Fmr. V. P. Biden thank you very much. I just want to thank you all. I understand you spoke, i could not hear you. Bishop, thank you for inviting me. Reverend harris, reverend jackson, all of who joined us tonight, i am humbled to be with you. My daughter, who is a fulltime social worker, is part of your effort. She is visiting a real sick friend who had a kidney replacement. Her name is ashley, and, reverend, she is anxious to meet you. Together, we can carry on dr. Kings poor peoples campaign, based on a simple truth that we are all created in the image of god, and everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. My father used to say a jobs about more than a paycheck. It is about dignity, respect, being able to look your kid in the eye and say it is ok. So many people today cannot do that. So many people have made the walk my father had to make up a short flight of stairs. He lost his job in scranton, pennsylvania years ago when i was a third grader. He said, you have to stay with your grandpa. It will be about a year. I will come back every weekend. It is only 157 miles. I could not imagine what it was going down and asking my grandfather whether or not we could all stay there, including my mom. What a difficult thing that must have been. But, look everybody come a lot of people have been awful close. We got out of it. We lived in what was the equivalent of now section eight housing for a while. But it took five years. My dad finally got us through. Anybody whooint is is ever felt a taste of this lack of respect, lack of opportunity, taste of being poor, taste of it understands what you are doing. We have discussed how that moral truth animates the founding documents, as we call them. As you call them, the founding documents. The founding covenants is your phrase. And we have always talked about the work left undone to make real the promise of how, too often, our politics does not speak enough to the 140 Million People who live in poverty, struggling paychecktopaycheck in the wealthiest nation on earth, scared to death. I can remember my dad going to sleep at night, and i can hear him about health insurance, wondering what in gods name happens if i get sick . I watched it on his face. But at your forum last year, during holy week this past april, i promised we would not only talk about it, but we would do something about it. Together. And i want to be part of your movement. That is why i am here tonight. All of you remind me how scripture describes calling to serve, not to be served. A calling toward justice, healing, hope. Not hate. To speak the good news and follow by some good deeds. It is not enough just to speak the good news but the good deeds. And here we are, with a nation in the wilderness right now. A Public Health crisis that has killed nearly 200,000 of our loved ones, friends, neighbors, innocent souls, mostly people in the Poor Community who have been exposed, who have no place to hide. And that number is growing. An economic crisis that puts tens of millions of you out of work. Facing eviction. Living on the edge. Living on the edge. I mean, what is going to happen when you have to pay that rent, if you are lucky enough to be in a place where you have a safe place to live . Offe crises i have ripped the blinders of systemic racism. And i pray so many of you have the ability to reach godgiven potential. Beforey has existed long , they have existed for a long time. Where those at the top see things going up, but those in the middle and below see things getting worse. And we have leaders who bear false witness. Who want us to believe that our country has not gone off track. What does it mean if the stock market soars if families teeter on the brink of homelessness . You all see these lines, food lines. People lining up just to get some bread, milk, food. Or when we must take care of one another in a crisis, and those in power say cut unemployment benefits. So that those who cannot find work or work safely cannot pay their bills, put food on the table, even proposing to cut the s. N. A. P. Program. To fund social security. Eliminate obamacare. In the middle of a pandemic. In the middle of a pandemic. Reopen our schools without the resources or guidance they need to do it safely. It is estimated to cost 20 billion to open our school safely, so that we can have sanitary conditions. So that we can have smaller classes, more teachers, people with masks. White,r you are black, latino, asian, asian american, native american. Those in power want to sow division among us. They say we are all different, we dont want the same things. But we do. We want a decent shot. My dad used to say i am not looking for a hand, i am looking for an opportunity. I dont expect the government to solve my problems, but i expect them to understand that. We want a shot at good job, health, good opportunities for your kids and their communities. The folks out there now want to separate us by race, by neighborhood, by faith, to turn against one another, to forget how strong we are when we take care of one another. When we are together, there is nothing we cannot do. We are going to talk about our obligations to one another, how we benefit when we help one another. Ending poverty will not just be an aspiration, it will be a change to build an economy that rewards everyone. We care for the most vulnerable among us. We protect the planet, which is the victim of global warming. So we can live on. A rebuild a country where you do not just survive, but you are able to thrive and grow. It starts by containing the virus, by providing all the ppe, the safety measures. Through the masking, social distancing, testing and tracing, preparing for a vaccine that is free and any costs associated with covid are paid for, free. It is bringing people together and delivering real Economic Relief to those