaries of low income families. This is something where we just taxthe toxicity of a trump plan that gives the highest, wealthiest, most powerful people in our country the biggest tax cuts, and working people are still struggling. I will repeal those tax cuts and give families direct tax cuts by expanding the earnings of tax dits t something we callo to something we call the rise credit, which gives 150 million americans a pay increase to cut poverty in one third and begin to make sure people can do what we want and incentivize preventative care, early protection, and making those choices. Multifaceteds a and complicated structure. In the last 30 seconds i have on this powerful talk, i want to say that 2 areas that often get forgotten. Elder care iss one. My mom was taking care of my father with parkinsons disease. A lot of people have to stay home and take care of someone with severe challenges. My tax credit, they will get money back. The last area i want to mention, which too many people do not focus is people who are incarcerated. One of every three women on the planet are incarcerated in the u. S. For some reason, we do not think about their health care. We have a nation where women who are incarcerated are making their own tampons. Talk about Simple Health issues. Incarcerated, are in documented women undocumented women that are incarcerated, they deserve to have health care. Health care is a human right. You do not surrender your human rights if youre in prison. We need a country that stands up. [applause] thank you so much. You are nothing if not a man of the people. The next question is coming from our good people in the room. I want to thank the courageous women that stood up. People are standing up and telling their stories. We had an incredible hearing in the senate, when we were talking about contraceptive care. I remember people telling personal stories. They were more powerful than any senator could have testified to. Why contraceptive care, or abortion is healthcare, and what the difference it makes for families and individuals. Im grateful for the women speaking today, and im looking forward to the person coming up. I feel like the floor has already been set for you. Just introduced myself in my traditional language. From oura handshake heart to yours. [applause] proud enrolled member in south dakota. I grew up on a rural reservation, where health care is provided by Indian Health service. Native women experience some of the highest rates of violence of any group of women. The amendment has blocked the use of federal funds for abortion but has exemptions, in , andase of rape, incest the endangerment of the life to the mother. Almost half of native women experience some sort of sexual violence. Almost 90 experience some form of violence overall. Many women become pregnant. Indian Health Services refuses to provide an abortion despite the exemption. What is your commitment to changing this practice . Our state has one abortion provider, planned parenthood, that comes to one clinic on one side of the state one day of the month. How are you going to expand access to sexual and Reproductive Health care, including abortion, to ensure people like me have access to care, no matter what . [applause] if the ladies will forgive me, i would like to stand up. This makes me very angry. I got into politics because there are too many communities left out and left behind. A lot of these assaults on reproductive care are assaults on low income women and women in marginalized communities. Where they did in alabama, which is an assault on human rights, is an assault on the Vulnerable Women who cannot afford to go to another state or axes that kind of care access that kind of care. The most fundamental idea in this country is liberty. This is why i sometimes look at men and say this is not a womans issue. Dont tell me just because you have a wife, mother, or daughter, that that is how you relate to it. You have a body, and you know people should not be able to control your body. [applause] got into politics to represent marginalized communities, to fight for them and with them. I promise you that as president of the u. S. , i will fight to tear down the hot a amendment. Rules,stop these gag that you see going on in title x. Thell stop these exemptions Trump Administration is allowing for lawyers to deny people access to contraceptive care. [applause] im going to make sure people understand that as our elders have said, just a injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. When they deny justice to a native american community, they deny justice to me. To an innercity community, they deny justice to me. Rural women who are struggling for dignity and respect, all of our injustice is implicated. We have to understand that this connected, directly intersectional with other issues of justice. Why do you think in georgia they are coming after voting rights, trying to deny, especially low income women, women of color, access to the ballot box . Over 70 of women in georgia lawt think this heartbeat is wrong. These are folks who believe that the only way they are going to be able to get into power is by suppressing peoples votes. Then they turn around and the people who they pass laws and the people they oppress, the people they target with the Voter Suppression laws are low income and often minority people. As we saw in north carolina, they are creating these laws with surgical precision to disadvantage people of color. To me, we are all in this together. To angelawin wrote davis when she was incarcerated they will come for you if they come for you in the morning, they come for me at night. So fight. Since election is about women, minorities, it