Kentucky. He called on leader mcconnell to allow the legislation, as well as Election Security and minimum wage growth, on to the senate floor. [cheering] [crowd chanting bernie] senator sanders louisville, thank you let me thank relic for their great music. Let me think aaron bridges for his remarks, Richard Becker for his Union Organizing work, robert bell for the great work he is doing, and let me thank your great member of the house john yarmuth. Let me thank all of you not only for being here today but for the support you gave me during the last campaign. In 2016, we were not expected to do well in kentucky. Turns out that we came within a few votes of winning and im very grateful for your support, and this time around, were not gonna come within a few votes of winning, were gonna win. Not only are we gonna win here in kentucky, were gonna win the democratic nomination and were going to defeat donald trump. [applause] senator sanders the reason i am here in louisville today is not just to ask for your political support. I am here as a United States senator to ask Mitch Mcconnell, the majority leader in the u. S. Senate, to do the right thing. And that is to stop using his office to simply represent the wealthy and the powerful and Billionaire Campaign contributors [applause] senator sanders but to start representing the working families of kentucky and the United States. [applause] senator sanders and here is here is the simple truth. At a time of massive income and wealth inequality, when three people now own more wealth than the bottom half of america, when the top 1 owns more wealth than the bottom 92 , when large corporations are earning recordbreaking profits, and ceos make 300 times more than their workers [booing] senator sanders it is not the billionaire class that needs help today, it is the working class. [applause] senator mcconnell, take a look around you, take a look at kentucky, take a look at america and tell your wealthy Campaign Contributors that enough is enough, they cant have it all. [cheering and applause] senator sanders today in kentucky, in vermont, and throughout our country half of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. And i come from a family and grew up in a household that lived paycheck to paycheck, and i know a little bit about that and that means that if you get sick or a Family Member ends up in the hospital, youre worried about how youre gonna pay that bill. And if your car breaks down and you cant get to work and you cant get to work and get a paycheck, you cant get a paycheck and feed your family. Thats living paycheck to paycheck. And today in america, we got 87 Million People who either have no Health Insurance at all or who are underinsured. We got millions of people in kentucky, vermont, and around this country who cannot afford the prescription drugs they need to stay alive or to ease their pain. Here in kentucky and in vermont and throughout this country, we have hundreds of thousands of bright young people who cannot afford to go to college or are leaving School Deeply in debt and tonight were gonna have a half a million americans sleeping out on the street. So today, here in louisville, i say to senator mcconnell, stop worrying about your billionaire friends, theyre doing just fine. [applause] senator sanders start worrying about the working families of your state and around this country who are struggling to keep their heads above water. Today, i say here in kentucky to senator mcconnell, stop blocking legislation from coming to the floor of the senate. [cheering and applause] senator sanders now, if you to, senator mcconnell, you could vote against that legislation but we live in a democracy the senate is entitled to a debate and the American People are entitled to the vote. [cheering and applause] the truth is that there is no state in this country, including vermont, where working people and lowincome people are not struggling, but the crisis facing the working class of this country is especially acute right here in kentucky, where 10 out of the 25 poorest counties in america are located. Hear that, senator mcconnell . 10 out of the 25 poorest counties in this country are located right here in your state. Stop turning your back on your constituents. [cheering and applause] senator sanders were talking about counties where 30 to 40 of people are living in poverty, where many thousands of residents and Senior Citizens are trying to get by on 10, 15, 20,000 a year. Were talking about a state here in kentucky where over 22 of the children are living in poverty, where more than a hundred and ninety thousand workers are earning extremely low wages and were over half a Million People are trying to get by on less than 15 bucks an hour. [applause] senator sanders senator mcconnell, listen to the pain of those people. [cheering and applause] brothers and sisters, i dont have to tell anyone here that we are living at a Pivotal Moment in American History right now. Our country faces more challenges and more crises than at any time in the modern history of our country. I am talking about a growth in oligarchy. I am talking about a disastrous Citizens UnitedSupreme Court decision pushed by senator mcconnell which allows billionaires to spend huge amounts of money to buy elections. [booing] senator sanders i am talking about a presidency which is moving this country toward authoritarianism. [booing] senator sanders i am talking about the Global Crisis of Climate Change. I am talking about a dysfunctional