I look forward to doing more. With that i yield the floor. [applause] thank you. You know better. Im not sure, thank you. Something is wrong. What the hell has gotten into all of you . Thanks. No. No. No. No. I will tell you what i am committed, i mean it i spent all the time making sure we win back the house. [applause] not a joke. It is within our reach. You have been kind enough to invite me to speak at your caucus a number of times. It is the most daunting experience that i have. The idea that i will tell anyone in this room about politics, anyway is above my pay grade the collective wisdom in this room for what we need to far exceed anything i will tell you but what they say about the texans that i dont know about art but i know what i like. I know what i think. I am flattered you asked me to come and talk. I will try to be as brief as i can from the exchange and the questions we engage. So as we meet here today we have a real opportunity to take back the house. After my friend, doug jones one in alabama. [applause] you know he is a friend when he asked me to campaign in person and he still wins. He was up by about 12 points and one despite me showing up and we a chance to win back the senate. It is more of a climb but it is real. It is real. And a lot of you that have been around as long as i have, sometimes you just feel it and you can taste it. There is something out there we have a great opportunity but what happened virginia and a special election taking place in western pennsylvania with the southern part of the city of pittsburgh where trump won by 20 points it is democratic territory we should be winning gap. Now we have a great candidate out there as a federal prosecutor and he has a real chance of winning. I will be doing all i can. We are living through an incredible moment in american history. I find myself saying this election is the most important consequential but things have changed so drastically. I have a friend in scranton whenever he would think something was strange he would say who would have thunk it . Who in gods name would have thought we would be here at this moment . With this president . We have a president who is consumed by his political survival. The beginning and the middle and the end everything runs through the filter of how it affects donald trump in his mind. And as we look at this he is in the process of shredding our core values. Things that institutions i never thought we would be talking about that are in jeopardy all out attack on the guys wearing this trite shirts. A technique used repeatedly throughout history by those who want to clear the field so they are in a position to abuse power then one more than they could do. No matter how much damage is done to the fabric of the nation or to our standing in the world, i will not get into quoting statistics. You know what International Polling shows how we are viewed as a nation. We are not much above russia and below china in the things that are changing that have so many longterm profound impacts on security. Now with a Republican Party that has a major role that will do anything to protect this president. No matter how much it means to abandon their Core Principles or their obligations in the house and the senate it is a sad thing coming here in 1872 in the United States senate and i found myself in the minutes of a great constitutional crisis and will an impeachment of the president of the United States of america people said the constitution is being assaulted we have an obligation to at the Republican House member on the committee and howard baker i could go down the list. One of the most lonely moments in my entire career was when nixon in order to obviate the need to turn over the tapes to a special prosecutors that i will a conservative member of the Democratic Party from alabama or from mississippi, listen to the tapes. Whatever he says i will do. We were scared to death because he agreed with nixon on almost every issue. I will never forget the Democratic Caucus one of the most moving moments of my career he said what will he do after four days of contemplating . He stood up and said you are all wondering what my decision is. I am a senate man i am not the president s man. I believe the constitution separates the power and i will not listen to the tapes. Ladies and gentlemen that went to a significant part of playing a bowl in history. People stood up to protect these institutions. Where are they . No better. This is not who we are. The American People are much better than this. Not a country that gives safe harbor to neonazis and carrying torches walking through a historic city of the United States of america chanting the same anti somatic bile and carrying nazi flags from germany in the 30s. Accompanied by white supremacist being resisted by groups who said not here in the president making the moral equivalency there are good people in both groups . That just encourages society to come up under the rocks and our children are listening. Here we are. Now we have the other team using kids two and three years old as they are supposed to say i will not cross. It is illegal. I have been here my whole life they are as my mom as american as anybody here. They are used as a bargaining chip. There is almost 2 million human lives. Folks, our job at this moment notwithstanding the president s lack of decorum and sensibilities and in many cases, lack of decency the way he talks about other nations with condescending and raised based dismissals, our job pretty clear. We have to stand up to protect the core values of this nation. Never under such direct assault as they are today. And we have to defend these institutions. And no democracy i was a good boy. I kept quiet for the longest time until charlottesville then i couldnt because here is the deal our Democratic Institutions are not guaranteed. Read your history. We have to send a clear signal to the world that this nation is still a beacon of decency and hope we leave the world not by the example of our power but the power of example. That is why the rest of the world watches us. The power of our example. [applause] no no no. Look. This is family. Within our values at home create a sense of optimism. Over private dinners in private hours we were in a Tibetan Plateau in a town of 22 million who turned to me to say can you define america for me . Yes. I mean this. One word. Possibilities. Unlike any other nation in the world america is about possibilities. Anything is possible. With all of these incredible institutions we can achieve anything. So we have the strongest mission the strongest and clearest voice in america and in this nation that every single solitary man and woman to be treated with dignity. The Democratic Party has to be the strongest and clearest voice in the nation to the notion as a conservative columnist said, we have organized over the history of humanity in three ways, religion, tribe, and ideals. America is an idea. We are around ideals. We are one america. That is the focus. There is no place in this country to demonize or marginalize or to treat with contempt the immigrant or the minority why am i not doing well . The other. Thats why. To put it in the starkest terms the president is looking out for himself only the Republican Party is only looking out for the president. It