Have the Honor And Privilege of representing you all on the Lynn County Board of supervisors. Before i begin, id like to take a moment of silence for the fallen service members in afghanistan, american diplomatic personnel and all other people including peaceloving afghans seeking refuge from the conflict. Thank you. Id like to thank julie per region and her team here at new Bone Market for allowing us to use this beautiful community space today. Finally, id like to extend a special thank you to a lot of candidates we have running for office today. I know there are a lot out there, and i dont want to get in the business of running through the names in case i forget anything. But if youre running for public office, please stand and be recognized. [ applause ] i know weve got some r. Revolution endorsed candidates out there. I encourage you to check out R Revolution Iowa on the Facebook Page as well. Dearly be loveds, we are gathered here today to learn about some important things happening at the federal level. Weve got a very special guest who will soon give us a Master Class on whats happening in congress. But the long and short of it is, the proposed Budget Reconciliation Package would be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation since the new deal. When this budget is passed, coupled with the work of the american Rescue Plan, well be able to extend the wildly popular and muchneeded child Tax Credit. Well be able to guarantee free prek for all 3 and 4yearolds. Well be able to ensure that no family pays more than 7 of their income on Child Care. I know tam mara marcus will like this, will be able to finally confront the climate chaos engulfing this planet in a meaningful way. Well expand medicare by lowering the Eligibility Age and maybe, just maybe we can even make Community College Tuitionfree for all people with a desire to learn. Now, all of this is important and meaningful, but whats truly significant about this is that all of these proposals enjoy support from people across the political spectrum. When you ask republicans, independents and democrats if we should expand medicare, 66 agree. When you ask republicans, independents and democrats if we should be investing in modernizing our public schools, 74 agree. When you ask about investing in longterm care for seniors and individuals with disabilities, 81 agree. 81 . Now, im no Math Ma tigs, but that sounds like a majority to me. These policies and proposals that will help the american people are extremely popular. But unfortunately the only people who dont support this and are elected representatives in congress like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Senator Ted Cruz who was here yesterday raising money for her. We are looking at a situation where, if this budget is going to pass, it may not get one single republican vote, and i think that says more about the republican party than it does about americans, the majority of whom agree that our country is hurting and the plans the democrats are offering will help. In times of great challenge, americans have always been able to put politics aside to come together to help one another. Folks, theres no other way to put it, we are in a time of great challenge, and we need our leaders to stand and deliver. As your representative, it is my honor to introduce to you today a man who has been on the front lines fighting for working people for decades, a man who has made it his mission to go into the heart of Trump Country and explain how these policies will improve the lives of every american, a man who has been calling for the rich to pay their fair share in taxes before it was cool and before billionaires resuming off into space, a man who is steadfast in his convictions and his belief that, if we stand together, we can bend that moral arc slowly but surely towards justice. Hes the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and a dear, dear friend of mine. Ladies and gentlemen, Senator Bernie sanders. [ cheers and applause ] thank you, Cedar Rapids. Love you, too. And Thanks Everybody for coming out. Let me thank k. C. Joe collins for his music, and let me thank Supervisor Stacy Walker for the great work that he does for the people of iowa and for being here today. If i had the time, i would to meet tinges like this in 50 states in the country. I love doing this stuff, and the reason i love doing this stuff is i think public officials in washington, the corporate media in general does not do a good job in explaining what goes on in our nations capital. You can agree with the Reconciliation Bill and the Infrastructure Bill. You can disagree with it, thats fine. Its a democracy. But youve got to know what is in the bill. Thats why were here today. We were in indiana the other day, michigan and were here today. In vermont i do zillions of town meetings. What we do is just like this, we talk about the real issues facing Working Families. You cant do that in a tensecond sound bite. One of the things we do is bring up local people to talk about what their issues are, what their dreams are, what they would like to see their elected officials do. Its a very radical concept. Its called democracy. After im through, were going to hear from Kay Pence, who is a retired Union Representative from the cwa. Were going to hear from jackson bare ga, the president of Acme Electric an ibew local, 405 union shop, natalie top scott who is from that cora and a student from the university of iowa. And well hear from a Mother And Truck driver from musk teen. After that well simply open it up. I thank all of our speakers for being here. Well open it up to your questions and your comments. Let me begin by saying what you already know. We are living in very, very difficult times, and it is imperative that we acknowledge. Over 600,000 americans. As we speak in hospitals throughout the country, the icus are filled up with people, and sadly, many of those people were not vaccinated. Today, if i may, just urge everybody who is watching this on live stream, who is here today, please get vaccinated. Please save your own lives and your kids lives and your friends lives. I also want to say today, a special word of thanks for some real heroes and heroins who are out there, and that is the medical profession who are working Day And Night to save our lives. People dont know this. People dont know this. We have lost over 3,600 doctors, nurses and medical personnel as a result of covid, many of them younger people who died while treating patients. So youve got a Covid Pandemic out there impacting us and the world, and we get discouraged. We get discouraged. We thought we had it licked. Then youve got this new Delta Variant out there running havoc all over the country. Then on top of that, on top of the we have climate change which is causing massive destruction in our country and around the world. California and oregon are on fire. Greece is burning. There were massive floods recently in germany and belgium, and the smoke from the siberian fire siberia, carried thousands of miles. I can tell you in vermont, unbelievably, in vermont the quality of our air deteriorated because of smoke from oregon 3,000 miles away. Italy recently experienced the hottest day ever. In europe, july was the hottest month ever recorded, and drought throughout the world is reducing food production. And today, literally today, on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Ida is now slamming i represented the Louisiana Coastline with winds of 150 miles per hour, and the forecast is that over a foot of rain is going to drop today in new orleans. And our hopes and prayers for the people of louisiana is that they get through this as best they can. Now hurricanes and extreme weather disturbances are nothing new. They have always taken place. But what is new is the frequency and the severity of these extreme weather disturbances, and nobody now can doubt that that is caused by climate change. I know there are some people out there who say this is really terrible, the drought, the fires, the floods, really bad. Next year it will become better. This is once in a hundred years. That is not the case. Everything being equal, unless we get our act together, the situation will become worse. I dont have to explain that to the people of Cedar Rapids. I dont need to remind you. You know better than i do, that just 13 years ago in 2008, the stage right here, this location was eight feet under water. In 