Please welcome rosemary bolin. Good morning and welcome to scranton, pennsylvania. My name is rosemary boland. President ofr and the Scranton Federation of teachers. I thank you for that. That is not usually how im greeted. I am a proudto say member of the American Federation of teachers. I am on the executive board of the American Federation of teachers pennsylvania and Vice President of the aflcio pennsylvania. Sort of tells you who i am. I am honored that i was asked to do this interaction this morning. I am a schoolteacher from the south side of pennsylvania. I am really honored that this happened to me. I taught 10yearolds and 11yearolds and told them these things could happen. I didnt think they would have been to me. Andfact that we are here im able to speak with you this morning is truly amazing to me. I would like to say how much im joe bideniative that entered this race. [applause] not just because he is a friendly but he absolutely appreciates education. Public education. [applause] my district, the Scranton School district is in what they call financial recovery, which means we are broke. Unique, that would be all right, but we are not. You have watched television and you know how many times teachers throughout this country have had to walk in order to get the salaries they deserve or the health care they deserve. What about our students . One of the things i am happy about is mr. Bidens plan, title i funding. He wants to triple that. Most of us depend on these funds for our students. In our School District, we have a proud heritage. We have prek three and fouryearold education. We are unique in that and have been doing that for almost 50 years. Thathildren deserve throughout this country. This is not something i should have to negotiate, this is something every pyro every child and parent in the United States deserves. How about the fact we have children with special needs . How about that . Ifout if we correctly we correct the idea and actually funded . Fund it . What if we actually help our needy children instead of putting children in cages . [applause] , also,ink it is time that people paid attention to in education,we, are desperately in need of colleges, we need more counselors, we need more nurses. [applause] we in the Scranton School district have 38 open languages. 38. With all ofork those families and all of those children. Need lotslp, and we of it, and so does every teacher in every School District across this country, and you know what . It is hard for me to say this. For the last almost four years, the children in this country have been deprived. The other morning, i read the newspaper locally, that the latest thing from the president is to cut funds for breakfast and lunch. Shame on him. Shame on him. Shame on him is right. Privileged should realize that it is their duty and their responsibility to help those who dont have what they have. It is time to start learning to share, and share among our neediest in this country, and that begins with three and four euros coming to our public comels fouryearolds into our Public Schools in getting the start they deserve. Thats right [applause] i dont want to just stop with Early Childhood education. I spent most of my time with 10 and 11 euros, so i was given an education. But, i dont want to forget that education goes beyond high goes into the colleges and universities and the community and ies, and the trades, would like to say that maybe it is time we invested some time and money, and maybe actually, it is time that we worked on Public Service and loan forgiveness. And give people a boost up. [applause] so, i dont want to steal too much thunder from our next president. [cheers and applause] just want to say that representing the 900 members of the teachers is one of my proudest accompaniments of my life, and as long as they keep me working, everything will be fine. But when i was a student at south scranton junior high school, see . I am not the only one that is still living. When i was a student there, i in, and it was probably around this time, the pen i wore packing, amy, the kennedys are coming. Melania, start packing, the bidens are coming. [applause] it is my great pleasure to introduce to you the next president of these United States of america, joe biden. [cheers and applause] joe biden thank you. Hello, folks. How are you . Thank you. We want Joe Joe Biden please, please, have a seat. Thank you very much for that generous introduction. Husband. Bidens im happy to be home. [cheers and applause] mr. Biden it really is good to be home. Scranton, when you are a kid, no matter how long you live here, climbs into your heart and occupies you. So many people you know are from scranton. So many people from scranton, and so many great people here. My mother, eugenia, raised in scranton, first 35 years of her life before moving to delaware. She lived to age 92, thank god. The last 10 years of life, she lived with me. You know, after my dad passed, she moved in, but it was a struggle to get her to move in with us, because when i was growing up in delaware in our three bedroom, split level home for most of my life, we always had a relative living with us, either my grandpa or my great aunt or an uncle. There was always someone in our threebedroom home with four kids and mom and dad. It was great for the kids. It really was. It was great having my grandpa with us, and so on. But the fact of the matter was, my mother, looking back on it, those walls were pretty thin. And so, after my dad passed away, i tried to get mom to move in with me in a home we had just