Ladies and gentlemen, please return to your seats and welcome iowa party chair dr. Andy mcguire. If we can take our seats, well keep this party rolling. Can we all take our seats please . Thank you. Thank you very much, we want to hear from our speakers. You got it. You can all take your seats that would be great. And now i have the honor of introducing our first keynote speak er speaker of the evening. During his decades of public service, governor chay fee and a commitment for doing right for middle class america. As the he was a leader in protecting our environment and promoting peace around the world. He made job creation and education his Top Priorities to ensure everyone had the opportunity to succeed. Please join me in welcoming lincoln chafy. Thank you dr. Mcguire. Congratulations to the inductees inductees. And thank you for inviting me to this exciting night in cedar rapids. Tonight youll hear from fife good candidates with passion and experiences. Its good to be in iowa. Im a College Wrestler and i have long admired the many hau hawkeye and cyclone candidates. Throughout these experiences, i have tried to earn a reputation for courage and honesty. I also have shown strong convictions, sometimes under enormous political pressure and proud of my long support and beneficial social programs that help build the middle class. My long support for tax structure for the wealthy paying their a fair share. My support for raising the minimum wage, my long support for protecting the environment and addressing Climate Change my long support for Quality Health care for all my long support for a womans right to choose my long support for lgbt rights, my long support for immigration reform, my long support for investing in public education, my long support for investing in roads, bridges, and all Public Infrastructure and my record will stand up to scrutiny on these and many other issues. This campaign i also place a high priority on addressing what is happening overseas. Especially in the middle east and north africa. As general petraeus famously asked during the invasion of iraq in 2003, tell me, how does this end. The 2016 president ial election will go a long way to answering that question. How does this end. We have a choice in 2016. Prosperity through peace or endless war. This week we had the great news of a breakthrough with iran. What a change. Lets give all those that helped make it happen a big hand, especially president obama and his team. [ applause ] avoiding war is worth every bit of our energy. Iran the iran agreement was crafted with the help of russia, china united kingdom, france and germany. This is the right way to make the world safer. Yes, working with our United Nations partners this is the model of a sensible path to america. Pleading, strong, smart, patient diplomacy. This is also a difference in the fail failed arrogant unilateral republican approach to the world. Thats the choice we have in 2016. We need to e reject once and for all the advocates of conflict. As governor and senator, i attended too many funerals of servicemen and servicewomen killed in iraq. The sad and avoidable chapter in American Foreign policy. And long been supporting the course that president obama and secretary kerry are now charting. Not only with iran but also with cuba. This has been an historic few weeks. If were smart with our diplomacy, we can avoid these endless wars and create savings that can be better spent at home. Diplomacy is the ultimate test of leadership. Thank you, Iowa Democrats. Leadership is also about seeing the future. I see a future whose strong that is about military strength. I see a future where america is working on Climate Change, world food and Health Issues and fair trade. I see a future where less of our resources are going to quagmires overseas and more are going to help students get their education without crushing debt. More going to struggling families that they can have true Economic Opportunity and have a chance to buy their own home. More going to help our seniors enjoy the dignified retirement they have worked so hard to earn. I see a future where the word coexist means something. Those of different races religious believes genders, sexual orientation, cultural backgrounds can live and work together. I see a future where once again everyone has a chance at the American Dream. That is the future i see. The way that we are going to do that is to first of all believe it is possible. I believe it is possible and thats why im running for president and respectfully ask for your support. [ applause ] we have a special country and special planet lets take care of both. Thank you, Iowa Democrats, have a great evening. [ applause ] thank you so much, governor chafee. Now im proud to o welcome our next keynote speaker Hillary Rodham clinton. As first lady as senator from new york and secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has been a tenacious advocate for women and their families and a source of american strength around the world. Throughout her life she has been devoted to the cause of human rights and equality working to make our world a more peaceful and inclusive place for all. Shes led the fight on some of the most pressing issues of our time from education to health care and gotten results to bring us closer to an america where all have the opportunity to succeed. Please join me in welcoming Hillary Rodham clinton. Thank you so much, iowa. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you so much. It is really a great delight to be here with all of you and with my fellow candidates. I want to congratulate all the inductees and, andy, thank you for what youre doing to bring back the Democratic Party in iowa. Just look around this room and you can see that democrats are united we are energized and we are ready to win this election. Now i know and you do as well that elections are always about the future. But this time i feel that even more powerfully. Maybe its because our country has worked so hard to come back from the financial crisis with president obamas leadership and the determination of the american people, were standing again. But were not yet running the way america should. And now we have to choose whether were going to return to the failed top down policies that wrecked our economy before or move forward to chart a stronger, fairer and more prosperous future. Now maybe it is the grandmother in me but this is deeply personal. Theres something about becoming a grandparent. Its truly transformational. Some of you know what im talking about. It anchors you in the present and you suddenly have this incredible, amazing little person who commands a lot of attention. But it also forces you to think about the future in a new way. What kind of world will be waiting for her . What kind of country will we have when she becomes an adult . And what are our responsibilities to shape it . Im thinking a lot these days about my own mother and what she did for me. Abandoned and mistreated by her own family she was out on her own by 14 working as a house maid. But she didnt give in to bitterness or despair and i remember asking her how did you keep your resilience, how did you keep your faith in the goodness of people and a future that would be better than the past. Heres what she said. Someone along the way believed she mattered. The first grade teacher who saw she had had nothing to eat at lunch and without embarrassing her brought extra food to share. The woman whose house she cleaned suggesting she go to high school so long as her work was done. And because those people believed in her, she was able to believe in me and to give me the great gift of believing in others and in our country. So my mom wasnt surprised that my first job out of law school was at the childrens defense fund. She wasnt surprised that ive spent my life fighting for women, children families and our country. After all, thats what she taught me to do. And she never stopped pushing me to fight harder for others to have the same opportunities she never had. I can still hear her saying lifes not about what