Healthcare System in which 30,000 americans die every year because they dont get to a doctor on time i am talking about a broken criminal justice system, a broken immigration system. Im talking about millions of Senior Citizens who are unable to retire with dignity. Im talking about a housing crisis, an education crisis, a rigged tax system, im talking about the need for women to control their own bodies. I am talking about the need for gun safety legislation. [cheering and applause] and i am talking about legislation to protect the integrity of our elections. [cheering and applause] those are just some just some of the issues out there that the American People are crying out to have resolved to have discussed, to have debated, to have voted upon, but instead of taking action to address any of these crises, Mitch Mcconnell is obstructing, obstructing, and obstructing. He is refusing to allow a vote on any of the bills that have been introduced in the senate or passed already in the house to address these crises. So today, we are here to say as loudly as we can and as clearly as we can to Mitch Mcconnell, enough is enough, stop the obstruction, stop blocking the senate from taking action to raise the minimum wage, to stop gun violence in america, to improve the integrity of our elections, to protect the pensions of workers in kentucky and throughout america [cheering and applause] senator sanders to guarantee healthcare as a human right, not a privilege. [cheering and applause] senator sanders to combat Climate Change and to stop once and for all billionaires from buying elections. [cheering and applause] so, today, i say to senator mcconnell, if you want to vote against any of that legislation, thats fine, you have the right to come back to kentucky and tell the people why you voted the way you did, but you dont have the right to stop democracy in the United States senate. [cheering and applause] you dont have the rights to prevent debate and votes are the most important issues facing the working people of this country. Stop your cowardice. Have the guts to debate the issues. [cheering and applause] let me just touch briefly on some of these issues. In the richest country in the history of the world, it is not acceptable that millions of workers from one end of america to the other are forced to work two or three jobs just to put food on the table and pay the bills. It is not a radical idea to say that in america, if you work 40 hours a week, you should not live in poverty. A job should lift americans out of poverty, not keep them in poverty. And let me be as clear as i can be. The 7. 25 an hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage. [cheering and applause] senator sanders nobody, not in kentucky, not in vermont, not anywhere, nobody can make it on 7. 25, 8, 9, 10, bucks an hour. We must raise that minimum wage which has not been raised in ten years to a living wage, at least 15 an hour. And we must make it easier for workers to join unions. The good news is, over the last several years, seven states in america have voted to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. And over a month ago the house of representatives passed legislation that i authored to raise the federal minimum wage to fifteen bucks an hour so thats where we are right now. The u. S. House has done the right thing and millions of American Workers are waiting for the senate to do the right thing. [cheering and applause] but senator mcconnell has refused to bring that bill up on the senate floor. So i say to senator mcconnell, have the courage to stand with the working people of kentucky and america, not your wealthy Campaign Contributors, allow that 15 an hour minimum wage bill to get to the floor of the senate. [cheering and applause] senator sanders if you, senator mcconnell, want to vote against that billm thats finem thats your business but then youre gonna have to come home and explain to over a half a million workers here in kentucky who are making less than 15 an hour why they do not deserve an average raise of 4300 a year. So thats it. It is not a radical idea to say that in america, if you work 40 hours a week, you should not live in poverty. A job should lift americans out of poverty, not keep them in poverty. And let me be as clear as i can be. The 7. 25 an hour federal minimum wage is a starvation wage. [cheering and applause] senator sanders nobody, not in kentucky, not in vermont, not anywhere, nobody can make it on 7. 25, 8, 9, 10, bucks an hour. We must raise that minimum wage which has not been raised in ten years to a living wage, at least 15 an hour. And we must make it easier for workers to join unions. The good news is, over the last several years, seven states in america have voted to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. And over a month ago the house of representatives passed legislation that i authored to raise the federal minimum wage to fifteen bucks an hour so thats where we are right now. The u. S. House has done the right thing and millions of American Workers are waiting for the senate to do the right thing. [cheering and applause] but senator mcconnell has refused to bring that bill up on the senate floor. So i say to senator mcconnell, have the courage to stand with the working people of kentucky and america, not your wealthy Campaign Contributors, allow that 15 an hour minimum wage bill to get to the floor of the senate. [cheering and applause] senator sanders if you, senator mcconnell, want to vote against