built. I built a suite for my mom and dad, but my dad was in hospice the last five months of his life in our home. But my mom wouldnt move in because she said she wasnt going to do that to me. But i said, mom, youre not doing that to me. You are doing that for us. She didnt want to be a burden. But thats how my sister and brothers were raised. We were taught that it is all about family. Family. And family is no burden. Even then, she wouldnt actually move into our house. She sold her house, and there is a little barn on the property i bought. The five acres are purchased. I purchased. She wanted me to build her a house there. Every night, i would come home and get to kiss her good night. My wife jill was a great friend of hers. She would say, even with your mother, i can smell ice cream. [laughter] mr. Biden i got to kiss her good morning as she left to the train. But that satisfied her pride and gave the whole family solace. Everything my sister, valerie, and i learned came from scranton. Scranton, as i said, creeps into your heart and never leaves you. When people would ask my mom after she had been in delaware not an exaggeration over 50 years, she would say im from scranton. Im from scranton. Not a joke. She and my dad passed along those values that scranton families are all about. Joe,ed to say, joe, remember, you are defined by your courage and you are redeemed by your loyalty. That was my grandfather, ambrose finnegan. Joe, courage is the greatest virtue with all virtue of all because without courage, you cant love without abandon. My dad moved here with his father and mother to dunmore when he was a senior in high school. He went to st. Thomas prep. All of my extended family is here as well, including some of my relatives here today, the finnegans and gaffneys. Maybe the most important thing my father taught me was that we were raised in the same tradition that i found with everybody i came in contact with here. And stayed in touch with throughout my career. Everybody has the same notion. Every single person, my dad used to say, no matter who they are, is entitled to be treated with dignity. They are entitled to be treated with dignity. Dignity. A word i think that is probably used more here in scranton, at least in my experience, than anywhere else. Its all about dignity, in a matter what your station in life, no matter what your background is. Everybody is entitled to be treated with dignity. My dad [applause] mr. Biden my dad was a real gentleman. He would tell me joe, remember, she would say the same to my sister, except he would say a woman you have to be a man of your word, otherwise youre not a man. Its about honor and its about family. I learned that my grandpas Kitchen Table. Not a joke. He would say, joey, family is the beginning, the middle, and the end. The older i got, the more i learned to admire my dads courage and resilience. When scranton fell on hard times in the late 1940s and early 1950s, my dad if you listen always talks about scrappy joe biden from scranton. Resent the hell out of that, because i represented them for four for years. As a matter of fact, i was in a parade in a little town before my son passed away, one of the favorite parades my kids would go to with me. I was walking down the parade route and thanking them for being good to my boy, and three guys looking like you i played school came behind me and said, what is all of this about scranton . Dammit, youre from delaware. [laughter] mr. Biden but my dad, like i said, if you listen to barack, youd think i climbed out of a coal mine, but my dad was a white color salesperson. I remember him making what i call the longest walk, that some of you and your family members had to make. The longest walk up a short flight of stairs to your childs bedroom to tell them, honey, you cant play in the Little League anymore. You cant go back to school because that doesnt have a job. Dads got to move. Everythings going to change. I remember dad doing that. I remember back to my ancestral home up there, a lovely woman a lovely person who became a who bought it from my grandpop. It just brings back memories. He said, we are going to have to move, honey. Its only 157 miles away. Hed been raised in wilmington until he was a junior in high school. He said, only 157 miles away, and i will come home every weekend. I remember thinking that was like going to the moon. And he did. But it wasnt until i got a lot older that i realized how much it must have affected his pride, having to walk into the kitchen, and my grandpa finnegan, who had four sons, and say, can i leave the kids here with you . With you . It takes a lot of pride for a man or woman to do that. You know, although it was hard for him, i didnt think it was hard for my grandpa, because, again, its family. And you know, ive had nothing but great memories about scranton. Climbing what used to be that 10 foot stone wall in marywood, having fights behind the wall. Flagpole at maloney field. Generation going down to the matinees and playing up the matinee on the way home, trying to walk across that pipe across the lucky the lackey, because thats what the heroes did, sometimes falling in. They are nothing but good memories, but more than a memories, what i remember most as that i think about as i get older is the values that were instilled in me up here. The point of all of this as i look back on it is this is where i learned about loyalty. This is where i learned about patriotism. This is where i learned about what friendship means. This is where i learned about family and faith. Faith that helped me get through