Them. Their own brain is saying these things to them. Easterny night at 8 00 on cspan q and a. s minority leader and other democrats spoke to reporters to have theefforts summer congressional recess cut short so that members can work on funding for the zika virus research. They also repeated their calls for a vote on a guncontrol bill. The house is scheduled to remain in recess until september 6. This days briefing is 50 minutes. News briefing is 50 minutes. Welcome back. It is good to be here. As you all know our first , responsibility as members of congress is to protect and defend. That is the of that we take. National security is our first responsibility. That includes global security, neighborhood security, personal security. To protect the American People. Under her leadership of mr. Steve israel, our democratic as agenda is about security. National security, economic security, and the security of our democracy. All of those are being neglected by the fact that congress has not been in session for weeks and does not intend to be in session for weeks. We have some emergencies that have been there for months that Congress Left without addressing. We are here to talk about congress coming back to get the job done for the American People, to honor our responsibility to protect them in the case of opioids, zika, gun violence protection. The list goes on and on. I am honored to be here with my colleagues. The House Democratic caucus, other members of the leadership. Congresswoman donna evers will talk about opioids. Two of the members on the trip to visit troops in afghanistan and to speak to european leaders about what is happening at the eu and our relationship with nato. Congressman steve israel and member of the intelligence committee, congressman andre carson will be expressing views and addressing the challenges we have. With that, i want to yield to a distinguished chair. Mr. Becerra. Thank you, madam leader. It is great to be here with my colleagues. The weather is not a bit so it is not so great to be here. I have the california attitude, although i just can from florida where everyone was asking, when is congressman to help us address the zika virus here in florida . Just like they have been asking in the state of michigan for over a year, when will you help us make sure our kids do not drink contaminated water that was contaminated by man, not by nature, but by the act of the state governor and his officials who took no steps to protect the people in flint, and certainly the children in point. Given that this sunday, the emergency funding provided by expires. The folks in michigan are asked thing, when will Congress Step to the plate . Y will not congress do its job . Our job is simple. People vote us and to get things done, to make things better for the American People. Unfortunately, so far, this is congress that has done very little and has cut out of town early and not accomplished the job. Does that make a difference if it is the cup, flint water, the American People are wondering, when will we get the job done . So many of us have asked leadership on their public inside to bring this back in. Let us get our job done. It did not take long for us to pass, to provide the resources to the folks in florida and other places to deal with zika. Should not take a very long to deal the people in michigan. The the children of point, michigan, flint michigan should be able to drink the water from the tap without question. Everyone of us would expect the same things. Expect congress to get the work done. Let me yield to the gentlewoman from the state of maryland, donna edwards. Thank you very much. I had the pleasure of being able to represent a district pressure the metropolitan washington region. Even my constituents dont understand why we are not at work. They know we are facing for crises inic health this country and congress has not done anything about it. As my colleague said, the zika virus, ending gun violence and yet we have not been able to do anything about that. The Public Health crisis in flint, michigan, where 9000 children have been poisoned and the water is not clean, we have the ability to do something about that. And republicans in congress have done nothing. As democrats we have offered solutions to end and deal with the opioid addiction problem. It is happening in communities across the country were 78 people every single day lose their life to opioid overdoses. We know that we can put the resources to do that. Democrats have offered solutions and yet republicans are on vacation and have done nothing. I join my colleagues today to say i do not want to just take hang out in the Port District of maryland. I want to be here on capitol hill solving these Public Health emergency i cant wait. Making sure sadly our families , and communities and children know that we are here to do their work. 52 days of vacation. Children will be back in School Republicans ind congress will still be on vacation. As democrats, we want to work, get the job done for the American People, and it is time for us to get back to it. Thank thank you. I yield to my colleague, rosa delauro. I think my colleague, donna edwards. I am honored to be here with our leaders. Thanks for organizing this effort. And with the rest of my colleagues here, it really is about discussing some of the most serious challenges that are facing our nation today, the zika virus, the opioid epidemic, the lead poisoning of flint, michigan and gun violence. As predicted, many months ago the zika virus has rapidly become a Serious Health care crisis. As of last week, more than 7300 cases in the United States and territories, including nearly 1000 expectant mothers. 15 babies have been born with zika related birth defects and one baby and texas has died. Over 40 members of the military have been infected with zika. This is a Public Health emergency. What does it take to get the republican majority to act . First, they demanded the administration transfer fund intended to combat the ebola virus. And use it instead for zika. The administration complied. 