Watch live on cspan, any time on cspan. Org and listen wherever you are using the free cspan radio app. Former Vice President and 2020 democratic president ial candidate joe biden was in his home town of scranton, pennsylvania to talk about his economic proposals and other issues facing middle class families. Please welcome rosemary baldwin. [ applause ] good morning, everyone. And welcome to scranton, pennsylvania. My name is rosemary bol land and im a teacher and the president of the Scranton Federation of teachers, local 1147. [ applause ] i thank you for that. That is not usually how im greeted. I would like to say im a member and proud one of the aft, American Federation of teachers. Im on the executive board of the American Federation of teachers pennsylvania. And im a Vice President of the aflcio of pennsylvania, if that tells you who i am. Im extremely proud and honored that i was asked to do this introduction this morning. Im a little old lady School Teacher from the south side of pennsylvania, south scranton, and im honored this happened to me. I talked to 10yearolds and 11yearolds and i told them these things could happen. But i didnt think they were going to happen to me. So the fact that were here and im able to speak with you this morning is truly, truly amazing to me. I would like to say how much i am appreciative that joe biden entered this race. [ applause ] not just because hes a friendly son, but he absolutely appreciates education. Public education. [ applause ] you know, my Scranton School district is in what they call Financial Recovery which means were broke. Now if we were unique, if we were unique, that would be all right. But were not. You have watched the television and you know how many times teachers throughout this country have had a walk in order to get their salaries they deserve or to get the health care that they deserve. What about our students . So one of the things that im happy about and mr. Bidens plan is title 1 funding. He wants to triple that. Those of us go ahead. [ applause ] those of us in Public Education depend on these funds for our students. We in the Scranton School district have a proud heritage. We have prek 3 and 4yearold education here. Were unique in that. And weve been doing that for almost 50 years. Our children deserve that throughout this country. This is not something that i should have to negotiate. This is something every parent and child in the United States deserves. How about that. [ applause ] how about the fact that we have very, very needy children with special needs. Thats right. Yes, it is right. And how about if we correct the idea and actually fund it. And how about if we actually help our neediest children rather than putting children in cages. [ applause ] i think it is time also that people paid attention to the fact that we in education are desperately in need of more psychologists, we need more counselors, we need more nurses. [ applause ] we in the Scranton School district have 38 spoken languages. 38. We have to work with all of those families and all of those children. We need help. And we need lots of it. And so does every teacher and every School District across this country. And you know what . For the last almost it is hard for me to say this for the last almost four years the children in this country have been deprived. The other morning i read in the newspaper locally that the latest thing from the president is to cut funds for breakfast and lunch. Shame on him. Shame on him. Shame on him is right. The privileged should realize it is their duty and their responsibility to help those who dont have what they have. It is time to start learning to share. And share among our neediest in this country. And that begins with 3 and 4yearolds coming to our schools and getting the educational start they deserve. Thats right. [ applause ] so i dont want to just stop with Early Childhood education, i spent most of my time with 10 and 11yearolds so i was given an education. But i dont want to forget that education goes beyond high school, and it goes into the colleges and the universities and the Community Colleges and the trades which are all, by the way, friends of mine who work in the trades and i would like to say that maybe it is time we invest it. Some time and money and actually maybe it is time we worked on public service, loan forgiveness and give people a boost up. [ applause ] so i dont want to steal too much thunder from our next president. [ cheering and applause ] but i do want to just say that representing the 900 members of the Scranton Federation of teachers is one of my proudest accomplishments in my life and i guess as long as they keep me working, everything will be fine. But when i was a student at south south scanton Junior High School yeah see, im not the only one thats still living. When i was a student there i wore a pin and it was probably around this time. And the pin i wore said start packing mamie, the kennedys are coming. So i say today, melania, start packing. The bidens are coming. It is my great pleasure to introduce to you the next