is about all of us. Thats how i am going to fight. This is about liberty and justice for all. We will win. [applause] lets hear it for cory booker. [applause] im sweating now. Im ready. About all that we have heard. I want to make sure we can share this. Lets get a social media break. I want you to take a selfie with a friend, post something that has inspired you. Can you turn up the lights so people can get good selfies going . Just a little bit. Let me see those smiles. We decide. That was a really good one. That was perfect. Post on social media, wedecide. Lets bring it on back. We are ready for our next candidate to hit the stage. Are all good. Are you ready . Are you still fired up . Up . Mber our fired guest is senator amy klobuchar. [applause] she is the first woman elected to the u. S. Senate in minnesotas history. Please join me in welcoming her to the stage. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much for being here. Are you having a great time in South Carolina . I am, i am having fun. Everyone got together with representative clyburn. Everyone got together for the first time. I was trying to get some of the tall guys on my debate stage to promise that they would kneel down so i looked taller. We are having a good time. We are going to jump right in. And thispublicans president have done Everything Possible to pass the federal courts with antiWomens Health zealots. People like Brett Kavanaugh and windy bitter. What would you do as president to restore legitimacy to our courts and make sure they are protecting our reproductive rights and freedoms . Thats a good question. I played a role during the Kavanaugh Hearing and stood up to him. [applause] thankid first want to planned parenthood and all of you. I know you have had a long day here, for your actions. I also want to let you know why i got involved in politics. It was based on a health issue. When my daughter was born, she could not swallow. I thought i was going to have this perfect birth. She was in intensive care. The Insurance Company kicked me out because you could only stay for 24 hours. I have no idea what to do and i got kicked out. She got better and i went to the legislature as a mom and advocated for one of the first laws in the country guaranteeing new moms and their babies a 48 hour hospital stay. We got it done. For anyone interested in legislative advocacy, thats my story. Thats how i got involved in politics. Awaree judges, im very that on the first day as president , you have to put names forward in nominating judges. We cannot wait. Those guys on the republican side did not wait. A lot of it is making sure we have judges that follow the law of the land. It is that simple. Right now, we have nominees that will not commit on roe v. Wade, even on brown v. Board of education. For me, it is simple. As a wise man once said, you want a president that will follow the law, that will keep the peace and tell the truth. I think that is what we want when we look at judges. Released 100 you actions you would take in your first 100 days as president , and you will be pretty busy. It was a very robust list, which will likely keep you busy. One thing that we noticed was missing was repealing trumps global gag rule. Is that what you would do . Yes. Open list. We have been adding a number of things. We are repealing the domestic gag rule. We know how dangerous that has been. The global gag rule is something just as bad. Supposed to be a beacon for womens rights and Womens Healthcare. What message do we send when we put out that global gag rule and limit aid to women across the country . The way i see this, if you give people rights in other countries, and you use the power of the u. S. To push for rights, we are a better world, a better democracy. The other thing that is equally disappointing is this administration has defunded the United Nations population fund, which is so important to Global Health care. I would like to introduce you to one of our audience members. Her name is stephanie lopez. Shes a Community Leader and thought leader. To coleads all efforts restore and sustain Insurance Coverage for abortion. Shes a former sheriff, chair of the board of directors for Reproductive Health. She currently serves on the board of the California Coalition for reproductive freedom. Take it away. Is destiny lopez. We are the first and only reproductive justice effort to lift abortion coverage bans. My abortion story is not mine, but it is millions of people struggling to make ends meet for decades and have not realized the promise of roe v. Wade. Three years after abortion was legalized nationwide, congressman henry hyde led the passage of what is now known as amendment. During the floor debate, he exposed his true motives, saying i would like to prevent, if i could legally, anybody having an abortion. A rich woman, middleclass woman, or poor woman. Unfortunately, the only vehicle i have available is the medicaid bill. Since then, congress has voted every year to ban medicaid from covering abortion. Has been tiedtion to where you live, how much money you make, and how you are insured. His vision is reality today. When state laws restrict abortion, one in four women are forced to carry their pregnancy to term. Other marginalized groups, like in young people, transgendered folks, and immigrants, they bear the brunt of what is in essence an outright ban on abortion that has existed for over 40 years. These communities are the most likely to be silenced an marginalized by our Health Care System in addition to not having the costs to be able to cover the cost of mounting barriers to care. E iss why ending hyd inseparable from economic and racial justice. For