589 million was redirected. In in essence, robbing peter to pay paul. Resources went to the center for Disease Control who will obligate all of the remaining funds by the end of september. Resources went to the nih and Biomedical Advanced Research and development. Both will exhaust almost all of their funds for vaccines by the end of august. Because of continued inaction by the republicans, they will force the department of health and Human Services to take money from the nih, biomedical research. We know what that means. Some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will stand up and talk about how we need to spend money for biomedical research, but nih will have to shift the money in order to do with zika. And if they dont, Vaccine Development will be stopped dead in its tracks. Theyre forcing them to take money from other Health Programs to continue to pay for diagnostic so we know the scope of the zika outbreak. The money is running out, and Public Health officials cannot combat this virus without additional funding. Speaker ron, called the house of representatives back into session so he can pass legislation that allows us to respectively effectively respond to the virus. Does the speaker not realize that for the first time in history our government is telling pregnant women to avoid a u. S. Neighborhood in florida . Does the speaker not realize women are being advised not to get pregnant . Does the speaker not realize that waiting until september is too late. Too late for expectant mothers with zika who are so fearful of bearing a child with severe birth effects. Too late for the people of miami and too late for the millions of , americans at risk. Our job is to protect the American People from zika, opioids, lead poisoning and gun violence. Republicans have not responded on this issue and it is time for the republicans to act. Let me take a moment to say thank you to leader pelosi for leading our congressional delegation. We discussed a range of issues with foreign leaders and met with military leaders and servicemen and women. Their bravery and dedication is inspired to all of us. In italy we met with the archbishop who is head of the council for justice and peace. We discussed immigration and security and global poverty reduction. These are Critical Issues that face our world and the u. S. Has an Important Role to play. The the United States cannot and must not put its head in the sand whether they are fighting zika or addressing the other global issues. We thank you again leader losey, and let me turn it back to you. Im sorry, christian first. Congressman first. When it comes to National Security, it is not just that republicans are doing nothing, they are doing damage to our National Security. Leader pelosi led us on a trip to meet with nato partners in a and afghanistan. I felt like we should have brought brooms and map mops to clean up the damage that donald trump is creating for the allies and partners. To clean up the National Security mess he is creating. In in italy, we had to reassure some of our closest partners in nato that we will not abandon them, turn our backs on them. We will not undermine them. And afghanistan, we had to tell of partners, the president afghanistan and military leaders that we would stand by them. That we will not undermine them as a republican president ial candidate has publicly suggested that he will do. Democrats house unveiled are stronger america agenda. It is critical but also easy to understand. We will work with nato allies to combat terrorism around the world. Military thede our resources that they need. We will increase funding for the fbi counterterrorism initiatives and the negativities. And activities. We will expand dhs airport perimeter programs. Number five, we will take guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists by passing nofly, no buy. Those are five priorities we could before we got let the recess having been in the majority. Those are five priorities House Republicans have completely turned their backs on. This has become an august of apology for their president ial candidate. It needs to be an august of action for the American People. All we have faced is inaction and damage to our National Security. With that, i will turn it over to congressman andre carson. Thank you, steve. Thank you very much. To start i want to thank our , very remarkable, capable and visionary leader, leader pelosi for not only inviting me but inviting us to be a part of the recent security delegation to europe, particularly italy and afghanistan. We want to thank all the leaders we had to meet. They are really an inspiration, showing us that we need to do more to protect our country. Throughout the 114th congress, many of our republican colleagues seem to have forgotten what it means to meet the constitutional obligations to support our military. Instead of making tough choices about what missions the military has to accomplish, they reduce support for troops of basic choice about the levels of defense spending rather than thoughtful oversight they dish , out unending criticism of the president s decisions and policies even when the policies actually work. The sign treaties and decades of successful cooperation, they support a nominee who would pull out of nato and regularly insult the result of some of our most reliable partners. We were eager to join the delegation, me in particular because we know keeping the country interest and safe involves more than just political pandering. Recently president obama announced 8400 troops will stay in afghanistan longer the next expected. He also announced it will be giving new authority to support afghan partners in the field as they pursue al qaeda and taliban targets. To be