happens to you, its about what you do with what happens to you so get back out there. And thats why im here with you today. Thats why im so determined to build a Better Future not just for my granddaughter, but for all of our children and grandchildren and thats why im never going to let the republicans rip away the progress we have made. You know, we democrats are in the future business. But from the republican candidates for president we see the opposite. Now they may have some fresh faces, but they are the party of the past. We democrats, we look at america and we see limitless potential. We believe in a basic bargain. If you work hard and do your part, you should be able to get ahead and stay ahead. And we believe that the measure of our success should be how much incomes rise for hard working families not just for ceos and money managers. Well republicans believe something very different. Their answer is always the same. Cut taxes for the super wealthy, let big corporations write their own rules, thats it. Trickle down economics has to be one of the worst ideas of the 1980s. It is right up there with shoulder pads and big hair. I lived through it and there are photographs and were not going back to that. This past monday i laid out an agenda for raising incomes so hard working americans can afford a middle class life. An agenda for strong growth, fair growth and longterm growth. That will be my mission from the first day im president to the last. And this campaign has to be about how we unlock the potential of every american because that is how we unlock the potential of america itself. Now im having a great debate already with republicans about what that means for our country. In the past week, governor bush scrambled to explain his statement that americans need to work longer hours. He now says he just wants parttime workers to be able to find fulltime jobs. Well so do i. Theres just one problem. His policies and the policies of all these republican candidates would make that harder. Giving more tax cuts to those at the top wont do anything for parttime workers. Rolling back rules for wall street will not help families get ahead. And getting rid of the Affordable Care act certainly u wont help entrepreneurs. Just ask the folks in the sharing economy. Americans dont need lectures. They need raises. So if republicans really want to help us, why dont they join us in breaking down the barriers so more americans can enter and succeed in the workforce, especially women. Now i know that when i talk about this some people think i can see it in their eyes there she goes again with the womens issues. Im not going to stop so get ready for a long campaign. You see, i have this Old Fashioned idea we cant afford to leave anyone on the sidelines, and women who want to work should be able to do so without worrying every day about how they are going to take care of their child or what will happen if a Family Member gets sick. Thats not a luxury. Its a growth strategy. Paid leave, earned sick days, child care, minimum wage, these are not womens issues, they are family issues and they are economic issues. So i will keep fighting for them and ask you to join, and im going to keep fight inging for equal pay because when women get shortchanged, families get shortchanged. And when families get shortchanged, our economy and our country gets shortchanged. Unlocking potential though, goes beyond dollars and cents. It really is about our values, how we treat each other, the kind of country we want to build. On that historic day last month when Marriage Equality became the law of the land, republican candidates were complaining, not cheering. We even heard a call for abolish ing the Supreme Court itself. Instead of trying to turn the clock back, republicans should be joining us in saying loudly and clearly no to discrimination once and for all. Lgbt americans should be free not just to marry, but to live, learn and work just like everybody else. And then theres immigration. Weve heard a lot recently from the new republican front runner, donald trump finally a candidate whose hair gets more attention than mine. But theres nothing funny about the hate he is spewing toward immigrants and their families. It really is shameful. And so is the fact that it took weeks for most of his fellow republican candidates to stand up to him. The sad truth is if you look at many of their policies, it is hard to tell the difference. Just look across the border in wisconsin. Governor walker kicked off his campaign by rolling back reproductive rights for women and stripping Union Workers of their rights. We dont need anymore politicians who shame and blame women for making our own Reproductive Health decisions or attacking unions for fighting for middle class jobs. And i know there are challenges right here in iowa because you have been talking to me about them. Just listen to this. Iowa has fewer than 750 beds for more than 128,000 people in your state with serious mental illnesses. Families worry about relatives who need help and cant get it. And the iowans i have talked to dont understand why your governor would veto a bipartisan compromise without funding a viable alternative. And thats not all. The government. Also said no to investing in iowa students teachers and schools so im adding my voice to yours. Governor branstad put down your veto pen. Iowa families dont need a standoff, they need solutions. Thats why we cant let republicans take us back like they are trying to do. We are not going back to trickle down economics or the wild west on wall street. Were not going back to Insurance Companies charging women more for the same coverage. Were not going back o to denying Climate Change. If you ask most of these republican candidates about that, they will say, sorry im not a scientist. Well then why dont they start listening to those who are scientists. Look, im not a scientist either. Im just a grandmother with two eyes and a brain and im not going to let them take us backwards. So please, Iowa Democrats join me. Lets build up our party in every corner of this state and country. Elect democrats at every level. Take back School Boards and state houses all the way to the white house. Im running to make our country work for you and for every american, for the struggling the striving and the successful. For the factory workers and the food servers who have taken care of us tonight. For the veterans who served our country. For the farmers who feed us and the Small Business owners who take a risk. For the nurses who work the night shift and the truckers who drive for hours. I am running for everyone who has ever been knocked down but refuse to be knocked out. Im running for you. Were going to build an america where we dont leave anyone out or anyone behind. Where if you work hard, you will do your part and get ahead. And where a father can tell his daughter yes, you can be anything you want to be, even president of the United States thank you all very much [ applause ] i am now excited to welcome to the stage our next keynote speaker Martin Omalley. Throughout his 15 years of elected executive experience Martin Omalley has established himself as a bold progressive leader eager to solve big problems facing communities. Governor omalley has served in nearly every level of government. First as a member of the Baltimore City council, then as the mayor of baltimore and finally as the governor of maryland delivering results for his constituents. As mayor of baltimore he improved education cracked down on crime while improving Police Accountability and drove investment to the local community. And as governor, he signed Marriage Equality into law, passed the dream act, fought for environmental protections and made marylands Public Schools some of the best in the country for five years in a row. No matter the role governor omalley has always put working Families First and fought for the American Dream. Please join me in welcoming Martin Omalley. [ applause ] thank you, thank you. Thank you very, very much. It is a great honor to be here tonight with all of you fine members