decades, women have led the effort to ban hyde and other abortion bans. We know what its like to face impossible odds. We have been fighting for ourselves and our families for generations. Now we are ready to lift the bans once and for all. You going to expand access to Reproductive Health care, including abortion, to ensure people have access to care, no matter what . Thank you. Need to do isg we to reverse the Hyde Amendment. Thats why im a cosponsor of the important bill that Amy Duckworth of illinois is leading, which would be to get rid of the Hyde Amendment. Minnesota, by court rule, we have had medicaid funding for people who cannot afford women who cannot afford abortion. You know what is going on against Womens Health care all over this country. In states like alabama, laws that would put doctors in prison. If you are talking to some of your friends in states that may states, likehe right here in South Carolina, a good point to make is that one. People dont want to put doctors in prison. The second thing is to remind thele that over 70 of people in this country actually do not want to overturn roe v. Wade. Argumentsnd those 2 important as we are making the case for the women of this country. The second thing we need to do is repeal the gag rule and make sure we fund paned plan would and stop this administration. The third thing would be to codify roe v. Wade, something we can actually put into law and put judges in place that will actually follow the law. It is that simple. I want to step back from the ark we are on. I started on this journey when i was a prosecutor. There have been a lot of battles in minnesota on reproductive rights, abortion rights, as in our neighboring states of north dakota and south o dakota. My job was public safety. Our job was to protect the clinics. It was at a time when there were Violent Attacks on clinics in my own state and other places across the country. Then i got to the senate. At the time, there was not a lot of talk about taking away womens rights. We would have votes, then barack became president. We went through those eight years. Now we are where we are now. It has never been more important for me and my public rights to stand up. I want to leave you with the thought of this arc we are on right now and how when the president does something bad, or something horrible on womens rights or healthcare, that you remember this march we are on. It started the day after the inauguration, when millions of people marched all over the country. Including in this state. [applause] the next day, 6000 women signed up to run for office. That happened. We got up to 30,000. On day nine, when the meanspirited refugee order, the muslim ban came out, people showed up at airports. They showed up at airports, even noninternational airports. They were emboldened to do it. Then you fastforward today, the march for science. My favorite sign what do we want . Science. When do we want it . After peerreviewe. Thank you go forward with the fighting democrats standing together from left to right and a stopping the repeal of the Affordable Care act. And protected women from getting cut off their insurance just because they had a preexisting condition, which was Domestic Violence at the time. The Affordable Care act, if you were a victim of Domestic Violence, that can affect your ability to get covered by insurance. It obviously protected Womens Healthcare. Then we go into the fall wherein the first glimmer of hope since trump, one of my favorites was in new jersey, where a legislator had said the day of the womens march i hope they will be i home in time to get dinner. He got defeated by an africanamerican woman. [applause] then you go to that incredible victory for dignity and decency in the south, when doug jones won the senate seat in the state of alabama. You go to the spring, when the parkland students marched. They did not just march, they voted. Then you go to the fall, where thanks to South Carolina in the election of joe cunningham, we took back the house of representatives and turned it into the peoples house. That is the march we are on as we go into 2020. It is a march for freedom, civil rights, and the march of our lifetime to protect a womans health. Thank you for having me. [applause] you, senator. Can we get another round of applause . [applause] our next candidate is congressman tim ryan, who is representing a certain district in ohio. It has been a long day. Give a warm welcome to congressman ryan. [applause] thank you for joining us. Thank you for the promotion with the introduction to senate. I would love a sixyear term. Thank you for being with us. Im going to jump into my first question. You spent a lot of time on the campaign trail talking about jobs and Economic Issues. Can you discuss how you view sexual and Reproductive Health as an economic issue . First and foremost, a woman should be able to decide the size of her family that she wants to have. There are so many workingclass women in so many places across the u. S. That dont have access. You see what the Trump Administration is doing, the attacks on title 10, the gag rules, everything mentioned through the day here, those are very Economic Issues that women have to face. We got to protect the right to choose, protect a womans rights, be clear about that, but also recognize there is an economic component to that. That you the issues have become more outspoken on, because it is economic summit is support for Birth Control. You have spoken against trumps move to limit access to womens Birth Control by lifting the obama era rule requiring healthcare plans to cover contraceptives. What would you do to expand Birth Control access as a president . It goes part and parcel with healthcare. Dont know how many people know this, but when i first got to congress, i was a prolife democrat. One of the issues that started to turn things for me was that i if you areto say prolife and prochoice, can we agree on contraception . The answer was no. That began my journey of meeting ien who had abortions, had never met a woman who had gotten an abortion, and had these very long conversations around the complexities of a pregnancy. Thats when i switched my votes and position to being a prochoice democrat and understanding the importance of keeping the government the hell out of the Doctors Office when you have a woman there. [applause] money,t of this is about resources, and getting it down into the local communities to make sure anybody who wants it has access to contraception. I have another question. You often discuss and talk about how you were previously against abortion. Like i just did. Thats how much i talk about it. What would you say to the audience, people who have trouble trusting your commitment to expanding and protecting abortion writes, given your record abortion rights, giving your record . A politician, so there is a certain amount of skepticism that comes with the job. Many times it is earned. This wasnt like a flipflop. Came in, i grew up in a catholic family, Catholic Community in northeast ohio, i went to catholic schools. I hope we respect and honor somebody who takes new evidence and experiences and allows that to change your evidence andhat those experiences move you in that direction. It happened over years. You can watch my vote slowly change. Then i got married, we had a baby of our own. Just a deeper understanding, especially these conversations with women, that really touched me. What i saw in the last few georgia,th alabama and the most powerful thing we can tell theontinue to story of these courageous women. You cut through all of the bowl straight bull through the politics, the left and right divide, straight through fox news. Mom,comes a story about a a woman who has to make a decision, and should the government be involved in the. Thats what i tell my story, these are very powerful stories that move you. Lets keep telling them until we can move the elector around with us. [applause] am i the first person to swear here . I do get the award . Thank you very much. Thank you so much for being so earnest. Is notend of the day, it about politics, it is about real people. Introduce one of our audience members to share their story. We have samantha blakely, a volunteer leader with planned parenthood. Her day job is in the travel industry. She hopes to promote change through storytelling and seeking truth through power. The floor is yours. [applause] thank you. I currently live in birmingham, alabama. I just want to say yall means all, trans rights or human rights. By aears ago, i was raped coworker one night. The next morning, i woke up bleeding, confused, violated, and scared. I stayed in my house in the same clothing for three days. I could not process the trauma. A few weeks later, i realized i was experiencing noncheck, cramping, and other unusual symptoms. My. , which had always been regular, never came. I took a pregnancy test and it was positive. This is the worst i have ever felt. I screamed into my shower curtain when i saw that test. Even through the storm of my emotions, i knew that i had to end this pregnancy. I started googling. I found out very quickly that there are many unsafe ways to end a pregnancy. I heard from my best friend that there was a planned parenthood in the montgomery area. I wanted to see how i can get a safe abortion. I had to come back when i was far enough along to have the procedure. R the only person i told was m the only person i told was my rapist, and he paid for it. I wanted to go through life without thinking about what happened to me. But my rapist soon started stalking me after. I tried to get an order of protection, but our relationship did not fit the criteria. I was helpless, hopeless, and scared. He still tries to contact me to this day. Last month, alabama past an outright ban on abortion, including in cases of rape and incest, in cases like mine. Doctors can be jailed for up to 99 years for performing an abortion for a woman who is going through the worst trauma life, a woman who is not emotionally, physically, financially, mentally ready to be pregnant. That if ick, i know had not had access to my abortion, i would have ended my life. That is what is at stake in alabama right now. We know that what is happening in alabama will stay there. It will go to the Supreme Court, and the ability of all people to make their own decisions about their own bodies will be at stake. Congressman ryan, how are you going to expand access to sexual and Reproductive Health care, including abortion, to ensure people like me have access to care, no matter what . [applause] i cannot even imagine the amount of courage it would take to stand up and say what you just said. [applause] the basics, we are going to repeal the Hyde Amendment to make sure everybody has access, regardless of what zip code they live in, or what their paystub looks like, so that anyone who is in the situation you are in will be able to do what you did. I think that is critically important. Also, continuing to fund these programs that give these resources to expand coverage in communities that would not otherwise have it. That means organizations like planned parenthood. Sometimes, as we all know, they may the the only kind of Womens Health care that someone can get. We see hospitals closing around the country, people reducing services all over the country. Having