Hello, new york. Now some of you know this. I never thought i would get into politics. Not in a million years. But when i got into this fight, i quickly found out nobody makes it on their own. If you are going to make any kind of progress in this country, you need aleyes who know how to fight. And more importantly, you need aleyes who know how to all eyes who know how to win. [cheers and applause] the working Families Party has been on the front lines of fighting for racial and Economic Justice and building a Grassroots Movement to elect the next generation, and i am honored to have their support. Cheers and applause] and tonight, with all of you as witnesses, i am going to make a promise, and that is when i am in the whitehouse, working families will have a champion. [cheers and applause] so, thank you maurice, and thank you to the working Families Party. Now when so many good people show up, i usually do a town hall followed by selfies. Tonight, a Little Something different. I want to tell you a story that i havent had a chance to tell before. It is an important story about our past and about our future. But i will stay afterwards for as long as anyone wants to take selfies. [cheers and applause] some things we just dont mess with. I am especially glad to be here in Washington Square park. I wanted to give this speech right here, not because of the arch behind me or the president in this square is named for. Nope. We are not here today because of famous arches or famous men. In fact, we are not here because of men at all. Cheers and applause] we are here because of some hardwork women. Cheers and applause] women who more than 100 years ago worked long hours in a brown, 10story building just a block that way, women who worked at the triangle shirt lace factory. Heres what i want to you hear. It was march 25th, 1911. It was a saturday. And at about 4 45 in the afternoon people walking through this very park looked up and saw black smoke billowing into the sky. A fire had starred in that building. And inside that building on the top three floors, deadly flames leapt from a bin to the oily floor, from the floors to the wall, sweeping across work rooms and trapping the workers. Fighting for their lives, women , girls really, some as young as 14 raced to escape. But the exit doors were locked. Others ran to the windows waiving their arms and screaming for help. No help was coming. The Fire Departments ladders could only reach to the sixth floor. The flames leapt higher, and women started crawling out on to the ledges. And as people on the ground stood in shocked silence, a woman jumped. And then another, and then another. They hit the ground with a sickening thud. They died on impact. So many, so fast that the womens bodies piled up on the sidewalks. Their blood ran into the gutters. Dozens more were trapped inside. Trapped because the door to the staircase was locked, locked by bosses afraid that the workers might steal scraps of cloth. Firefighters would later find a pile of burned bodies next to that locked door. It took 18 minutes for 146 people to die. Mostly women, mostly immigrants. Jewish and italian, mostly people who made as little as 5 a week to get their shot at the american dream. It was one of the worst industrial disasters in american history. One of the worst, and it should not have been a surprise. For years across the city women factory workers and their allies had been sounding the alarm about dangerous and squalid conditions, fighting for shorter hours and higher pay. They protested, they went on strike, they got coverage in the press. Everyone knew about these problems. But the fat profits were making new yorks factory owners rich, and they had no plans to give that up. Instead of changing conditions at the factories, the owners worked their political connections. They made Campaign Contributions and talked with their friends in the legislature. They greased the State Government so thoroughly that nothing changed. Business owners got richers, politicians got more powerful, and working people paid the price. Does any of this sound familiar . Cheers and applause] ake any beg problem we have in america today. Climate change, gun safety, health care. On the face of it, these three are totally different issues. But despite our being the strongest and wealth thiest country in the history of the world, our democracy is paralyzed. And why . Because giant corporations have bought off our government. Americans are killed by floods and fires in a rapidly warming planet. Why . Because huge fossil fuel corporations have bought off ur government. Americans are killed with unthinkable speed and efficiency in our streets and our stores and our schools. Why . Because the gun industry has bought off our government. Americans are dying because they cant afford to fill prescriptions or pay for treatment. Why . Because Health Insurance companies and Drug Companies have bought off our government. Now americans disagree on many things, but we dont want each others homes burned down by wildfires. We dont want each others children murdered at school, and we dont want each others families bankrupted by medical bills. What we want is for our government to do something. Cheers and applause] our ferguson is unable to act our federal government is unable to act, unable to take even the most basic steps to protect the American People. Now when you see a government that works great for those with money and connections and doesnt work for much of anyone else, that is corruption plain and simple, and we need to call it out for what it is. Cheers and applause] corruption has put our planet at risk. Orruption has broken our economy. And corruption is breaking our democracy. I know what is broken. Ive got a plan to fix it. [cheers and applause] and thats why i am running for president of the United States. Cheers and applause] ok, lets start with the obvious. Donald trump is corruption in the flesh. He has sworn to serve the people of the United States, but he only serves himself and his partners in corruption. He tries to divide