of the iowa Democratic Party in the resilient city of cedar rapids. My name is Martin Omalley. I am running for president. And i need your help. Tonight i would like to talk with you about the American Dream that we share. You and i are part of the living, selfcreating mystery called the United States of america. We have been given a gift, not an old car, to be tossed aside or traded in when were done with it, but a country and we must accept this gift with an open mind and an open heart if we are to give it to our children and grandchildren in a stronger and healthier condition than we received it ourselves. Make no mistake about it. Our ability to give our children a Better Future depends on the strength of our country. Now let me ask you all a question. How many of you firmly believe that youve enjoyed a better quality of life than your parents and grandparents. Raise your hands. Second question, how many of you believe just as firmly that your children and grandchildren will enjoy a better. Quality of life. Raise your hands. That, my friends is the question at the center of our table of democracy. Whether we are still that country where regardless of where you start through your own hard work and your own talent and your own love of family you can still get ahead. Whether we are still that nation that finds a way in every generation to eninclude more of our people in the political and social life of our nation. Fdr told my grandparents in their day not to be afraid. John kennedy told my parents that to govern is to choose. I say to you that progress is a choice. Now i am not the only candidate for president who holds progressive values, but i am the only candidate for president with 15 years of executive experience. [ applause ] as a big city mayor and as a governor turning those progressive values into actions getting things done, new leadership, action not words. In baltimore we took action to save lives by reducing record high violence to record lows. We increased drug treatment to free thousands of our courageous neighbors from drug addiction. In maryland in the face of the recession, we took action to raise the minimum wage to create jobs and to make our state number one in innovation and entrepreneurship. Drivers licenses for new american immigrants marriage equal equality and a ban on assault weapons and we didnt just talk about it. We actually got it done. We took greater action not less, to make our Public Schools number one in the country. We took action to freeze College Tuition four years in a row in order to make college more affordable for more families. We fought for the dream act and we won and we expanded family leave because when women succeed, america succeeds. As a nation, we have come a a long way since the wall street crash and the bush recession of 2008. As our country teetered on the brink of a second great depression, we elected a new president in barack obama to move us forward and that is exactly what president obama has done. 64 months in a row of positive job creation. Our country is clearly doing better. But most American Families are not. The hard truth of our times is this. 70 of us are earning the same or less today than we were 12 years ago. And that is the first time that that has happened this side of world war ii. Theres a growing injustice in our country and economic inequality kwaulty that threatens to tear us apart. Wealth and power have been so concentrated in the hands of so few that it is actually taking opportunity ut of the homes and the neighborhoods of the many and make no mistake about it. This did not happen by accident. Powerful wealthy special interests have used our government to create in our country an economy that is leaves a majority of our people behind. The promise of the American Dream is on the ropes, and most days in this Obstructionist Republican Congress its not even a fair fight. 50 years ago the nations largest employer was gm, and the average employee can send a kid to college for the equivalent then of two weeks wages. My father, like so many of his generation went to college only because of the gi bill, but we are saddling our kids with more college debt than any developed nation on the planet. Meanwhile as wages flat line for most of us, farms are finding it harder and harder to compete with ever larger concentrations of Corporate Power and monopoly monopolies monopolies. Get this. Last year wall street bonuses alone totalled twice what every american working at minimum wage earned combined. Tell me how it is that not a single wall street executive was convicted of a single crime related to the 2008 meltdown. Not a a single one. What have we come to a as a nation that you can get pulled over for a a broken tail light but if you wreck the nations economy you are untouchable. Main street struggles. Main street struggles while wall street soars and this is not the American Dream, this is not how our economy is supposed to work and this is not how our country is supposed to work. We can do better. We must return to our true selfs. Our economy isnt money. Our economy is people. All out of our people. A stronger middle class is not the consequence of economic growth. A stronger middle class is the cause of economic growth. Therefore, we must take actions that lift incomes and majors for all americans. Can we all agree that no American Family who works hard and plays by. The rules should have to raise their children in povr poverty. So lets take action to raise the minimum wage to 15 an hour wherever and however we can. Let us return to the Economic Justice of paying overtime pay for overtime work and expanding Social Security. And lets make it easier and not harder for any worker to join a labor union and collectively bargain for better wages. Can we all agree that every American Family should have the option to send their kids o to earn a College Degree debt free . Then lets make the action to make it a reality and option for every American Family. A new era of American Progress calls for a new agenda to rebuild our cities as places of justice and opportunity. It calls for a new National Security strategy and new alliances more forward seeing and more acting to reduce debts and once more a new american era of progress calls for a cleaner, Greener Renewable Energy future. And i am the first candidate, but lets hope i am not the last, to call for moving America Forward by 2050 to a 100 clean powered electric grid for the good of our country creating good jobs and creating more opportunity. None of these things happen by chance. They do not happen by accident. To get wages to go up, theres another thing we need to do and that is to get 11 million neighbors out of the underground economy and into the open light bypassing comprehensive immigration reform. But there are also a couple things we need to stop doing. As a party and as a kouncountry. Among them, giving a free pass to the bullies of wall street. We must e reinstitute it today. We must prosecute financial crimes and if a bank is too big o to fail, too big to jail and too big to manage, then its too damn big and it needs to be broken up before it breaks us up. And we must stop sending american jobs and profits overseas with bad trade deals like the transpacific partnership. Many of you remember the return on nada. We traded away good manufacturing jobs in towns and in return we got back empty promises and empty pockets. Im fundamentally opposed to secret trade deals that our congress is forced to vote on before were even allowed to read them. Your republican Governor Terry branstad has shown us the direction their party would take us cutting taxes for big corporations and then telling you that iowa doesnt have the money to invest in your own childrens education. Well welcome to todays republican party. They once had leaders and visionaries. Lincoln, eisenhower, now they create traffic jams and dismiss science. And now the leading candidate for president is donald trump. After his racist, hatefilled comments, the Los Angeles Times ran a headline, and i quote, republican field divided on Donald Trumps