president of the United States of america, joe biden. [ applause ] hello, folks, how are you . Thank you. Thank you, thank you. [ crowd chanting ] thank you. Thank you. Please. Please, have a sit. Rosemary, thank you very much for that gentlemen generous introduction. My name is joe biden and i am jill bidens husband and son and from 2446 north avenue and im happy to be home. Happy to be home. No, it really is. It is good to be home. It is presumptuous to say home, i know. But scranton, when youre a kid, no matter how long you live here, it climbs into your heart and it occupies you. So many people you know are from scanton, so many people from scranton and great people here. My mother catherine eugena finnegan biden, mary woods raised in scranton, first 35 years of her life before we moved to delaware, she lived to age 92, thank god. And the last ten years of her life she lived with me. And after my dad passed, she moved in. But it was a struggle to get her to move in with us because when i was growing up in delaware in our threebedroom splitlevel home as most of my career and my life, we always had a relative living with us. Either my grandpa or my great aunt or an uncle. There is always someone in our home with four kids and mom and dad. It was great forr for the kids. And having pop with us, my grandpop and so on. And the fact is my mother looking back on it, those walls were pretty thin. And so after my dad passed away, i tried to get mom to move in with me. In a home that we had just built. I built a suite for my mom and dad but my dad was in hospice the last five months of his life at our home and but my mom wouldnt move in because she said she wasnt going to, quote, do that to me. But i said, mom, youre not doing that to me, youre doing it for us. She didnt want to be burdened. She but that is how my sister and brothers were raised. We were raised and taught that it is all about family. Family. And family is no burden. Even then she wouldnt actually move into our house. She sold her house and asked me to build there is a little barn on the property i bought, five acres that i purchased, and she wanted me to build her a house there. But at least i got every night to come home and kiss her good night and my wife jill is a great and she would say, youve been with mur mother, i could smell ice cream. And i got to kiss her good morning as i headed to the train. But that satisfied her pride. And gave the whole family solace. Everything my sister valerie and i learned came from scranton. Scranton sort of, as i said, creeps into your heart and never leaves you. When people would ask my mom after she had been in delaware, not any exaggeration, over 50 years where she lived and where shes from and when she was out in wilmington, she would say im from scranton. Im from scranton. Not a joke. She and my dad passed along those values that scranton families are all about. She said joe, remember, this is gods truth, remember youre defined by your courage and r youre redeemed by your loyalty. That is my grandfather ambrose finnegan. And he said courage is the greatest virtue of all. Because without courage you cant love bout abandon. That is what i learned and i learned it here. And suspect most of you learned the same things here in scranton. My dad moved here with his father and mother, moved to dunnmoor went to st. Thomas prep and where all of my extended family is here as well. Including some of my relatives here today and finnegan and gaffneys. Most wornt thing most important thing my father taught me was i was raised with the same tradition with everybody i grew up here and stayed in contact with over my career. Everybody has the same notion. Every Single Person my dad used to say, no matter who they are, joey, is entitled to be treated with dignity. Dignity. A word that i think is probably used more here in scranton, at least in my experience, than anywhere else. It is all about dignity. No matter what your station in life is. No matter what your background is. Everybody, everybody is teen is entitled to be treated with dignity. [ applause ] my dad my dad was a real gentleman. And he would tell you, joe, remember, you have to be and he would say the same to my sister and say a woman. He would say joey you have to be a man of your word. Without a man of your word, youre not a man. Thats right. It is about honor. No, i mean it. It is about honor and family. I learned that at my grandpas Kitchen Table here in green ridge. Not a joke. He would say, joey, family is the beginning and middle and end. And the older i got the more i learned to admire my dads courage and resilience. When scranton fell on hard times in the late hos 40s and 50s and if you listen to barack he talked about scranton and i represented him for 40 years and in a parade on a parade in a little town call hol cast, one of the parades my kids would go with me and im walking down the parade route and thanking them for be good to my son and three guys looking like you, what is this all about scranton . Youre from delaware. Youre from delaware. And my dad, if you listen to barack