2008 the Cedar River right next to us crested to a record of 31 feet and displaced more than 18,000 residents just in this community, damaging nearly 6,000 homes. Cedar rands experienced what scientists call a 100year flood. But we know that the socalled Hundredyear Flood is becoming more likely to happen every year. I dont want to be the bearer of bad news, but scientists from Princeton And M. I. T. Are now telling us that as global temperatures continue to rise, 100year floods could become annual occurrences in parts of the United States. That means a flood like 2008 every year. That is not sustainable for iowa and whats going on in louisiana is not sustainable for them. So were dealing right now with covid. Were dealing with climate. And in afghanistan, the good news is that after 20 years of war, after the loss of 2,400 members of the u. S. Armed forces and after a trillion dollars of spending, our troops are finally coming home, and that war for us is coming to an end. The bad news, of course, and it is bad news, is that the corrupt government of afghanistan collapsed faster than we thought. The taliban is now in power, and we are seeing Death And Chaos at the airport in kabul as desperate people try to leave. Our hearts go out to not only the people of afghanistan, but the families of the 13 american troops who died there, and just we want to applaud the bravery of all of our troops and getting well over 80,000 people out of afghanistan in a short period of time. And i could go on and on. The truth s theres a lot of tough news out there. In the midst of that, it is very easy for us to say im sick and tired of watching tv, of listening to the radio, of hearing all this bad news. I just Cant Deal with it anymore. Its understandable. These are tough times. This last year has probably been the hardest year for all of us in our lifetime. We have lost friends. We have not been able to socialize. Our kids have not been able to go to school. The economy tanked. These are tough times. But im here today in iowa to tell you that i am absolutely convinced that, if we as americans have the courage and the determination to stand together, to stand up in the fight for justice, the fight for economic justice, social justice, racial justice, environmental justice, if we can stand together and not allow politicians to divide us up by the color of our skin or where we were born or our sexual orientation, if we can stand together, we cannot only address these awful problems, but we can move this country forward in a very different and positive direction. So these are tough times, these are tough times for the country. But this is the moment that tests our metal. Do we stand and fight . We will and were going to prevail. I want to tell you that we are already making significant progress in that struggle. As a result of the american Rescue Plan that was passed at 5 00 in the morning a number of months ago with the vote of the Vice President of the United States we didnt get any republican support. As a result of the american Rescue Plan, our country is now on the way toward a major and rapid recovery from the economic collapse we experienced during the pandemic. Just think back to where we were a year ago. Massive unemployment. In vermont and im sure in iowa, we had long lines of people in their car waiting for an emergency food box, people that had never asked for that kind of help before. That was going on all over america. Well, we have come a long way in ending those food lines. We have cut unemployment in half. Wages are going up. Weve got a long way to go, but lets remember where we were and the progress that we have made. Let me tell you what else we have accomplished. As a result of the direct payments that were made during the american Rescue Plan to working class families in vermont, iowa and all across this country, and as a result of the 300 per Month Payment that working parents are now receiving for their young children, we have reduced Childhood Poverty in the United States by 50 . That is an extraordinary accomplishment. The kids are our future, and in the richest country in the history of the world, we should not have the highest rate of Childhood Poverty of almost any major nation on earth, and we are making real progress, allowing working moms and dads the ability to raise their kids with security and dignity. But obviously we still have a long way to go to create an economy that works for all of us and not just the 1 , not just the Billionaire Class, not just wealthy campaign contributors. So let me take a moment as chairman of the u. S. Senate Budget Committee to tell you what we are doing right now to create an economy that is fairer and more equitable. We are now working on two major pieces of legislation that when passed, will create millions of good paying jobs and address issues in this country that have been ignored for a very, very long time. The first piece of legislation which has already passed the senate is a bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that will invest some 550 billion in new money in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, our roads, our bridges, our water systems, our wastewater plants. It will expand broadband and put money into public transit. This bill received the support of all 50 members of the democratic caucus and 19 republicans. 30 republicans voted against it. Now, the second bill which i am helping to write as chairman of the Budget Committee is a 3. 5 trillion bill which in my view is the most consequential piece of legislation for Working Families that we have seen in this country since the new deal of the 1930s. And what this bill says loudly and clearly is that now is the time for congress to have the courage to stand up to the powerful big money interests that have so much economic and political power in our country, and now is the time to address the long neglected needs of Working Families, the children and the younger generation, to address the needs of the elderly, of the sick and the poor and on top of that is that now is the time for the United States of america to lead the world in the existential struggle against climate change. By the way, so that everybody knows, as we speak right now, and as this bill is being worked on the details are still being worked on. What im going to give you is an overview. Right now committees in the house and the senate are working on this bill. Right now you have every powerful special interest and their lobbyists flooding Capitol Hill trying to defeat this legislation. Youve got the drug companies out there who charge us the highest prices in the world for Prescription Drugs. They dont want us to lower the cost of Prescription Drugs. Youve got the Health Care Industry out there who doesnt want us to expand medicare. Youve got to Fossil Fuel Industry out there that doesnt want us to address climate change. Youve got the Billionaire Class out there who is going to do everything they possibly can to make sure they dont start paying their fair share of taxes. If we stand together, were going to beat those special interests and deliver for the working class of this country. Now, the reason that this bill is called the Reconciliation Bill theres nobody in the world who knows what that means. I will tell you, if you ever have trouble sleeping, you read senate rules, you can find them on the internet. It will put you to sleep in about three seconds. It is complicated, it is boring, et cetera. But what reconciliation is about is a means to get significant legislation done without having to get the 60 votes that you normally need. Now, is the use of reconciliation a radical idea . No, its not. Republicans have used it under trump in two major efforts. They were successful in using reconciliation to give massive tax breaks to the wealthiest people in this country and to the largest corporations. Thats what they use reconciliation for. They were unsuccessful by one vote in abolishing, repealing the affordable Care Act which would have thrown over 30 million americans off of the Health Care that they had. So the use of reconciliation is not a new concept. What is new about this bill is that we are going to use it to improve lives for Working Families, not just the wealthy and the powerful. [ applause ] now, this bill will in all likelihood not get one republican vote. And what makes it frankly very difficult, weve got 50 votes, 50 people in the democratic caucus in the senate, 50 republicans. In the house, democrats are a 435member body, have a three or fourvote margin. So we have a very, very slim margin to operate, and that aint easy. But i do that republicans who just a few years ago were prepared to vote for massive tax breaks for the rich, to throw 30 million people off of healthcare, that at this point we cannot get one republican vote to help the Working Families of iowa and america. Now, while the budget for this bill, 3. 