Joe look at the crowd. Wow, oh o my gosh. Well, hello. Is this on . Yes, can you hear me. Awesome. What a crowd. This is incredible. It is so dang cold out there right now. Thank you, thank you, thank you for braving this beautiful iowa weather and getting out 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 you do and everybody here in vinton who have worked their tails off the last two years and beyond making sure we flip this congressional seat and we took back that u. S. House. We could not have done it without you and im so, so combrafle every single day to get to represent this Congressional District in congress. And before again, i want to kind of touch on something and somebody ive been thinking about a lot the last few days. You see, weve been on the bus now for two days. Weve got another day to go tomorrow. We started in debuick, my hometown where i grew up in debuick county. My parents were there and notably someone who wasnt i wish could have within. Up unfortunately he passed away and someone i think often, my great grandfather, ron can who was a firefighter in debuick. Hes the guy when i was growing up id sit around the country table with him when i was 10 after church on saturday nights and it would be my grandfather who is the firefighter and the democrat, my uncle who is a democrat and Small Business owner and another uncle who was republican and a lawyer and me. 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 that even though i was the young girl i had every right to a seat at the table as the grown men. Yes [applause] 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, say i love you and cant wait to see you next week. I just remember thinking that that is how policy should be. Thats what our country needs. And thats something that has stuck with me again my entire life. So again, my grandfather, hes the guy, too, that i took a lot of advice from. So one day in 2007 i was speakering a speakers page in the iowa house, i was 18. You remember 2007. We had a lot of candidates then we thought and look at now. But anyway, theres a lot of folks running for president and they were all coming through the capitol. Ill be honest with you, you know this, back in twench, if your last name was not obama or clinton, you didnt know every Single Person running all the time and all of a sudden my grandfather calls me one day and said abby, theres a senator from delaware coming to the capital and youve got to meet him. Youve got to talk to him and hear him and he gets it. He derstands our family understands where we come from and he gets it. I dont know this senator from delaware but if papa tells me i need to listen to the senator from delaware ill show up and i did and i never forget sitting in that iowa house ucus room that day and i didnt know who joe biden was walking in but i got to tell you i sure as heck knew who he was when he walked out. He was a guy that does understand who we are and where we come from. Hes the guy that sticks to his values, who cares about people, and thats something that, quite frankly, has never changed and something ive always looked up to since that day. Its why i believe so many of you in vinton showed up today to hear him because you guys know that thats 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. You see, that was the type of stuff we used to hear a lot about back in 2008 which you remember well but its also what we talked a lot about in 2018 and he gets it. You see, he understands its 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] he also gets hope and the idea that your kids, your grandkids can get a good education and do better than you did. Its about hope and the idea that god forbid you get sick you dont have to file for bankruptcy. And hope in the idea especially right now where you can work hard on your family farm, pass it on to 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] you see, thats the stuff Vice President biden understands. Another thing that 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 got to tell you, we worked across the aisle a lot, i sit on infrastructure and Small Business and were working together on a multitude of bills. My day is different than what you see sometimes on tv. We get things done. But there are times i swear democrats and republicans were speaking different languages and theres 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 nor value and showing fear and division in our country flpped of bringing us together. And im sure youll hear the Vice President say, people think hes naive for believing we can unite the country and unite democrats and congress. But i have to tell you, again, after the last year there, if we dont figure out how to unite our country or how to unite in a party, im very, very worried about the future of our state and our country and hes one who believed it from day one and always has and why we desperately need him in that white house. [applause] one other thing, i have to go back to my grandpa one more time. Hes the guy that taught me about what Public Service is all about. Again, being a firefighter, i think theyre some of the best examples of what Public Service means. [applause] yeah. Very true. Because when my grandfather would get a phone call to run into a burning building, he didnt call back and ask what complor 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. And that, my friends, is what ive been trying to do every single day as your congresswoman. Thats what we desperately need in our u. S. Senate and why im 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] so without further adieu, it gives me a great honor as a working class 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 working class kid from scranton, pennsylvania, our next president joe biden. Joe thank you, thank you, thank you. [applause] joe, well, folks, the folks in my home state of delaware and louisiana and indiana, you sent us a first congresswoman. No, you really did. 