a lot of tough times in my life and a lot of you have been through tougher times than i have. The philosopher kierkegaard said faith sees best in the dark. Well, we all go through dark times. Because of the faith instilled in me here, weve been able to traverse it. When my dad made that walk up the stairs, he told me, honey, everythings going to be ok once we get settled in delaware. We are all going to come down and be together. And it was. My dad then, in the mid1950s, believed everything was going to be ok, because the middle class still had a fighting chance. A fighting chance then. We moved to claymont, delaware. That is no longer a steel town. We rented apartments for several years. We finally got to move into a suburban neighborhood not far from there, suburban wilmington. When the developments were being developed, threebedroom, splitlevel house in a safe neighborhood, with four kids in and as i said, a relative. But from that time when we were old enough to listen, anytime someone, a relative in delaware or a friend, lost a job, or a neighbor lost a job because of recession or because the company went under, my dad used to say, and i give you my word to this, he would say, joey, remember, a job is about a lot more than your paycheck. It is about your dignity. It is about your place in the community. It is about who you are. It is about being able to look your child in the eye and say it is going to be ok, and mean it. Thats how we were raised. My guess is thats how most of you were raised here in scranton. We were raised to believe family, loyalty, treating everyone with dignity is what we should do. Because a lot of us knew what it was like not to be treated with dignity by people with wealth, by people who thought we werent quite their equals. I can hear her now, my mom. I used to stutter badly when i was a kid. She would say, remember, joey, nobody is better than you, but everybody is your equal. Thats right. Mr. Biden my dad would say, joey, the measure of success is not whether or not you get knocked down. Its how quickly you get up, so get the hell up, man. [applause] mr. Biden my dad, as he got older, he would be angry if i didnt call him, because he had to make sure he had a sport coat on to meet you. He wanted to greet you at his home. Manners, to my dad, were a big deal. One day he was over at our house, the house i had built, and i guess i was looking out over this pond its on in delaware, and i guess i was kind of feeling sorry for myself. I was talking about my deceased wife, and he said, joey, come on. He left and went up to the hallmark store and came back. I have it on my desk to this day, a card. A card, you know, you can go in that store and get a glass, rectangular case with a cartoon. Ory saying on it, or something. He came back and is me this cartoon. I have this cartoon and it sits on my desk. Its been there for over 25 years. Thats not true, 19 years. Im not a big funny paper guy, but my dad was. Theres a cartoon character that used to be called hagar the horrible, a viking. There are two frames in this picture. Again, it reminds me of the resilience of the people in scranton and claymont. Its a picture of hagar, and the and his viking ship is crashed on the rocks. The mast is down. Hes standing and shaking his fist to heaven and saying, why me, god . And a voice from heaven, the same scene with his hand up and the voice from heaven says, why not . Why not you . Why not you . Folks, a lot of people here in scranton and all across america have, over the last decades and even now, had to make that longest walk. But today, too many middleclass and workingclass folks cant look their kids in the eye any longer and say its going to be ok, and mean it. Thats why im running. Im running to rebuild the backbone of this country. The backbone of this country is the middle class. You know, in this time [applause] mr. Biden and this time, we have to bring everybody along, regardless of your race, your ethnicity, your disability, your gender. Everybodys got to come along. [applause] mr. Biden because folks, lets get something straight. Wall street did not build america. Investment banks did not build america. [applause] mr. Biden hardworking middleclass people built america. Unions built the middle class. [applause] mr. Biden and the middle class built this country. And all this talk i did an interview for 60 minutes thats going to be coming on, 60 minutes for 90 minutes. [laughter] mr. Biden they say, well, unemployment is down. You should go back to your old neighborhoods. Ask them how they are doing, how they are feeling. They are in trouble. There used to be a bargain in america, that if you contributed, you got to share the benefits. That bargain has been broken. Corporate america has been doing incredibly well for the last 15 years. Their profits have gone up exponentially. It used to be there was a direct relationship between socalled productivity, how much more got put out on the factory floor, and salary. Or out of a corporation, and salary. From the end of world war ii to the end of the 1970s, productivity went up over 90 . 