comments on mexican immigrants. Divided, as in not sure hes wrong . If donald trump wants to run on a platform of demonizing immigrants, he should go back to the 1840s and run for the president ial nomination of the no nothing party. My friends, i leave you with these final thoughts. In this summer of anger and frustration, if you become doubtful about our countrys Better Future just talk to her young people. Youll seldom find a Climate Change denier someone who wants to discriminate against gay couples or someone who wants it to bash immigrants. Bruce springsteen asked once is a dream a a lie if it doemt come true or is it something worse . Whether that dream is made true again for all American Families or not its not up to the big banks, its not even about the big money trying to take over the elections. Its really up to you and me. Its about whether we still have the ability as a people to move our country forward. You have a vital choice to make and i need your help. After this election is over, km when a a child with a world of learning in front of him asks you who you voted for, i want you to tell that child i voted for you. When you see a dad sweating through another long shift in order to give his daughter a Better Future i want you to be able to tell him i voted for you. When you see a mom working long hours at two jobs for the dream of sending her son to college, i want you to be able to tell her, i voted for you. And when you see a young father who hungers for a job to feed his family i want you to be able to tell him, i voted for you. We are democrats for good reasons because ours is the party of the people, ours is the party of action, ours is the party of our countrys Better Future, ours is the party that will rebuild the American Dream, and make the promise real for all americans again. God bless you, iowa. God bless the United States of america. [ applause ] and now for our next keynote speaker, senator Bernie Sanders. Bernie sanders is in his second term in the u. S. Senate as the endorsed candidate of the vermont Democratic Party. Prior to that he served 16 years in the house of representatives. Senator sanders was appointed as the chairman of the committee on Veterans Affairs and is now the ranking democrat on the Budget Committee. In 1981, he was elected to his first of four terms as mayor of burlington, vermont. During which time, u. S. News named him as one of the 20 best mayors in america. As a student and civil rights activist in the 60s sanders was a front line champion for equality. He was arrested protesting housing segregation at his college and marched on washington with dr. Martin luther king jr. Senator sanders was defending working class families and stood up against the excesses of corporate america. Please join me in welcoming senator Bernie Sanders. Thank you very much for that generous introduction. And my wife jane and i are just so delighted to be in the great state of iowa with you tonight. And im also delighted to be here following other remarks from great democrats who have dedicated their entire lives to public service. This is a great team. And i thank them all. Let me begin by suggesting something to you that i think very few candidates ever say. And that is given the reality of economics and politics in America Today no president , not the best can bring about the changes we need in this country unless there is a political revolution. And what that means what that means in all honesty is the powers that be in washington the billionaire class, the Koch Brothers, the lobbyists, the corporate interests are so powerful that nothing will get done unless millions of people stand up and loudly proclaim enough is enough. This country belongs to all of us and not a handful of billionaires. My point is that no president does it alone. We need a Mass Movement from coast to coast. So that republicans understand that when they give tax breaks to their billionaire friends, when they try to cut Social Security on medicare we know whats going on and that vote will be their last term in congress. And heres Something Else that all of us should know. Today in our great country we are the wealthiest country in the history of the world. Today. In the history of the world. But most americans dont know that because almost all of the wealth rests in the hands of the few. America now has more wealth and income inequality than any major country on earth. And it is worse today than at any time since 1928. The issue of wealth and income inequality is the great moral issue of our time. It is the great political issue of our time. And together, that is an issue that we will address. Let me be as clear as i can be. There is something profoundly wrong when the top. 1 own as much as the bottom 90 . Theres something profoundly wrong when one family the owners of walmart own as much wealth as the bottom 40 of the american people. There is something profoundly wrong when millions of workers are working longer hours for lower wages when we have by far the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world and almost all new wealth and income goes into the hands of the few. Enough is enough. That has got to end. And together, we will end it. This campaign is sending a profound message to the billionaire class. You cant have it all. You cant get huge tax breaks when children in america go hungry. You cannot continue to send our jobs to china when millions of americans are looking for work. You cannot hide your profits in the Cayman Islands and in other tax havens. When there are massive, unmet needs in this country. The greed of the billionaire class has got to end and we are going to end it for them. But it is not just income and wealth inequality. It is the fact that we have millions of people working longer hours for lower wages. And that is why we have got to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. Nobody in America Works 40 hours a week should be living in poverty. And that is why i have led the effort in the United States senate, not only against nafta and permanent normal trade relations with china but im leading it against this disastrous tpp trade agreement. When 33 of white kids between 17 and 20 who graduated high school are unemployed when 36 of hispanic kids are unemployed who graduated high school went 51 of africanamerican kids who graduated high school are unemployed, we need a Massive Jobs Program to put our people back to work. And when our infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our water system, our rail system is crumbling, there is more than enough work to do. Lets rebuild our infrastructure infrastructure, create millions of decent paying jobs. Today, the United States of america embarrassingly remains the only major nation on earth that does not guarantee health care as a right for all people. I voted for the Affordable Care act and it has done a lot of good. But there are still 35 million americans with no Health Insurance and many more who are underinsured. Now, is the time for us to say loudly and proudly america will join the rest of the industrialized world with a medicare for all single payer program. And when my republican colleagues, as they have done for years tell us that we have got to cut Social Security despite the fact that millions of seniors are trying to survive on 12,000, 13,000 a year. What we say is, no, youre not going to cut Social Security, were going to expand Social Security by lifting the cap on taxable income. My republican colleagues in the senate talk about family values. Yall know what theyre talking about. Their family values say that a woman does not have the right to control her body. I disagree. They say a woman should not be able to get the contraceptives she needs. I disagree. They say they say that our brothers and sisters who are gay should not be able to enjoy the same marriage rights that heterosexual couples enjoy. We disagree. But we also have family values, not based on hatred but based on love and compassion. Our family values say that when a woman has a baby, she should get 12 weeks of family and medical leave