robust funding for these issues, these programs, is it essential. The local governments many times do not have it. The state governments do. In alabama, ohio, we have some of the worst laws. Know that i am deeply committed to this. You have inspired me today. Legislatively, but what you just did is amazing. I will share this story, because i think it is important to cut through everything. That this inay many ways is about us winning elections. I try and be a pretty practical person. How do we cut through . We have got to win elections. We have to figure out how to bring the country together. What trump has done, and mike politick inay they alabama is how do we continue to divide people . Who is black, white, gay, straight, trans, this, that, the north, from the south, just divide. Look at what has happened because of our division. We have to come together around a really big agenda to say everybody who is hurting, who is getting screwed right now in the political process has to come together. I hope to be the kind of president that can carry your message into the rust belt and tell stories like the one you told to let people know exactly why these issues are really important for people, and women in particular, and bring people together around building america 2. 0. What do we want this country to look like . What do we want our kids and grandkids to grow up into . America 2. 0 respects what you are talking about. Im committed to doing that for you and all of the other women in this country. We can make it happen if we get ourselves united with a brand that saysis is you are archaic in the way you treat women, the way it is textbook chauvinism. President , is he is so we all have to live inside of his ego. That is obviously a very dangerous place for a lot of people. Rule, makinghe gag it illegal to talk about something that is legal. That is bizarre. [applause] bow to you. Thank you so much, congressman. It has been a pleasure having you today. Thank you for being here. Thank you. One more time for the congressman and our wonderful tory seller storyteller, samantha. [applause] thank you for pushing through. It is a long road to 2020. Every day counts. Our presence is our power. Next up is congressman seth moulton. A former marine Corps Officer representing massachusetts sixth Congressional District. [applause] welcome to our stage. It is an honor to be here. We will jump right in. You are focusing a lot of your campaign on foreign policy. We know that President Trump has done a lot to reduce access to Reproductive Healthcare all across the globe. How would you not only repeal the harm he has done, but expand access across the world . One of the first things trump did when he came into office was put in place the gag rule that americans from going to any Health Care Organization period that in some way supports abortion, a womans right to choose. That affects millions of people worldwide who are not only trying to get abortions, but all the other Healthcare Services these organizations provide. That is not american leadership, it is not american values, and it would stop on day one in my administration. [applause] that is really just undoing the harm. We need to go farther than that. Womens health care should be a right that we promote. Womens rights should be something we promote. Womens rights should be something that we invest in. We have to be investing more money in development in foreign and the kind of organizations that provide these basic rights to women across the globe. It is not the reason to do it, but this is a great economic investment, as well. There have in a lot of Development Studies that show you get a better return on Foreign Investment dollars for investing in women than men. [applause] it is smart policy, it is the right policy, it represents our values. Fundamentally, we have to get back to a country that says the example across sets the example across the globe, provide what we have always provided in history. One of the things i saw when i went to iraq that was most striking was iraqis would volunteer to work for us at great risk to their lives just because they knew a little bit about what america stood for. Just because they knew a little bit of what america stood for. Even though they lived in a country that had a ministry of information to tell them the opposite. Our values were so strong that they pervaded that. They got through the ministry of information. And sort of proceeded trump fox news, but that is another thing. They could reach young men and women in a country like iraq. We are not doing that today under trump. We are doing the opposite. Thats not the kind of leadership we need from the white house. [applause] following up on that, would your plan include repealing trumps gag rule . Absolutely. The Massachusetts State Legislature is considering the rowe act. It would preven protect equitabe access to abortion. What do you have to say to lawmakers considering this bill, including your government . Lawmakers in massachusetts continue to lead the way. Im glad to be from a state that has led the nation on marriage equality, healthcare, and we need to continue leading the nation on womens rights. Lets keep going, lets go farther. [applause] i have a relative, we all refer to her as on sheila and she let she worked at the gent aunt sheila. She has gone all the same promotions at the same time and he is making a lot more money. She fought this case in court for seven or nine years. She got castigated almost every single day at work. She ultimately one that case. Ruleal electric has a named after her. Atwere talking about this thanksgiving dinner. What an amazing leader sheila is, and how good it is we