us, white against black, christians against muslim, straight against queer and trans and everyone against immigrants. Because if we are all bessie fighting each other if we are all busy fighting each other, no one will notice that he and others are stealing more and more of the countrys wealth and destroying the future for everyone else. [applause] now as bad as things are, we have to recognize our problems didnt start with donald trump. He made them worse, but we need take a del potro breath and to take a deep breath and recognize that a country that elects donald trump is already in serious trouble. [cheers and applause] republican politicians sold out a long time ago, filling the courts with judges who expand the rights of corporations while they destroy the rights of citizens. Passing tax cuts for wealthy donors while doing nothing to help working families, and sucking up corporate donations while lying about climate change, lying about guns and lying about health care. [applause] and too many politicians in both parties have convinced themselves that playing the money for influence game is the only way to get something done. So what has this corrupt business as usual gotten us . The extinction of one species after another as the earth ats up, children hurt by assault wages, wages that barely budge, crippling student lone debt, shrinking opportunity for loan debt, and shrinking opportunities for the next generation and the once after that. The American People get it, and they are sick of it. Cheers and applause] corruption has taken over our government, and we are running out of time. We must root it out and return our democracy to the people. And yes, ive got a plan for that. [cheers and applause] so ive got a lot of plans, they all compaq to one simple ea all come back to one simple idea. Put political and economic power in the hands of the people. And we start by rooting out corruption in government. No more business as usual. Lets attack corruption headon. Are you ready . [cheers and applause] so ive got the biggest anticorruption plan since watergate. It is a plan to shut down the ability of the rich and powerful to use their money to tilt every decision in washington. I just want to give you a sample of what we can do. End lobbying as we know it. [cheers and applause] we can can to this. We can do this. No highranking public official should be thinking about their next job while they are collecting a paycheck to represent the American People. I have a lifetime ban on senators, congressman and cabinet secretaries from ever being a lobbyist. [cheers and applause] and no more hiring corporate lobbyists to staff up the federal government. Look, the right of every person in this country to petition their government does not protect a multibilliondollar nfluence industry whose sole purpose is to undermine democracy and tilt every decision in favor of those who can pay. So lets shut this industry down and return our government to the people. [cheers and applause] and theres more. No more secret meetings. Every single meeting between a lobbyist and a public official should be a matter of public record. [cheers and applause] no more lobbying on behalf of foreign governments. [cheers and applause] and no more campaign ntributions or bundling by lobbyists,. Contribute to go a campaign at the same time that you are paid to influence those same elected efficiency is the very definition of bribery, and we are going to put a stop to it. [cheers and applause] heres another. Run e, anyone who wants to for federal office will have to put their tax returns online. Cheers and applause] and theres more. President s, cabinet members, members of congress, will be barred from owning businesses on the side. [cheers and applause] barred from trading in individual stocks. Get a look. Take care of the peoples business or take care of your own business, but you cant do both at the same time. [cheers and applause] corruption and influence pedaling has seeped into every corner of our government. So its time for some new plans for our regulators. Far too many agencies act like wholly owned subsidiaries of the companies they are supposed to regulate. When these agencies are captured, the results are collusion and Financial Advisors who cheat people all while regulators look the other way. Enough is enough. [cheers and applause] we are going to take down the resale signs hanging outside of every Federal Building in washington. And heres another one. It is also time to call out corruption in the federal judiciary. Cheers and applause] increasingly bigshot corporate lawyers are getting appointed federal judges, and they turn out one decision after another in favor of corporations and against the interests of american consumers, against unions and against Vulnerable People who must count on the courts to protect their rights. Shaddy rightwing groups have spent millions of dollars to ram through aggressively unqualified nominees likely to advance their causes. No one should be surprised that Public Confidence in our federal courts is at an alltime low. But we can fix it. We will rewrite the basic code of ethics for federal judges. And we will appoint a whole new generation of judges with diverse backgrounds and a wide range of legal experiences, judges who actually believe in fundamental principles like rule of law, civil rights and equal justice. Cheers and applause] and finally, we will end the corruption of our Campaign Finance system. [cheers and applause] verturn citizens united. Democracy is not for sale. Get rid of super packs and secret spending by the illionaires, and break the big donors stranglehold by creating a system of public funding for our lackeys. [cheers and applause] elections. Ur i know that some people will always have more money so they can own more shoes or more clothes than other people. But no one should own more of our democracy. Cheers and applause] corruption comes in other forms, too, and i have plans for those. A plan to end the corrupt practice of selling fancy ambassadorships to wealthy donors because american