5 trillion budget was passed both in the house and the senate, the lineitem details are still being worked out literally as we speak. I wanted to use this opportunity for is to give you an overview of what we are trying to do. So that you appreciate the comprehensiveness and the extent of what this bill is attempting to accomplish. And i also want to put this legislation in a broad context. In america today, the gap between the very, very wealthy and everybody else is wider today than it has been in 100 years. And in my view, we are moving rapidly toward an aligarcic form of society where some have enormous power over the economic and political life of this country. Today, the two, one, two, wealthiest people in america own more wealth than the bottom 40 . Got that . Two people own more wealth than the bottom 40 . Top 1 owns more wealth than the bottom 92 . And since the Wall Street Crash of 2009, 45 of all new income has gone to the 1 . During the pandemic that were in right now, 700 billionaires, not many, in america have increased their wealth by 1. 8 trillion. At the same time as essential workers, people who do public transportation, people who work in grocery stores, people who work in healthcare have died by the thousands. So we are living in a nation where the people on top are doing phenomenally well. They have so much money, they dont even know what to do with it, and now some of them are off in outer space, spending their billions. Well, we think maybe it might be a good idea before you go off to outer space, lets start paying attention to the struggles of Working Families on the ground. Meanwhile, while the very rich become much richer, Working Families from coast to coast are struggling to put food on the table. 90 million americans are uninsured or underinsured in terms of healthcare, we pay the highest prices in the world for Prescription Drugs, almost 600,000 americans are sleeping out on the streets and millions of young people are struggling with outrageous levels of Student Debt while hundreds of thousands of bright young Kids Cant afford to get a higher education. Incredibly since 1971, at a time when we have seen an explosion of Technology And Worker productivity, the average american worker is not making a nickel more in real wages, inflation accounted for wages than they did 50 years ago. Thats the state of the economy. And we need to pass this legislation because in the wealthiest country in the history of the world, it is simply not morally acceptable that so many good people are struggling economically to provide for their families and when half of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, we can do better than that. And we need to pass this legislation because we are sick and tired of seeing so many of our people earn starvation wages, and i have been all over your great state, ive talked to the people who make nine, ten bucks an hour and that is why this legislation as it begins to address the long neglected needs of america, will create millions of good paying jobs. So let me briefly tell you what is in this legislation and, stacey touched on some of the points. My republican colleagues are saying, well, we Cant Support this bill, because it is going to raise taxes. Well, theyre right. And at a time when billionaires in this country dont pay a nickel in federal Income Tax in a given year, we are going to raise taxes on the Billionaire Class. And at a time when large profitable corporations make billions in profit and in some years do not pay a penny in federal Income Taxes, yes, we are going to demand that those corporations start paying their fair share of taxes. As a result of the american Rescue Plan, that congress passed a number of months ago, i mentioned earlier, we have reduced poverty, and young families, single moms in Iowa And Vermont around this country be better able to take care of their kids. What this Reconciliation Bill is about is whether or not we extend those payments. The way the american Rescue Plan was written, by definition, it was an Emergency Bill in the middle of a pandemic, and we said were going to help those families right now. If we do not pass the Reconciliation Bill, those Payments End at the end of this year. That is not acceptable. Working families need that help and this bill will extend that help for years to come. Furthermore, this bill will address an issue we dont talk enough about. And that is the dysfunctionality of Child Care in america. Now, here we are as a nation, we talk about how much we love our kids, theyre the future of america, et cetera, et cetera, and yet in vermont, i dont know what it is in iowa, but nationally in vermont, it costs about 15,000 a year for a child in Child Care. 15,000. If you are earning 30, 40, 50,000, youre spending a huge chunk of your money to have your kid taken care of so you can go to work. That is wrong. And under this bill, we will move toward a situation where no household in america spends more than 7 of their income for Child Care and many lower income families will have Child Care for free. And when we do that, by the way, were going to address multiple crises within Child Care, that is number one Child Care Workers Today earn starvation wages, were going to raise those wages. In many parts of the country, Working Families cannot even find Child Care space. Were going to build the facilities. And on top of all of that, remember what were doing here for the kids, 300 per child for Working Families, radical change in Child Care, were going to make prek for 3 and 4yearolds universal and free. That means essentially expanding public education by an additional two years. And, by the way, just in passing, right now in vermont, dont know the story here in iowa, we have a worker shortage. There are many good paying unfilled jobs where employers cannot find workers. When we do the right thing for Child Care and prek, more than a million workers mostly women will be able to rejoin the workforce. Let me tell you what else were doing in this bill. This is a lot of fun. The united States Today is the only major country and virtually the only country on earth, very few countries, that does not guarantee paid family and medical leave. What am i talking about . What im talking about is that if you as a worker get sick, and you have to stay home, youre not going to get paid. If your kid gets sick and you have to stay home, your mom gets sick, your dad gets sick and you have to stay home, you do not get paid. What im talking about is the vulgarity that in this country, if you are a low income woman, and you give Birth Today to a baby, you may have to go back to work in a week because your family needs the income. Anybody here know what kind of programs exist in europe, scandinavia, when families have baby . Anybody know out of curiosity . In countries all over the world, mothers get seven, eight, nine months off to bond with their babies at full Pay Or Threequarter pay or whatever it may be. Dads get time off to bond with their babies. And maybe in america we should not force low income women to go back to work because they dont have the money to take care of their families. So this bill for the first time will finally provide up to three weeks of paid family and medical leave for the working people of this country. And when we talk about education, i think everybody here knows that if were going to compete globally in the international economy, we need the best educated workforce in the world. It is insane that were forcing young people to go tens and tens of thousands of dollars into debt in order to get the education they need to do the important work that has to be done. And it is disgraceful that so many young people cannot even go to higher education because they lack the money. And my own view, and im just my own view, is that i think we should make public colleges and universities, tuition free, we should cancel all Student Debt in this country. That is my view. Unfortunately i got 49 