[applause] good morning Everyone Welcome to scranton pennsylvania my name is rosemary boland. I am a teacher and president of the scranton teachers local. [applause] thank you for that. Thats not usually how i am greeted. [laughter] i would like to say i am a member of the American Federation of teachers perform on the executive board of the American Federation of teachers pennsylvania and Vice President of the aflcio pennsylvania so that tells you who i am. [applause] i am extremely proud and honored i was asked to do this introduction this morning. Im just a teacher from the south side of pennsylvania of south scranton and i am honored that this happened to me. I taught ten and 11 yearolds that these things could happen but i didnt think they would happen to me. [laughter] so the fact we are here and i can speak with you this morning is truly amazing to me. I like to say how much i am appreciative that joe biden entered this race. [applause] not just because he is friendly but because he appreciates education. Public education. [applause] my district in scranton is what they call is in financial recovery, which means we are broke. [laughter] if we were unique that would be all right. But we are not you have watched the television and you know how many teachers throughout this country have had to walk to get the salaries they deserve for the health care they deserve. What about our students . One of the things i am happy about with mister bidens plan is title i funding. He wants to triple that. [applause] those of us in Public Education depends on these funds we in the Scranton School district have a proud heritage with three and four yearold education we are unique in that and have been doing that almost 50 years. Our children deserve that throughout this country. This is not something i should have to negotiate but every parent and child in the United States deserves. How about that . How about the fact we have very needy children with special needs. How about if we correct the ida and fund it . What if we help our neediest children rather than not . [applause] its also time people paid attention to the fact that we and education are desperately in need we need more counselors. We have 38 spoken languages. Thirtyeight. We have to work with all of those families and all of those children with every School District across the country and for the last four years, the children in this country have been deprived. I read in the newspaper that the latest thing from the president is to cut funds for breakfast and lunch. Shame on him. They should realize that this is they are doing in their responsibility to help those who dont have what they have and this begins with three and four yearolds coming to our Public Schools and getting the educational star that they deserve. [applause] so with this Early Childhood education i spent most of my time with ten and 11 yearolds but i dont want to forget education Goes Beyond High School into the colleges and universities and Community Colleges which all by the way are friends of mine and i would like to say that maybe its time we invest with time and money and maybe its time we work in Public Service and maybe its time we work in Public Service so i want to take too much time from our next president. [applause] but i do want to say that representing the 900 members of teachers is one of my proudest accomplishments as long as he keep me working everything will be fine. But when i was a student at south scranton junior high school. [applause] see . Im not the only one that is still living. [laughter] i wore a pin that was about this time that said start packing mimi. So today i say milania, start packing. [applause] the bidens are coming. [applause] the next president of the United States of america, joe biden. [applause] rosemary, thank you very much for that very generous introduction. My name is joe biden im jills husband from North Washington avenue and im happen to be happy to be home. [cheers and applause] it is good to be home its presumptuous of me to say home but when you are a kid scranton climbs into your heart and occupies you so many people that you know are from scranton. My mother from North Washington avenue she live to age 92 thank god in the last ten years of her life she lived with me. And after my dad passed she moved in. But it was a struggle because when i was growing up in delaware in a split level home we always had a relative living with us either my grandpa for my great aunt or an uncle, there was always somebody in our home with us were kids and mom and dad its great for the kids. It really was. But the fact was my mother looking back those walls were pretty thin. [laughter] so after my dad passed away, i tried to get mom to move in with me into a home we just built i built a suite for my mom and dad my dad was in hospice the last five months of his life in our home. My mom wouldnt movein because she said shed never do that to me. I said youre not doing that to me youre doing that for us but she didnt want to be a burden but thats how my sister and brothers were raised that its all about family. Family is no burden. Even then she wouldnt actually move into our house she sold her house and asked me to build a little barn on the property and build her a house they are. At least every night i could kiss her good night she would say even with your mother i could smell i. C. E. Cream. [laughter] i could kiss her good morning as i would head to the train. But that satisfied her pride. Everything my sister and i learned came from scranton as it creeps into your heart but people would ask my mom where she was from and where she lived she would say im from scranton. Not a joke. My dad passed along those value values. Shes to say