diplomacy should not be for sale. [cheers and applause] a plan to abolish private prisons. Cheers and applause] no one should make a profit locking people up, and no one should have a financial incentive to Lobby Congress to lock up even more people. Cheers and applause] a plan to stop selling access to federal lands and national arks to giant polluters. And to break the stranglehold of the coal industry and the oil industry in Energy Production and transportation. [cheers and applause] and yeah, when we are talking corruption, we need to call it out in the oval office. [applause and cheers] i read all 448 pages of the mueller report. No one is above the law, not even the United States president. Impeachment is our constitutional duty. [applause and cheers] so there it is. [chanting warren] so there it is, step one, tackle corruption head on. Step two, transform our economy so that every person, no matter where they live, no matter who their parents are, no matter how much money they have, every person has real opportunity. The chance to work hard, to play by the same set of rules, to take care of themselves and the people they love. Corruption in washington has allowed the rich and the powerful to tilt the rules and grow richer and more powerful. But this slices at the top, hasnt just scooped up a chunk of the wealth that all of us have worked so hard to produce. They have gobbled up opportunity itself. The rich and the powerful in this country, they are the first, second and third chances to get ahead. But for a lot of americans, especially people of color, there is barely one or for some, no chance at all. We have the power to fix that. [applause and cheers] we are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world. [chanting warren] sen. Warren we can afford medicare for all to save our people and a Green New Deal to save our planet. [applause and cheers] we just need Real Investment in working people. So lets start with more power in the hands of workers, make it easier to join a union and give unions more power when they negotiated. [applause and cheers] and yes, it is time for a wealth tax. [applause and cheers] [chanting] yes, that is an impact on fortune 500 companies. The first 50 million you are in the clear. But for your 50 million and first dollar, you got to pitch in two cents and for every dollar after that. Just . 02. [chanting] i look at it this way. You build a Great Fortune here in this country, worked hard, stayed up late, you worked hard, build a Great Fortune, or you inherited one, good for you. But i guarantee that any Great Fortune in america was built in least at least in part [indiscernible] [applause and cheers] built at least in part getting your goods to market on roads and bridges, all of us helped pay a bill. Built and protected by police and firefighters, all of us pay their salary. And we are happy to do it. This is america. We are happy to invest in opportunities for everyone, but we are saying if you make it take, really big, really, really big, the top 1 10 of 1 , pitch in two cents so everyone else gets the chance to make it. [applause and cheers] and what can we do with two cents . Universal childcare for every baby in this country. [applause and cheers] universal prek for every threeyearold and fouryearold in america. And raise the wages of every childcare worker and preschool teacher in this country. [applause and cheers] all of that for two cents and more. We can make technical school, fouryear college, tuition free for everyone. [applause and cheers] and we can truly level the Playing Field and put 50 billion directly into our historically black colleges and universities. [applause and cheers] all of this and we can cancel student debt for 95 . [applause and cheers] think what that means. Real opportunity, not just opportunity for people born into privilege. Opportunity for everyone. And opportunity real, opportunity requires honesty. Opportunity requires honesty. Working families across this country have been denied the opportunities they deserve, but the past for black and brown and native families has been even steeper. [applause and cheers] and that is why my plans tackle historical injustice had on. Here are a few examples injustice head on. Here are a few examples. My student plan will help close the gap between black and white families. [applause and cheers] my criminal justice lands will end the practice of plans will end the practice of mass incarceration. [applause and cheers] my housing plan will help families living in formerly redlined areas by a home and Start Building the kind of wealth the government sponsored discrimination denies their parents and grandparents. [applause and cheers] my climate plan includes justice for the black and brown communities that have struggled with the impact of pollution. [applause and cheers] and my plan respects the rights of native americans to protect their land and be stewards of this earth. [applause and cheers] and on day one of my administration, i love the thought of what a president can do all by herself. [applause and cheers] on day one of my administration i will use my executive authority to start closing the pay gap between women of color and everyone else. It is about time [indiscernible] [applause and cheers] we must recognize the systemic discrimination that infects our economy, and we must work actively and deliberately to root it out and set this country on a better path. [applause and cheers] the time for holding back is over. We need big, structural change. [applause and cheers] i know what some of you are thinking. Too much. Too big, too hard. [applause and cheers] ok, nobody here but we know there is some people over there, way out. I know this change is possible and i know it because america has made big structural change before. [applause and cheers] let me take you back to the day of that fire. A woman was visiting friends who lived in a townhouse right behind me where the fire broke out. She hurried into the street, joined the crowd as they went to the triangle factory. When she got there, she stood