Glad to see you looking so well. Im honored to be with you all today and i want to start by thanking arturo for this opportunity to share my vision for latinos in our country. If i have the honor of being elected president , i want to thank you for your opening remarks. We have seen a lot of ups and downs in the Latino Community. None more stark than the last 3. 5 years. Donald trump his administration have pursued an allout assault on latino communities, from the moment he came down that golden escalator saying he was going to take on the mexican rapists. It started the moment he announced his presidency. Feeding the flames of fears and racism against latinos. It is baked into every aspect of how he has governed. This week was an especially poignant reminder of the terrible consequences of allowing that kind of hate to grow unchecked. Butought we could defeat a, it only hides under the rocks. When a president breathes oxygen in, it comes roaring out. On monday, we marked the oneyear anniversary of the tragic mass shooting in el paso where a gunman explicitly sought to target latinos and 23 beautiful lives were stolen from us and their families. I know what it is like to lose a child. It is awful. The stakes of trumps irresponsible policies, of division and hate that he promotes israel. Is real. These are lifeanddeath decisions. Whether it is repeated attacks on dreamers or immigrant communities. Whether it is his neglect of people after Hurricane Maria and puerto rico for his repeated failure to make sure essential workers have the personal protective equipment they need, donald trump has failed the Latino Community time and time again. So, the question you asked, arturo, how are we going to make real a better life for latinos . That is the key question. The future of our country literally defends on how we answer it. That is how important it is. Here is the gods honest truth. The future success of the country is going to depend on our ability to make sure latinos have the ability and tools to succeed. Latinos are the Fastest Growing population in the United States. Already one quarter of our schoolchildren, one quarter are latino. Can we have aame strong and thriving republic if we dont fully deal latinos into every aspect of american life. These kids are not someone elses kids. The kite strings that lift our national ambition. That is why earlier this week i released my latino agenda. Things have been working on all along and you know about, but i put them all in one place. It is a comprehensive plan for not just how we are going to undo all the harm that the Trump Administration has inflicted, but how we are going to make sure latinos are included in our plans to build that means investing in latino economic mobility, because that is the basis of it all, economic mobility. Everything making sure Latino Small Business owners can Access Capital to making it easier for latino families to buy a home, to build intergenerational wealth. How did every other middleclass person do it . They were able to buy a home and build equity in a home and pass it on from generation to generation. One of the four planks of my bill back better plan is about addressing racial inequities. It is about breaking the cycle we are in good times latino communities still lag behind an nt times in a recovery, they take the to whereo bounce back they work, which was not a good place to begin with. We will use every tool at our disposal to take on inequities. It also works on ending racebased health disparities. Tinos are among the Affordable Care act, with millions getting insurance for the first time. Now the insurance rate dropped from 32 to 19 . That was a significant win for the Latino Community. , with midst of a pandemic almost 160,000 dead, those families lost, part of their soul, part of their heart. Now trump is trying to strip people of their Health Care Coverage in court in the middle of a pandemic. Latinos are burying some of the heaviest burdens. Infectionh rates of because latinos disproportionately serve in caregiving roles and increase the risk of exposure and save other people. It is unconscionable. I am going to protect obama care and build on it with a public option so every Single Person can have access to highquality affordable cal health care. When it comes to fighting this pandemic, we have to be crystal clear. Everyone gets free access to testing and treatment. When it is available, a vaccine. Everyone gets it. We have to fight this virus without regard to immigrant status. That is the only way we will beat this thing. It is the only humane thing to do. We will also expand access to highquality education and take on the racial inequities in our education system. To make surearly highquality prek is available to every child three and four years old. Studies show that it increases ofonentially the prospects success for the entire 12 years. It goes through making Post High School affordable Post High School is affordable for students. Public colleges and universities are tuition free for making less than 10025,000 reward. Doubling pell grants, increasing funding for hispanic serving institutions. I started today by speaking about the tragedy in el paso one year ago. Latinos suffer every day from hate crimes and good violence. It does not always make national headlines. Under the biden administration, we will get weapons of war and highcapacity magazines out of our communities. I will take the fight directly to the nra and hold them accountable for the damage they and hold gun manufacturers accountable for the damage they cause to latino families. Trump fails to understand the basic truth of immigrants, that they are an incredible source of our nations strength and they always have been, all the way ancestors60s when my jumped onto the sea, not knowing where they were going, not knowing whether they would make it a short, all the way today way to today. We are able to share the best of every culture. It takes courage to lead a country of every kind, of every background. That is why we are who we are. Unlike the president , we will immediately and trumps assault on the dignity of america trumps assault on the dignity of american communities. Our country is a safe place for asylumseekers, those