joe remember you are defined by your courage and redeemed by your loyalty. It was all about courage that the greatest virtue of all. Without courage you cannot love with abandon. I learned that here and i suspect most of you have learned the same thing. My dad lived here when he was a senior in high school and went to st. Thomas mount prep with all my extended family as well including some relatives that are here today the most important thing my father taught me to be raised in those same tradition that everybody has the same notion every Single Person the matter who they are joe we will be treated with dignity. I think that word is used more here in scranton than anywhere else. No matter your station in life for your background, everybody is entitled to be treated with dignity. [applause] my dad is a gentleman and would say remember you have to be a man of your word without your word you will not be a man. Its about honor. And family. Island that in my Kitchen Table here in greenwich he would say the beginning the middle and the end the more i learned to admire my dads courage and resilience. When scranton fell on hard times the early fifties. If you listen to barack obama he always says scrappy joe biden from scranton people resented that because i represented them over 40 years. [laughter] i was in a parade in a little town where my son passed away one of my favorite parades the kids would go to. I am walking down the parade route and three guys looking like you i played ball with in school somewhat about scranton i thought you were from delaware. [laughter] that my dad if you listen to barack you think out of climbed out of a coal mine in a lunch bucket. [laughter] there wasnt a lot of work out here in the early fifties i remember him taking the longest walk that he had to make thats to your childs bedroom to tell them you cannot play in Little League anymore because dad doesnt have a job. Dad has to move i remember dad doing that a matter of fact going back to my ancestral home and it just brings back memories. He said now we have to move. But its only 157 miles away. And im home every weekend. He might as well said he was going to the moon. But not until i got later that i realized his pride having to walk into the kitchen and say can i leave jean in the kitchen with you . I will pay you back for quite promise it takes a lot of pride for a man and a woman to do that to take care of things. And although it was hard for him i didnt think it was hard for my grandpa because its family. And i have nothing but great memories about scranton climbing that 10foot stone wall or the flagpole. My generation eating all the candy that candy and going down to the matinee just trying to walk across that pipe because thats what the heroes did. But more than the memories what i think about the most is the values instilled in me appear. The point is that i look back and this is what i learned about loyalty and patriotism and what friendship is and family and faith that help me get through a lot of tough times in my life for a lot of you have been through tougher times than i have. Faith sees best in the dark. We all go through dark times because of the faith instilled in me here we have been able to traverse it. When my dad made that walk up the stairs he told me everything will be okay once we settle in delaware we will be together for and it was my dad then believed everything will be okay. The middle class still has a fighting chance it became okay. We moved to delaware that is no longer a steel town we rented an apartment and finally got to move into a suburban neighborhood not far from there and as the town was being developed threebedroom splitlevel house in a safe neighborhood with four kids and are relative. But from that time every time someone a relative in delaware or a friend lost a job or a neighbor lost a job because of a recession or a company went under, my dad would say job is a lot more about your paycheck progress but your dignity, your place in the community, who you are, look your child in the eye and say it will be okay. And mean it. Thats how we were raised. Im guessing this is how you were raised here in scranton. We were raised to believe family and loyalty treated with dignity is what we should do. A lot of us knew what it was like not to be treated with dignity with those who thought they were not quite the equals. I used to stutter badly when i was a kid my mom would say remember joey, nobody is better than you. But everybody is your equal. My dad would say not a joke the measure for success its not if you get knocked down to how quickly you get up so get the hell up. [applause] as he got older he would be angry let them know if you were come in manners to my dad were a big deal. One day he was over at our house and the house that i had built and looking over a little pond in delaware i was feeling sorry for myself and talking about my deceased wife he said come on and left and went up to the hallmark store i have it on my desk to this day you know you can get a little saying on it he came back and gave me a card and its been over 25 years. Thats not true. Nineteen years. Im not a big funny paper guy but my dad was in the used to be a cartoon called hager the heart horrible for go there are two frames in the picture and it reminds me of the resilience of the people in scranton. s viking ship has crashed on the rocks the mast is down he is shaking his fist to heaven and saying why me god . The voice from heaven says why not . Why not you . Folks from a lot of people here in scranton and all across america over the last decade and even now have had to make that longest walk. But today too many workingclass folks cannot look at their kids in the eye to say it will