and think i climbed out of a coma, im in a lunch bucket here. But my dad was a white colar salesperson but there was not a lot of work up here in the early 50s and i remember him making what i call the longest walk and some of you have had to make and some of your family members had to make. The longest walk up a short flight of stairs to your childs bedroom and tell them, honey, you cant play in the Greenwich Little League any more or go back to school because dad doesnt have a job. Dad has to move. Everything is going to change. And i remember dad doing that. Matter of fact, i went back to my ancestral home up there, the woman who owns it is a lovely, lovely person and a friend and still the person who bought it from my grand pop when they died. And it just brings back memories. He came up and said we have to move, honey. But im going to come. It is only 157 miles away. Because he had been raised in wilmingtoning 150 miles and ill be home every weekend and that seems like to the moon, 157 miles and he did. And when i got older i realize how much it must have affected his pride and my grandpa finnegan who had four sons and say can i leave jean and the kids here with you . I promise ill pay you back. Ill be back. I promise. Can you do it . Wasnt a Second Thought for my grandpop but it takes pride for a man or woman to say can you take care of things. Can you do something for me . And although it was hard for him. I didnt think it was hard for my grandpop. Because again its family. And you know, ive had nothing but great memories about scranton. Climbing what used to be that 10foot stonewall in marywood and having apple fights between the wall and climbing the flagpole in Maloney Field and i might say the only kid who went to the top. My generation being that penny candy and no longer semis and papsies and going to the roosevelt for matinee and playing out the matinee on the way home trying to walk across that pipe across the lackey. Because that is what the heroes did. Sometimes falling in. But theyre nothing but good memories. But more than the memories what i remember most as i think about it as i get older is the values that were instilled in me up here. The point of all this is, as i look back on it, is that this is where i learned about loyalty. That is where i learned about patriotism. This is where i learned about what friendship means. This is where i learned about family, and faith. Faith that helped me get through a lot of tough times in my life. And a lot of you have been through tougher times than i have. It was the philosopher kinder guard said faith sees best in the dark. Faith sees best in the dark. Well we all go through dark times. Because of the faith instilled in me here, weve been able to traverse it. When my dad made that walk up the stairs, he told me, honey, everything is going to be okay. Once we get settled in delaware, were all going to come down and be together. And it was. My dad then in the mid 50s believes everything would be okay because the middle class still had a fighting chance then and it became okay. We moved to a little steel town called claymont, delaware, and no longer a steel town and we moved into the suburbs, a threebedroom splitlevel house in a safe neighborhood with four kids and as i said, a relative. From that time, from the time we were old enough to listen, every time someone, a relative in delaware or a friend who lost a job or a neighbor lost a job because of a recession or a company went under, my dad used to say, and i give you my word to this, he would say, joe, he remembered, job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It is about your dignity. It is about your place in the community. It is about who you are. Its about being able to look your child in the eye and say, honey, its going to be okay. And mean it. Well that is how we were raised. My guess is this is how the bulk of you were raised here in scranton and wilkesbarre. We were raised to believe in family and loyalty and treating everybody with dignity is what we should do because a lot of us knew what it was like not to be treated with dignity. And people with wealth and who we werent quite their equals. I can hear her now. My mom i used to studder badly when i was a kid. And my mom said, remember, joey, nobody is better than you. But everybody is your equal. My dad would say, not a joke. He would say, the measure of success is not whether or not you get knocked down, it is how quickly you get up. So get the hell up, man. Get up. [ applause ] my dad, as he got older, if i wanted to take you old to meet my dad because he could be angry if you came over, he had to have a sport coat on to meet you. Not a sweatpants. Manners to my dad were a big, big deal. One day he was over at our house and the house that i had built and i guess i was looking out over this pond it is on in delaware and i guess i was kind of feeling sorry for myself. I was talking about my deceased wife and he said, joey, he said, come on. And he left and went up to the hallmark store and came back and i have it on my desk to this day. You could go