94 , i think it was. Wages went up 95 . Since then, productivity has gone up 68 or 69 . Wages, 8 . What happened . What happened to that bargain . Its not happening anymore. Studies show the middle class families have difficulty. Difficulty making, and are losing hope. You are raised to believe that if you worked hard, you would be better off than your parents, but not today, they dont believe it. Have anshow that if you unexpected expense of 400 or more, you cant pay it. You have to either borrow the money or sell something. Ladies and gentlemen, we have to rebuild the middle class. Let me explain what i mean by middleclass. A lot of economists will tell you, middleclass is 51,800. Middleclass is a value set. Middleclass is being able to send your child to the park and know they are going to come home safely. Being able to send them to the local public school, where you know if they do well, they will be able to go beyond school. [applause] mr. Biden it will be able to get a degree they will be able to get a degree. And you can find a way to pay for it if you get in. [applause] mr. Biden middleclass is being able to take your geriatric mom home when dad dies and hope your children never have to take care of you. Thats middleclass. Just a little bit of breathing room. Its hard for a family today to maintain their dignity if they dont have health care. I cant imagine turning to your child who has a preexisting condition and saying, sorry, kid. Nothing i can do for you. I cant help you. Look, the same with insurance. Look, i cant imagine what it would be like for people. Many of you know it, and many of you have been through it. Raise your hand if you have lost someone to cancer, or had cancer yourself. How many of you have lost a close family member, a son or daughter, a loved one or wife . I cant imagine what it would have been like when my son beau, veteran, volunteered to go to iraq and was there for a year a bronze star, comes home and gets diagnosed with terminal cancer. I cant imagine lying in that bed towards the end when the Insurance Company could have come in and say, you are out of your coverage. I cant fathom it. How can a family maintain their dignity if they have a child with some talent that once to go that wants to go beyond high school, and they cant get there . My dad, when we got to delaware, the first good job he was able to get after several years ended up being management at an automobile dealership. The great thing about that is, you always get a new car for the prom. [laughter] mr. Biden i remember going down after a baseball game. The dealership he ran was down where the university is in no work newark, and we lived about 25 minutes from there. I went to a school in claymont at the time. I remember going down in my baseball uniform, racing down in a 1951 plymouth convertible with a ripped top and beach towels for seat covers. I would park it in one spot, run and asked the secretary, wheres dad . I was going to get a car to go to the senior prom. She said, hes out in the alley. Go on into the shop. My dad was pacing back and forth. True story. He looked up and said, joey, im so sorry. So damn sorry. This is before cell phones. I thought maybe something happened to my mom. He said, i went to the bank to finance all the car loans they had. I spoke to charlie, the Vice President. They wont lend me the money to get you to college. Im so damn ashamed. Im ashamed. Why would he be ashamed . Im ashamed. Why would he be ashamed . How many people sat at their Kitchen Table today and had the conversation saying, you know, weve got to drive on those tires for another 10,000 miles. We cant afford a new set of tires this month. Weve got to wait. Whos going to tell her, she can come back . We just dont have the money. What are we going to do about the insurance . This administration has no idea what hardworking, decent, ordinary americans are going through. You know, a parent how many of you, moms or dads, orndpas are grandmas grandmas, drop off your child or grandchild the first day of school, preschool, first, second, third or fourth grade in america, having to learn how to duck and cover . Telling kids, you get behind this pillar here if someone comes in. You know, the greatest concern i spoke to the International Psychiatric Association and the american Psychiatric Association in london. You know the generation that has the greatest degree of anxiety of any generation in america . Kids between seven and 20 years old. You know what their greatest fear is . Being shot in school. No, not a joke. Being shot in school. You saw all of the pictures of going back to school about kids at the new schools we are building. Thats all because we dont have the nerve to take on the damn nra and the gun manufacturers. There is no need [applause] folks, theres no need for this. Some of you are hunters. Ive got shotguns. My sons are hunters. Mainly geese. You know, if you go out and hunt for geese, youre not allowed to have in your shotgun more than three shells. To protect the geese. We have federal laws that protect geese. Think about it. Why in gods name should anyone be able to have a clip that holds 100 rounds . [applause] thebiden so folks, administration keeps doing the bidding of the nra and the gun manufacturers. You know, im not against the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment says its not absolute. My friends on the far right talk about the tree of liberty is watered with the blood of patriots. Youve got to be able to fight against the government. Guess what . You need an m1 tank. You need an f15. You need some hellfire missiles. But you cant have them. You cant have bazookas. You cant have machine guns. We have never argued that there are certain weapons people cant own. Theres never been a time in the history of the Second Amendment when we said anybody can own a weapon, anybody. Folks, how can a parent feel good about raising a child in a neighborhood where the groundwater is polluted because of Oil Companies polluting it . Or whether or not the groundwater pipes are put in in