2020 president ial candidate joe biden hosted a Community Townhall in denton, iowa. The former Vice President spoke about expanding obamacare, making Climate Change a priority, and investing in education and the workforce. This is one hour and 20 minutes. [music playing] [applause] wow. Oh my gosh. Hello, vinton. What a crowd. This is incredible. It is so dang cold out there now. So thank you, thank you, thank you for bracing this brutal iowa weather and getting here today to say hi to our next president , joe biden. [applause] before i introduce our next president , i want to say thank you so much rosemary for all that you do and everybody here in vinton who has worked their tails off these last few years and beyond, making sure that we flipped this congressional seat, and we put back took back that u. S. House. I am so grateful every single day to get to represent this Congressional District and in congress. I want to touch on something, and somebody i have been thinking about a lot of the last few days. We have been on the bus now for two days, another day to go tomorrow. But we started in dubuque. My hometown where i grew up in dubuque county. My parents were there and there was notably somebody who was not that i wish could have been. Unfortunately, he passed away many years ago but he is somebody i think about often and that is my late grandfather who was a firefighter in dubuque. You see, he is the guy that when i was growing up, i would sit around the Kitchen Table with him when i was 10 after church on saturday nights and it would be my grandfather who was the firefighter and the democrat, my uncle who was a democrat and Small Business owner, another uncle who was a republican and a lawyer, and me. [laughter] and we would be having, i mean, some of the most contentious conversations over that Kitchen Table after dinner. But i got to tell you, those nights left a very important impression on my life. And i learned two very important lessons. One was even though i was a young girl, i had every right to have a seat at the table with grown men. [applause] rep. Finkenauer second, and very important, was that even though we would disagree, and again, we sure would, we could hug each other at the end of the night and say i love you and , cant wait to see you next week. I just remember thinking that that is how policy should be. That is what our country needs. And that is something that has stuck with me again my entire life. Again, my grandfather, he is the guy too that i took a lot of advice from. So, when one day in 2007 i was serving as speakers page in the iowa house, i was 18, you guys remember 2007. We had a lot of candidates and , and now, lookt now. [laughter] there were a lot of folks running for president and they were coming through the capital. I will be honest with you, you guys know this, back into in 2007, if your last name wasnt obama or clinton, it was like, you didnt know every Single Person that was running all the time. All of a sudden, my grandfather calls me one day and he goes abby, there is the senator from delaware that is coming to the capital, and you have got to meet him. You got to talk to him. You got to hear him. He gets it, he understands our family, he understands where we come from, he gets it. I was like, i dont know the senator from delaware, but if poppa tells me, i have to listen to the senator from delaware. Ive got to show up. I will never forget sitting in that iowa house caucus room that day and i didnt know who joe biden was walking in. But i got to tell you, i sure as ew who he was and he walked out. He was the guy that does understand who we are and where we come from. Hes the guy who sticks to his values, who cares about people, and that is something that quite frankly has never changed. And something that i have always looked up to since that day. And it is why i believe so many of you right now in vinton showed up today to hear him. Because you guys know that that is who he is. The other thing you know about him is the same thing that i know about him, is he also believes in hope. That was the type of stuff that we used to hear a lot about act back in it is also what we 2008. Talked a lot about in 2018. And he gets it. He understands it is about hope and the idea that if you work hard, you shouldnt just be able to make a living, you should be able to have a good life. And Vice President biden understands the difference. [applause] rep. Finkenauer he also gets that hope and the idea that your kids, your grandkids, can get a good education and do better than you did. You see, [applause] rep. Finkenauer and it is about hope, and the idea that god for bid you get sick, you dont have to file for bankruptcy. And hope and the idea, especially right now, where you can work hard on your family farm, pass it onto the next generation without waking up every single morning worried about your future, because of a trade war this current president decides to start on twitter. [applause] rep. Finkenauer you see thats , the stuff that Vice President biden understands. Another thing he understands and is especially why i decided to come out a few days ago and endorse him for president is because i just spent the last year in washington, where i have got to tell you we work across , the aisle a lot, especially on my committees. I sit on transportation and infrastructure, i sit on Small Business, we are working together on a multitude of the bills. My day is very different than sometimes you see on tv at night. But we are getting things done. But then there are also times where i swear, it is like democrats and republicans are speaking different languages. And there is nobody at the top with leadership who is willing to actually believe we should bring people together. And i truly believe that is one of the biggest flaws we have right now. And we have somebody in the white house who believes there is more value in sowing fear and division in our country than bringing us together. We have heard it said before, in fact, the Vice President will say, im