that bill, thats fine, thats your business but then youre gonna have to come home and explain to over a half a million workers here in kentucky who are making less than 15 an hour why they do not deserve an average raise of 4300 a year. So thats it. You want to vote against it, vote against it. But you come back here to louisville and kentucky and explain to the working people of this country why you support tax breaks for billionaires but you dont want to raise that minimum wage to a living wage. So i say to senator mcconnell, it is time to end your obstruction, it is time for the senate to vote. Well, lets be clear, 15 an hour minimum wage is not the only bill that senator mcconnell is blocking. Last month, very importantly the house passed legislation to prevent companies from cutting the earned pension benefits of one and a half million American Workers and retirees in multi employer pension plans. Now, these are people who had worked their whole lives, these are people who have given up wage increases in order to get a decent pension. And that includes more than 24,000 coal miners and teamsters right here in kentucky, who are looking at their pensions of being cut by up to 60 . If senator mcconnell wants to explain to the coal miners in Truck Drivers in kentucky why he is opposed to legislation that would protect their pensions, that is his prerogative. But he should stop blocking legislation that i wanna vote for, that other senators want to vote for that would restore those pensions. Senator mcconnell, it is time for you to end your obstruction. It is time for the senate to do its job and vote. [cheering and applause] and when we talk about the need for the senate to take action, we are talking about the need for senator mcconnell to stop blocking commonsense gun safety legislation. [cheering and applause] it has now been three weeks since the horrific Mass Shootings in el paso and dayton, which have followed as all of you know, Mass Shootings over the years in community after community after community. The American People, gun owners and nongun owners, overwhelmingly one action. They want us to do everything we can to stop these mass murders. They want to see background checks expanded, they want to see the gun show loophole and the socalled straw man provision eliminated. [cheering and applause] senator sanders and more and more americans understand that the function of militarystyle assault weapons is to kill as many people as possible, and more and more americans want to end the sale and distribution of those assault weapons. [cheering and applause] senator sanders so i say to senator mcconnell, listen to what the American People want and not allow the nra to dictate gun policy in this country. [cheering and applause] end your obstructionism on gun safety legislation. Let us have that debate, let us vote. [cheering and applause] and when we talk about the need for the senate to act, we are also talking about the need to prevent russia and other countries from interfering in our elections, and the need to protect the integrity of american elections. Now you may want to vote democrat, you may want to vote republican i hope you want to vote democrat but most of all, you want to make sure that your vote is properly counted, that our election system is not hacked by russia or any other country or entity, and that the heart and soul of american democracy, free and fair elections, remain intact. [cheering and applause] senator sanders the good news is that the house passed legislation to update our voting equipment to produce paper voting records and keep Voting Machines disconnected from the internet. [applause] senator sanders but, for whatever reason, senator mcconnell has blocked that legislation from getting a vote in the senate. Once again, i say to senator mcconnell, if you want to vote against that legislation, you could vote against it, but i cannot understand why you believe that we should do nothing to stop russia and other countries from interfering with our elections. Senator mcconnell, stop the obstructionism, allow us to vote on maintaining the integrity of american elections. [cheering and applause] brothers and sisters, when we talk about our responsibilities as human beings, as parents and as grandparents, there is nothing more important than leaving this country and the entire planet healthy and habitable for our kids, our grandchildren, and future generations. [cheering and applause] scientists and some of us, unlike the president , actually believe in science Scientific Community not only in america but throughout the world have told us that we have fewer than 12 years to act boldly in transforming our Energy System away from fossil fuel to Energy Efficiency and sustainable energies. [cheering and applause] senator sanders and that if we do not act boldly, our country and our planet will face irreparable harm. From a moral perspective, with the love that we feel in our hearts for our kids and our grandchildren, we cannot we must not allow that to happen. [cheering and applause] senator sanders future generations deserve a planet that is healthy and is habitable and we have the moral responsibility to make sure that they have that kind of planet but, if we do not get our act together, and i dont mean just the United States, im talking about countries all over the world. If we do not get our act together and act boldly, there there will be more droughts, more famine, more flooding, more rising sea levels more wildfires, more extreme