are from a country that has come a long way from that time. She jumped in and said a long way, but not far enough. [applause] introduce aike to whoer of the audience works as a project manager in iowa. She is a planned parenthood volunteer leader and a volunteer for iowa Abortion Access fund. Thank you for being here. It is an honor to be here. Im from des moines, iowa. I grew up in a conservative religious household in a small town in iowa. I struggled with my Mental Health for as long as i can remember. I have been diagnosed with an eating disorder, depression, and anxiety. I attempted suicide when i was just 12 years old. My Mental Health is now a priority. I will do whatever i need to protect it. When i found out two years ago that i was pregnant, recently single, one week into a new job, alone in a new city, there was no question with what i would do. My very first thought was that i wanted to die. My next was that i needed to have an abortion. Risking my recovery and giving up everything i had worked for was not an option. I put my Mental Health first. I had my abortion when i was seven weeks. About one year ago, iowa passed a law that would ban abortions the moment a fetal heartbeat is detected. Most women not even knowing they are pregnant by then. Thankfully in january, a state ge ruled the law against was against iowas constitution. Those against abortion rights have continued to keep pushing the ban. They attempted to change the language in our state constitution earlier this year. Iowa lawmakers would have forced me to carry my pregnancy to term. A woman struggling with an eating disorder, suicide ideation, depression, and anxiety. I represent countless individuals whose life includes an abortion story. The reason a person chooses to personal ands is private. The fact that some are unable to access care is a public concern. When i need an abortion, i have so many privileges. I have the privilege of a Flexible Work schedule, private health insurance, the privilege of financial stability, a working car to carry me across state lines if i needed it. I have a privilege of a supportive network. There are millions who do not have those things. An abortion is not a privilege. To continue too expand access to sexual and Reproductive Health care, including abortion, to ensure all people have access to care no matter what . [applause] i want to thank you for your courage in sharing that story. There is so much courage wrapped up in all that you shared. We talk about courage i actually talk a lot about courage and politics. Why do people not believe in climate change, basic rights, i for only been in congress five years. My observation is most of my colleagues are pretty smart, they dont have courage. You have a lot of courage. [applause] through somet walk of the things i would do. First of all, we have to repeal the Hyde Amendment. It goes to the heart of what you are talking about. You shared some of the struggles you have had, and you said you have more privileges than many people in america who need the same health care. That is what the Hyde Amendment is all about. Access tog healt Womens Health care, for women who cannot go to another state, who cannot pay for a more expensive doctor. I cosponsored a bill in congress. It is something that would be a priority for me if im the next president. The second thing we need to do is work on winning elections, but not just the pregnancy. Winning elections up and down the ballot at the state and local level. What happened in iowa, we need to make sure it does not happen anywhere else. And ultimately at the federal level, to ensure these protections in congress. That is something i worked on very hard in 2018. 2016, it the lesson in was not enough to be a good congressman for your district. We have to change the people in congress. I had an effort to focus on key house districts that we needed to flip across the country to win back control of the house of representatives. I focused on veterans. They do particularly well in some of these districts. We also have leaders like abigail spanberger, mike sherrill, chrissie houlihan, a whole group of people across the country. Many of them are Women Veterans who helped us take exit house. Of it withabout half our candidates support. We need to do that everywhere up and down the ballot. I would make it a political priority as the next president. [applause] we need to win the white house. Rightt we can ensure the judicial nominees. Not just in the Supreme Court, but everywhere else. The fourth thing is a few weeks ago, i stood in front of the Supreme Court at the planned parenthood rally. When i had a brief moment to speak, i got up and said heres a simple fact, if you lie in a confirmation hearing, you should not be a Supreme Court justice on the highest court in the land. [applause] it is also why if you obstruct us justice, you should not be president of the United States. [applause] not only the call for impeachment proceedings, but to vote for it back in 2017 in the house of representatives. Regardless of the politics, and i know it may be tricky, but it is the right thing to do. No one in america is above the law. The last thing i wanted to share is a few weeks ago, i apparently became the first president ial candidate in American History to share my own story in dealing with Mental Health. I decided that if im applying for the top leadership position in the country, i should lead up to that mantra to lead by example. I have seen so many fellow veterans deal with poster medic stress coming back from iraq and afghanistan. I have been a consistent advocate and made a commitment to continue my own Health Care Even as a member of congress. I never