sure you will hear him talk about this, that people think he is naive for believing we can unite the country. That we can unite democrats and we can unite congress. But ive got to tell you, after the last year there, if we dont figure out how to unite our country, how to unite congress, how to unite as a party, i am very, very worried about the future of our state and country, and he is somebody who has believed in it from day one, always has, and it is why we desperately, desperately need him in that white house. [applause] rep. Finkenauer one other thing, ive got to go back to my grandpa one more time. You see, hes that guy who taught me about what Public Service is all about. Again, being a firefighter, i think they are some of the best examples of what Public Service means. Its true. [applause] rep. Finkenauer because when my grandfather would get a phone call to run into a burning building, he didnt call back and ask, what color is your skin . How much money do you make . Where are you from . Who do you love . What religion are you . He just showed up and he helped people, and he did his job. , is what i have been trying to do every single day as your congresswoman. Thats what we desperately need in our u. S. Senate. And it is why i am asking you today to commit to caucus for Vice President biden, because we need that exact example of Public Service in the white house. [applause] rep. Finkenauer and so, without further ado, it gives me a great honor as the workingclass kid from cheryl, iowa who grew up in dubuque county, who is now your congresswoman, to get to endorse and introduce our next president of the United States, the workingclass kid from scranton, pennsylvania, our next president , joe biden. [cheers and applause] mr. Biden thank you, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Well, folks, the folks in my home state of delaware and the state of california and montana and louisiana, they owe you. You sent us a first congresswoman. No, you really did. [applause] mr. Biden you really have. I have a great honor in the 2018 election cycle to go out and campaign in 24 states for over almost i keep forgetting the number, 65 to 69, candidates. We won back the house of representatives. We won 41 seats with leaders like abby finkenauer. We elected a group of really, really, really good members of the United States congress. Folks, it matters. It matters. Because its given everybody some hope, and it has also stemmed the tide of some of the really Dangerous Things were that were happening. But you know, it is getting abby reelected that is really important. We owe you, as i said, we owe you around the country for electing abby. You know, having abby and the first two is female congresswomen in the state, pretty cool thing. [applause] mr. Biden you know, we are at a time in this countrys history where everybody understands, trump supporters, independents, people who are democratic supporters, that we are really at one of those inflection points in american history. An awful lot is at stake. An awful lot is at stake. Emotions run pretty high. They run pretty high on both sides. One of the things we cant let happen is we cant get to the point where we are just hollering at one another and not talking to one another. The fact is, we have gotten to a point where our politics has become pretty ugly over the last 6, 8 years. Where we judge people by what we think their motive is rather than their judgment. I learned early on from a guy named mike mansfield, who was a leader in the United States senate for montana, when i was criticizing somebody who had said something awful on the senate floor, he looked at me and said joe, it is appropriate to question another man or womans judgment, but not their motive. Once you question their motive, you cant get to an agreement. If i say you are in the pocket of or you are a cheat or this or that and say by the way, lets figure out how we deal with the farming problem, it doesnt happen. We have got to get back to the spirit of debates about whether or not we agree or dont agree on a substance, but walk away from this idea of just attacking the other person and attacking their motive, saying they are bad folks. We have a country right now, where i think we would all agree that, as abby pointed out, that there is an important bond we all have. When i announced my candidacy for the presidency back east and i particularly picked philadelphia, which was across the line from where i live in delaware, i talked about how we used to, we started off as a unique idea. We are the unique idea in history. We, the people, in order to form a more perfect union. No country has ever been founded on a principle like that. Or a declaration, we hold these truths to be selfevident. That all men and women are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain in nalienable rights [phone ringing] is avice pres. Biden that president. He always does these things. [laughter] [applause] mr. Biden all kidding aside, we have never lived up to those principles. We have never walked away from it before. We have never been completely inclusive. We left a lot of brown and black folks out of that equation. But the folks, the point is, we have never walked away before. But what has happened of late is, when i saw those folks come out of the fields in charlottesville with their veins, close your eyes and remember what you saw in television, their veins bulging, carrying nazi flags, and singing the same exact chant that was sung in the streets of germany in the 1930s, accompanied by white supremacist and the ku klux klan, and the former grand wizard of the clan saying, this is where we elected him. And a young woman was killed. What happened . The president was asked to comment on what happened. And he said there were very, very fine people on both sides. No president of the United States has said anything remotely like that, including Andrew Jackson who was before the civil war. Pretty tough stuff. The division in the nation based on race, religion, ethnicity, whether