be okay and mean it. Thats why i am running. I am running to rebuild the backbone of this country that is the middle class. [applause] you have to bring everybody along regardless of your race or ethnicity or disability everybody has to come along. [applause] lets get something straight. Wall street did not build america. Investment bankers did not build america. [applause] hard work middleclass built america. The unions built the middle class. [applause] all this talk i have an interview for 60 minutes 60 minutes for 90 minutes. [laughter] so just go back to your old neighborhood. Asked them how they are doing they are troubled that used to be a basic bargain in america that if you contribute to the wellbeing then you got the shared benefits. Corporate america is doing incredibly well the last 15 years. Those problems coming out exponentially with that relationship between productivity the difference between the corporation and salary and then the productivity wages went up 95 percent since then productivity has gone up 60 percent. What happened . What happened to that bargain . Were not having it anymore. Study show middleclass families half of them think their children will never have as good of a situation you were raised to believe if you worked hard and be on youd be better off than your parents but not today. [applause] study show if you have an unexpected expense 400 or more you cannot pay it you have to sell something for the ladies and gentlemen we have to rebuild the middle class. They will tell you the middle class is 51852 that is a value set what about sending your children to a park and wanting them to come home safely or going Public School because if they do well they can go beyond school. [applause] and then to find a way to pay for it. And hope your children never have to take care of you. That middle class. Just a little bit of breathing room. Its hard for a family today to maintain their dignity if they dont have healthcare. I cannot imagine to say sorry kid there is nothing i can do for you. I cannot help you. Look. To say i can imagine what it would be like for people how many of you have lost someone to cancer or had cancer yourself or have lost a close Family Member . I cant imagine and my son beau veteran attorney general the state of general volunteered to go to iraq and was there for a year he comes home and is diagnosed with terminal cancer. I can imagine lying in that bed when they wouldve said im sorry weve run out of coverage. I cannot fathom it. How can a family maintain their dignity if they have a child and it Goes Beyond High School . And then they look at them and cant get there . My dad got to delaware the first good job he could get after several years and it being a manager for an automobile dealership. The great thing about that is that you always get a new car for the prom. [laughter] i remember going down to the dealership that he ran we lived about 25 minutes from there i went to school at claymont and the time i went down to my baseball uniform in the plymouth convertible with beach towels for seat covers and would park it in the one spot and ran in and said wheres dad because i was going to get a car to go to the senior prom and she said hes out in the alley my dad was pacing back and forth he looked at me and said joey im so sorr sorry. Im so damn sorry for i thought something happened to mom is in whats the matter . He said it went to the bank to finance all the car loans i spoke to the Vice President they wont let me the money to get you the car. Its so devastating im ashamed. How many people set at the Kitchen Table today and had a conversation to say have to drive on those four tires another 10000 miles who will tell her she cant come back . We just dont have the money. What will we do about insurance . This administration has no idea what hard work and decent ordinary americans are going through. How many of you talk to their grandchildren the first day of school that they have to learn how to duck and cover . They say the way you get behind this i spoke to the Psychiatric Association the greatest degree of anxiety in america is kids between seven and 20 years old. The greatest fear is to be shot in school. Not a joke. To be shot in school. You saw all the pictures going back to school in kids maybe thats because we dont have the nerve to take on the nra. There is no reason. [applause] there is no need for this. I have shotguns if you hunt for geese you cannot have more than three shells in your shotgun. To protect the geese. We have federal laws that protect geese. [laughter] think about it. Why in gods name should anybody have a clip that holds 100 rounds . The administration keeps doing their bidding. I am not against the Second Amendment it says it is not absolute that my friends on the far right talks about the blood of patriots guess what . You need an f15 and hellfire missiles but you cant have them. You can have bazookas. We never argue there are certain weapons that people cant own. Theres never been a time that anybody can own a weapon. Those where the groundwater is polluted or whether or not those are put in 1960 and for all i know that the water in the schools is not safe . Look. We all want the same thing. Is somebody get sick theres a little breathing room. A Better Future and with all due respect i dont think donald trump is capable of understanding that progress never talked about a person like this he has no apathy at all for people. [applause] i have not seen that. Unlike any other president we have worked with. Im not sure he has an idea what im talking about when i talk about the longest walk. The longest walk was 400 million dropped off in his trust account. [laughter] i will tell you why i running. Thinking