shared the story of dealing with posttraumatic stress myself, like you just shared your Mental Health story. So i decided to share it. I talked about some the things i saw, in particular, a day when we were heading north towards young iraqi boy was accidentally shot and lying in the middleoftheroad thriving in pain. How that image haunted me when i came home. How hard it was to find the courage to go and talk to someone, to admit i had posttraumatic stress myself and needed help. I went and saw a therapist. It changed my life. When i thinkose about the little boy. I will remember his image to the day i die, but it is not something i cannot control anymore. I think is a good thing that i found the strength to get through that. The first time i have to make a decision involving the lives of Young Americans and live with the consequences will not be when im sitting in a situation at the white house. I think that makes me a better president ial candidate. It took me years in politics to get to the point where i had the courage to do what you did here today and share that story of being confronted with Mental Health challenge, dealing with it, and moving on. Thank you so much for your courage today. Thank you both so much for sharing your stories with us today. [applause] it is very late, it has been a long day, but thank you for staying with us. Se puede. Candidate is colorado senior senator michael bennet. Please help me welcome senator bennett. [applause] welcome. Ofyou are a committed group people. Thank you. You held on until the last person. Thank you for being with us today. It is great to have you here. Im going to jump into my question. Some of Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell announced a record leader of 123 extremist abortion judges to the federal judiciary for lifetime appointments. Some of the nominees you have voted to confirm. The right to abortion, and many of the rights at risk, what would you do as president to bring our courts back to protecting our rights and freedoms . I would not appoint a judge that would not uphold roe v. Wade at any level. The Supreme Court, court of appeals, or the District Court judge. I think it is really important for us to understand what has happened over the last 10 years, where Mitch Mcconnell has been relentlessly strategic, the republicans have been relentlessly strategic. Have antichoice factions been relentlessly strategic grade we have not been as strategic as they have. Say we should be as malevolent, cynical, or as uncaring as Mitch Mcconnell. Any of never argue that us should do what he did to merrick garland, and to win the presidency for donald trump. We do need to be as strategic as he has been. Im not saying you have not been, we have not been. The American People are paying a price for that as a result. Im deeply dissatisfied about that. I appreciate very much you raising it. Thats what i would do. As manyt obama had vacancies at the end of his first term then at the beginning of his first term. President trump has built more vacancies than any president in the history of america, because together,wn the road democrats and republicans, of destroying the advise and consent mechanism in the senate by dropping it from six votes 60 votes to 51 votes. It is the quality of these judges. Many of these judges are ideological, not qualified for these lifetime appointments. It is my hope that at some point, i dont think it will some point, but at we can restore the advise and consent process in the senate so that it is not the degrading, disheartening partisan exercise that it has become. The American People are fed up with it. [applause] you just mentioned the senate. Can you share with us your priorities, specifically more information about the legislation you have introduced, or championed, to advanced Sexual Reproductive Health care for all . What i have been trying to do is get universal healthcare in this country, and Reproductive Healthcare, i view that as part of universal health care. My main idea is something called medicare x, a true public option. Reproductive health care would be part of that bill. It is part of that bill. Getink it is critical we this done. We are the only industrialized country in the world that does not have universal health care. It is not a surprise, you know that i dont think bernie we bernies proposal is how should go. If we had no existing Health Care System, medicare for all would make a lot of sense. There is an existing Health Care System. The likelihood of 180 Million People who get their insurance through their private employer, giving up their insurance for this new system is very low. Its another way of saying we are never going to get universal health care if that is what we are fighting. Instead, lets give families instead lets give people the choice to pick whats right for them. If they want a public option, let them have a public option. It would be like medicare for all. If you are lucky enough to have insurance, keep your insurance. There are millions of people in this country i dont need to tell people in this room thousands of people in my state, many of them single women living in rural areas who are not covered by medicaid because they are not poor enough, but cannot afford health insurance. Millions of people. We need to get them insurance and i think the best way to do it is through a public option. [applause] senator, our final question is from a member of our audience. Susan johnson, shes over here. Shes from cape elizabeth, maine. In her retirement she has dedicated herself to fighting for Abortion Access for mainers and those across the country. Fights very active in the against Brett Kavanaughs