who need it most. For rentals, food, unemployment assistance. For those in the gig economy being able to get unemployment assistance. For those fortunate enough to be able to start school but who have this horrendous debt of student loans. Get Small Business support for folks who have great ideas and are successful as anyone else if they have a chance. Pay the schools and state governments so First Responders can stay on the job. It is building an economy that eases the Financial Burdens of your family, that feels the squeeze of raising kids and caring for an aging loved one. I know where some of these guys have been, what it is to look at your kid and know that you cant get them the right clothes. My dad would say we cannot get shoes this week, but in a month, we will have payday. Just put that cardboard in the bottom of your shoe. It is about peoples pride and dignity as well. It means a minimum of 15 an hour wage. Paid sick leave for everybody. Health care that is not about keeping you from getting less sick, it actually helps you stay healthy. And education. I school, title district do not have much of an income, that they do not have much of a tax base making sure we triple the title i us tog that would allow pay teachers to stay in schools, would allow us to put school psychologists, school nurses, and School Social workers in the school to help these kids get through. Providing preschool for free. 3yearold, 4yearold, 5yearold going to school. Every study, shows over the past 10 years, no matter the background, no matter what your zip code, if a kid gets to go to school at age 3 school, not daycare. School. They have a 50 a better they have a 50 better chance of making it all the way through 12 years of School Without any problems. Where low and middle income families will not spend more than 7 of their income for childcare under the age of five. Think of all the women you know. I was a single dad. My wife and daughter were killed in an automobile accident, my two sons almost died in that accident. They were three and 4yearold. I had a great job, i was a senator making 42,000 a year, more money i ever made in my whole life. And guess what . I couldnt afford childcare. But for my sister, my brother, and my mother. Where there is free tuition, if you make it through those early years. Free tuition at colleges and universities, qualified credentialed programs, so that the debt never again blocks the path to pursue a chosen career for you and your family. Housing that is affordable so you can rent it, so no one ever has to pay more than 30 of your income. And there is no homelessness. You get housing, period. It should be a right as well as health care. Gives working families a fair opportunity to own their own home, so they can create a basis for generating some wealth. That is how most middleclass families made in their homes. Give firsttime homebuyers a 15,000 tax credit so they can get a down payment, that is what they are able to do. Protect you from the environmental hazards and gun violence. End the scourge. End the scourge of redlining and homelessness. We can do this. It is within our power to do it. We can afford to. We cannot afford to fail to do it. Historic investments that lift up all communities so we can fill the potholes in your streets and cracks in your sidewalks, fix the streetlights, install needed broadband, just as your children are trying to learn from home so that you have the equipment at the computer capability to do it. Demolish the Blighted Properties and create safe spaces to live, work, and play safely. Environmental justice so we can turn the faucet on and drink water, breathe clean air. Sorry, i am about to end. But we have to live we have to just give people a chance. And finally, you know, it is protecting our sacred right to vote. The great glides are our democracy. The reason why you all are together tonight. Our late friend john lewis, and he was a friend, said freedom is not a state. It is an act. He always channeled this gospel hymn that guides us today. The gospel is like this, and you all know it. I dont feel no way tired. Ive come too far from where i started from. Nobody told me the road would be easy. I dont believe he brought me this far to leave. All of you. All of you have the freedom and the power to act, to vote. Just keep the faith. Because i promise you i will restore the dignity for everyone, especially the poor. Every time i walked out of my grandpops house in scranton, pennsylvania, he used to yell joey, keep the faith. And my grandma would yell no, spread it. We got to spread the faith, because everyone is entitled to have some dignity. I want to thank you, and i am sorry to go over, bishop. But god bless you and all you do, and may god protect our troops. Thank you. [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] on tuesday, live the u. S. House meets at 9 00 eastern for general speeches. At 10 00 a. M. To consider legislation to provide federal grants to improve diversity in publicly funded Early Childhood education programs. 8 15, florida senator marco rubio is interviewed. At 9 15, secretary of state mike pompeo is at the Atlantic Council to discuss his recent trip to europe and challenges posed by china. The Senate Returns at 10 00 a. M. To consider a judicial nomination to the u. S. District court in california. A. M. Span3 at 9 30 eastern, House Republican leaders talk about what their legislative priorities would be if they won back control of the house in november. At 10 00 a. M. , the Senate Education committee looks at whether College Athletes should be paid. And at 2 30 p. M. , a Senate Judiciary subcommittee looks at Google Online advertising and whether their algorithms are harming competition. An hour, Ronald Reagan biographer and president ial
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