in the store and get a little glass rectangular case with a cartoon or saying or something on it and he came back and gave me this card too and i have it now and it sits on my desk and its been there for over 25 years. Thats not true. 19 years. And it says im not a big funny paper guy but must dad liked hagar the horrible. It was the viking. And there is two frames in the picture. And again, it reminds me of the resilience of the people in scranton and claymont, from where im from. It is a picture of hagar and his viking ship crashed on the rocks an the mast is down and hes standing and has his hand and shaking his fist to heaven and saying, why me, god . And the voice from heaven the next same exact scene with his hand up and a voice from heaven says, why not . Why not you . Why not you . Well, folks, a lot of people here in scranton and all across america have over the last decade and even now had to make that longest walk. But today too many middle class and working class folks cant look their kids in the eye any longer and say its going to be okay and mean it. That is why im running. Im running to rebuild the backbone of of this country. The backbone of this country is the middle class. You know and this time [ applause ] this time we have to bring everybody along. Regardless of your race, your ethnicity and gender and disability. Everybody has to come along. Because folks [ applause ] lets get something straight. Wall street did not build america. Investment bankers did not build america. Hardworking middle class people built america. Unions built the middle class. And the middle class built this country. And all of this talk, i got asked yesterday and did an interview for 60 minutes coming on, 60 minutes for 90 minutes. And they asked me about well, unemployment is down to 3. 5 . Go back to your old neighbors and ask them how theyre doing. How theyre feeling . Theyre in trouble. There used to be a basic bargain in america. If you contribute to the well being of the outfit you work with, you got to share in the benefits. Well that bargain has been broken. Corporate america has been doing incredibly well for the last 15 years. Their profits have come up exponentially and there was a direct relationship between productivity and how much more got put out on a factory floor and salary. From the end of the world war ii to the end of the 70s, productivity went up over 90so 90some percent, 94 i think it was. And wages or product have gone up 68 or 69 and wages 8 . What happened to that bargain . It is not happening any more . Studies show that middle class families have difficulty making or losing hope. Half of them think their children will never be in a situation as good enough or as they were and you believe if you worked better and hard you could be better off than your parents. But not today. They dont believe it. [ applause ] studies show that if you have an unexpected expense during the month of 400 or more, you cant pay it. You have to either borrow the money or sell something. Ladies and gentlemen, we have to rebuild the middle class. And let me explain what i mean by middle class. I have a lot of economists work for me and they tell me middle class is 56,800 middle class is a value set. To send your child to a park and know thame come home safely and send them to the local Public School and if they do well theyll go beyond school and get a degree and be able to get no, really. And now when you take it in, you could find a way to pay for it. Middle class is being able to take your geriatric mom home when dad dies and hope your children never have to take care of you. That is middle class. Just a little bit of breathing room. And it is hard for a family today to maintain their dignity if they dont have health care. I cant imagine turning your child who has a preexisting condition and said, sorry, kid, nothing i can do for you. I cant help you. Look, same with insurance, i cant imagine what it is like for people and many of you know it and how many have been through and raise your hand if you lost someone to cancer or cancer yourself. How many of you lost a close family member, a close or daughter or son or wife. I cant imagine what it would be like when my son beau, a decorated veteran, a major United States army volunteered to go and attorney general of the state of delaware volumed to go volunteered to go and Service Medal and comes home and diagnosed with terminal cancer. I cant imagine lying in the bed toward the end the Insurance Company could have come in and said, im sorry, pal, you could have run out of your coverage. Suffer in peace the next three or four months as long as you live. Cant fathom it. How could a family maintain their dignity if they dont and have a child who has some talent and wants to go beyond high school. And they look at them and they cant get there. My dad got to delaware the first good job that he was able to get after several years ended up being a manager of an automobile dealership. Great thing about that is that you always get a new car for the prom. I remember going down after a baseball game