confirmation to the Supreme Court. Thank you for your work, susan. [applause] hello, senator bennett. Hello, susan. My name is susan johnson, and i live in cape elizabeth, maine. I was 17 when my world turned upside down. I got pregnant. It seems like a lifetime ago, and it was. 56 years. It was before roe v. Wade. It was before the pill was invented. It was before Birth Control was legal. It was the dark ages for a womans right to make her own decisions about pregnancy. My boyfriend offered to get married. He said he would quit school, get a job helping his father on his soft regret, and we would somehow manage. He was a good guy, but the thought of being a mother plunged me into deep depression and despair. Myn we told my parents, mother threw me out of the house. Relented and she got scared because i was so depressed. I didnt know where to go for help, but my mother did. It turned out there was a secret network of women helping women. My mother, pretending she was the pregnant one, told a neighbor. She knew someone who knew someone. There was a man in a small coal mining town in pennsylvania who performed abortions. She heard he was a doctor. This brave man had decided that abortion was the right thing to do to help women and girls. He did this at great risk to himself. Remember, abortion was against the law. His name was dr. Robert spencer. He saved the lives of thousands of people, including my own. I cant thank him enough. My dad drove me to pennsylvania. He paid for it. I never asked how much it cost, and we never spoke of it again. And representing my generation. Many of those women were not as lucky as i was. They died. I am their voice. Whether you decide to have an abortion or become apparent, no one should be denied health care during pregnancy. Care,ny of us were denied not by our insurance companies, but by our governments, by the shame and stigma our society placed upon us. I am a proud mother and grandmother of two girls. I dont want them to ever be faced with anything like what i went through. So, senator bennett, how are you sexualo expand access to and Reproductive Health care, including abortion, to ensure that people have access to care no matter what . [applause] thank you, susan. I have not been here all day, but i cant think of a more fitting way to end this program then with what you just asked and with the statement you just made. I want to thank you for your on behalf of your generation and americans everywhere, including my daughter who this year is 14 years old. Thank you for that. [applause] i will do everything i can, as i mentioned earlier, i will not repeat the stuff on universal coverage and how we should get we need toi think overturn the Hyde Amendment, clearly, and the Democratic Party is clearly there now, to end discrimination. We are living in a state where people commonly, from the senate, introduce bills that cut billion when800 50 the births that are paid for in South Carolina are paid for by medicare. Where do these people expect people to have their children . It is so cruel. And in the context we are in right now, it seems to me that it is always the most Vulnerable People these people are lashing out at. They are letting everybody else take care of themselves. If you are rural, if you are poor, if you are a person of color, if you are a woman, they are coming after you, and we have to fight back against that. My first election i had never run for office in my life. I had a 3 name recognition in a purple state, colorado, during the rise of the tea party, and it was a terrible year to run as a democrat in my state, a swing state in the middle of the country, and iran on the issues you are talking about today and i will do it every one of my elections because i think it is so important for us to live in a just and fair society. These decisions cant be left to chance. These decisions cant be left to whether you are lucky enough to somehow not be born poor. All of America Needs to come and the and support you women that went through this. My friend, i called him all the time, a great guy from canada, he barely survived his reelection but he did. One of the things he said is my daughter is having to fight for rights her mother never had to fight for because her grandmother won those rights. [applause] guys arehy what you doing here, spending all day in this windowless room, is so incredibly important, and anything i can do to help you, i will. Thank you. Thank you, senator. [applause] give your neighbor a highfive, we made it. Lets give it up one more time for the senator. Lets give it up for all the brave storytellers. [applause] and lets give one more big round of applause, because at the end of the day, theres only one group of people that will decide who the leader of this country is, and thats us, am i right . [applause] all right, my friends. Thank you for being part of this event. We will see you out on the street. Please continue to stay loud on this, we need to hear from you, to continue to share your story. Its about people, and we are going to win. [applause] thank you all. Have a great evening. If you need information, you can today at 3 00 p. M. Eastern, democratic president ial candidate Bernie Sanders hosts a town hall in Clinton College at rock hill, South Carolina. Orch it on cspan cspan. Org. Coming up on cspan today, washington journal is next. Newsmakers at 10 00 a. M. Eastern. Congressman mike rogers talks about border security, immigration, and iran. After that coming you can see President Trumps official announcement that he is running for a second term. Then, part of the house hearing on slavery reparations featuring danny
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