are made of wood or were put in in 1960 and are no longer safe . How many schools around the country, for all i know here in luzern county, the water in the schools is not safe . Look, we all want the same thing. A fair shot, a life of dignity, and the peace of mind that when someone gets sick, you have a little breathing room when the bill comes through . A shot for a better future. With all due respect, and ive never talked about a president like this, i dont think donald trump is capable of understanding that. He doesnt seem to have any sense of empathy at all for people. [applause] mr. Biden ive not seen it, if it exists. Unlike any other president that ive ever worked with. And folks, im not sure donald trump has any idea what im talking about when i talk about the longest walk. You know, i think that the longest walk his father ever made was the dropoff for 100 million in his trust account. [applause] biden its ok. Id like to have had that problem. [laughter] mr. Biden but look, let me tell you why im running. First, thinking about health care. Nine years ago, we fought like hell to get obamacare passed. Generations have tried to do that. We got it done. Health care is more than just a luxury reserved for those who can afford it. Its a right. Its a right we all deserve. [applause] mr. Biden it goes to our dignity and who we want to be as a country. One of my proudest moments in those years of standing alongside president obama. Generations of americans have fought to get that done. It was a really big deal. I wish i had not whispered that in the president s ear. Thank god my mother was not around. Under my plan, you are free to stick with the insurance you have. It, you get toke sign up for a public option, a medicarelike proposal. My plan reduces premiums, deduct. Ill, outofpocket cost for the first time, it will force private insurance to compete with your business, not just with each other, but with a. Ublic competitor that is what the medicarelike option provides. It will keep premiums even lower. Bottom line is my Health Care Plan is the fastest, most effective way to reduce cost for americans not in five years, not in 10 years, but right now, and we can afford it. [applause] thing the second mr. Biden the second thing, we have to rebuild our education system. As was stated at the beginning know, myry you wife, who taught her whole life is teaching at this moment. That is why shes not up here with me. Shes going to iowa tomorrow, but shes in the classroom today teaching. She said it best any country that out educates us will outcompete us. It is a basic thing. [applause] in the 21st century, does anybody think 12 years of education is enough to get you to the middle class and to be able to stay in it . I did a study for the president. Onasked you to do a study jobs in the future. Six in 10 jobs at this moment require something beyond a high school degree. Six in 10. We have to make sure every child has access to a good education, regardless of the zip code. Thats why my plan triples title schools. For at risk we can afford to do that. It means every child will have access to universal prek and prek universally x financially increases exponentially increases the chance the child will make it through School Without getting in trouble. It means we will find and pay teachers the salary they deserve. Teachers and social workers graduating from school, they graduate with a fouryear degree and get paid less than anybody else graduating as a starting and finishing salary. Look, the work we do is of extreme national importance. Their salaries reflect that. We know the 21st century, as i said, 12 years is not enough. Under my plan, everyone who qualifies to go to Community College will be able to go for free. [applause] mr. Biden you say, there goes that been spit that big spending democrat, right . People who graduated high school are having a go back to school for retraining because of technology eliminating jobs. Trillion in. 6 loopholes in the taxcut tax code. You get a deduction for racehorses. Eliminate one of them. Its called stepped up basis. You are about to go and cash in a capital gain. You figure you get hit by a car or truck, you lose your life, it goes to your son or daughter, they dont pay a cent. Guess what . That costs 17 billion a year. Eliminate that one loophole and it could put every single solitary person and Community College who is qualified. Increasing productivity in this country [applause] young people are getting crushed by the burden of student debt. Many of your parents are as well. If you are paying back Student Loans through what they call incomebased repayment, my plan is to cut your payments in half. The way you do it, if you get out of school, youre making less than 25 a year to start with, you dont pay anything back. No interest accrues. If you make more than that, you will only pay 5 of your disposable income meaning after allyour bills are paid and your cost of living is taken care of. Police officers, counseling victims, the mystic violence, anything involving public yearce, you get 10,000 a that you work off your debt up to 50,000 and after 10 years of doing it, you have no debt at all. [applause] biden thats what we are going to do. By the way, Community College you know, every Community College in this state, if you do well, you get to go on to a fouryear college. All those credits are transferable to a fouryear state school. You have some Great Schools in this country. Penn state is not doing bad, are they . [cheers and applause] mr. Biden if you are going to restore the middle class, we