and the dealership he ran was down where the university is, newark, and we lived about 25 minutes from there. And i went to a school in claymont at the time, a high school. And remember going down in my baseball uniform and racing down in a 51 plymouth convertible with a ripped top and beach towels for seat covers. And i park it and in the one spot and i ran in and asked secretary mary, where is dad . Because i was going to get a car to go to the senior prom. And she said hes out in the alley honey, going into the shop. And i walked out and my dad was pacing back and forth, true story. And he looked up and he said, joey, im so sorry. Im so damn sorry. This is before cell phones and everything and i thought maybe something happened to one of my two brothers or sister or mom. And i said what is the matter dad . I went to the bank and financed all of the car loans i had and i spoke to charlie, the Vice President , charlie and i spoke to charlie and, honey, they wont lend me the money to get to you college. Im so damn ashamed. Im ashamed. Why in hell should he be ashamed . How many people sat at the Kitchen Table today and had the conversation saying, we have to drive on those four tires for another 10,000 miles. We cant afford a set of tire this is month. We have to wait. Or who will tell her she cant go back. We just dont have the money. What are we going to do about that insurance . This administration has no idea what hard work and decent ordinary americans are going through. You know, a parent how many of you either grandpops or mom or dad and dropped off your grandchild first day of school or first, second, third, fourth, fifth grade, knowing around america they would have to learn how to duck and cover. Building schools telling kids the way you get behind this pillar here if someone comes in. The greatest concern ive spoken to the International Psychiatric Association and american Psychiatric Association in london. You know the generation that has the greatest degree of anxiety of any generation in america. Kids between 7 and 20 years old. You know what theyre greatest fear is . Being shot in school. No, not a joke. Being shot in school. You saw all of the pictures going back to school about kids and new schools they are building and that is all because we dont have the nerve to take on the damn nra and the gun manufacturers. There is no need [ applause ] folks, there is no need for this. Some of you are hunters. Ive got shotguns. My sons are hunters. Mainly geese. If you go out and hunt for geese, youre not allowed to have your shotgun more than three shells. Protect the geese. We have federal laws that protect geese. More than think about it. Why in gods fame should anyone be able to have a clip that holds 100 rounds . [ applause ] folks, the administration keeps doing the bidding of the nra and the gun manufacturers. Im not against the secondary amendment. The secondary amendment says it is not absolute. If this is the my friends on the far right talk about the tree of liberty is water with the blood of patriots, you have to be able to fight against the government. Well guess one, you need an m1 tank and you need an f15 and some hell fire missiles but you cant have them. You cant have bazookas and machine guns. Weve never argued there are certain weapons that people cant own. There is never been a time in history of the Second Amendment when weve said anybody could open a weapon. Anybody. Folks, how could a parent feel good about raising a child in a neighborhood where the ground water is polluted because the oil company is polluting it. Or whether or not the ground water pipes are made of wood or put in or put in in 1960 and no longer are safe. How many schools around the country know, for all i know here in lucerne counties, the water in the schools is not safe. Look, we all want the same thing. A fair shot. A life of dignity. And the peace of mind when someone gets sick, we have a little breathing room when the bill comes through. A shot for a better future. With all due respect and ive never talked about a president like this, but i dont think donald trump is capable of understanding that. He doesnt seem to have any sense of empathy at all for people. [ applause ] ive not seen it, if it exists. Unlike any other president that ive worked with. And folks, you know, im not sure donald trump has any idea about what im talking about when i talk about the longest walk. You know, i think that the longest walk his father ever made was to drop off 400 million in his trust account. Its okay. Id like to have had that problem. But, look, let me tell you why im running. First, thinking about health care, nine years ago we felt like hell to get obamacare passed and generations have tried to do that. We got it done. Health care is more than just a luxury reserved for those who can afford it. It is a right. It is a right we all deserve. Its central to our dignity and who we want to be as a country. One of my proudest moments in those eight years of standing along president obama, getting it done, generations of americans that fought to make