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 think its i forget the number, of 5, 69, they might remind me which it is, candidates. And we won back the house of representatives and won 41 ats with leaders like Abby Finkenauer and we elected a group of really good members of the United States congress. Folks, it matters. It matters. Its given everybody some hope and also stemmed the tide of some Dangerous Things that were happening. But you know, getting abby reelected is really important. We owe you. As i said, we owe you around the country for electing abby. Having abby and cindy as the first two congresswomen in this state is a pretty cool thing. You know, were at a time in this countrys history where everybody understands, trump supporters, independents, people who are democratic supporters that were really at one of those inflection points in american history. An awful lot is at stake. And emotions run pretty high. They run pretty high on both sides. But 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 weve gotten to a point where our politics have become pretty ugly the last six or eight years. We judge people by what we think their motive is rather than their judgment. I learned early on by a guy named mike mansfield, a leader from the United States senate in montana when i was criticizing someone who said something awful on the floor of the senate, he looked at me and said,eo, its always appropriate to question another man or womans judgment but not their motive. Because once you question their motive you cant get to an agreement. If i say youre in the pocket of or youre a cheater or youre this or youre that, and then say lets figure out how we deal with the farming problem. Doesnt happen. We have to get back to spirited debates whether we agree or dont agree on a substance but just walk away from this idea of attacking the other person, attacking their motives and saying theyre bad, folks. We have a country right now where i think wed all agree as abby pointed out, theres an important bond we all have. When i announced my candidacy for the presidency back east and i particularly chose philadelphia which is across the line from where i live in delaware, we talked about how we used to we started off as a unique idea. Were the unique idea in history. We the people in order to form a more perspect union. No country has been founded on a principle like that. Or a declaration, we hold these truths to be self evidented and thats the president. We never lived up to the principles and never walked away from them before. Never have been completely useful. We never walked away before. Whats happened as of late, when i saw those folks coming out of the fields in charlottesville with their veins, close your eyes and remember what you saw on television, their veins bulging carrying nazi flags and singing the same exact chant sung on the streets of germany in the 1930s, by White Supremacists and ku klux klan and saying this is why we elected him and a young woman was killed and what happened . The president was asked to comment on what happened in the conflict. And he said, quote, there are very fine people on both side. No president of the United States never said anything remote likely like that, including Andrew Jackson before the civil war. Pretty tough stuff. And the division of the nation based on race an ethnicity when youre from a foreign country never has been quite where its been and we have to bring it back. Were a nation thats based on principles and ideas. You know, one of the things abby and i i campaigned for abby when she ran one last time and winning by 20 and won despite my showing up. All kidding aside, think about it. We are a people who have always thought about well, let me put it a different way. Our backgrounds are similar. She used to meet at her grandpas table on saturday and ive written books about this and other biographies, talking about how wed have after 10 30 mass in scranton, pennsylvania, everybody go back to my grandpops Kitchen Table and he had four sons and a daughter and maid an aunt that lived with him, my grand mr. And sister and the women would come back in the old days and women sat at tea in the tablecloth in the dining room and the guys would argue politics and sports at the Kitchen Table. Band if youre a boy or girl, only when you got around 15 years old you could sort of wander ran the table and you didnt get to sit down. I remember my grandpop talking about a particular guy who had was a local political boss in effect, who was gotten in trouble because he gave his brotherinlaw or somebody a job, i cant remember. And i remember my grandpop saying to me, the one thing that i couldnt understand why he would defend this particular guy. He said id defend him. I dont agree with him at all. But id defend him because whatever he says he does. If he is for you, hes for you. If he is against you, he sure can be against you and he knew where he stood. He said it was important to know where people stand and what their values are and whether theyre going to do what they say theyll do. Today we call it authenticity. The thing ive been taught at my table and as well as what abby was taught is authenticity matters. I think the American People are looking for some authenticity, you mean what you say and say what you mean and youll do what you say and will do everything in your power to get it done. Theres so much that needs to be done right now. We do have to bring this country back together again. You know, the fact is that the values that ive observed, and ive been to iowa, campaigning for john culver in the 1970s, as a young kid in the senate, i was the young kid in the senate sometimes. Iowa values are basically american values. And especially the reason i spent so much time in the rural coupts, ive been to now im told 40 some on a bus trip weve been taking. And its about things that matter whether youre a democrat or republican or independent. Its about keeping your word about what they teach their kids and can be anybody they with an to believe. Doing it well. No matter their background or no matter they come from a physician of influence or ordinary folks like us, you can make it if you just work hard at it. Nobody is better than you and youre not better than anybody else. It mearps. It matters you treat people with decency. I bet one of you is 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 in my career overseas, in the Foreign Relations committee, and as 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 my dads table was the word 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 middleclass. And i think unions built the middleclass. [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 soleimani 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. There is there should be no weeping for this guy. I knew of him, i spent a lot of time in my career dealing with the quds force, and he headed 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 third iteration of this are 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 to be able to, on day one, the 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. But folks, i am not at all sure 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. I hope we are prepared to make 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 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 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 chance 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. So the question 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 me, the next thing people will look at, not only who is likely to be able to help us win the senate and the presidency, but beyond that, who is most likely to be able to do the things we know we all have to do . Making health care a right and nailing it down, so it