other members of the caucus that dont all agree with me. But what we are doing here in this bill is making two years of Community College Tuition free. And that means that if you want to go to a fouryear school, you got your credits for two years, you can transfer them to university of iowa, iowa state, wherever you want to go, and you get those credits already paid for. In addition to that, we are going to significantly increase pell grants. And were going to increase funding for historically black colleges and universities. And what that means is not only will those credits be transferrable to a fouryear school, it means that for many young people out there, they want to get into the building trades, a lot of Construction Work going on. They want to earn 60, 70,000 a year doing an important craft. Going to Community College Tuition free will give them that ability. I will tell you right now that in vermont, i dont know about iowa, we have a massive shortage of nurses. This will give opportunity to young people who want to go into the enormously important profession of nursing. The opportunity to get that education to do that work. In america today, we got some 600,000 people who are homeless, many sleeping out on the streets, two blocks from the Nations Capitol there is a homeless encampment of people living out in tents. Two blocks away from the Nations Capitol. We have some 18 million households in america who are spending 50 of their limited incomes on housing. This legislation will pump more money into the construction of low income and affordable housing than any bill in the history of this country. And needless to say when we do that, were going to create an enormous number of good paying jobs. Further, we are an aging society. Iowa is an aging state, vermont is an aging state. The nation is aging. And whether people have severe disabilities or whether they are just getting old, we have millions of people who would prefer to stay in their own homes, get care in their homes rather than be forced into a Nursing Home. This bill in an unprecedented way will put a significant amount of money into Home Healthcare and pay those workers a living wage. Now, as many of you know, the United States is the only major country on earth that does not guarantee healthcare to all people as a human right. Were the only one. We pay by far the highest amount of money per person for healthcare, somewhere around 10,000 bucks and yet 90 million people are uninsured or underinsured. We pay the highest price in the world for Prescription Drugs and up to 60,000 people a year die because they dont get to a doctor on time. Now, my own view, again, im speaking only for myself, my own view is that healthcare is a human right, not a privilege. That we need to guarantee healthcare to all people and that we should do it through a medicare for all single payer program. This bill does not do that. I wish it did, but it does not. What this bill does do is several things. It will expand medicare to cover dental care, hearing aids and eyeglasses. We will bring about the most significant reforms of medicare in 50 years. Too many of our elderly people in vermont and im sure in iowa trying to digest their food without teeth in their mouths because they cant afford dentures. They Cant Talk to their grandchildren because they cant afford hearing aids, many of them cannot see properly, they cannot afford glasses. So were going to reform and expand medicare and ill tell you how were going to fund that. Were going to fund that program by having medicare negotiate Prescription Drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry. Right now, today, pharmaceutical industry can charge us any price they want for any drugs. They never lose. They control the united States Congress. We are on the verge, i hope, of finally bringing about the first defeat of the very powerful pharmaceutical industry in the history of this country. So in other words, and there is much more that is in this bill, one of the areas i have been concerned about is in rural areas all over america, we dont have the doctors and the dentists and the nurses that we need, this bill will go a long way to making that happen. There is a lot of other stuff in the bill. But i want to say a word about another issue. I think some of our friends think they could drown us out. Aint going to happen and what this bill does is in an unprecedented way make massive investments in having the United States lead the world in lowering Greenhouse Gas emissions and combatting climate change. It really does pain me, and it really is i understand politics and people have different points of view, et cetera, et cetera. It is just hard for me literally to understand how republican colleagues who are dads and moms and grandfathers and grandmothers are not worried about what climate change is doing to the future of this planet for their own kids and grandchildren. I just dont get that. And i dont get a Fossil Fuel Industry which is prepared to make more and more shortterm profits while they are destroying the climate and this country and the world. So this bill finally begins to invest significantly in moving this country to carbon emissions, to moving this country to Energy Efficiency and sustainable energy. And one of the provisions in this bill that i have championed for a long time with other members and im very excited about this, is the creation of a civilian climate core. What this will do, i want you to appreciate this, you got a younger generation out there. Ive seen young people over the country who are passionately concerned about climate change. This bill will provide them with good wages and educational benefits as they go out helping us lead the world in transforming our energy system. Were going to put billions of dollars into a civilian climate core, hundreds of thousands of young people will have their jobs they want helping us deal with this existential threat. So, here we are, in a pivotal moment in american history. Were facing a pandemic, were facing climate change, were facing afghanistan, were facing massive levels of Income And Wealth inequality, were facing Working Families, lower income families struggling in a way that they have not struggled for a very long time. And what this legislation is about to me personally is not just improving life for millions and millions of working people, it is making people understand that government can in fact in a democratic Society Work for Working Families and not just the wealthy and the powerful. It is no secret. Im not telling you what you dont know. There are millions of people in america, significant, they have given up on american democracy. Theyre working longer hours full of wages, theyre seeing their jobs go to china, they cant afford Child Care, they cant afford healthcare, they cant afford to send their kids to college, cant afford housing, and they look around and does Anybody Care about me, or are you just worried in washington about your wealthy campaign contributors . People in vermont feel that way. People in iowa feel that way. People all over this country feel that way. And the time is long overdue for us to restore the faith of the american people in a democratic society. Not in conspiracy theories, not in authoritarianism, but in a democratic society where government works for all and not just the wealthy and the powerful. What this bill is about, it is helping millions and millions of people who are in pain today. It is addressing helping to address the existential threat facing the planet in terms of climate change. But hopefully it is a step forward in helping working class families all over this country understand that in a democratic society we can have a government that works for them and not just the rich and the powerful. So i want to thank all of you for being here. This is, i think, the most unusual u. S. Senate Budget Hearing that has ever taken place. Doesnt usually take place in Cedar Rapids or any other place. Takes place in the u. S. Senate. I thought it is important to bring the issues that were dealing with to the people of america. Im really proud to be here and i thank you for being here. What i want to do now is bring forward some folks, local people, to talk about whats going on in the lives and what their hopes are and lets begin and then after that well take questions from the audience. Lets begin with Kay Pence who is a retired communications workers of america Union Representative. Shes a senior on medicare. Kay, thank you for being with us. Hi, im Kay Pence. Im the Vice President of the alliance for retired americans for iowa. And this is we have 32,000 members in iowa, 4. 