that promise real. It was a really big deal. A really big deal. I wish i hadnt whispered that in the president s ear. Thank godpy mother wasnt around. But, look, the law saved lives and kept families out of bankruptcy. We knew it wasnt perfect when we fought hammer and tongue to get it passed and we wanted to do more but we got as much as we could get done. And it was important. We put 120 Million People and 160 Million People have preexisting conditions covered. And we didnt we have to finish the job. To ensure that every single american has a choice to be covered by a public option. Under my plan your free to stick with the insurance you have. And you could negotiate it with your company and you like them. A lot of them had gone through long negotiation and given up pay raises to get thorough coverage and under my plan you get to keep it. But if you dont like it orrin unsured you get to sign up for the option and my plan reduced out of pocket costs and for those to buy in and for the First Time Forces private insurance to compete with your business, not just with each other but with a public competitor and it isnt to make a profit. That is what the medicarelike option provides. It will keep premiums lower. The bottom line is my Health Care Plan is the most effective way to reduce cost for americans and give everybody Quality Health insurance not in five or ten years, but right now and we can afford it. [ applause ] the second thing, we have to rebuild our education system. As we stated at the very beginning by rosemary, you know, my wife who is taught her whole life iswife, whose taught her whole life s teaching at it this moment. Thats why shes not up here with me. Shes going to iowa tomorrow. But shes in the classroom teaching. She says it best, any country that outeducates us about outcompete us. Its a basic thing. [ applause ] in the 21st century, did anybody think 12 years of education is enough to get you to in the middle class to stay in it . I did a study for the president. He asked me to do a study on jobs in the future. Six in ten jobs at this moment require something beyond a high school degree. Six in ten. We have to make sure every child has access to good education, regardless of their zip code. As rosemary mentioned, my plan triples title i funding for atrisk schools. We can afford to do that. It gives from 15 to 45 billion. It means every child will have access to universal prek. Prek exponentially increases the prospect that child, no matter what theyre background is, is going to finish school and go through it without getting in trouble, either with the law or anything else. That means were finally going to pay teachers the salary they deserve. Teachers and social workers graduate from school, whether at the u or whatever it is. They graduate with a fouryear degree and they get paid less than anybody else graduating, as a starting and finishing salary. Look, the work we do is of extreme national importance. Their salaries reflect that. We know that the 21st century, as i said, 12 years is not enough. Under my plan, everyone who qualifies to go to Community College is going to be able to go for free. [ applause ] you say, well, there goes that bigspending democrat, right . Well, guess what. It costs 6 billion a year to send every qualified person whos going from high school or Community College, wanting to be retrained, is going back to Community College, and theyre being retrained. 6 billion is a lot of money. We eliminate one tax loophole called steppedup basis. There are 1. 6 trillion loopholes in the tax code. 1. 6 trillion. Not the tax cut, the tax code. You can get a deductions for a race horse. Eliminate one of them. Its called steppedup basis. Youre about to go and cash in a capital gain. You figuratively speaking get hit by a truck, you lose your life, it gets left to your son or daughter. They dont pay a cent. Its not a heritage tax. Its a tax owed 20 seconds before you got hit. Well, guess what, that costs 17 billion a year. Eliminate that one loophole could put every single, solitary person in Community College thats qualified. Increasing the productivity in this country. Young people are getting crushed by the burden of student debt. Many of you parents are as well. If youre paying back Student Loans through this they call it incomebased repayment, my plan is to cut your payments in half. The way you do it, if you get out of school and making less than 25,000 a year to start with, you pay nothing back, no interest accrues. You still owe it. If you make more than that you only pay 5 of your disposable income. Meaning after all your bills are paid and cost of living is involved. If you commit to national service, teacher, paramedic, Police Officer, counseling victims, domestic violence, anything involving public service, you get 10,000 a year that you work off your debt up to 50,000. And after ten years of doing it, you have no debt at all if its beyond 50,000. [ applause ] thats what were going to do. By the way, Community College, every Community College in this state, if you do well in the Community