you are from a foreign country, has never been where it has been before. We have to bring it back. We are a nation that is based on a principal. Principles. Ideas. One of the things abby and i i campaigned for abby when she ran and won last time. She is winning by 20 and she won in spite of my showing up. [laughter] mr. Biden all kidding aside, think about it. We are a people who have always thought about let me put it this way, our backgrounds are similar. Need at her grandpas table in the evening after church, no exception. Ive written several books about this and other biographers are written about me talking about how we would have, after 10 30 mass in scranton pennsylvania, everybody would go back to my grandpas Kitchen Table, and he had four sons and a daughter, and a maiden aunt who lived with him, my grandmas sister. The women would come back and back in the old days, women had tea at the lace tablecloth on and the guys would argue politics and sports at the Kitchen Table. If you were born or a girl, only when you got around 15 years old, you could sort of Wander Around the table. He didnt get to sit down. I remember my grandpa talking about a particular guy who had who was a local political boss in effect. Who had gotten in trouble because he gave his brotherinlaw or somebody a job. I cant remember. I remember my grandpa saying to me, the one thing i cannot couldnt understand why he would defend this particular guy. He said, i defend him, i dont agree with them at all, but i defend him because whatever he says, he does. He said he is for you, he is for you. He says he is against you, you can be sure he is against you. You knew where he stood. You talk about it is important to know where people stand on what their values are and whether they are going to do what they say they are going to do. Today we call it authenticity. The thing i like about, what ive been taught at my table as well as what abby was taught is authenticity matters. I think the American People are looking for some authenticity. If you say what you mean and you mean what you say and you do what you say you were going to try, and do everything in your power to get it done. There is so much that needs to be done right now. We do have to bring this country back together again. The fact is, the values that ive observed and ive been to iowa, going all the way back to campaigning for john culver back in the early 1970s as a young kid in the senate. I was the young kid in the senate at the time. [laughter] mr. Biden iowa values are basically american values. Especially, in the reason i have spent so much time in the rural counties. I have been now to 40some. It is about the things that matter. It is about keeping your word. About what you teach your kids. That they can be anything they want to be if they work and play by the rules and do it well. Telling your kids that no matter what their background is, no matter whether they come from a position of influence or just ordinary folks like us, that you can make it if you work hard at it. That nobody is better than you. But you are no better than anybody else. That it matters. It matters you treat people with decency. I will bet you not a one of you tonight, you are riding home on one of the roads in this county, and someone with a flat tire, you are not going to pull over and stop to help them. You help your neighbors. That is what we are. We are losing that. We are kind of losing that sense around the country these days. Where we are isolated more and more. That is why we are spending so much time in trying to revive what i think to be the thing that is made america america. I have done a lot of work and my overseas, in the Foreign Relations committee, and Vice President doing National Security issues. Overseas, they were kind of naive, because we talked about, even though we were trying to make deals with Foreign Countries about fairness, about decency. The word i heard more often at wordds table was the dignity. Everybody is entitled to be treated with dignity, no matter what their background, no matter where they are from. Think how that is slipping away in the country. So i think even though it is not a specific issue, it goes to who we are as a people and what we have to reestablish, in my view, to once again lead the world. The fact is, the stories of abbys family and my family are not very different. And your families. Wall street didnt build america. Ordinary americans built america. And i might add [applause] mr. Biden i might add that produced the metaclass. Thei think unions built middle class. [applause] so where are we now . What do we have to do to get back to i know some of you have friends the chairwoman and i were speaking about a friend of hers who is working in another country right now. In light of what just happened with the bombing. This person told her he is coming home, he cant afford to stay where he is now because hes worried. Coming home for the caucus. Oh, just to caucus . I thought he was coming home for safety reasons. Hes coming home to caucus, he must really be serious. [laughter] [applause] mr. Biden i just want to say one thing very briefly about the soleimanis being killed. Is there should be no weeping for this guy. I knew of him, i spent a lot of time in my career dealing with he headedorce, and that force. They are the assassins and others in iran. But the hope is that the president at least has a plan that he saw through what the second and iteration of this are third going to be. That he had gotten serious advice from his military, which i dont know yet, whether or not he is prepared for what is likely to come, and it is going to, in terms of protecting american forces, american individuals, American People and embassies, etc. , around the country. And because thus far, he has not demonstrated he pays a lot of attention to his advisers, as a matter of fact, most of the really good advisers and i am not joking have left the administration. Theyve gone somewhere else. So we need to be in a position where a president