honest, i was a bit skeptical about these decisions going into the trip. Our country is wartorn and our forces are stretched very thin. We are engaged in the middle east and facing escalating threats and Eastern Europe and the south china sea. I was not sure it was the right move in this strategic environment. After meeting with general nicholson, the American General who was commanding the nato mission in afghanistan, i feel very confident that this was absolutely the right call to make. Afghanistan is facing a resurgence of terrorist elements that are threatening the gains we have made over the past decade by expanding the ability to defeat the taliban and al qaeda and isis threats as well. We are preventing afghanistan from once again becoming a strong hold of transnational terrorism. The president has obligation to inform the American People about the burden that they will have to bear in war, including expectation for when the or will the war will actually end. Ive always called for this but , situations change fast as we know and the last thing we want mission half finished alone major threat to take a hold once again. I want to be clear for my republican colleagues, our partnership with nato cannot be questioned. They stood with us when we were attacked on 9 11. Our partners have been and will continue to be a critical part in our fight against terrorism. Threats to abandon the alliance. Empower terrorist organizations and russia and they weaken American Interest in National Security. That is not an opinion, it is fact. Reported by most senior officers. Threats to abandon our allies are simply empty rhetoric. They they are a symptom of electionyear politics and they are dangerous for anyone who condemns this process out right, even our colleagues who know it is the right thing to do. Thank thank you. Thank you very much, mr. Carson. In addition to the the mr. Carson and mr. Israel, we were joined by other members in the Ranking Member on foreign affairs, eliot engel. Longtime member of the intelligence committee. Congresswoman anna eshoo and Ranking Member on intelligence, dutch ruppersberger. This is this is a heavily National Security delegation. Everyone was either from the intelligence, with intelligent or the defense subcommittee of appropriations. There was in a position to Gain Knowledge to act upon it , in the best possible way for the American People. There are couple of points i want to make. When mr. Carson was talking about the president s decision to go from 9500 troops to 8400, whatever the number, and to expand the authority, which he did earlier, it was received very positively by our troops in afghanistan, by the leadership in afghanistan. The afghanistan president and the chief executive officer abdullah abdullah. When the president took the action, it was before the warsaw meeting and had a positive and soon our nato allies they have chimed in with more resources for our action in afghanistan. Our nato relationships is not only important in europe in the transatlantic partnership, but infighting isis and terrorism in afghanistan. I also want to talk about when she talked about meeting at the vatican about issues relating to migration. I quoted then, and i will now, pope paul the sixth said if you want peace, work for justice. That is exactly what were trying to do working together to address underlying causes of poverty, the fury of this despair that is fertile territory for the recruitment of that deal but despair. I was proud of the delegation. They are so informed. We had some lively conversations which will serve us well here. That is about information and intelligence and knowledge. That that is what is so frustrating about what is happening back here. Here we have evidencebased challenges. Whether it is happening in flint, opioids, zika, gun violence to name a few. Evidencebased challenges. The reason our republican colleagues are not here is because they have governance is not what they are here to do. They are antigovernment. So why should i do anything . And they are not moved by evidence, even though they establish commissions to say we want evidencebased this and that. So i . So they can avoid the evidence. My question to the Republican Leadership in the house what , better thing do you have to do than to look at the needs of the American People . Whether it is children who will be affected for a lifetime. There are answers and solutions if we move in more likely. What what better thing do you have to do then to meet the needs of the children of flint . I think my colleagues from , congressman lawrence and congressman kills the kelsey. What better thing to have to do . It does not work unless you put the resources there. We all agree in large numbers. I i would not have supported the bill if i thought there was never going to be money coming with it. What better thing do you have to do to go home for a month and a half . Is it because it is not in your district . Because it is not your country. It is in our country. It is in the world we live in. What better thing you have to do a given us a vote on nofly, no by an background checks for legislation . 