4 million members nationwide, were a Grassroots Group looking out for senior issues. And it is a pleasure to be here with Senator Sanders and probably no surprise to any of you, Senator Sanders has a 100 lifetime Voting Record on senior issues. We are in full support of the democrats 3. 5 trillion Budget Reconciliation Package. Now we need to turn that framework into the build back better bill. And make retirement more secure for millions of current and future retirees. When i retired and transitioned to medicare, i had an excellent employer based Insurance Plan that my union had negotiated. And i was kind of surprised at all the gaps in medicare. When medicare was started in 1965, it was patterned after a good blue cross blue shield policy. However, it included additional benefits, medicare remains stuck in the 60s. Seniors needed to purchase additional policies to cover gaps or go without. Dont get me wrong, medicare has saved generations of older americans from being wiped out by medical bills, but it could be better. It is time for us to strengthen it and expand it. The best way to strengthen medicare is to allow it to negotiate lower prices for Prescription Drugs. Americans pay the highest prices for Prescription Drugs in the world in part because the largest purchaser of Prescription Drugs on the planet is barred from negotiating a fair price. 25 of americans report that they did not take a prescription their doctor prescribed due to the cost. It is just common sense. Our government negotiates prices for everything, except Prescription Drugs and it is past time to do that. Estimated costs saving between 11 and 15 billion a year would be saved by negotiations and im sure you already have seen all the commercials trying to scare us. It is the drug companies afraid that theyre going to lose some of their monopoly profits. Those savings can be used to strengthen medicare to include dental, Hearing And Vision coverage. I cannot express enough what a difference lower drug prices and access to vision, dental and hearing with make for seniors who rely on medicare. These sensory benefits are not luxuries. They are essential healthcare services that can improve the quality of life and make people healthier at a very reasonable cost. Right now half of medicare beneficiaries lack dental coverage. As a result, 49 have not visited a dentist in the last year. Which puts them at risk of other health problems. People with chronic diseases such as arthritis, Diabetes And Heart disease are more likely to develop Gum Disease but less likely to get dental care. It is pretty hard to maintain a healthy diet if youre in pain, lose teeth or have poorly fitting dentures. Nearly threequarters of medicare beneficiaries do not have vision coverage. This is despite the fact that 92 of medicare beneficiaries require corrective lenses. Poor vision increases the risk of falls leading to fractures, hospitalizations, disabilities and premature death. Regular eye exams can catch problems early, while theyre still treatable. And millions of seniors go without hearing aids because of the cost. Sensory impairments increase Vulnerability And Decrease independence in performing the activities of daily living. From getting from place to place or even communicating. Expanding medicare to include these essential benefits would be life changing for older americans. On behalf of the member of the Iowa Alliance for retired americans and all older americans, i thank Senator Sanders for your leadership, support and hard work and we are here to help you in any way we can. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, kay. Our next speaker is jackson barrigar, the president of Acme Electric. Acme was founded by his grandfather in 1950. And they received Ppp Loans to keep help keep over 100 jobs. Jackson . So id like to start by saying thank you to Senator Sanders and his team for inviting me here to speak. The last year has been tough on all of us, i think. But to his Point Ppp helped us out in many ways that we did not see coming. But i guess ill start by saying introducing myself and i am jackson barrigar, the president of Acme Electric. As you mentioned my grandfather started acme in 1950. We are a union electrical contractor here based out of Cedar Rapids. We handle residential, large, small commercial and industrial applications and last march it seemed like not overnight we went from having a good amount of work to we got 100 guys that need places to go and need to get paychecks. So it was kind of unnerving and i will say the benefit of getting a Ppp Loan and allowing us to get our entire workforce not only retain our workforce, but keep them gainfully employed, not to have them worry about how theyre going to pay their mortgage, their car payments, anything along those lines, it was very gratifying and i was very appreciative as a Business Leader to be able to do that. It when we went from covid to then come August Deratio hit, it was at the flip of the switch, from very little work to be done to all hands on deck and one of the largest benefits of the Ppp Program was allowing us, like i said, it retain our workforce and it is tough to quantify, but when deraccio hit, it was a benefit to not have to go out and search for people and rehire employees because everyone needed help. There was more work than anyone in town could handle, there was a Community Effort and it was an absolute benefit of the Ppp Program to be able to have our workforce still at hand. So all ill say, ill keep it brief, but very thankful it was immensely helpful and lastly i will say the watching the Community Rally around after deraccio, it was really inspiring. So thank you. I would urge people, i want to thank jackson for his remarks, it is very easy to beat up on the big, bad federal government. We know it is bureaucratic, we know it is far, far from perfect. But go into any small business and ask them, did the Ppp Program, the aid to small businesses, the midst of that terrible economic Downturn Help you . And they will say exactly what jackson said. And that is that help them maintain their workforce, it helped workers who would have been in desperation maintain the ability to take care of their families. So, jackson, thanks very much for your statement. Natalie tapscott is a student at the university of iowa studying environmental science. Natalie, thanks for being with us. Thank you, Senator Sanders, for coming and speaking to us and allowing me the opportunity to speak a little bit about my passions for the environment. So i am a sophomore at the university of iowa. Who is studying political science, environmental Plan And Policy and economics. I grew up in a house with with parents who were both in the field of early childhood education. Theyre both educators who understood the importance of Play And Exploration for the growth of children. The children in their care, which included myself and my younger brother, who is here today, were fortunate to have a lot of outdoor time at day care. We would make pud pies and plant seeds and go on exploations to local parks. These types of adventures were pivotal in establishing my deep gratitude for natural spaces. When i was in third grade, my family moved from Des Moines to de corpscorpsa, iowa. We hiked and fished and biked. Throughout this time is when we started to learn about climate Change And Science classes. We kind of learned the basics but we didnt understand that humans had an such an impact on their rate at which the climate was changing. As a child i kind of accepted that thats the way that it was, it wasnt until much later when i continued to do my own research and took more classes and science and social studies that i became aware of the importance of this issue. Thats when it also started to feel overwhelming. After years of going to the same parks and natural places i was starting to see this toll that a lack of environmental policies and inadequate funding were beginning to take on the places that i cared so much about. For example, Backbone State Park and strawberry point, iowa, is close to here, it is a place my family and i love to go to when i was growing up. Recently when im driving home from Iowa City to decora ill stop there to stretch