need to start rewarding work again, not just wealth. Under the republican and trump plan, we only reward wealth. Donald trump inherited a Strong Economy from barack and me. Things were beginning to really move. And just like Everything Else he inherited, hes in the midst of squandering it. [applause] to build ane need economy that rewards work, not just wealth, reflects our values, and that is going to start im going to start by reversing the trump tax cuts for the super wealthy and corporations. [applause] biden wealthy did not need them in the first place and corporations have spent them on to give benefits to their stockholders, but more importantly, to their ceos. It used to be when reagan was president , the average ceo of fortune 500 Companies Made 36 or 37 times what the average employee made from Vice President all the way down. Know what it is today . Over 420 times as much. What happened . As my mother would say, who died and left him boss . [laughter] mr. Biden no, im serious. I think corporations can do a lot of good things, but they. Ont need that taxcut we will raise billions of dollars to be able to put it on education, Climate Change, and the rest. Im getting rid of the super wealthy tax loopholes, doubling their Capital Gains. Right now, if you are a fireman and a schoolteacher, or you work as a Police Officer or nurse, you pay at a higher tax rate than someone making 10 million a year. Higher tax rate. Why is that . It makes no sense. Why should the capital gain be at 21 , and even then, most dont pay that. Person,ngle solitary our Capital Gains will be treated like real income and they will pay 40 on their Capital Gains. It is a basic bargain to rebuild a stronger inclusive middle class. [applause] notbiden and it does affect any gains on your home and all those things that you in fact are able to take advantage of. Look, weve got to stop this awful gun violence thats ripping us apart. Yes. Mr. Biden this is one of the biggest fears children are facing. We cannot live with ourselves until we take it on. Im the only one in the United States has ever taken on the nra nationally and beaten them and beaten them twice. [applause] mr. Biden succeeded in banning assault weapons for 10 years and limiting the size of magazines. How many cartridges can be in a magazine. I know what it takes to get it done, and i can do it again. We have to confront the existential threat of Climate Change. It is the issue facing the world. [applause] the United States accounts for about 15 of the Climate Change problems. We have to lead by example, and ive laid out a plan where we get to net zero emissions by 2050 and between now and 2030, we make such dramatic change that it cannot be turned around, but 85 of the problem comes from beyond our borders. We need a president who can marshal those other nations to confront the greatest threat weve ever seen to humanity. Thats not hyperbole. Its real. [applause] mr. Biden the first thing i will do as president is rejoined the paris climate accord, which i helped put together. [applause] in the first 100 days of my presidency, i will invite the other nations that are part of this to washington, d. C. , so they up the ante of what they promised they will do and hold them accountable. [applause] mr. Biden we have lost the respect of nations around the world by the way this president has acted. Climate is not just an existential threat. Handled right, it is an extraordinary opportunity. Were the only nation in the world confronted with a real serious problem. We have always been able to take it and turn it into an opportunity. That is who we are in the United States. We can build a network of charging stations across america moved to and move to allelectric vehicles. We have ambitious plans for standards for buildings, cars, power grids. We are going to save you money, save you opportunity, and allow you to breathe cleaner. We are going to make an historic investment in Clean Energy Research and technology, investing 400 billion in the industries of the future so we become a net exporter of all this technology, creating literally millions of jobs. It will create more than 10 million good paying jobs, union jobs making 40 bucks an hour, not 15 bucks an hour. For real. This is the projection. [applause] biden the things im talking about, these are big challenges but no bigger than our capacity as americans, so we have to get started thinking big again, thinking about the future we can build. Americans are doing their part. They are out there working hard every day. They deserve their leaders to work as hard for them. We do not deserve a department of education that crusades against Public Schools. We do not deserve a department of labor that puts corporate profits against ahead of workingclass people. We dont deserve a Foreign Policy waste on lies, conspiracy theories, and abandonment. Based on lies,cy conspiracy theories, and abandonment. [applause] mr. Biden most of all, we do not deserve a president who goes out of his way to make life in america harder, crueler, petty or. He said we have forgotten about the forgotten american. The american middleclass brings dignity and integrity every day to work. They deserve dignity and integrity reflected in their leaders. The challenges we face are really serious. I stand here more optimistic than i was when i got elected as a 29yearold kid to the United States senate. I wasnt old enough to be sworn in. I had to wait days to be eligible. I was characterized as a young, idealistic guy who was optimistic. Folks, we have to restore our backbone of this