is our job to remind the American People we are looking out for them. [applause] i know that you all know this. For us to remain united and divided having a debate about a false choice Team Progressive values and concerns of the black working people. I will challenge any of you to put my progressive credentials up against any of you i will also suggest my commitment to the growth of middleclass i have never found a single solitary conflict between the two. I never figured we had to choose between our heart and our soul. [applause] here is the deal. Most of you know that what the American People want to know remember a black kid in the catholic kid. But for 72000 votes we would not be having this discussion. So lets not rip ourselves apart in a debate that is irrelevant i never found anything consistent to stand before and a labor audience arguing about equal pay for women. I did 83 campaign for hillary i was in iowa speaking at the ford motor plant and i said look. We have to elect Hillary Clinton because they went nuts because guess what . Did i do something wrong . [laughter] sorry. And with that same audience with the bluecollar workers i said by the way my friend marys is none of your business and got a standing ovation. Folks. This is a false debate we have to do both what i find and what you find for people all they want to know is you used to have an expression you dont expect the government to solve the problem that expect them to understand it just listen and you do it best listen more to what people are concerned about. A lot of people are feeling hopeless and helpless and not without good reason. Some of you are more expert than im but Artificial Intelligence i ran into a guy from roaming tune used to drive a truck and independent trucker he said joey how are you doing . I sent you still driving he said no only politicians continue to work as it is your son driving . He said yes but he knows he will not have a job in five years. Whether thats true or not there is a lot of reason for those middleclass people to be concerned with the Industrial Revolution things will change. Big time and a lot of people are worried if there will be any middleclass jobs. It isnt a false concern. It is real and there is answers. Talk to them more to let them know we hear you. Your fear is not unfounded but there are answers and at the same time look, i view the Trump Presidency is a tragedy into acts the first is to what we stand for as a nation with the core values and our standing in the world and in many cases the democracy if he could extend his presidency and share his views so with this nationalism with his ugly and phony populism really is putting to the test a visible moral fabric that is the ballast to hold up we are. Simple honesty with the notion that dignity and respect to treat your opponent with respect can afford dignity dont act like youre talking down to anyone. My god he is the president of the United States of america, he says what the hell is going on . I cannot make policy i dont want to criticize this president but there is a lot we have to d do. Since when do we give safe harbor in america . Since when do we leave so many behind . This president is doing great damage in the second tragedy is part of their game plan we are so concerned with stopping the attack with American Values or principles to restore the working class so think about how much time we spend to keep bad things from happening the middle class took the hit in the recession and those incessant efforts and then to continue to undermine their stability to attack the one thing that they need desperately is healthcare. Poised to take on medicare and Social Security. Gaia worked with for years made no bones about it. Use the phrase if you dont like him but dont feed him it is about starving the government so there was no money for the things that we know that we need what about paul ryan doesnt have the objective for the tax cut to starve the government to make it incredibly difficult for us to provide healthcare to lay the groundwork to justify why we have to cut medicare or Social Security something they have been trying to do for the better part of four decades. Look, i dont have a doubt in my mind if we can cut out the time to remind people why we are democrats. That is presumptuous for me to say to you but why do you become a democrat . My guess is you really believe everybody is entitled that the American People are capable if given a chance nobody is looking for a handout just an opportunity feeling the role of government is to give that opportunity i have been doing this a long time. What i say now will sound counterintuitive but i am more optimistic about americas chances to own the 21st aid in any time in my career. We are better positioned now so lets get out of our own way. Better than we have ever been. North america is the epicenter of Energy Independence not saudi arabia or the middle east or venezuela, north america. We have more Great Research universities in america the entire rest of the world combined. [applause] because of her republican name eisenhower they would call them the wise Man Community invest this money in government to say no i will invest in universities every major breakthrough that has occurred the last 20 years is your investment of research in universities it is a laboratory in the world nobody can compete with us. Nobody the workers are three times as productive as a matteroffact most agile venture capitalist in the world. We are in a position to remind ourselves who in the hell we are. Remind the American People who we are. Everyone if you were raised in the same household i was that there isnt a damn thing we can do why we are characterized as americans of overconfident that we can do anything. Where is that spirit . The American People are hungry for it. I am absolutely convinced he can win back the house got to start hollering more loudly for those. There and not just be the position of the strategy to run the effort to prevent bad things from happening we should be able to choose, and walk at the same time. It is hard so honest to god i believe let me put it this way my dad had an expression moving from scranton and barack makes it sound like i climbed out of a coal mine with a lunch bucket. [laughter] my dad was graceful and extremely well read and coal died everything died so every time something would lose a job in my neighborhood somebody in my family or friends if we heard it once we heard it 50 times your job is about a lot more than your paycheck but your dignity and respect and your place in the community to look your kid in the i to say it will be okay. The thing about all of you you respect what working people do and you let them know it and it matters. It matters. It matters. There was a guy had of the steelworkers on the border of the willing wilmington i ran into a member i said i miss tammy long tommy because joe would come in before he would come in and say you guys are incredible climbing up 17 stories walking the beam youve got courage. Every time he told the story. When is the last time we talked about the value . The value of what the high school educated people do to hold this country together . Sue go out and holler. You will win back the house he 17. 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