fleeing persecution. We have never made asylumseekers seek outside of the United States of america. We will stop the union made practice ofinhumane separating families from their children. And did best Case Management programs to help ensure migrants get the support they need while they are navigating the asylum process. It will cost a lot of money, but it is a hell of a lot cheaper than building a wall. We will restore sensible enforcement priorities and stop terrorizing latino communities. The idea you wait outside at 10 00 mass to grab someone from a church, the anxiety from children. The anxiety is overwhelming. It will have a profound impact upon the generation. We will protect dreamers and their families. And every single agreement that the Trump Administration signed 2 law immigration officials. Willration for reform focus on keeping families together. Including providing a clear for 11 million for citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants. I know that is a pretty big agenda. This is the moment to get it done. Lifted blinders off so many people in this country on who is really essential to our economic strategy. It is not wall street bankers or ceos, it is the middle class, hardworking Union Members committed to the rights of all workers, folks and latino communities who are busting their necks every day to keep the country running. And i really do believe we are at to close the risk the respect cap, the opportunity gap. Some of those latino workers have been suffering for so long. My dad used to have an expression, when he lost a job up in scranton. My dad never went to college. Is about ay, a job lot more than a paycheck. It is about dignity, respect, honor. It is about being able to look a kid in the eye and say it is going to be ok. That is what we are going to do. Dignity, honor, treating people with dignity. We can build a new administration that respects the full diversity of our nation and the full diversity of latino communities. When i mean full diversity, unlike africanamerican ,ommunities and the communities but from ever. From europe to south america all the way to our border with mexico and the caribbean. Backgrounds, different ethnicities, but all latinos. We will get a chance to do that when we win in november. The reason we need everyone to get out and about, i cannot do this without your help. Victory in november is contingent upon latino voters, particularly in battleground states. I am committed to speaking directly to the Latino Community. I have a significant step. We are trying to advertise on latino stations, spanishspeaking stations. We need every single voter to sign up, get engaged in our campaign. We need you to get out and vote with your family and friends. Make sure that people know how to register and how to vote safely during the pandemic. We need to provide voters with more options, not fewer and to expand options. No excuse for absentee ballots. You can get an absentee ballot if you need one or want one. Have enough for workers that can sanitize machines and make sure we can socially distance and while not taking away meaningful opportunities to vote on election day. Our campaign is putting together the largest Voter Protection program in history because we know we have to. We have already seen the impact the pandemic has had on Voting Rights and voting during the primaries. Suppression was alive and well in america before the Public Health crisis. Make no mistake about it. The census is part of this too. Everyone needs to be counted. Four former Census Bureau directors who have worked under nine president s have called on the senate and administration to work to extend the deadline so we get an accurate count. You mentioned the Voting Rights act. Date, it happens to be the 55th anniversary of its enactment. I work like hell to extend that act when i was chairman of the Foreign Relations committee. Throughout my career going back to 1975. The supremen 2013 court came along and stripped the teeth out of the act. They said it was no longer necessary. Just last year, 29 states introduced or carried over bills to try to make it harder for people to vote, period. This is blatantly unamerican. Our democracy, one person, one vote, that is the heart of who we are. And at the senate, republican senate, Mitch Mcconnell and donald trump do not take up the bill newly renamed in honor of my friend john lotus to restore the act to its full power, i will do that on my first day as president. What i want to say is thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. , and you again, arturo for what youaleo were doing. To make the country stronger. You make us all better. That is not hyperbole. The country is better, stronger, or prosperous, more decent, more honorable if we in fact reach out and get the largest population of immigrants in the states andhe united include them across the board. It is a source of amazing strength for us. Opennk because of this prices and unemployment crisis, i think the American People are seeing that now. At least i hope that is the case. I am going to need your help to get all of this done. God bless you cspan has covered every minute of every Political Convention since 1984, and we are not stopping now. This months Political Conventions will be like none other in history with the coronavirus pandemic, plans for vote gatherings are being altered. Democrats will nominate joe biden as their candidate the week of august 17. President trump will accept his partys nomination the following week. What cspan and id 00 p. M. For live coverage of the Democratic Convention starting monday, august 17, and the republican Convention Starting monday, august 24, Live Streaming and ondemand at cspan. Org, or listen with the free cspan radio app. Unfilteredre o view of politics. Next, a look at Election Security measures eating up to the 2020 election. The hearing is on the role of the postal service, options for modernizing the voting process with sameday voter registration. The committee will come to order. Good morning thank you to the witnesses for we all have a stake in having a secure election in november. Congressman lewis reminded us the vote is the most powerful nonviolent change agent you have