about healthcare nine years ago we fought like hell to get obama care pass generations of tried to do that healthcare is more than just those that can afford it it is a right. [applause] for dignity and we want to be as a country. It in those eight years president obama getting it done generations making that promise real its a very big deal. Thank god my mother was not around. But the law saved lies lives. And we got as much as we could get done with 20 Million People on the rolls 160 Million People had preexisting conditions covered. We have to finish the job that every single american has a choice to be covered by a public option. Youre free to stick with your insurance and then to give pay raises to get thorough coverage on coverage under my plan you can keep it but if you dont like it or are not sure you can sign up for public option my plan reduces outofpocket cost and middleclass families to buy in. For the first time to compete with your business not just with each other but a public competitor. That is what the medicare option provides. The bottom line is my Healthcare Plan is the most effective way to reduce costs for american americans, key for everybody insurance not in five years but right now. [applause] and as stated, my wife who has taught her whole life and his teaching at this moment and thats why she is not appear with me. Shes going to iowa tomorrow but she is in the classroom today teaching. She said it best. Any country that out educates us will outcompete us. It is basic. The 21st century is 12 years of education enough to get you through . I did a study for the president of jobs in the future six out of ten jobs are more than a high school degree. We have to make sure every child has access to a good education regardless of the zip code my plan triples funding for stressed and at risk schools. We can afford to do that. [applause] and universal pre k and pre k exponentially increases a kid getting a job and finishing School Without getting in trouble. To pay teachers the salaries they deserve they graduated from school with a four year degree they are paid less than anybody else the work we do their salaries reflect that. Twelve years is not enough everyone who qualifies to go to Community College can go for free. [applause] guess what . It cost 6 billion you will send every qualified person they are happy to be retrained to go back because they lost a job because of digitalization and artificial intelligence. Guess what . 6billion is a lot of money. One tax loophole there are one. 6 trillion. One. 6 trillion you can have a deduction for a resource. You are about to go in cash and Capital Gains you lose your life they dont pay a cent is not the inheritance tax. Guess what . That cost 17 billion per year. Every single solitary person is qualified for Community College. [applause] young people are getting crushed under the burden of student debt and many of you are as well. If you pay back Student Loans through income based repayment this cuts payments and half if you get out of school and you dont pay anything back if you make more than that its only 5 percent of disposable income meeting after all your bills are paid and cost of living and if you have National Service as a teacher, counseling victims of domestic violenc violence, firefighter, Public Service you get 10000 a year that you work off your debt at that 50000 and after ten years there is no debt at all. [applause] and by the way Community College if you do well you can go on to a Fouryear College those are all transferable to a fouryear state school there are some great state universities in this country and the state. And he restore the middle class you have to reward working kids under the republican and the trump plan , donald trump inherited a Strong Economy from barack and me just like Everything Else he has squandered it we need to grow the economy but to express our values. I will start by reversing the trump tax cuts for these wealthy corporations. [applause] they did not need them in the first place with those stock buybacks to give benefits to the stockholders and their ceos. It used to be when reagan was present in the average ceo of fortune 500 made 36 or 37 times the average employee. Today it is 400 times as much. Get rid of the super wealthy tax loopholes. Doubling Capital Gains. Right now if you are a fireman and a schoolteacher or you are a abhe worked as a Police Officer or nurse, you pay a higher tax rate than someone making 10 million a year. Higher tax rate. Why is that . It makes no sense. Why should the capital gain be 21 percent . Even then most dont pay that. When you are paying at 28 a30, 30 . Every single solitary person or Capital Gains can be treated black aand pay 40 of Capital Gains on the Capital Gains tax. [applause] [inaudible] we got to stop this awful gun violence that you are going to support. This is one of biggest fears childrens space. We cant live with ourselves if we dont take it on. Im the only one in the United States america was never taken on the nra nationally and beaten them twice. [applause] [inaudible] ablimiting the size of magazines. How many cartridge can be in a magazine. I know what it takes to get it done. I can do it again. Essentially we got to confront the next essential threat of Climate Change. It is the a [applause] [inaudible] the United States accounts for about 15 percent of the Climate Change problems. We have to lead by example. I laid out a plan where we get to net zero emissions by 2050 and between now and 2030 we make such a dramatic change that we cant be turned around. 