90 support nofly, no by. We 85 back on checks. Is that the public is not watching and the lesbian action. They are already halfway through the spring, we can come back and act upon it. What are they going to do together would do it in an appropriations process . May be. Way, they have already thrown up obstacles to the zika funding. Youre infected by zika, a convict can be sexy transmitted. They are saying, if we have any funding, it cannot include contraception. Many of their homes, i wonder is a lot, how many of the families of republican colleagues are not practicing Birth Control . How come they dont have many more children . What is it with them that they dont understand. A sexy transmitted disease, use contraception. A grant of their position on many issues. But come on . Come back. Do the job. See one of the republican colleagues, but after him, what was it you accomplished on your break that was more important than the health and wellbeing in the safety and security of the American People . Im going to florida shortly after this meeting. And have to orlando meetings related to a happened two months ago. Go to south florida to talk about zika. Solutions are there. The evidence and the science and the data lead us to a place where responsible governance, compromises and getting the job done are readily available. The republicans are just say no. Any questions . You were speaking about National Security intelligence. There was a report about a russian cyber attack affecting more than 100 party officials. Have you been briefed on this . Is that your understanding . Yes. I notice broad in terms of affecting the Democratic Congressional campaign committee. I dont know about the government. I just know what affects us and that it is the russians. Caller how concerned are you about this act . I dont have any concerns. It is just wrong. I think we want to learn more. I would like us to have been able to fully capture the hackers before became Public Knowledge that they were hacking. Nonetheless, i think it is very near, i know for sure it is the russians. I said that two weeks ago. We are assessing the damage. I dont know about the other committees. The Hillary Campaign operative, this is an electronic case. To have any knowledge . This is an electronic watergate. This is an electronic watergate. A breakin. I think that we have to recognize what is happening. Broken, who did they give the information to . I dont know. I dont know that this is a water great electronic breakin. Who would exploit for the purpose of embarrassment or Something Like that is in a compost to that. You mentioned contraception, but isnt the funding of planned parenthood and zika funding . What is planned parenthood, an organization protecting womens health. Q what is because this . I would point out, why when we know the difficulty that we have around these issues, why add to the difficulty we are experiencing in puerto rico . I will quote pope francis on this issue. What he said to the brazilians, use your conscience to determine whether or not to use contraception. As a leader pointed out, it can be sexually transmitted virus. Why add that kind of a writer to rider to a piece of legislation that you know will hold it up and create the kind of dissent that will keep it from Going Forward . There is an obstructionism here. That says why dont we want to sica where wein can help to save lives . It is my list. I do not think that is the only reason. The republicans could have brought a bill forward. They have said whatever we bring forward will not have contraception in it we have offered so many compromises to them. Even to thered point of going with the Senate Language of not all of the money right now because the money is urgently needed. Planned parenthood is not a reason, it is an excuse to do nothing. Make sure you have that in perspective. I would like to take some yes sir. About on the Trivia National defense how much discussion was , there of russias actions in the ukraine and central buildup of forces there, and what she do you think the u. S. Should do should they make some sort of attempt at increasing their foothold . The way that enter the conversation, we were talking about nato and there were questions about what is happening in the Public Domain and the u. S. On the subject of nato and what is the public support for this sort of craziness that is going on. Then we talked about the eu and brexit and what that meant. Especially in italy because they say italy is the next to go. That was not the impression we got in italy. It was a stronger eu, a more full sun eu rather than leaving. From the standpoint of the ukraine, as with every trip to any country or visiting dignitaries here, we appreciate the holdings to the sanctions. This is the most Important Message we deliver. Thank you for supporting the sanctions. That is a subject we have with all of the leadership, speaker deputies, the of president of the country and the foreign minister. At every level we talked about the sanctions. That is the manifestation of the issue. Related to the country. Have you been notified by the fbi that you personally were targeted . I just know that the dietrich will see has been. Dccc has been. The congressman said he needed a broom and mop to clean up after donald trump. I was wondering if you had any reaction about the cofounder isis and the Hillary Clinton was a cofounder . Administration there any responsibility . Let me just talk about some common. I do not spend a lot of politics as you know. You are the ones that bring it up. The comment made by the republican nominee about the Second Amendment, it was clear he did not understand the words of a president ial candidate, a nominee, wait a time. Weigh a ton. There were a number of other things he could upset about the vote. If youre antichoice or oppose the womans right to choose, you better get out and take action because Hillary Clinton is going to appointed judges. That would be relevant because the court does make decisions about choice. If you are concerned about immigration, you better get out and vote because this court may make decisions that are more thoughtful in terms of comprehensive immigration reform. To choose the Second Amendment in the manner in which he did, perhaps unwittingly, but the double meaning that it had wittingly or not, is very problematic and scary. We do not know whether he intended it or not. Even if he didnt, words way of time. For him to turn around in a what he did about the president or secretary is so bizarre. Of demagoguesent that want to be in the press no matter what they have to say. This is a tactic. This is not an accident. This is a tactic. Here we