who is going one, thee to, on day next president is going to inherit two things. A very divided country, as well as a world in disarray. And they are going to have to know what they are doing on day one. They are going to have to be able to stand on january 21 after being sworn in in 2021 and be able to command the respect of the rest of the world, where the lookout, and everyone from the iranians to xi jinping in china, to that fella who calls himself a president but is becoming somewhat of a dictator in russia. They got to know that the person talking to them, man or woman, knows who they are and they know who that person is. And they know, they know that the word of that president will be kept, our friends will be able to know that we are with them, and our enemies will be a what to know that we understand their motives and we are prepared. Sureolks, i am not at all that we will find out more as we go on. I will not spend more time talking about what happened relative to iran. But there is a lot we have to learn to between now and the next few days weeks as to whether or not there is any rationale for what had happened, other than just deciding to take him out. Like i said, not a good guy. But was a highranking official , and we better be prepared. To makee are prepared sure we can protect american interests in that part of the world around the world, and have thought it through rather than put us in real jeopardy. The last thing we need now is another war in the middle east with this time, not 6 Million People or 8 million, but 40 Million People. A sophisticated country. It better be worth what in fact he did. Not at all sure that is the case right now. Look, one of the things you will all do here in iowa that they dont do by the way, you have all figured out that the rest of the country kind of an these kind of envies you and isnt crazy about you all. Because you have the first caucus and they are not any happy about New Hampshire which has the first primary. Because they say we do not represent the country because you are not as diverse as the rest of many other states. So on and so forth. Let me tell you what i tell them. I tell them as i go around the country that the one thing about you all is you take your job really seriously. You are one of the few states that thinks about not just what i want for my state, what im going to be determining who gets to go through the next gate. Who gets to possibly be the president of the United States because you eliminate people in this process. You think about what needs, what is needed by the whole country. And it is unusual. You think about beyond yourselves, you take it really seriously. It is going to be difficult to overcome four years of what i believe the damage this semester should has caused both domestically and in foreign policy, but the fact is that as you move forward in this effort, you are going to determine who gets to be the person who may be the one facing this president. And you look at not only whether or not you agree with him on a particular issue or all the issues, but you look at that person and determine whether or not you think they have the best ,hance of being donald trump because Everybody Knows that this election, this caucus may be the most important caucus you have ever participated in. Not because i am running or any other particular democrat, but because of what is at stake. Like i said, we can handle, with the grace of god and the goodwill of neighbors, to quote my grandfather we can handle four years of donald trump and turn it around. But eight years . Eight years of this administration can fundamentally change the nature of who we are. I think our democracy is at stake. And you all seem to understand that better than almost anybody in the country. Is, who is best qualified, and more likely to beat this president . Secondly, it is not going to be enough just to beat the president. Who is going to be most helpful in helping us win back the United States senate . [applause] mr. Biden and keep the house. Look, we have to win the seats in north carolina, which are up, georgia, florida, other states, and iowa. [applause] and iowa. One of the questions to ask yourself, in a general election, who is best to have at the top of the ticket in order for you to be ever to win the senate seat in iowa . In addition to that, it seems to be the next thing people will look at, not only who is likely to be able to help us win the and the presidency, but beyond that, who is most likely to be a what to do the things we know we all have to do . Making health care a right and so it is ablen, to be done and you are not in a position where your taxes get raised through the ceiling, and middleclass people a more than they thought they would have paid for additional insurance if they had to pay for it. Who is going to make sure the Education System investing in , our children . Who is going to be able to deal with and fundamentally change the trajectory of Climate Change so that we are it what to make sure that we are able to preserve this planet . Who is going to be able to do that . It takes legislation to do that. The question is i think it is appropriate for you all to look at each of our backgrounds in our records. Have we been able to get things done in the United States congress . Have we been able to get major pieces of legislation passed . Who will, if elected, be able to convince the American Public and the congress to pass legislation that we are talking about. The third thing i think is important, and you think as you talk about here and ill a lot, your press does, is who will be able to unify the country . Because [applause] folks, the fact is that we cannot govern this country, cannot sustain our democracy without arriving at a consensus. We have a system that is separated powers, the senate, the house, court, as well as the president. When you cant arrive at a consensus, its impossible to do anything unless you abuse the power of the constitution. You act in a way that is beyond your scope, beyond the