Speeches and Remarks

Washington Hilton Hotel
Washington, D.C.

12:40 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Whoa!  Holy mackerel.  (Applause.)  Whoa!  (Applause.)  Hello, hello, hello!  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, thank you, thank you. 

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Please have a seat.  Whoa!  (Applause.)

Whoa!  What a welcome.  I’m going home.  (Laughter.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Building Trades.  God love you all.  (Applause.)  No, I really mean it.

And Shawn, thank you for your friendship, your partnership.  And it’s been an incredible honor — and I mean this from the bottom of my heart — an incredible honor to be endorsed by the Building Trades.  (Applause.)  I mean it.  You’re the best.

Not a joke.  It’s not a joke.  You’re the best in the world.  That’s not a joke.  You’re the best in the world.  You know, you had my back in 2020.  And because of you, I’m standing here as President of the United States of America — because of you.  (Applause.)  And that’s a fact. 

Because you, in 2024, we’re going to make Donald Trump a loser again.  (Applause.)  Are you ready?  Are you ready?  (Applause.)

I’m so damn proud to be with you.  And I really mean it: I’m proud to be with you.  All my — my relatives, my grandpop and everybody else up in — were — they’re all gone now, but in Scranton, they — my — I had an uncle who used to say, “Joey, you’re belt buckle to shoe shole [sole] union.”

Well, let me tell you something.  I’m proud to be the most union pres- — pro-union president in American history.  And it’s because of you.  You’re proof what have — I’ve always known.  Not a joke. 

I’ve always known that Wall Street didn’t build America.  The middle class built America, and unions built the middle class.  (Applause.)  That’s a fact.  That’s a fact.

Folks, being with you today reminds me of where I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware.  I was up in Scranton last week. 

It’s great to have the mayor of Scranton, by the way, Paige Cognetti.  Where are you, Paige?  She’s here today.  I don’t — it’s a big crowd out there, but you’ll — if you see her, you’ll know her.  (Laughter.)

Look, in Scranton, I learned a basic value set that all of you learned as well, no matter where you’re from.  I learned that money doesn’t determine your worth.  I learned that all anyone wants is just a fair shot — a fair shot of making it.  Don’t block the road for me.  Give me an even shot. 

My dad, I swear to God, used to have an expression.  He’d come home from — after he closed — he’d come for dinner and then go back and close his — the shop.  My dad would say, “Joey a job” — and I mean it sincerely — “a job is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about your dignity.  It’s about respect.  It’s about being able to look your child in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay’ and mean it.”

That’s what we’re all about: dignity of all workers — the dignity of workers.  (Applause.)  I mean it.

And we all grew up — (applause) — we all grew up with folks who sort of looked down on us because of what our dads did.  They weren’t in business.  They weren’t executives.  They weren’t something special.  But they are special. 

You know, but people like Donald Trump learned a different lesson.  He learned the best way to get rich is inherit it.  (Laughter.)  He learned that paying taxes is something working people did, not him.  He learned that telling people “you’re fired” was something to laugh about.

Not in my household.  Not in my neighborhood.  (Applause.)  I mean it sincerely.  No joke.  Especially being fired because you had no protection. 

Folks, I guess that’s how you look at the world from Mar-a-Lago, where Trump and his rich friends embrace the same failed trickle-down policies that have failed working-class families and union families for over 40 years.

But if you grew up where we grew up, nobody handed you anything.  Being told you were fired wasn’t entertainment.  It was devastating.  It was a nightmare.

And, folks, we all know people like Trump who look down on us, don’t we?  We all know somebody we grew up with like that.

Well, folks, where I come from, it matters.  When I look at the economy, I don’t see it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago, I see it through the eyes of — through the eyes of Scranton and working people like all of you and my family.

You know, we know the best way to grow an economy is from the bottom up and the middle out, not the top down.  My dad used to say not a whole hell of a lot trickled down on his kitchen table in that top-down policy.

When we do that, when we work from the bottom up and the middle out, the poor have a ladder up and the middle class does well.

And, by the way, the wealthy still do very well if they just start paying their damn taxes.  (Applause.)

So, it’s either Scranton values or Mar-a-Lago values.  These are competing visions of the economy at the heart of this election — competing visions of what we look at and see as Amer- — as America.

Folks, one of the reasons I ran for President was to rebuild the backbone of the middle class, and we have.  We’re following my blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America.  And guess what?  It’s working. 