my legs and remember the places that i loved so much. It hurts to see the signs that are on the beach that say dont go into the water because of bacterial growth from farm runoff. It hurts to know that my political leaders arent doing anything about this. How could a place that i once swam in be so polluted that i no longer can go in it. This decline in the Planets Health and a lack of leadership is so frustrating for me as a young person and other young people that i talk to. We know that it is our generation and the generations of us below us that will feel these impacts the worst. To see our leadership in this state do nothing about it again and again in legislative sessions is so heart breaking. While the air, Water And Soil quality around us deteriorate, and increased Frequency And Severity of floods and storms wreak havoc on our cities, something this community knows greatly about. The infrastructure to solve these problems is not being properly funded in this state. The type of lifestyle i want to live in my future is something i can see taking place in the Way Iowa is moving right now. Ive gotten involved with groups at the university of iowa, im optimistic that with this new generation of climate minded young adults who understand that climate is the issue of our time, that there will be change. And with politicians like Senator Sanders who are working for these at the federal level im excited for an Infrastructure Bill that addresses the 21st Century Infrastructure issues. And creates a civilian climate core for young people like me. The bills and plans due to pass Will Priority the climate as it should be prioritized and give myself and like minded individuals the power to create change in a system that for so long felt like it didnt belong to us. Im excited to be part of that. Thank you. We are depending thank you, natalie we are depending on her generation to help save this planet. Norma izaguirre is a Mother And Truck driver from muskteen. Her family experienced the outrageous cost of Prescription Drugs. Norma, thank you for being with us. Hello. Id like to thank Senator Sanders and his team for inviting me to speak. This is the first time i ever spoke in front of anybody, so i am a little bit nervous. I am thank you. I am like many of you a working Class Citizen, and i have a passion about medicare for all. And just as Senator Sanders said, Health Insurance is a right, it is not a privilege. What kind of america are we when someone cannot go and get the care they need when theyre ill . Im sharing my story and forgive me if i get emotional. On June 3rd of 2018 i lost my eldest son to successful suicide at the age of 28. My son was a working Class Citizen also, worked since age 16, and he became he struggled with a mental illness, depression. At the time he was working, and so he did have Health Insurance and could afford medication. Then he was diagnosed in i would say a year later once he started to be treated for the mental illness, he was diagnosed with diabetes. Due to the diabetes, he ended up losing his job, became unemployed, was 28, therefore could not be covered under our Health Insurance. Fortunately he could move back home, so he did move back home with us and lived at home with us. Even us as his parents didnt know the extent of his struggles with the diabetes. He didnt have healthcare so when he could get what insulin he could, he had to try and ration it. So what happened is with the diabetes, not being able to get a job, he just felt like a failure. Didnt have anywhere to turn. You know, where was he to go . We could only help him so much ourselves. Were working class, we have three sons, a mortgage, car payments, we pay ourselves close to 10,000 a year for Health Insurance. We pay 184 a month, so, really that ends up that adds up to our mortgage, minus the escrow a month for what we pay for our Health Insurance. And still on top of that pay for prescriptions and, you know, out of pockets for things, but i feel that our system failed my son. Because if there would have been somewhere where he could have gone to get the help he needed, to get the medication he needed, not only for the diabetes, but for the mental health, not even just medication but counseling, you know, therapy, he might still be here with us today. But unfortunately hes not. So thats why i feel strongly that america does need medicare for all. We are all entitled to Health Insurance. Thank you. Norma, thank you very much for sharing your tragic experience with us. I just want to mention, couple of years ago i was in detroit, and i took a Bus Load of folks for the midwest into ontario, canada. We didnt we werent there to sight see. We were there to buy insulin, actually. And we ended up of course, all of this was planned out. We went to a drugstore in ontario, we bought the same exact products that americans were using, made by the same company, we paid onetenth the price of what is paid in america. And thats because in canada they control the cost of drug prices. In this country, we dont. And right now, norma, we are beginning, just beginning, didnt go as far as i want, to tell the pharmaceutical industry, they cannot continue to kill people, cannot continue to charge us the highest prices in the world for their products. So let me thank all of our panelists. Now what i would like to do is open it up to you, make your questions brief. Let me misty, who else do we have . We have oliver here. All right. We got one raise your hand, two raise your hand, stand up. Better yet, stand up if you have a question you want to ask. Okay. Surprised me there. Hi, Senator Sanders. It is sue lynnsdale. Thank you for everything. Good to see you again. Im the director of Iowa Citizen Action network. What this Family Budget does is help every single one of our members. And my own family personally. But and i think 3. 5 trillion is a pretty small price to pay to help all of us. Im worried about manchin and sinema. Do you think were goinging to be able to get them on board . As i said earlier, what were trying to do is not only unprecedented, it would be a hell of a lot easier if we had 60 or 70 people in the senate, democrats and republicans who are prepared to stand up for Working Families. We dont have it now. And im very proud and Leader Chuck Schumer deserves credit for that in the senate, Nancy Pelosi in the house, but i believe at the end of the day, after a lot of negotiations and pain and im going to be on the phone all week, what we are going to do is pass the most comprehensive bill for Working Families that this country has seen in a long way, with the 50 votes plus the Vice President. I also say, i also want to say i want to thank the president , because what biden has done in this process is something that no president has done in our lifetime. What he has done is take a hard look at the real issues facing the american people. And he has said lets go forward and lets do it. Did he do everything i wanted to do . No. But he has taken a significant step forward and all of the proposals that he has raised are going to be in this Reconciliation Bill. Bernie, i have one question. I think do you think youre leaving somebody out . The workforce, we could be a powerful workforce were not leaving the disabled out. In this look, again, im not here to tell you all im here to tell you, this is the most consequential wait one minute the most consequential piece of legislation in the modern history of the country. Does it solve all of our problems . No. Do we need medicare for all . Yeah. Should we invest more in climate . Yeah. What it does for the people with disabilities, which is a very, very big deal, what it says that people who have disabilities who otherwise might be forced to go into a Nursing Home will be able to stay home and get the care they need. Thats a big deal. Okay. Misty, you got a question . Can you hear me . Stand up, if you could. Hello. Okay. Quick for fighting for working class people since the 19 when you got involved in politics, and the question as we can see okay. My question is about climate change. So as we have seen with natural disaster after natural disaster, like Hurricane Katrina, and now probably Hurricane Ida today, will there be in this Reconciliation Bill, like, federal funding to help people who are displaced by climate change with these natural disasters . As we have seen, especially with Hurricane Katrina incident back 16 years ago, the federal