to stay home with the baby. Now, theres another issue out there that must be addressed. Because perhaps it is the most important issue of all. And that is to understand that the Supreme Courts decision on Citizens United is moving this country toward an oligarchic form of society because it is allowing millionaires to buy elections with unlimited sums of money. It should not be acceptable to any american, conservative moderate progressive that the Koch Brothers alone, an extreme right wing family will spend more money in this Campaign Cycle than either the democratic or the republican party. When one family spends more than either of the two Major Political parties, brothers and sisters, that is not democracy that is the path of oligarchy. Thats why Citizens United must be overturned. L i have not made many promises in this president ial campaign. But heres one i have made. No nominee of mine to the Supreme Court will be made unless that man or woman is clear that he or she will vote to overturn Citizens United. And further more, weve got to go further. We have got to, in my view, move the public funding of elections. So that anybody can run for Office Without being dependent on the wealthy and the powerful. At my table here this evening i have 7 or 8 wonderful young people. And the reason that i ask them to join me tonight is to highlight a tragedy in this country. These young people collectively joe more than 1 million in student debt. I have introduced legislation and will fight as president of the United States to make certain that every public, college, and university in america is tuitionfree. We must also significantly reduce student debt. It is insane that people in this room are paying 8 9 , 10 Interest Rates on student debt when you could refinance your home for 2 or 3 . And were going to do that. And when we talk about our responsibility as adults, what that means is we have the moral obligation to make certain that we leave this planet for our kids and our grandchildren in a way that is habitable. It is an international embarrassment. To acknowledge the reality of Climate Change. Let alone are prepared to do anything about it. In my view, this nation must and can lead the world. To Sustainable Energies like winds, solar and geothermal. And like everybody in this room, i want to see an america where when young, black men walk down the street, they will not be harassed by police officers. They will not be killed, they will not be shot. President obama did something extraordinary the other day. He had the courage to go to a federal jail. And talk about the absurddy that 1 out of 4 male africanamericans born today will end up behind bars. That is not the america we believe in. And that is why that is why, we believe it makes more sense to invest in jobs and education not jails and incarceration. And to our 11 million brothers and sisters and to our 11 million brothers and sisters who are living in the shadows today, we say loudly, and we say clearly, we are going to bring you out of the shadows and in a path toward citizenship. And were not going to divide families up. Brothers and sisters we are the wealthiest nation in the history of the world there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Please dont think small. Think big. Think about a future where our kids get the best education in the world. Where our young people have the jobs and education they need. Where womens rights are protected. That is the america we can become if we stand together and not let them divide us up by race, by gender, by sexual orientation. Let us stand together. Let us remake america together. Thank you very much. And now i am honored to welcome our final keynote speaker jim webb. Jim webbs career is defined by a lifetime of public service. He started out serving his country as a marine in vietnam where he was awarded the navy cross, the silver star medal two bronze star medals and two purple hearts. He then served his assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs before becoming secretary of the navy in 1987. In the process, web became the First Naval Academy graduate to serve as the civilian head of the navy. In 2006, he was elected to the United States senate where he wrote, introduced and guided the passage of the post 9 11 g. I. Bill. Jim has always stood up for those in need, and we are so honored to have his passion in the Democratic Party. Please join me in welcoming jim webb. Thank you very much. Well, i have to say, i had the pleasure of serving with bernie. We were elected on the same in the same Campaign Cycle and ive followed him many times on the senate floor. And bernie, you always fire me up. So im here to turn the lights out tonight folks. And i appreciate the opportunity, invitation to be here. And this is the center of where we need to change america right here in the Democratic Party. Its been amazing to see the energy here tonight. And i i would after what was just said, i would like to ask those who served our country to stand and be recognized, if we might. One of the one of the great moments in my life. In my professional life when we were able to pass the post 9 11 g. I. Bill. I wrote it with legislative counsel before i was sworn in on the senate. I introduced it on the first day i was a senator. There were a lot of people who thought we would not be able to pass this actually like the most comprehensive veterans legislation since world war ii. But we built a prototype. And i would like people to consider this when were talking about those of us who would like to be your president. We built a prototype, a leadership prototype in the senate on a Bipartisan Commission within 16 months over the objection of the Bush Administration to the last day of our vote we passed this bill. And since that time more than a million of our post 9 11 veterans have been able to have the kind of education that Bernie Sanders just talked about. Get your tuition paid for, buy your books pay your fees give you a monthly and give you a true, first class shot at the future. Also was noticing when i was looking at the program tonight that on the supporters mentioned on the back page, i think about ten of them are from organized labor. And i know there are a lot of people here tonight from organized labor. Id like to say im very proud of the fact i believe im the only statewide candidate in the history of virginia who walked a union picket line during a campaign. Those of you who know virginia know the risk that was involved in that. Im also the only statewide candidate ever elected to office with a union card, two purple hearts and three tattoos. And so when we see so much demonizing of organized labor these days and when i look at what we will probably consider the most successful Economic System today in the world if you want to measure it by the balance of payment and the strength of the industry. Germany. Germany, actually, has a higher balance of trade on average than china does. And if you look at their corporate boards, they have for many many years had organized labor as members of their corporate boards. We need to get the message out to america that organized labor is not the enemy. It is the friend of the working people. It is the voice, it is the way to start turning these economic fairness issues around. Weve got a lot of problems a lot of problems in our country, weve heard eloquent remarks tonight about those problems. And i would like to ask you to consider here tonight what would you want in a president in order to start turning these issues around again . And i would suggest that, first of all, we should have a president who can articulate the values of the Democratic Party and work at the same time across party lines achieving Bipartisan Solutions and moving the country forward in a way that we can govern. Weve had it in the past we can have it again. I believe i can do that. Bernie sanders just mentioned criminal justice. And the fact that the president this week visited a federal prison and actually had an Amnesty Program for some people who had been convicted unfairly in terms of sentencing, long