College, you get to go onto a fouryear college. All those credits are transferable to a fouryear state school. Youve got some great state universities in this state. Penn states not doing bad, are they . And, you know, if youre going if youre going to restore the middle class, we need to start to reward work again. Not just wealth. Right now under the republican and trump plan, we only reward wealth. You know, donald trump inherited a Strong Economy from barack and me. Things were beginning to really move. And just like Everything Else hes inherited, hes in the midst of squandering it. Squandering. We need to build an economy [ applause ] we need to build an economy that, in fact, rewards work, not just wealth. Reflects our values. And thats going to start im going to start by reversing the trump tax cuts for the super wealthy and corporations. [ applause ] the wealthy didnt need them in the first place. Corporations have spent them on stock buybacks to give benefits to their stockholders. More importantly, to their ceos. You know, it used to be when reagan was president , the average ceo of the fortune 500 Companies Made 36 or 37 times what the average employee made from Vice President all the way down. Know what it is today . Over 420 times as much. What happened . As my mother would say, who died and left them boss . No, im serious. I think corporations can do a lot of good things but they dont need their tax cut reduced to 20 . I think it should go back up to 28 instead of 39. Well raise billions of dollars to be able to put on education, Climate Change and the rest. Im getting rid of the super wealthy tax loopholes, doubling their Capital Gains. Right now if youre a fireman and a School Teacher or youre a you work as a Police Officer or aid nurse, you pay at a higher tax rate than someone making 10,000 a year. Higher tax rate. Why is that . It makes no sense. Why should your capital gain be 21 . Even then most dont pay that when youre paying 28, 30, 32 . So, every single solitary person their Capital Gains will be treated like real income and theyll pay 40 on their Capital Gains tax. Its a basic bargain to build a stronger middle class. [ applause ] and it doesnt affect any gains on your home and all those things that you, in fact, are able to take advantage of. Look, weave got to stop this awful gun violence thats ripping us apart. This is one of the biggest fears children are facing. We cant live with ourselves if we dont take it on. Im the only one in the United States of america that has taken on the nra nationally and beaten them and beaten them twice. [ applause ] and succeeded banning assault weapons for ten years and eliminating the size of magazines. How many cartridges can be in a magazine. I know what it takes to get it done. And i can do it again. We have to confront the existential threat of Climate Change. It is the issue facing the world. You know, the United States accounts for about 15 of the Climate Change problems. We have to lead by example. And i have laid out a plan where you get to net zero emissions by 2050 and between now and 2030 we make such dramatic change that we cant it cant be turned around. But 85 of the problem comes from beyond our borders. We need a president who can marshal those other nations to confront the greatest threat weve ever seen to humanity. Thats not hyperbole. Its real. The first thing ill do as president is rejoin the paris climate accord, which i helped put together. And the first 100 days of of my presidency ill invite the 173 other nations that are part of this to washington, d. C. , so they up the ante of what they promised theyre going to do and hold them accountable. [ applause ] weve lost the respect of nations around the world by the way this president has acted. Climate isnt just an exte existential threat to handled right, its an extraordinary opportunity. You know, the uniqueness of america is is that were the only nation in the world confronted with a 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 500,000 to move all electric vehicles by 2020 and reduce carbon by oon enormous amount. We have ambitious plans for standards for buildings, cars, power grids. Its going to save you money. Save you opportunity and allow you to breathe cleaner. Well make an 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 literally millions of jobs. It will create 10 million good paying jobs. Union jobs paying. For real. This is the projection. The things im talking about are big challenges but no bigger than americans capacity. Americans are doing their part. Theyre 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 schools. We dont deserve a Foreign Policy based on lies, conspiracies and theories and abandoning our friends. [ applause ] most of all, we dont deserve a person who goes out of his way to make life harder, crueller, pettier. He says hes working for the forgotten american. He has forgotten about the forgotten american. They deserve the dignity and integrity reflected in their leaders. The challenges we face are really serious but i stand here more optimistic than when i