government, state government, City Council can be extremely slow getting emergency spending out. So im wondering for federal for emergencies when they are a complete surprise. The answer is absolutely. Look, were going to do our best here, and, again, i wish i could tell you it is going to be better. But this will be unprecedented and the amount of money were spending trying to prevent future disasters and also helping those people who experience the kind of very expensive disasters that we have seen here in iowa, we have seen people lose their homes, been place placed. There will be money available to help rebuild those communities. You got somebody . All right. Is this thing working . Yes. Hi, Senator Sanders. Thank you so much for being here. Youre a beacon of hope for a lot of us here in a purple state, hopefully turning blue. I just had a quick question about mental healthcare. Is there anything in this package that will help the people who are deeply hurting beyond the physical side effects of this pandemic . The answer is absolutely. There are billions of dollars going into the mental health crisis. It is one of the things that is just unbelievable is you all know we are spending far more than any other country per person on healthcare. Yet we dont have enough doctors. We dont have enough nurses. We dont have enough dentists. We dont have enough mental health practitioners. The problem was a crisis before the pandemic, it is much worse now. So to answer your question, yes, there will be billions of dollars going into mental health. But i also want to say to the young people who are here, we need your help. We need young people to go into nursing, into mental health, into medical school, to become doctors, to become teachers. We need to rebuild the public sector of this country, which has been ignored for so many years. But to answer your question, look, mental health is a crisis for the kids in schools. It is a crisis for Working Families. It is a crisis for everybody. In every state in this country. So the answer is, yes, there will be money in this bill to start it is not going to do everything that needs to be done, but it will address some of the crisis. Yeah . Hi, thanks, Senator Sanders, for coming out here. I just wanted to quickly ask whether or not there is any chance in the Reconciliation Bill that there will be an option to reform or eliminate the filibuster, whether it is to reduce the threshold, anything other im for completely getting rid of it myself, but anything that we can do in the Reconciliation Bill on this issue . I agree with you in my view, didnt always feel this way, but i do believe now i believe we should get rid of the filibuster and allow majority rule. But unless im very mistaken, we dont have the votes to do this at this moment. Senator sanders, were hearing from congress itself, members hold up the mic closer to your mouth. About the desire to lower the amount of the reconciliation package. Im a mom, im a grandmother, i have over 40 years working in the early Education Field and i volunteer with save the children action network. And it is a passion of mine for Children Birth through 5 to be educated. Is what can we do to ensure that the Child Care industry and the universal prek actually do make it and get the money they deserve . Well, it is first of all, thank you so much, you know, people who work in Child Care and prek make huge sacrifices. Again, i dont know about iowa, but my guess it is not different than vermont, wages and benefits are extremely low. And that has got to change. What psychologists tell us that zero through 4, most important years of human development and we have to respect our little children, regardless of the income and their families, to get a decent start in life. So all i can tell you im going to do everything i can to make sure that that package is and were talking about many hundreds of billions of dollars to build the facilities we need, to lower the costs for families, to make sure Child Care workers get the pay they deserve, which should not be less than other teachers, by the way, for the important work that they do. Thank you for what youre doing. Hi, Senator Sanders. My name is robert morrison, from the other burlington down the road, burlington, iowa. I cannot let you get out of iowa without thanking you, semens closed the factory i worked in and youre the only public official that came out and said this Plant Closing is wrong. Chris have you on video saying that. I want to thank you for not only for that, but for standing up for working people like me that have lost our jobs, and i firmly believe we can help Vice President harris and President Biden build back better. I would love to use the talents ive acquired over the last 30 years to help young people learn the machinist trade. We desperately need you we desperately need you i was just the other day in vermont talking to a person working in vocational training in vermont, high school kids. Desperately need experienced older workers to give the kids the skills they need. Look, we are talking about the largest combining everything, the largest Infrastructure Piece of legislation in the history of this country, by far were going to need a huge number of people to build roads, and bridges and homes, we need skilled workers to help educate the young people. And this bill will give you the opportunity to do that. Thank you, because when our plant closed, president trump, governor reynolds and senators grassley all turned their backs on us and youre the only one who came out and stood with us. I want to thank you for that. Thank you for your work. I have another question over here, senator. Thank you for being out here today, Senator Sanders. My grandparents, three of them, my maternal Grandfather And Grandfather and my paternal grandfather served in the United States military, two in the Air Force and one in the Army Corps of engineering. And i knew my grandfathers to have trembling hands and Hair Trigger tempers from traumas suffered during their time in service. And with the withdraw from afghanistan, and the current state of the american Systems Treatment of veterans and care of veterans, im deeply worried for these new traumatized soldiers and im wondering what this bill does to reform the veterans care as good question. And please thank their grandparents for their service for our country. I do, every day. The point that you made and i speak here as the former chairman of the u. S. Senate committee on veterans affairs and we did our best to bring billions of dollars into the Va Healthcare system. I think people do not appreciate what many of our veterans have gone through. And seeing what they see in a sense what human beings should not be forced to see and they come home with those scars physically and emotionally. This bill would put at least 19 billion into improving the Va Facilities around the country at the very least. Thank you for raising that important issue. I always love to come out and listen to what you have to say. Im going to ask you the same question i asked you two years ago, when are you and the united States Congress going to end the racist idiotic Drug War . Well, im probably happy to give you a better answer than i gave you two years ago in the sense that were making progress. Look, my own view is that the socalled war on drugs has been an abysmal failure. It has destroyed god knows how many lives, disproportionately, what you are now seeing is a radical change of consciousness. State after state after state legalizing marijuana. I would legalize marijuana nationally, i am supportive of that. But we are making some progress in state after state. Okay, over here. Hi. Senator sanders, i worked for you in 2016 in iowa through the platform and we won the popular vote. Thank you for your help. You bet. You bet. And ive been doing this work for a long time. I was a conscientious objector during vietnam. Growing up along Lake Erie we would see the fish kills. Hold the mic closer to your mouth. I have a twopart question. First of all, does it look like the opportunity zones are going to maintain themselves forward . Okay. Thats number one. And the second is, as an educator, i used to teach at the university of iowa in sociology 11 years and now work in rural economic development. One of my big concerns is the division of the Nation Isnt about jobs. The division of the nation is about how we see the world. When you were born, knowledge