nation. We have to remember who the hell we are. This is the United States of america. Theres never think about it. [applause] mr. Biden im more optimistic than ive ever been in my career if we move this administration out of the way. We have the most productive workers in the world. Our workers are three times as productive as a matter of fact than they are in asia. We have more Great Research universities in pennsylvania and the United States of america than all the rest of the world combined the rest of the world combined. Every major lifechanging thing has come out of a Research University monetized by corporate america, but it has come out of Research Universities you own, if its los alamos or any other place in the country. We are in a position where the wealthiest country in the world. The wealthiest country in the history of the world. Why in god name would we walk around with our heads down. We have the most powerful military in the history of the world no hyperbole and we have lead the world not just by the example of our power but the power of our example, and it is being eroded. The embrace of dictators and lettersim jongun, love. The guy who had his uncles sitting acrossut the table, had his brother assassinated in an airport. Putin, who i know relatively well i spent a lot of time with him pruden who has nothing in mind other than to break up nato, reduce our influence around the world. The one thing he fears is our influence around the world. The one thing he fears, poking , treating the eye nato like its a protection racket. You saw what just happen. Ive been all through that part of the world where the kurds are. I spent a lot of time in turkey, significant manner time in a rack in that whole area, syria. What have we just done . Have you found a single military person who doesnt feel like we have just besmirched americas reputation around the world of being reliable . 000 kurds died died defeating isis. Terrorists0,000 isis in prison or the president on a whim, without the support of any of his military commanders, decides hes going to make a deal with erdogan, who i know hundreds ofe who are trainers isis forces. And you see on television, women standing there holding their children, under bombardment when out. Anks are moving what the hell is going on . Whats going on . Whos going to believe americas word as we give it . That is what a president does,. He speaks for america. He keeps commitments. When they sailed as prisoners are going to escape, he says, well, they are only going to go to europe. They will not come to the United States. Thats great, isnt it . Thing look, theres not a we cannot do. We are better positioned than anyone in the 21st century. We can do it in a reasonable and quick way. We can unite this country because, folks, im tired of people democrats, republicans, independents Walking Around with their heads down like woe is me. Folks, this is the United States of america. Stand up. Take it back. We can, in fact, do anything we set our mind to. This is the United States of america. [applause] mr. Biden god bless you all and god bless our troops. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [inaudible] we return live now to Nashvilles Music City Center for political on politicons annual conference. We will hear from James Carville and sean hannity. Former senator al franken marx return to the hisonal stage marks return to the national stage. While we wait for the next to getion at politicon under way, heres a portion of james comeys conversation with former White House Communications director. What would you say to them . You have been on the receiving end of mean tweets. You have lived to tell. Grown men Whoopi Goldberg would call them grownass men afraid of a mean tweets. Mr. Comey i saw something. Like im goingng to be staring at my children a lot longer than the people in this room. I would hope that that sentiment would echo in the heads of everybody in that situation. You are going to have to stare at people [applause] saycomey i saw mitt romney this the other day. You are all going to be asked where were you and what did you do. I suspect what will happen is what happened after the joe mccarthy fever broke in 1954. Mccarthy disappeared overnight and late no one had anything to do with it. I was never involved. Trump who . Thats what i expect well experience. We cannot allow that to happen. People have to be held accountable because you are responsible for what you say and what you do not say and if you are in a position to speak, you owe it to this country to speak is how i think about it. [applause] be a whole it will lot of republicans telling themselves a story, which is i need to be here to serve the American People, and if i speak up, i may not be here because as crazy as it sounds, they may run somebody against me in a primary and the American People will be deprived of my service, so because my service is important to the country, i need to make a deal here and get through this. I would ask them to think about it differently, that demonstrating integrity, commitment to truth, and the rule of law are a more Important Service to the American People then you getting your 175,000 a year. [applause] [indiscernible] that come from adam as well, the adapter . Yes. We are live at Nashvilles Music City Center for politic ons fifth annual conference. In a moment, we will hear discussion from James Carville and sean hannity. Either this evening, former senator al franken will be having a discussion and back on the national scene. This is live coverage here on cspan. [indiscernible]