capacity of the legality of a president. So weve got to put together weve got to pull it together. There are things we can do. That is what i have done my whole career. Career, my colleagues that are seeking the nomination point out, that is true, biden has passed some really big things, he put together the violence against women act, the recovery act, which was 900 billion dollars without waste or fraud, joe biden did all these he doesnt understand that its a different Republican Party. I pretty well understand this different Republican Party. I dont think anybody has more reason to be upset with this different Republican Party than i do. They spent billions of lying about me. Millions of dollars going after millions ofmillions of dollars going after dollars my surviving son. Millions of dollars to make sure i am not the nominee. Have you ever seen a sitting president more interested in choosing who the democratic nominee will be than this president . [laughter] i learned three things. One, Vladimir Putin does not want me to be president. [laughter] serious. That is why facebook took down and phony ads the russians put up. They have acknowledged that is why they took them down. Secondly kim jongun, who , exchanges love letters with trump, his official news agency said, and i quote, biden is a rabid dog and he should be beaten to death with a stick. [laughter] mr. Biden by the way, then he got a love letter from trump. [laughter] is iiden the other thing have learned that donald trump doesnt want me to be the nominee. His folks are spending so much me 50already, they tell million making ads. As that are so negative that even the Mainstream Press wont print them. Some of them will, some of them wont. They are flat flies. Best flat lies they are flat lies. I understand this new Republican Party. I understand it is not about me, it is about you. It is about you, the American People. A president not only has to be able to fight, he has to be of a toat she has to be able heal he has to be a what to heal. That is the role of the president , to heal, not just fight. Bring us together. We can do that. When they tell me i cannot do the things i was able to do before as a senator and Vice President and say that was a long time ago, it was three years ago. [laughter] for example, there was something called the tears act, 9 billion to deal with research and cancer research. After this president was elected and before he was sworn in, i put together a group of republicans and democrats. In the beginning, they said, we are not going to pass anything else once the election was over. 110 or 112only like members of the house of representatives who were supporting this cures act, as only 30 or it, and 40 folks in the senate. Well, guess what, 10 days before the president got sworn in, i was able to get a vote on the asked, it got over 390 members of the house to vote for it and almost every senator. It means we are going to make progress in health care. But my point is this. There are so many things people are prepared to work on. Democrats and republicans. And with trump gone, with trump gone, youre going to find a number of republicans were going to be liberated a little bit. No, i am not being facetious. Right now, they know that if he is the president , he has enough power within the Republican Party, which is only thirtysomething percent of the public, that in fact, they could beat you in a primary. That doesnt say they are engaged in a profile in courage, but that is what are the reasons why it is not happening. But things can change. I think the responsibility of the president is to persuade as well. Not just to say what were for, but to persuade people. I think the American People across the board are ready for something to change. Because they know we cant sustain ourselves this way. [applause] , there arefolks three things that i think are important. One, i think we have to get to a place where the single most focused issue for this country and the world is Climate Change. [applause] it is Climate Change. And theres a lot we can do about it. We are the only country in the history of the world that has turned great problems into enormous opportunities. Mr. Biden there is a lot we can do about it. We are the only country that has turned great problems into opportunities. I put together a plan, which i will not detail, you can talk more about it if you want privately, here is the deal. We should become the leader of the world in terms of the new technologies that are going to allow us to absorb that carbon, get it out of the air. It is going to start in Rural America. Rural america has the capacity to absorb all the carbon from the air by significantly expanding conservation areas, paying farmers to plant crops that absorb carbon from the air. Making sure that we move and making sure we keep our commitment on the whole issue of biofuels. Fixed carbon out of the air. First thing i will do as president , i will immediately rejoin the paris climate accord, which i helped put together. [applause] mr. Biden almost 200 nations signed on. I will call them to the United States to sit down and up the ante. The deal we made was not only meet the standards set by science when it was formed, but those standards have been increased now, because the danger is even worse than it was before. And get everybody to sign up to make sure they keep their commitment. If they dont, they are going to pay an economic price for doing it. So that you cannot go ahead china cannot continue to say we will not do it. But here is what they are doing, their belt and road proposal, they are exporting dirty coal around the world. Problem in50 of the the United States. The rest of the world is 85 . If we did not have a single bit of emissions going out of the United States, if we are able to do that, we are still going to be flooding. The rivers are still going to flood. You will find yourself with exceptionally warmer winters and warmer summers, you will see droughts, a lot of things, because the rest of the world, the 