are talking about it. Iraqact is the invasion of , the invasion of iraq under misrepresentation to the American People has done more to inflame the terrorists than any of action you can name. If you want to say after this, because of this, lets go back to the misrepresentation given to the American People that we should go into iraq under false pretense that everyone knows not to be true and that we knew at the time was not true. I was a senior democrat on intelligence it i said at the time that the intelligence does not support that threat. Similar statement made by senator bob graham, the chairman of the intelligence committee. You have the maturity. Somethingey put out that has certain uncertainty among people. They took a poll 72 are not , sure whether the president is a citizen. Come on. Thing, that is typical trump stupidity, that is what we have to call it. While we were in afghanistan, we learned that isis has an offshoot that was operating within afghanistan. Afghan army and our nato partners have done an effective job of pushing them back. Detaining them to a small area. Candidate whone is publicly said that we ought to weaken our nato allies and turn away from our allies, the same allies fighting isis in afghanistan and pushing them back. That is donald trump. I dont mind his absurd statements, what concerns me are his dangerous policies. I just want to say that no matter how brutish mr. Trump presents himself, no matter how provocative statements are, he this is a great piece on the cover of the times that suggests a meltdown. It appears as if he knows he will not be the next resident of the United States. He tried to sabotage this thing because he not used to losing. It is clear that donald trump does not have people around him or has not have people around him who can correct it. When you are in political life, you often have to answer either to the press most important to your constituents. He has not had those members of accountability. It is clear what he sees poll numbers declining, hes crying like a baby and what you are seeing is not a meltdown but some tried to sabotage himself to clear the way for president clinton. Congresswoman to largest of the administration will have to reprogram more funding to fight zika and the absence of congressional action. Had either of you got the information on how much other funding can be moved around and for how long . A question that it can be moved around. I do not want anyone to drive the inference of the fact that they are sending money spending money to fight isis. I do not want any inference to be drawn that this is not necessary where it is, and the fight against ebola and medical research, and all the other purposes of the department of health and Human Services. I call it the lamb meat lamb committee. Everything there is very valuable to the american will. People. Dollarpetition for the is king. That is less a concert etiquette to the Defense Department and Defense Budget to get some resources for research. But unfortunately, they will have to take more money from the nih and they have said that. So , the question is, how do we restore that money. And by the way, it is not anywhere near enough what they need to go forward. How much . We are waiting to hear. They will make a public announcement about it. That, they will be running out of money by the end of september. An initiative to work with the private sector for the development of vaccines, all of that, the money is not there. Why isnt it . Because the republicans what to sit on the beach for six weeks and avoid science, evidence data . It . Is this is an about planned parenthood. That is an excuse. What is the reason . Five months after the president has pointed this out is that it is just not in the neighborhood . The same thing, they want us to pay for midwestern and National Disasters but not new york and new jersey and pennsylvania and connecticut . What is it . Them orat motivates does not motivate them . I didnt want to much in one funding, let no one be surprised about this, and no one should make a mistake that, this is not a fluke that we have not been able to fund the good treatment and prevention. Many are aware the Social Security administration is now announced that because of the Republican Party levels that have been proposed, theyre going to have to close down offices for some weeks were every american who is either trying to collect benefits, apply for benefits has a hearing for Disability Insurance all of , that will have to be put on hold because the administration does not have the resources to keep its doors open as a result of the funding levels that republicans are proposing. It is not coincidental or an accident that we find republicans are unwilling to find zika or the Social Security administration or any of another a number of other subjects. It is unfortunate this is their mode of operation. Make a mistake, they intend to start certain parts of our government and rob money from other parts of the government in their effort to try to shrink the size of government. It is unfortunate that those who pay our women who become pregnant and contract zika or americans who paid 40 years into Social Security will not be able to apply for the benefits within expected because the republican concept of sidedness of the way they want to run government. No one should be surprised they have a Government Shutdown as well. This is the way they intend to operate the government. No Small Business on may she operate this way. There is no reason why the largest economy in the world should operate this way either. Very briefly. When we had a map of the potential spread of the zika virus, not just from those who would travel but from months ago, local contraction, we had them map and republicans had the map. What is happening today in florida and texas and in other places around the country, it is not a surprise. What is shameful is republicans left town knowing this is precisely what would happen over the summer without the cdc getting the 1. 