weather disturbances, more disease, more human suffering. Now, i am more than aware that there are a lot of workers in kentucky who have relied on coal mining jobs to support their families. So, let me be as clear as i can be. Coal miners, and i speak as probably the most pro worker member of the United States senate. Coal miners are not my enemy. Workers in the fossil fuel industry are not my enemy. Climate change is our enemy. [cheering and applause] i understand that workers in the fossil fuel industry, like all workers, are doing everything they can to feed their families and to take care of their basic needs. For decades, coal miners have seen their pensions cut, they have seen their Health Care Benefits slashed, they have seen their jobs disappear, they have developed black lung disease, and they have seen their communities destroyed by ceos who dont give a damn about anything except their shortterm profits. [cheering and applause] the reality is that Mitch Mcconnell and donald trump have abandoned these communities. Well, let me be clear, unlike mcconnell and unlike trump, i am not going to turn my back on communities in this country who are hurting. [cheering and applause] we are going to rebuild Rural America and in the process were going to create millions of good paying jobs. [cheering and applause] senator sanders and let me say this. Today, we stand with the coal miners in holland county who are not receiving a paycheck. [cheering and applause] senator sanders and we ask Mitch Mcconnell to demand that these workers get paid as soon as possible. [cheering and applause] but let me be also as clear as i can be in saying, here in kentucky, what i said the other day in paradise, california, which some of you remember suffered that horrendous fire which killed 86 people, and what i have said in vermont and what i have said all over this country, and that is Climate Change is real, Climate Change is caused by human activity, and Climate Change is causing devastating harm in our country and throughout the world. With those scientists who tell us we have a short time to transform our Energy System away from fossil fuel to Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Energy. Here is my promise. As we transition away from fossil fuel, we will not abandon communities that have relied on fossil fuel. We will rebuild those communities. We will create millions of jobs modernizing our electricity grid and building the wind, solar and other Sustainable Energy that our country and the world desperately needs. We will expand the internet and Broadband Services to every community in america. And we will guarantee the right of all workers to form unions without threats or intimidation. Some of you may know that i have introduced sweeping Climate Change legislation. Others have introduced different ideas. The bottom line is, for the sake of the future of our country and our planet, we have to act and act now. [cheering and applause] so i say to Mitch Mcconnell, stop your obstructionism, bring Climate Change to the senate floor and let us have that the. Let us save the planet. [cheering and applause] i think the question that a lot of people are asking is, why does senator mcconnell do what he does . Why does he oppose virtually every piece of legislation that protects working families while supporting legislation that gives huge tax breaks to billionaires . The answer is not complicated. It has everything to do with following the money. Follow the money. Over the course of his long career, senator mcconnell has received huge amounts of calm pain contributions from wall street Companies Like goldman sachs, citigroup, j. P. Morgan chase and hedge funds. He has received huge amounts of contributions from the health care industry, including Companies Like blue cross blue shield, humana. He has received a lot of money in Campaign Contributions from the fossil fuel industry and the nra. What did these incredibly powerful corporations and special interest what is their agenda . They oppose raising the minimum wage, guaranteeing health care to all americans as a human right through a medicare for all singlepayer program. They oppose taking any action that would lower the outrageous cost of prescription drugs in this country. They oppose any legislation to combat Climate Change and they oppose any gun safety legislation. That is what senator mcconnells campaign opposes. Let me tell you what they support. They support huge tax breaks for the billionaire class and large corporations. We should be clear that senator mcconnell is for them. They support deregulating wall street. Senator mcconnell has delivered for them. They support cutting social security, medicare and dedicated. And here is the irony. On one hand, everything the American People want is what mcconnells campaign contributed and opposed. What the American People oppose is what mcconnell and his campaign contributed. I had a vertical idea. Senator mcconnell, why dont you listen to the people . That is what the whole thing is about. On one hand you have a struggling working class in this country who are fighting for decent paying jobs, health care, education, for a clean environment. On the other hand, you have billionaires who contribute a huge amount of money to the republican party, who stand in opposition to everything that the working families of this country want. We have a lot of work in front of us. Mostly, what we have to do is to do exactly the opposite of what trump and mcconnell are trying