85 of the emitters are around the rest the world. It requires international cooperation. It requires a world leader who can pull everybody together. In terms of education, but has national of what is happened. When i was a kid in grade school, i remember the iowa test. You guys were the standard of the country. You saw what has happened. You kno no longer are. You are nowhere near the standard. Look what we have done. My dad used to have an expression. When someone would say to my dad, joe, let me tell you what i value, you know what he would say . He would say, dont tell me what you value show me your budget, i , will tell you your value. All these folks say they care about education. They have cut budgets and not increase them at all. Folks, we have to put every single child in america, no matter what their zip code is or no matter what their background is, in a position to make a living in the jenniffer century, and we can do that. [applause] all the data shows that the greatest universities in this state and other state, that if a child goes to school, not 3, 4, five years old, it increases by 48 the prospect that they will go through all 12 years of school and be able to graduate and get a degree beyond high school. That is the data. Everybody understands. We are the United States of america. In your state, anybody teach in here . Teachers . [applause] mr. Biden how many School Psychologists you have around to be able to help kids through their problems . We have one School Psychologist there are two studies. One says one for every 1400 kids , and another one says one for every 1500 kids. It should be closer to one to 500 or one to 700. Because, guess what, all the studies show now for example, we talked about opioid and drug abuse. Guess what. People talk about drug abuse causing mental problems. Mental problems cause drug abuse in the first place. When you identify early on kids who are struggling, you can intervene and do a lot of things. Not punish, but help. Look what is happening in Rural America with regard to your hospitals. 60 of all trauma deaths occur in 20 of the population, world america. Why . Because it takes a long time to get to the place were you need help. Guess what . The rural hospitals in a large part of this state, because of the privatization of medicare, what is happening here . A lot of hospitals are closing. How can that be . How can we allow that to continue to happen . There are so many things that are in our power to do and still reduce the deficit by getting rid of some of these godawful ridiculous tax cuts that have been put in place. And they are not necessary. Lastly, health care. Health care should be a right, not a privilege, in america. Let me tell you how i will do it. Barack and i spent a lot of time just getting obamacare passed. It wasnt what all we wanted, but it significantly changed the lives of a lot of people. Event i goe solitary to, and i think the congresswoman will tell you, she has watched it, you will come and say, thank you, you saved my life. Not me obamacare saved my life. It wasnt perfect. It didnt get it all done, but there is an easy way to fix this. We wanted to add a public option, a medicarelike proposal. That in fact what i am going to do, and i will get it passed, medicare for all people are good folks, but it costs about 30 trillion to 40 trillion over 10 years to do medicare for all. Our entire federal budget is 3 trillion over 10 years. That is more than what we spend on every single solitary thing the government does in any form, from the military to education and on down the line. , it will cause a significant increase in taxes for middleclass people. Bernie acknowledges it. That is the last thing we need do. We can do it by making sure we reinstate obamacare, further subsidize obamacare so you can buy what you call a gold plan so you never have to pay more than 1000 in adaptable, and provide a medicare option for people who would like to buy into that option if they wish to. Eligible forre medicaid, they are automatically enrolled in that option. It can be done now. It costs money. It costs 750 billion over 10 years. But we can pay for it. There are easy ways to pay for it. Example, i will make sure and now republicans will vote for what im about to say as well as independents raise the tax rate back up to the highest rate of 39. 5 percent. That raises hundreds of billions of dollars. Tens of billions of dollars. Making sure [applause] here, but i you have a chart you can go online and get. The things i will do for example are Capital Gains should be taxed at what your regular income is. We should be rewarding work, not just wealth. If we did that, he would raise 800 billion over 10 years. That one thing. If you in fact make sure the Corporate Tax rate went back to 28 , you would raise another 730 billion. Who among republicans is opposed to that . Average republican people, when you say, by the way, amazon pays zero tax. They are making billions of we dollars. Are not asking people to do anything other than begin to pay their fair share. I go down the list. What we have proposed is reforming the tax code so middleclass people have a fighting chance and workingclass people have a way up. We can do this. We can make sure everybody here is the big deal. A lot of people in america, about 160 million, say they like the Health Care Plan they negotiated with their employer. They have given up wages to get them, particularly those negotiated by union members. Guess what . Route,go the other you have to give it up, there can be no private insurance at all. I think you know better than washington what is best for you. By the way, if all of a sudden your company says they will not do insurance anymore, you have the medicare option and the joe biden plan. You can buy insurance that is cheaper or if you cannot afford it, get it for free. It is not going to take notice, everybody is for the other plan. They say it will take between four years to get it passed and maybe 10 years to get it done, a new structure come on. I