is able 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] mr. Biden 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 pull it together. There are things we can do. That is what i have done my whole career. My whole 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 things, but 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 millions of dollars lying about me. Millions of dollars going 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 all those bots 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] mr. Biden the other thing is i have learned that donald trump doesnt want me to be the nominee. His folks are spending so much money, already, they tell me, 50 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 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 able 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] when they tell me i o 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 for example, there was something called the cures 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. There were only like 110 or 112 members of the house of representatives who were supporting this cures act, as they called it, and only 30 or 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 cures 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. 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] mr. Biden folks 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] mr. Biden folks, there are 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 ground 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. Take 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. We make up 50 of the problem in 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, look at what has 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 saw what has happened. You kno no longer are. You are nowhere near the standard. Look what we have done. You 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 what you 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 21st 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 daycare, 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. Every single solitary event i go 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. For it to occur, it will cause a significant increase in taxes for middleclass people. Bernie acknowledges it. That is the last thing we need to 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. And if they are eligible for medicaid, they are automatically enrolled in that option. Eligible for are 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. Notice, everybody is for the other plan. They say it will take between 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. For 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] i wont bore you here, but i 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, we 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 dollars. We 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 . If you go the other route, 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 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. When i first got elected in 1972, 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. The poor woman they put on the 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, and 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. I am not sure what i wouldve 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 if 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 access to Health Insurance that is affordable and good as if it were my own family. I get it. I get it. [applause] mr. 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 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. Let me end by saying this when i was a kid and got first elected, i was labeled this idealistic, optimistic, young man. This 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 moo i am more optimistic about 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 world combined. All the rest of the world combined. When i did 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. And we are not invested in 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. And we are 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. If we do, we own the world. 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. Last thing i will say is, look, 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 would always quote a sentence in the senate from president kennedys going to the moon speech. That you learn 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, like, why are we doing this . Here is what he said. We are doing this because we as americans refuse to postpone any longer what were able to do. I refuse to postpone any longer the promise of this country, it is time we remember who we are. This is the United States. There is not a single thing we have set our minds to that we have been unable to do. It is time to get up, take it back, and lead the world again, and give our children as completely different look. 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] [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. [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. [indistinct conversations] i am happy that you are running. This is my first election i can vote in. 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. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden i dont blame you. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden all right, come on. Thank you so much. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden i tell you what, you know i am a railroad guy. For real. [indistinct conversations] [indistinct conversations] 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 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] 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 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. [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden come on, 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 too. Everybody knows me as jill bidens husband. [indistinct conversations] [indistinct conversations] mr. Biden god love you. 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] go shopping and see what is now available at the cspan online store including our all 2020 tshirts, sweatshirts, and hats. Cspan store. Org and browse all of our products. The house will be in order. For 40 years, cspan has been providing america unfiltered coverage of congress, the white and the Supreme Court and Public Policy events from washington, d. C. And the rest of the country. Created by cable in 1979, cspan is brought to you by your cable or local provider. Cspan, your unfiltered view of government. Coming up this morning on washington journal, New York Times chief White House Correspondent peter baker discusses his new book on the history of impeachment. After that, hudson institutes Blaise Misztal on escalatin