and watched. She watched as women on the ledge vector help. She watched as they held each other. She watched as they jumped to their deaths. The woman watching was Frances Perkins. [applause and cheers] she was 30 years old and already a workers rights activist. That day set change in motion. A week later the womens trade communions organized a funeral march and a half Million People showed up to march on fifth avenue behind me. Half a Million People in 1911. And it wasnt their first march, but this time it was different. While the women of the trade unions kept pushing from the outside, frances pushed from the inside. She understood those women died because of the greed of their bosses and the corruption of elected officials. She went up to albany ready to fight. She worked to create a Commission Investigating factory conditions and then she served as a lead investigator. Everybody remember this was years before women could even vote let alone hold major roles in government. But frances had a plan. [applause and cheers] she and her fellow activists fought for fire safety and they got it. The next time you do a fire drill at school or at work, you see a plainly marked fire exit, think of francis and the triangle women because they are the reason the laws changed, but they didnt stop with fire safety. With frances working the system from the inside and women Workers Organizing and applying pressure from the outside, they rewrote new york states labor laws from top to bottom to protect workers. [applause and cheers] over time Frances Perkins became the states leading expert on working conditions and later went and Clint Roosevelt was elected governor, he appointed her to head his department in albany. Four years after that, in the depths of the Great Depression when roosevelt became president , he asked frances to come to washington to be secretary of labor for the entire nation. [applause and cheers] Frances Perkins became the first woman in history to serve in the cabinet. [applause and cheers] and what did she push for when she got there . Big structural change. [applause and cheers] she used the same model she and her friends had used after the triangle fire. She worked the political system relentlessly from the inside while a sustained movement applied pressure from the outside. As Francis Perkins put it, the crime of fire was the day the new deal was born. Here is what i want you to think about. What did one woman, one very persistent woman [applause and cheers] one woman backed up by millions of people across this country get done . Social security. Unemployment insurance. Abolition of child labor. Minimum wage. The rit to join a union. And even the very existence of the weekend. That is big structural change. One woman and millions of people to back her up. This story of the triangle shirt factory fire is a story about power, a story of what happens when the rich and powerful take control of government and use it to increase their own profit while they stick it to working people. But what happened in the aftermath of the fire is a different story about power, a story about our power. A story about what is possible when we fight together as one. Over and over throughout our history americans have been told that big structural change just wasnt possible. They should just give up. The abolitionists were told it is too hard. Give up now. The suffragettes were told it is too hard. Union organizers were told it is just too hard, give up now. Put soldiers in the Civil Rights Movement were told to hard, give up now. Lgbtq activists were told it is too hard, give up now. But they did not give up. [applause and cheers] they did not give up. They organized. They built a Grassroots Movement. They persisted. And they changed the course of american history. [applause and cheers] [chanting warren] 2020 is about the direction america goes not just for four years but for generations to come. And there is a lot at stake in this election. I know people are scared. But we cant choose a candidate we dont believe in because we are too scared to do anything else. [applause and cheers] and democrats cant win if we are scared and looking backwards. [applause and cheers] we win when we need the moment. We win when we stand up for what is right. We win only get out there and fight. [applause and cheers] i am not afraid. [applause and cheers] and you cant be afraid either. [applause and cheers] so if you are ready to fight, then join me. [applause and cheers] go to elizabethwarren. Com. Help us organize, donate five dollars, text fight to 2447. We need everyone, all in. [applause] because here is the truth. This is our moment in history. Our moment to dream big, fight hard and win. [applause and cheers] thank you. [applause and cheers] thank you. [applause and cheers] thank you. [applause and cheers] [signed, sealed, delivered] him him in announcer cspan is back des moines, iowa for live coverage of the polk county democrat annual steak fry beginning at 2 00 eastern where candidates will take the state the stage for speeches. Watch on cspan, cspan. Org or listen on the go using the freeseas and radio lab. Radio app. Housecer the u. S. Returns at 12 00 p. M. Eastern for general speeches. At 2 00, the house takes up child safety bills and legislative bills and emotion to instruct negotiators with talks on defense authorization. Senatean two, the returns for more work on executive nominations. National press club hosts a spelling bee. 10 00 a. M. On cspan3, a forum on the future of u. S. Hong kong relations. House Judiciary Committee considers obstruction president ainst the for attempting influence on special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. They have subpoenaed former officials and former white house staffer rob porter. Back at our table this morning, National Political reporter reporter with the national the washington post. Lets start with the news that happened over the weekend. The New York Times published an excerpt of a book coming out about the confirmation
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