was elected as a 29yearold to senate. I had to wait 17 days to be eligible. No, really. Characterized as the young, idealistic guy who was optimistic. We have to restore our backbone of this nation. We have to remember who the hell we are. This is the United States of america. Theres never think about it. Im more optimistic than i have ive ever been in my career if 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 universities in pennsylvania and the United States of america than all the rest of the world combined. The rest of the world combined. Every major lifechanging thing has come out of a Research University monetized by corporate america. But its come out of the research and universities you own. Whether its los alamos or any other place in the country. Were in a position where the wealthiest country in the world. The wealthiest country in the history of the world of the world. Why in gods name do we walk around with our heads down . We have the most powerful military in the history of the world. No hyperbole. Weve led the world not by just the example of our power but our example. Its. Being eroded. Dictators and thugs, kim jongun, love letters. The guy that had the guy who had his uncles brain literally, he had his uncles brains blown out sitting across the table, his brother assassinated by poison in an airport. Putin, who i know relatively well. Ive spent a lot of time with him. Putin, who has nothing in mind other than to break up nato, reduce our influence around the world, break down democracy. One thing he fears is democracy. The embrace of the people that he has encouraged and poking our fingers in the eye of our allies, treating nato like its a protection racket unless you pay more money. Were not going to keep our sacred commitment. An attack on one is an attack on all. Ive been through all 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 that whole area, syria. What have we just done . Have you found a single military person who doesnt feel like we have just besmirched americas rel tags around the world . 10,000 kurds died, died, defeating isis. Capturing 10,000 isis terrorists in prison. The president on a whim, without the support of any of his military commanders, decides hes going to make a deal with erdogan, who i know well. To move uhundreds of american troops who were trainers for the kurds and stand between the kurds and American Forces and he pulls them out. You see them on television. Women standing there, holding their children, under bombardment when our tanks are moving out and our military is so ashamed, theyre leaving, throwing fruit at them, saying, youve abandoned us. Were going to die. What the hell is going on . Whats going on . Whos going to believe americas word as we give it. Thats what a president does. He speaks for america. He keeps commitments. And then when they said all those prisoners are going to escape, he said, theyre only going to go to europe. Theyre not going to come to the United States. Thats great, isnt it . Thats great. What are our allies sitting there thinking . Folks, look, theres not a thing we cant do. Were better positioned than any nation in the world in the 21st century. We can do it in a reasonable and quick way. We can unite this country. Because, folks, im tired of people, democrats, republicans, independents, Walking Around with their heads down, woe is me. Folks, this is the United States of america. Stand up take it back we can, in fact, do anything we set our mind to this is the United States of america god bless you all and may god protect our troops. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. [ applause ] higher higher and higher i said your love is lifting me higher and Higher Campaign 2020. Watch our live coverage of the president ial candidates on the campaign trail and make up your own mind. Cspans campaign 2020, your unfiltered view of politics. Live tonight, two candidates challenging President Trump for the republican nomination. Cspan hosts the conversation with former Massachusetts Governor bill weld and former South Carolina governor and congressman mark sanford. They talk about their plans, strategies and why theyre running against the president. Theyll also be taking your calls, tweets and facebook comments. Part of cspans campaign 2020 coverage live tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Watch any time on cspan. Org and listen wherever you are using the free cspan radio app. Politicon, the unpolitical convention is live from music city center, nashville. Speakers include political pundit ann coulter and columnist david fromme, former fbi director james comey and chief political analyst for msnbc and nbc news, nicolle wallace, political commentators James Carville and sean hannity and former minnesota senator al franken. Watch live on cspan, any time on cspan. Org and listen wherever you are using the free cspan radio app. Democratic president ial candidate Pete Buttigieg sat down with david axelrod. They talked about the president ial campaign and Foreign Policy
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