have been a great consumer of health care. Unfortunately. My son lay dying for 19 months when he came back as a hero from iraq, and died of glioblastoma. I cant imagine what it would have done in terms of my own dignity if they had said to me, before obamacare, they could have said, you have now run out of your coverage. Suffer in peace the next five months of your life. Or if you have a child with a preexisting condition, or a husband or wife, you cant get covered. Talk about being stripped of your dignity as an individual. How do you do that . How can we do that . So it is about now, not about tomorrow. It is about now. People need hope. They need hope. I dont know what in gods name i wouldve done. 1972i first got elected in , i got elected and i wasnt even old enough to be sworn in yet, i had to be 30 years old. I had to wait 17 days to be eligible. For real. I was down in washington, d. C. Hiring staff the week before christmas and i got a phone call from my fire department, a first responder. Put on theman they phone, she was so nervous. She said, youve got to come home, there has been an accident. I said, what happened. Your family was shopping at a tractortrailer broadsided them. For kid, she said, your wife is dead and your daughter is dead, and your two kids, i am not sure they are going to make it. Come home. Wouldvesure what i done when i went home, look at my babies, my boys who were then almost 4 and almost 5. I dont know what i wouldve done a they had said to me, you cant afford this. What do you do . What does a parent do . Folks look, this is not about , tomorrow. It is about today, about hope. Giving people an option. I promise you, i guarantee you, if i am your president , i will protect your familys of access to Health Insurance that is affordable and good as if it were my own family. I get it. I get it. [laughter] [applause] biden by the. Way, let me make it clear, there is a lot of you who have been through what i have been through and more. And sometimes you did not have the help i had. I was lucky. I had an incredible family. My sister, my brother, my mom, my dad helped me raise my kids. Think of all the people i have such enormous regard for the American People. All the people who got up today put one foot in front of the , other with no help, dealing with the problems i outlined at and others you understand. How many of you have lost a Family Member or someone to cancer . Raise your hand. You get it. You know. Everybody does. But think of the people. Think of the single moms. I was a single dad for five years. Tell you what, when i was a u. S. Senator, i was making a decent salary. I was making 42,000 a year. I couldnt afford daycare. If i hadnt had my mom, my sister, my brother, dont of how in gods name i would have made it. But think of all the incredible American People who get up every day and do it every single day. That is who we are. These people deserve a shot. Same kind of shot that you all want. So, folks, it is about hope. This nd by saying when i was a kid and got first elected, i was labeled this idealistic, optimistic, young man. I am more optimistic about americas chances today than i americas chances to own the 21st century today than i have ever been in my whole life. Its not hyperbole. Think about this. Number one, we have the most powerful military in the history of the world to be a will to protect us. But shots not why the rest of the world responds to us. It is the incredible example of our power not that, the power of our example. The reason the rest of the world responds to us and we are able to form these great alliances is because the rest of the world knows who we are. Our example. To quote a republican ronald reagan, we are the shining city on the hill. But the luster is coming off right now. But it is who we are. We have more Great Research universities in the United States of america than all the rest of the rock combined. All the rest of the world combined. The cancer initiative, the moonshot, biden cancer initiative, we were on the verge of being able to cure cancer. Fundamentally, diabetes. Being able, if we invest, to make sure we have an answer to alzheimers. If we do not, guess what . Every single solitary bed in America Today will be filled with an alzheimers patient in 20 years and it will cost us 258 billion a year. Invested inot making sure what we can do, and we can do so much. Every major idea has come out of one of those Great Research universities. They are not owned by the government, they are owned by you. Los alamos in california. Everybody thinks that is a Defense Department it is owned by the people of california. It is part of the university of california. Every major change has come out of those places. Better stocked than any nation in the world with the best and brightest people. Thirdly, we are in a situation where we have the most productive workers in the world. Three times as productive as the workers in asia. That is not to criticize it, it is a fact. But if we dont continue to invest in education and research and development, it wont last. The world. E own the world needs someone like the United States, it needs a leader. I dont mean putting thousands of boots on the world to do war, but being a leader in terms of being the one who moves the world forward across the spectrum. Because if we dont, someone else will fill that vacuum. Your service in the air force mattered, but you know what happens if we are not it asia, if we are not a pacific power, if we are not in the position of leading the world in terms of setting the rules. There are so many opportunities we have. Look,hing i will say is, my colleagues in the senate, from john culver, god love him, and i spoke his eulogy in washington, brilliant guy. John and others used to kid me because i i would always quote a sentence in the senate from president kennedys going to the moon speech. That you learn when you are cad. There was one desk when you are a kid. There was one sentence i would quote all the time and they got tired of me quoting it, but it was the one that meant the most to me. He answered a question that was not actually asked, it was implicit thank you, thank you, thank you. [applause] [indistinct conversations] [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden how are you . Come here. Whats your name . [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden how old are you . 