85 percent of the problem comes from beyond our borders. We need a president who can marshal the other nations to confront the greatest threat weve ever seen to humanity. Thats not hyperbole, its real. [applause] the first thing i will do is rejoin the Paris Climate Accord which i helped put together. The third point to invite the hundred 73 other nations to washington dc so they upped the ante what they promise they are going to do and hold them accountable. Weve lost the respect of nations around the world. Either way this president has acted. Climate isnt just an accident show threat handled right its an extraordinary opportunity. The uniqueness of america is that we are the only nation in the world confronted with the real serious problem weve always been able to take it and turn it into an opportunity. Thats who we are in the United States. We can build a network of charging stations across america so by adding 500,000 and move all electric vehicles by 2020 and reducing carbon by enormous amount. We have ambitious plans for standards for building cars, power grids, to save you money, save the opportunity and allow you to breathe cleaner. We are making historic investment in Clean Energy Research and Technology Investing 400 billion in the industries of the future so we become a net exporter of all this Technology Creating millions of jobs. More than 10 million good paying jobs. Union jobs making 40 an hour not 15 an hour. For real. These are really big challenges but no bigger than our capacity as americans. We have tickets guarded thinking big again. Thinking about the future we can build. Americans are doing their part, they are out there working hard every day, they deserve their leaders to work as hard for them. We dont deserve a department of education that crusades against Public Schools. We dont deserve a department of labor that puts corporate profits ahead of working class people. We dont deserve a Foreign Policy based on lies, conspiracies, and theory. [applause] most of all, we dont deserve a person who goes out of his way to make life in america harder, crueler, patio. He said he is working for the forgotten american, he forgot about the forgotten american. The american middle class bringing dignity and integrity to work every day they deserve the dignity and integrity reflected in their leaders. The challenge we face are really serious. I stand here more optimistic than i was when i got elected as a 29yearold kid to the United States senate. I wasnt old enough to be sworn in when i got elected. I had to wait 17 days to be eligible. Really. I was characterized as a young idealistic guy was optimistic. We have to restore the back home of this nation. We have to remember who the hell we are. This is the United States of america. There a [applause] think about it. Im more optimistic than ive ever been in my career as we move this administration out of the way. We have the most productive workers in the world. Our workers are three times productive as a matter of fact than they are in asia. We have more Great Research and diversities in pennsylvania and United States of america than all the rest of the world combined. Every major life changing thing has come out of a Research University monetized by corporate america. But its come out of the research and the university you own with los alamos, any other place in the country. We are in a position where the wealthiest country in the world. The wealthiest country in the history of the world. Why in gods name are we Walking Around on our heads now. We are the most powerful military in the history of the world. No hyperbole. And we led the world not just by the example of our power but the power of our example. Its being eroded. The embrace of dictators and dogs, kim jongun, love letters, ab [inaudible] his brother assassinated and poisoned in an airport. Putin, who i know relatively well, i spent a lot of time with him. Putin, who has nothing in mind about him to break up nato. Reduce our influence around the world, break down the abthe one thing he fears is democracy. Embrace of the people that he has encouraged and poking fingers in the eye of our allies. Treating nato like its a production rack unless you pay more money. We are not going to keep our sacred commitment attack on ones its tax on all. You could saw what just happened i been through that part of the world where the kurds are. I spent a lot of time in turkey, a significant amount of time in iraq and the whole area. What have we just done . Have we found a single military person who doesnt feel like we have just dispersed americans reputation around the world . Of being reliable. 10,000 kurds died defeating isis. Capturing 10,000 isis terrorists in prison. The president on a whim, without the support of many of his military commanders, decides hes going to make a deal with earlier one, who i know well, to move hundreds of american troops who are trainers for the kurds standing between the kurds and the church abthe Turkish Forces and wipes them out. You see on television. Women standing there holding their children under bombardment when the tanks are moving out. In our military is so ashamed of leaving, throwing food at them saying you abandoned us we are going to die. What the hell is going on . Whats going on . Whos gonna believe americas word as we give it . Thats what the president does. He speaks for america abwhen the prisoners were going to escape they ahe said there there only get to go to europe there to come to United States. Thats crazy. Folks, look, there is not a thing we cant do, we are better positioned in the nation than all of the 21st century. We can do it in a reasonable and quick way. We can unite this country. Folks, im tired of people, democrats, republicans, or independents, walking down Walking Around with their heads down, woe is me. 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