was doubling once every 100 years. Now it is twice a day. Right . And nobody here can keep up with whats going on in change. And were doing nothing about once you graduate from wherever, now what we do to keep up . Because press cannot handle it. And we cant handle it by ourselves as evidenced by the division of the nation. And so im wondering, Id Love to talk with you further, but there is a that to me is one of the base infrastructures is what do we do with people after they graduate that help them understand the world is changing so changing so fast . Well, i think the answer is, you have you know, education is learning is an inherent part of who we are as human beings, from the edge of whatever, from when were born to when we die. We should have in this country a system which enables all people, regardless of their age, to continue, you know, to get the education that they deserve. In some cases its very specific. People lose their jobs, they need a new job, they need job training. But you as an elderly anyone, as an elderly person, should be able to get the education they need just to keep up as a human being with whats going on in the world. We need big changes in education. This bill doesnt do everything. It is an important step forward. Senator sanders and all the speakers, thanks for having this town hall today. The Obama Era 7,500 Tax Credit for electric vehicles has expired for general motors, tesla, and by the end of the year, it looks like nissan as well. Is there a plan for Election Vehicle incentives in this Budget Reconciliation Package, and if so what form . A very significant plan for that. Look, the president has indicated and i support it, if were talking about reducing carbon emissions, transportation is one of the areas that we have to talk about, making our building, our old other buildings more energy efficient, dealing with agriculture. We have to deal with all of those and more. So to answer your question, yes, where the bill is right now, we are going to start from scratch. You want to buy an electric vehicle, not only will you get that 7,500, i hope at point of sale, thats 7,500 rebate, if the product is made in america, youll get another 2,500. If its made by union labor, youre going to get another 2,500. The answer to your question is a big yes. All right. I think were not going to be able to take all of the questions. Lets take a couple of more. Yesterday. Pound that mic. Hi, bernie. Im Grant Wilson from Des Moines. I agree with you about trying to erase Student Loan Debt as i think its bringing the college graduates down. I heard President Biden recently raise Student Loan Debt for disabled people. And it sounds like he might be in favor of starting to erase Student Loan Debt. It sounds like it might be his decision, where you and your colleagues, President Biden, might sit at this moment, thinking about doing more with Student Loan Debt. The answer is, i believe you know, its just incredibly sad when you think about it. Young people are told go out and get an education. So they do the right thing, they get an education, its the right thing to do, gives them job skills. Then they become a teacher, maybe they make 25, 30,000 a year. Or they graduate medical school, if you like, 400,000 in debt. And they have to pay off these Student Debts. So i would go a lot further than the president would go on this issue. But i think there are a number of us in congress, not a majority yet, that would make a significant step forward in reducing Student Debt in this country. Its an ongoing debate. Were making progress. This bill does not deal with it in the way i would like it to. But we are making some progress. Okay . Why dont we take just maybe one question more there, one question more there. Yes, sir. Good afternoon, senator. If Sinema And Manchin agree to vote for the bill for a smaller price tag, would you make that compromise . And if so, which money and which parts of the bill would you be willing to compromise . Im not going to get into that here. Weve got a 3. 5 trillion bill, ive already compromised. Out of 11 democrats, nine of them supported a 6 trillion bill, which is what i wrote and wanted. So ive already made a compromise. And the truth is this bill does not have is not addressing, as weve heard this afternoon, many of the issues that should be addressed. At the end of the day, i am confident that we will pass this bill at 3. 5 trillion. Okay. Last question. Thank you. So i have a question about the 15 minimum wage. My grandma works at a corporation in bellevue, iowa, shes never made more than 11 in the 20something years shes worked there, since the 90s. What can people like me do to convince people like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema that we need a higher minimum wage . [ applause ] i wish look, i have let me give you the good news and the bad news. The good news is that state after state is in fact passing 15 an hour legislation. A number of states have done it. A number of cities have done it. So were making progress. In the same sense that were making progress on legalizing marijuana. The bad news is its not just Sinema And Manchin. There are no republicans. You know, ive been all over this state. And i have talked to workers who are making that 9 and 10 and 11 bucks an hour, trying to raise their kids. It is an outrage. And the minimum wage, 15 bucks an hour, is surely not a lot of money. Thats where we should be. Ive introduced the legislation to do that. We have zero republican support in the senate for that. And im not happy to tell you, eight democrats who voted against raising the minimum wage. We are working on that. We are working on that. The president is working on that. And i hope that i can report back to you sooner than later that were going to pass that damn 15 an hour minimum wage. [ applause ] all right. Let me just i want to thank all of you for coming out. This is not a political rally. This is an effort to discuss major legislation. And my feeling is that all over this country, people are hungering, theyre hungry to learn about what the hell is going on in washington. So i really thank all of you for being here. I thank our speakers, i thank stacey, i thank our musicians. Let me conclude with what i said earlier on. These are tough times. And its a time not for demagoguery. It is a time to understand the severity of the crises that we face, the economic crises, the social crises, the climate crises, to look at them boldly, not to demagogue the issue. And if we do that, i am absolutely confident that if we come together as a nation, we will not only solve these issues, were going to move this country forward in a better direction. Thank you all very much for being here. [ cheers and applause ] he was paterfamilias to a political dynasty. These are the words of a journalist and former reporter at the wall street journal, words from a Book Review written about Joseph P. Kennedy sr. Its a new book by Susan Ronald titled the ambassador. Her work is about Joseph P. Kennedy sr. s time as ambassador to great britain, 1938 to 1940. Historian Susan Ronald on this episode of book notes plus. Listen at cspan. Org podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Cnn is your unfiltered view of government. Were funded by these television companies and more including mediacom. The world changed in an instant. Mediacom was ready. Intent traffic soared and we never slowed down. Schools and businesses went virtual and we powered a new reality. Because at mediacom were built to keep you ahead. Mediacom supports cspan as a public service along with these television providers giving you a front Row Seat to democracy. You can be a part of the national conversation by participating in Cspans Student Cam video competition. Your opinion matters. So if youre a middle or a high school student, were asking you to create a five to Sixminute Documentary that answers the question, how does the federal government impact your life . Your documentary must show supporting and opposing points of view on a federal Policy Or Program that affects you or your community, using Cspan Video clips which are easy to find and access at cspan. Org. Cspan Student Cam Competition awards 100,000 in total cash prizes and you have a shot at winning the grand prize of 5,000. Entries must be received before january 20, 2022. For competition rules, tips, or just how to get started, visit our website at studentcam. Org. Up next,