sentences. I would like to say when i ran for the senate, i started talking about the need for this country to solve our broken criminal justice system. I had political advisers at that time were telling me, i was committing suicide, political suicide in virginia. We stuck on those issues we held two years of hearings when i got to the senate on how to fix this system wholistically. We put a piece of legislation forward. We brought in terms of creating a commission that would examine all of the different intersecting wholistic issues that have affected our criminal justice system. We worked from our office. We got a buyin from 100 different stake holders across the country in supporting this. Including also Supreme Court Justice Kennedy and the American Bar Association and the organizations all the way from the National Sheriffs association, the International Association of chiefs of police to the aclu and the marijuana project, i think, probably only billed in the history of the senate where they were both on it. We lost on the senate floor. We got 57 votes, it was filibustered. But i also raise this issue with our president in 2011 after we lost on the senate floor. And i suggested that 18month commission, he could put that in an executive order and we could truly bring the best minds of america together to put together the right kind of solutions that will affect these kinds of things that the president is talking about today. And Bernie Sanders was just talking about. And i would say tonight, its now been nine years since we started working on this issue. And i would ask that the president consider taking one day writing this executive order, getting this commission together, and lets really move forward to fix the whole criminal justice system, not just one piece of it or another. Id also say, and i hope you will consider this. That of all the responsibilities of the president , none is greater than that of being your commander in chief. Ive spent my entire life in and around the United States military. I grew up in the military, i served in vietnam as the marine. I spent five years in the pentagon four of them as an executive sitting on the defense resources board. Ive served as a journalist around the world covering the United States military, including in beirut in 1983 when the marines were in beirut. Some will remember the horrible explosion in the beirut airport that killed more than 200 of our American Military people in one day. Ives in avenue i was in afghanistan. I understand how our American Military works. I would have never voted to authorize that proposal. Five months before the invasion i wrote a piece in the Washington Post warning that this would be a disastrous strategic failure of historic proportions proportions. That would empower iran in the long run also china, particularly economically and it would unleash sectarian violence inside iraq and turn our soldiers into terrorist targets. If i were your president , i would not have authorized the use of military force in libya the arab spring. I warned repeatedly that the use of force did not meet the test of a grave National Security danger and that it would have negative impacts in the entire region. And i have to say i am still looking with some concern, great concern about the agreement that was just signed with respect to iran. I would not as president sign any executive agreement establishing a longterm relationship with iran if in any way tips the balance of power in that vital region of our world. And particularly, if it accepts i will never accept directly or indirectly irans acquisition of nuclear weapons. At the same time, id make it clear we have strong National Security interests and we need to address them. Weve talked a lot about these other issues that everyone is in strong agreement with tonight. Let me speak for a few minutes about my view of what the American Dream. I call it the american trifecta. What i mean by that is when our system works right, we have a safety net under people who need it, who have fallen into hard times, who have retired. We have absolute fairness in the middle. And then if you can truly make it, you can go all the way in this country. And that is the American Dream. What does it look like . When it doesnt work . What does it look like when it does work. When i think about a time when it didnt work, ill never forget experiences my mother had growing up in utter poverty in eastern arkansas. She was one of eight kids three of whom died in childhood. Not childbirth. Childhood. Her father died when she was 10. There was no educational opportunity. There was no medical. There wasnt Social Security at the time. When my dad met her at the age of 17, he said her hands felt like the bark off of a tree from having worked so hard. She gave me the energy that i have today to be standing in front of you today. But it was frankly roosevelts programs and the Democratic Partys programs that gave people in that part of america the safety net under them and the chance for true fairness. And i also, when it works, when it works i think of the journey of my wife. In 1975 when the communist took over south vietnam, her family entire extended family got on a boat, went out on the south china sea, like hundreds of thousands of other vietnamese at that time. They did not know whether they were going to live or die. And if you think about our obligations as a country, we had no legal obligation to go out and save hundreds of thousands of vietnamese and take them to refugee camps and bring them into this country. But we had a moral obligation as the greatness of our country that we did that. They took her family off the ocean when they didnt know whether they were going to live or not. She went to two different refugee camps. Grew up in new orleans started working in a factory when she was 11 years old. Neither of her parents ever spoke fluent english. We couldve said as we hear some people saying right now, well, wait a minute. They are not our kind or whatever language people use. We didnt do that. They make some of the greatest americans in this country today. She worked she studied, she ended up at the university of michigan and cornel law school. She had the safety net under them, the fair shot and lived the American Dream. That is what im hoping for when i tell you i would like to be your president. That is the vision that i have for this country. And i have done i have been able to put that vision into specific actions in a way that i think i can guarantee you we will do. If you give us your support and help us in this journey. Thank you very much. I am 1 20 under schedule for you. Thank you for being here. All of you. Lets give another round of applause for our fantastic president ial candidates. Lets give another round of applause for our wonderful hall of fame inductees. I want to thank you for joining us on this special night. A truly incredible night for being an iowa democrat. I know its the end of the evening and im going to keep it short, but i want to see you and all of your neighbors, all out on caucus night. And i know im going to see all of you knocking doors, making phone calls talking to your neighbors and friends and family about why its so important to elect democrats who put iowas Families First. Were going to elect democrats up and down the ticket and turn iowa blue. And its going to be because of people like you. So please have a good evening and be proud to be democrats can i get a picture of you and my son . How are you doing . Thank you. No, ill send them to you. Ill send them to you. Its good to have a democratic debate, huh . Yeah. I met you for the polk county dinner debate. My name is marty. Hi marty. You said, marty, man, i liked it. Thank you. Thanks a lot. Hope to see more of you. Hey, thank you so much. Thank you. What a pleasure. Thank you, man. Thanks for being with me. Nice to see you again. Where did we meet before . Couple of places. I was just talking to george that no labels wants to do a positive oped for you. Thats cool. I accept. Well some of the great stuff youve said. Thank you. Were working on that. I want you to know. Thanks a lot. I hope you can come to our thing in New Hampshire in october. Thats the deal, yeah. All right. Ill do my best. Thank you. Two states. Thanks for being here. Thank you. Good to see you. Just met your son. There he is. The man the legend william omalley. Hey, thank you. I like your button. Thank you. I had the union we talked to you about that. Sciu. Love it. Yes. How are you doing . Whats your name . Andrew. Hello, andrew. I was wondering if i could get a picture. A lot of issues to be discussed. I wouldnt necessarily agree with all of the solutions. Looking forward what are you looking to do in the next couple of weeks. Basically what weve been doing. Talking to people and discussing issues people care about. Thank you. Thank you. Im very proud of you. And thank you for bringing up about trade that other people are shying away from. Thank you. And thank you for serving. Thank you. Sorry. 