14. [indistinct conversations] i believe in you, i have faith in you. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden god love you. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden what is your name . Susan. Mr. Biden susan, thank you. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden how are you . What is your name . [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden god love you. Thank you. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden you have no idea how many people thanked me because obamacare saved lives. We will make it better. I promise you. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden hi, what is your name . How are you . How old are you . 13. Mr. Biden 13. How old are you . 20. To you, noi will seriousness until 30. I keep telling my daughter. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden tell me about you. I am a college student. I am really happy that you are running. This is my first election i can vote in. A president ial election. I have your memoir you signed for my grandma when she was younger. There is a photo of her and my brother when they are babies in 2008. I never got in it. Im very upset about it. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden i dont blame you. Are you ready . Get you im so you can say you have one. Mr. Biden all right, come on. Thank you so much. Good luck. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden i tell you what, you know i am a railroad guy. For real. [indistinct conversations] [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden you sound my son. What is your name . Tell me about you. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden no, for real. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden god love you. Thank you. I tell you what, you have a good sister. We have met. [indistinct conversations] [indistinct conversations] i mr. Biden i really mean it. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden give me that camera, lets take a selfie. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden ready . Get in here. Good to see you. [indistinct conversations] [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden i am the only guy who has beaten him twice. The idea that kids have to learn how to duck and cover, talk about moral bankruptcy. What is your name . [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden what year argrr . Mr. Biden what year are you . Senior. Mr. Biden it is all downhill from here. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden we are going to reduce it significantly so you never have to pay more than 5 of your disposable income. [indistinct conversations] we want a picture. Mr. Biden sure. What is your name . Eileen. Mr. Biden eileen, you have a beautiful son. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden thank you. Appreciate it. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden i have got to show you something. Anybody have my phone . I want to show you a picture. I am going on a bus tour. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden thank you. Keep on fighting. Thank you very much. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden you know this guy . I met him here. Mr. Biden i am glad he is on my team. Thank you so much. I want to let you know i appreciate i was raised by a single mother. Strongest person i know. I appreciate the way you have done for your family. [indistinct conversations] i will. Absolutely. She would love if we got a picture. Mr. Biden sure, lets do it. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden thank you. I tell you what. North dakota. [indistinct conversations] all right, i will. How about i take a video . [indistinct conversations] just like this guy right here. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden lets get a picture. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden i believe it. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden god love you. You have done good with this guy. Thank you. Mr. Biden what is your name . Good to see. Where are you from . Oklahoma. I am from connecticut. Mr. Biden remember me 11 of you remember me when one of you [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden come on, get engineer. Get in here. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden god love you. [indistinct conversations] thank you for everything. Mr. Biden god love you. [indistinct conversations] thank you. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden god love you. Thank you. Mr. Biden thank you. How are you . What is your name . [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden ok. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden your husband and i have something in common. We both married way up. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden that is what my mom says to. Everybody knows me as jill bidens husband. As [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden god love you. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden ok, here we go. Where was i last night . [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden he is a good man. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden thank you. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden how are you doing, man . [indistinct conversations] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] cspans Life Campaign 2020 see spam stored. Org and all our products. 2020 president ial candidate met with potential caucus goers at a deli in brooklyn, ios is part of his send a message bus tour. He talked about Climate Change, trade, Campaign Finance and health care. This is one hour and 10 minutes