to do. They are trying to divide us up based on the color of our skin. Based on where we were born. Based on our religion. Based on our Sexual Orientation and based on our gender. That is what they want to do. Want to divide us up and allow the wealthy and powerful to buy the elections. That is their idea of democracy. Our idea is just a little bit different. Our idea is that we will bring working people together. Asian american, native american. We are going to come together. We are going to say to Mitch Mcconnell, donald trump and the entire corporate the that control the life of the country, that their day has come and gone. We are tired of our kids not being able to go to college. That is why we are going to make public colleges and universities [cheering and applause] Mitch Mcconnell will tell you that is expensive proposition. It is an expensive proposition to bail out wall street. It is expensive to give over 1 trillion in tax breaks to the 1 and large, profitable corporations. It is an expensive proposition to allow for a tax system that enables amazon to make 10 billion in profits and not pay a nickel in federal income taxes. So what we are going to do is make College Tuition free. Now trump and mcconnell try to throw 32 million americans off the health care that they have. Here in kentucky, the Affordable Care act is a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of people. Mcconnell and trump want to end it. We stayed to senator mcconnell, we are going to do what every other major country on earth does. We guarantee health care to all people for our medicare for all. By the way, instead of giving tax breaks tear billionaire friends, we are finally going to create a tax system that forces them to start paying their fair share. We are the wealthiest country in the history of the world. We can, if we stand together, provide a good standard of living for our children universal health care. A strong education system. Instead of ignoring Climate Change, we will need the world and transforming the global Energy System and creating millions of good paying job. Mitch mcconnell works very hard for the disastrous court decision. Guess what . We are going to overturn that. Brothers and sisters, let us go Forward Together and let us demand that Mitch Mcconnell have the guts, the courage to put legislation on the floor of the senate that would improve life for the working families of this country. Senator mcconnell, and the obstructionism. Senator mcconnell, end the obstructionism. Let us have democracy in the senate. Let us address the needs of the working class in this country. Thank you all very much. [cheering and applause] [crowd chanting bernie] also over the weekend, former congressman joe walsh announced he is starting a primary bid against President Trump, tweeting friends, im in. We cant take four more years of donald trump. Thats why im running for president. It wont be easy, but bravery is never easy. But together, we can do it. Join me. Join us. Here is his online announcement. Mr. Walsh when i first started thinking about running for president , talking to my family, close friends, people i trust, i started hearing all the things i needed to do to test the waters. Start an exploratory committee, a consultant. The practical steps. These are not conventional times. These are urgent times. Lets be real. These are scary times. To hell with those conventional things. Today, i am declaring my candidacy for president of the United States because its time to be brave. We have someone in the white house who we all know is unfit. Someone who lies virtually every time he opens his mouth. Someone who places his own interests above the nations interest at every single turn. We cannot afford four more years of donald trump. No way. What cannot wait is all of us having the courage to finally say publicly what we all know privately. We are tired. We are tired of a president waking up every morning and beating insults at ordinary at or thensults americans. We are tired of a president who sides with putin over our intelligence committee. We are tired of a president who this country into recession. And we are tired, we are so damn a president who is teaching millions of American Children its ok to lie and to be a bully. Enough. My name is joe walsh. Im a former republican congressman. Im a conservative. I am running because donald trump is not who we are. In fact, he is the worst of who we are. Sure, trump and his people are going to attack us. Thats going to happen. It will be easy. But you know, bravery is never easy. Lets make a statement. H. Org. Joewals tell the world you are ready to be brave. Campaign 2020. Watch our live coverage of the president ial candidates on the campaign trail and make up your own mind. Cspans campaign 2020, your unfiltered view of politics. Recenthe wake of the shootings in el paso, texas and dayton, ohio, the House Judiciary Committee will return early from summer recess to mark up three gun violence prevention bills, which include banning highcapacity ammunition magazines, restricting firearms from those doomed by a court to be a risk to themselves, and preventing an individual convicted of misdemeanor and hate crimes purchasing a gun. On cspanage begins and cspan. Org, wednesday, september 4, at 10 a. M. President trump of an First Lady Melania Trump are on their way back to the United States after attending the g7 in france. The g7 president macron left the briefing so President Trump could continue to answer questions