9pounder. Wed like to get a picture. If i could get a picture. May i . Are you ready . Who were you with in the army . Several units. Two tours in germany. Third armor division. Second time was a signal unit. Yes, sir . Thanks. Good seeing you. Third armored was frankfort at the time. I dont know if theyre there anymore. I spent a lot of time. Sure. Sure. Frankfort, we had fifth corps there. Colin powell went there. He was commander of 5th corps for a short time. He was on the political fast track. You know how it is. I got it. I hope i did. Trying to get that way . Thank you, hey. How are you doing . I gave you a great compliment. Little short, feisty lawyer type . It was a woman in ottumwa. Anyway, i was going to say, you did great. Thank you. Thanks a lot. I need you guys. I love to have your support. Thank you. Im linda, im with the gazette. Good to see you again. Last time i saw you was tipton. That was a good day. Can i get an autograph . Cspan, theyre right behind you. I know there they are cspan. Can i get an autograph . I saw you at the hall a month ago. Cool. Great seeing you again this evening. Thanks a lot. I feel like im getting a lot closer to it. What is your name . Randy. I like what youre saying about organized labor, too. Hey its not coincidental that wages go down when they take the rug out from labor. Would you mind . Not at all. Thanks so much. Thanks so much. Sure. Thank you. Have a nice day. Youre welcome. Welcome back to iowa. Good to be back. Hi. Welcome back to iowa. I asked him if bruce braleys fundraiser down by the river. Yeah. If you were going to throw your hat in the ring. I told you yes, right . You said, well see. Did i . Yes. Here it is. Im like, oh, my god, he did. That was a fun night. You were very discerning. Oh, no we loved your singing. Thank you. Thank you. Whats your name . Julian. Hi, julian. Thank you, julian. Whats your name . Jana, his mom. Are you from des moines or cedar rapids . Cedar rapids. Great to have your support. Its a great historic state house. It is. If you go in the new senate chambers, i havent been there yet, we recently renovated that. Oh really. Yeah. Appropriated the money, i havent seen it completed yet. How you been, man . Good, good. Hows life treating you . Very, very good. Its summer and spent a few days. Hello, trevor. This is my mom diana. Good to see you. And sister kathy. Kathy kelly . Well, it was. Good to see you. You gave a great speech tonight. Thank you man. Good crowd reaction they were cheering right along with you. Thanks a lot. And happy to let you know im on board. Thank you, man, i heard. Thank you very much. Happy to be on board and in Jasper County were going to win thanks to you. Thats right. You raised a good son. Yeah, i did. Thank you. He has the golden touch in jasper. You need it. Sure do man. Thank you. Thank you. Were going to get it done. Youre a discerning selfselecting. Youre part of a discerning selfselecting group. I put time in to studying it, treated it like it was tax structure and energy. Questions about pipelines, the rail lines are carrying that. Last 15, 20 years. Sustainable energy. Or the way its grown so much. Yeah, i do. I do. I do. Okay. Good idea. And were not affiliated with it. Were not true believer. Well, thanks for being here. Thank you. Enjoy the weekend. The first time in iowa. I didnt know if you might can i get a picture with you . Can you text it to me . You say youre new here . Washington, d. C. All right. I wish you the best. Enjoy. Thank you. Have a good weekend. Yep, you too. I worked for great guy. Great guy. One, two, three. Thank you so much. Thank you i wish you the best of luck. Well i just left the white house and im working at d. O. E. Okay. And they all said got to get out there. Yep. Help candidates. And so get back in it. Get back in it. Did the senator retire . He did. Hes opening a center, i believe at wayne state. I think theyre working on that. He left in 14 . Yeah. Just finished. Leaders. Okay. Thats right. Thats right. And, well, you know time when i was up there in europe there. He had the substitute. Yeah. I think one vote difference. 7624 and 7723. Yeah. And his was, slow it down. Yeah. Too bad. Its too bad. But you come from a really strong bipartisan like, very good part of the country where its pretty good. Yep. Yeah, exactly. Have a good weekend. Good luck with everything. Wish you the best of luck. That helps. Good to see you. Cedar falls. Art teacher in cedar falls. Good man. We need more art in this world. I completely agree with that. Makes us safer and more secure. Absolutely. What kind of art do you teach . K5. Uhhuh. In waterloo. Whats your first name . Will. Will. Good to meet you. Love to have your support. Do you know this guy . Yes, i do. Thank you. Okay. How are you . Your speech should we see them as that . I dont think the nafta line the action not just talk line, are those directed at the secretary . No theyre directed at our country. Theyre about the ideas that we need to advance in order to move our country forward. Stumbling into bad trade deals offshoring american jobs when we havent prepared workers for the displacement. I think its public policy. I think a lot of us back in the 90s hope that nafta wouldve worked out better for us. But it didnt. And now to repeat that seems to be a repeat of the same mistake. What was the other one . Wall street . Action, you said that you were somebody who has not just talked but taken action. You said that before. And it seems with some of the things your staff is also saying its a broadside against president clinton. Im offering my candidacy and highlighting the things ive done. And i hope each of the candidates will highlight the things theyve done. One of the things ive done is accomplish the values that the rest of the field is committed to. And i dont doubt their sincerity in being committed to it. But after having experienced and having gotten it down. Thats a distinguishing characteristic i offer. Are you happy with the reception you got . It was a were going to talk to more iowans. Thanks, guys. Thank you. We still consider you still consider senator sanders just a protest candidate . Im glad he was honored to be on the stage with all of the candidates here today. Over the fourth of july, you said he was protesting well, im not a pundit. I shouldnt have been quoted on that. Im just a candidate. I make my decision and now the people make theirs. I think senator sanders is a good person, and i think that anyone who has the courage to put themselves out there and offer themselves as a candidate for president of the United States serves our respect. Yeah, absolutely. Hi, im maci. And my husband matt is a huge fan. He couldnt be here tonight, hes convincing everyone to caucus for you. Thank you. Say hello to matt. Hello, matt thank you for convincing everyone to caucus for me. Hes a good supporter of yours. Thanks very much. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Were going to rock n roll. Were going to take a picture. Yeah. Well, why dont we go. Well go upstairs t. Were Getting Better lighting. Thank you. Thank you. My wifes name is katie. How does she spell it . Katie. Mines kaity. Ever here the song doctor song. Well, im katryn. Thank you for being at my table. Look forward to seeing you more. Thank you, im steve. Thank you for your speech. It was so inspiring. Thank you, steve. It was. You guys are inspiring. What a tremendous crowd. Where do you live . Fairfield. I love fairfield. I was there last night. I had late night dinner at the steak and something or other. Oh, really. I just come from the county fair and didnt want to get too close, i smell like animals. Well thanks for being a big part of the team. It was fun to have a good debate. It was not a debate but it was fun to have a conversation now on our side of the yes. And im glad youre visiting is some of the smaller places. Yeah. Thank you, thanks so much. How are you . Whats your name . Thanks a lot, charles. Im brian. Hey, brian. One two, three. Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you, all. Thank you, fella. Good to see you, guys. How are you . If i saw him first, i would have recognized him. Well, were doing well. You guys its tremendous. Yeah. Me, too. Its nice to have a debate on our side. Senator . Yes, it is. Theyre good. Thats one piece of this i hadnt quite anticipated as much. When i was campaigning at home for governor, whatever the small enough state, you could be home every night in bed, see them in the morning but this going for four, five six days of the stretch. Washington was good. I hadnt been there in 30 years. Boy, the town looks great. And you know where we got together was your old headquarters. Yeah . Yeah, the art gallery. And lorain. Is it lorain who has the restaurant . Yeah. On the corner very kindly set me up with a sandwich. I saw her place. Its a pretty little town. It is. Nice town. They did a good job. Well, great seeing you. I can do a to z on water. Did you solve that cold case . Today. Congratulations. Case . Today. Congratulations. Would love to hear about that. Yeah. Good seeing you. Great speech. Hey, man, thank you. Thank you very much. Sure. What is your name . Lois. Hello, ladies. Love being with you guys. I have never seen a bigger crowd in iowa. Really . You were awesome. Thank you. I need your help. Okay. Terrific. Love to have your support. Thank you. Tell me your name . Barbara. Yeah. Nice to have you here. Thank you. Good to be back. We have a rock, right . Yes. 3, 2, 1. Awesome. Thanks for coming. My honor. Good to be on the same platform with those other five individuals. Good to have a conversation on our side about where we are going, yeah. Hi. Minnesota, did you catch the talk . Yes. Didnt see it. I saw you a rachel maddow. Loved your talks. What is your name . Grace. My daughters name is grace. I am aliali. To meet you. We are students. Everybody today has at least two majors. Yeah. Mine is just a major and minor, but i like to sound more fancy. Do you want to get a picture . Yes. Come here, ladies. Thank you so much. For driving here from minnesota. It was great. We need you to coordinate the state of minnesota for us. Got it i am spreading you word of mouth. I think we are coming there. You are you are good to meet you. Thank you. Would you mind signing my book for me . Sure. What is your name . Stacy. Good to meet you. Sta cy. Yep. Thank you very much. Thank you. Have a good night. You too, man. What is your name . Gary martin. Thank you, gary. Have a good night. Can i get one . Sure. Sure. 1, 2, 3. Lisa montana. Nice to meet you. I wrote a book on voting. I am in favor of voting. Its a disruptive but cause annualal activity. What is your story, joe . I am working with claire mcgwire and i am doing a little work outside for you. Good man. Thanks. Amazing speech. Thanks a lot. Governor good to see you. This was a fun night. This guy helped us with governor hatch. Yeah, glad to do it. Thanks. Have a nice night . Thank you. Yes, sir . This guy does a little Bruce Springsteen in his speech. Really that was good. I work with jack hatch. Yeah i saw him saw him on the way in. Thanks a lot, man. Cspan 3 live for the announcement here in columbus ohio, at the Ohio State University for Governor John Kasich to become the 16th president ial candidate and 21 total candidates in all. He released a video earlier today and we will take a look at that before the announcement here in columbus. Ready for hillary i have a my mother taught i recognize i announce my candidacy what are we going to do about america . And how did we end up with 20 people running for president . I think about who is it that has the experience to balance the federal budget . Its very hard to do. Who is it . The experience in turning a major state of big deficits and high unemployment . You know, of all those people running, there is not one that has experience in all of those critical three areas. Who needs one more person running for president . We do. John kasich was elected to congress at the ripe age of 30. My mom and dad didnt live in ohio. When i won that first election that shocking first election, their reaction is, johnny, what the heck are you doing . John was chosen to serve as chairman of the Budget Committee when the federal budget deficit was almost 3 trillion. When he stepped down, that deficit had become a 5 trillion surplus. You know, i was one of the chief architects of balancing the budget, first time we did it since man walked on the moon and have not done it since. Kasich worked in the real word as a commentator on fox and here in ohio. Things were not so good. Ohio lost 350,000 jobs. The economy was tanking. The Rainy Day Fund had, like, 89 cents in it. When i ran for governor ohio was almost knocked out so there was no way to go but up. Oh, what a change. We reelected him by a 2 to 1 margin and he won 86 of ohio 88 counties. The past six years have not been good for american power, prestige, or our safety at home. But we elected a president with zero Foreign Policy experience. What could we expect . Amateur hour has to be over on this one . We need a leader who has actually led and will get instant respect around the world . I spent 18 years on the Armed Services committee with the finest defenseminds in the world, barry goldwater, some of the great thinkers about National Security, and i will never forget by experience before the gulf war, meeting with soldiers out in the desert and understanding the concerns they had about carrying out their mission. What are we going to do about america . Roll the dice once more on somebody without the right experience . Choose from a dynasty because its their turn. Another eloquent speaker guaranteed to produce standing ovations, and after that the guarantees fall thin. Or, can we find someone who actually has the right experience, somebody who actually balanced the federal budget and helped to make a troubled economy boom again and one who dealt with World Leaders and one that can insure that america returns to the top . My father was a mailman and they called him john the mailman because he was looking out for everybody on that route for 29 years. My parents had a profound impact on my life and the most Important Message that they gave me was, johnny, make sure the place where you are is a little bit better because of the fact that you were there. I dont think a good leader really reads polls or listens to focus groups or who yells the loudest but a good leader has a intuition of what is just and fair for the people and thats to make sure they stand up for the folks. John kasich is for us. New day for america is responsible for the content of this advertising. That video was released yesterday. Governor john kasich expected to announce he is getting ready to make a run for the presidency in 2016. Cspan 3 live today at the ohio university, and he is the 16th republican to enter the race, and 21 total candidates in all and he is the governor of one of the most critical general election swing states but he still faces long odds at winning the nomination, and more centrist than many of the potential rivals, and he has taken heat for accepting money from obamacare and open to
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