9 billion that they requested for Vaccine Development, Additional Research and treatment. It has been patently irresponsible for republicans who have left town and not dealt with the crisis and the other Health Crises that we talked about earlier. I would say in closing to speaker ryan, get back to washington and do your job or just do your job. Doing nothing is not a form of governance. That point on kika, republicans seem to be on a letter writing binge. Republicans from texas and alabama and all the states. Running to the secretary and things of the money you have. She has been spending the money. And she has written back to them. Respectfully about how the money has been spent. Not anything appropriate for the purpose but taking from other , initiatives which must be restored. I want to commend the secretary. She has handled this with great dignity and Great Respect for everyone. We cannot ignore the fact that zika exists. The money is being spent. Every every possible option is being exhausted. Now we are going into the National Institute of health, which is supposed to be a priority for us. On that issue, from the outset, the request for the actual 1. 9 billion, over and over again in our committee, republican said there was not enough data, not enough information about where the money was being spent, which is not true. Unbelievable detail as to where the resources were going to be. As a matter of fact more detail , than we had ever received, on the cost of the iraq war and accountability for resources spent in iraq. The leader just mentioned, every line delineating where money is going to be spent. The money now going to texas, the money going to the state to be able to cope with the crisis, so they continue to want to say, the administration has not provided information peers it is a lie and a misrepresentation. The debt is there. Take a look at it. On that subject, i want to take it to a larger issue of budget. We had a budget agreement last year it was a compromise. It was in our fear not what we thought would be useful to the American People. It is a compromise and we agree to it. It did not take into consideration the fact that there would be a zika crisis and opioids crisis. What would happen in point would happen. Things would normally be considered emergency because the budget was bare boned. When something unusual happens like a natural disaster, then you have emergency spending. That is a we anticipated would happen. Nothingthey are saying, spend the money that appropriate for other purposes and anything we do in addition,. E ought take out of the budget sense and just to enlarge the issue further, you can see it played out in a president ial. Hillary clinton is proposing an economic package of job creation and reducing the deficit. Middleclass, middleclass economy. Donald trump true to form is revisiting the bush tax cuts which took us deeply into debt when president bush came into office. Trickle down versus bubble up. By the way, the same trickle down people are saying we want tax cuts for the rich because we think that its really important for the country. You know the tax cuts do not produce jobs, they did not. At the same time you want to reduce the deficit and taking food out of the mouths of babies. Take, grants come all the things that invests in the future. By the way, we of a national emergency. Take it out of some other good initiatives that we all on a bipartisan way have agreed to in the past. I dont understand why they dont understand. This expression i sometimes used , you understand when you understand. What are they going to understand and relate the money is being spent and that more needed . Would it take a tragedy in their own district october one beautiful thing, or to the president italy and were asking how come italy has not been affected by the terrorist attacks in the president said we are europeans, it happens other country attacks are attacks on us. We are all americans. Zika attacks in the some of the country is our country. Because they sit home of the district does not mean it doesnt hit home. You know how i am about babies and this is about babies. I just cant understand it. What are they doing . Look better use of time do they have that to come back here and get the job done . Mr. Speaker, bring the congress back. Honor our responsibility for the American People. Get the job done. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] fight for 15. A Group Seeking to raise the federal minimum wage. They hold their First National convention tomorrow in richmond virginia. Watch a live coverage at 5 00 p. M. Eastern time on cspan two. Campaign buses in chicago this week. Asking elected officials what issue is most important to you, your district or your state . Im here at the convention, the number one issue that i believe is going to paint the state of south dakota is going to be the potential expansion of medicaid. Governor two guard seem to want this program expanded and many in the legislature who oppose it and it is going to be a very interesting session. And the legislator in the district of columbia. Im here today to talk about a really important issue of the residents of the district. This year in addition to voting, we will be voting on selfdetermination. We are getting out the vote to show everybody across the country that we want to be the 51st date and that is because just like everybody else, we pay taxes, we serve our community and we want the same equality and representation as all the residents United States. The issue most important to me is raising wages and benefits for all workers, salary and wage earners so we can lift the floor and grow the economy from the bottom up. Im excited to be here at the convention. This but election has been a really exciting one to follow