You’re building that America.  You’re — in this room — are building that America.

For example, thanks to my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, more than 51,000 new manufacturing projects have been announced so far, and we’re just beginning.  It’s just beginning.  (Applause.)  It’s just — just starting.  (Applause.)

Roads, bridges, ports, airports, clean water systems, available high-speed Internet all across America and built by the Building Trades.  (Applause.)

Remember when President Pr- — Trump promised us — (laughs) — I’ve got to be careful.  (Laughter.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Say it!  Say it!

THE PRESIDENT:  He promised us “Infrastructure Week.”  Well, I tell you what, it took four years; he never built a damn thing.  Nothing.  I’m serious.  (Applause.)  Are you surprised?

I’m sure — I’m making sure the projects, like project labor agreements, so highly skilled workers have a voice on the job. 

But even before Trump was president, Trump preferred non-union workers in his real estate projects.  And I don’t want to get into the stories.  But anyway.  Even he — even in that he didn’t keep his word.  He just asked contractors, vendors, and small businesses.  And — and if you read the press, if any of it’s true, he never paid them — a whole hell a lot of them.  The guy has never worked a day in a working man’s boots. 

By the way, he gave me a pair of boots as a gift, by the way.  (Laughter.)  I know how to put them on.  I still sometimes cut the yard.  The Secret Service doesn’t let me do it anymore.  (Laughter.)

Folks, I’m making Davis-Bacon requirements stronger to guarantee prevailing wage.  (Applause.) 

By the way, we’re making them stronger.  (Applause.)  That will — (applause) — that alone will increase wages for more than a million construction workers. 

Trump’s MAGA allies are trying to take it away now.  But it’s not going to happen on my watch.  (Applause.)

Since — since the 1930s, the law has said when the federal government spends taxpayers’ dollars on a project, it can only buy American products to do it and use American workers to get it done.  That’s “Buy America.”  Donald Trump failed to uphold that.  But not anymore.  My administration uses American products and American workers.  That’s why it’s going.  (Applause.)  I mean it.

Because, folks — (applause) — it’s — it’s not a joke.  It’s not a campaign line.  The God’s truth is you’re the best workers in the world.  That’s a fact.  You’re the best workers in the world. 

When I went out to South Korea to get them to beg- — start to build back those computer chips here in America, I said, “Why are you wil-” — and they decided to do it, invest- — investing billions of dollars.  I said, “Why are you doing it?”  He said, “Two things: You have the best workers in the world, and you have the safest place in the world to do it.”

Well, folks, when I think climate, I think jobs.  I think union jobs — good-paying jobs that don’t require a college degree. 

You’ve attracted nearly $700 billion in private-sector investment in advanced manufacturing, in semiconductors, clean energy, and so much more here in America, creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs, Building Trades jobs.  In fact, construction of new factories has more than doubled in our administration.

Meanwhile — (applause) — meanwhile, Donald Trump still thinks windmills cause cancer.  (Laughter.)  That’s what he said. 

And, by the way, remember when he was trying to deal with COVID?  He said just inject a little bleach in your veins.  (Laughter.)  He missed; it all went to his hair.  (Laughter.)

Look, I shouldn’t have said that.  (Applause.)  I probably shouldn’t have said that.  (Laughter.)  You guys are a bad influence on me.  (Laughter.)

Trump and his MAGA allies want to repeal the most significant investments in climate ever — the work that — that you risked your lives doing lots of it.  You know, it — and he wants to risk all those jobs.  Are you surprised?  I’m not.

A lot of you don’t know that if you want to be a pipe fitter — a lot of people don’t know — if you want to be a pipe fitter or an electrician or any of the other trades here, it takes four or five years of hard work as an apprentice.

Most people think you can walk up (inaudible) — you guys should talk more about this.  They think you can walk up and you just say, “I want to be an electrician,” and you get a license.  It’s four or five years.  It’s like going back to college.  It’s going — like getting a college degree.

And that’s the reason — the reason you’re the best is because you’re the best trained in the world.  You get it; I get it.  But Donald Trump has no clue.

He undermined union apprenticeships by lowering standards and lowering pay.  He ended — I ended his anti-work policy to save the building trades apprenticeships program because they’re the gold standard of the world.  (Applause.)  They are.  They actually are.

And, look — and earlier this week — earlier this week, I teamed up together to recruit young people into the building trades.  It’s — my American Climate Corps will now pa- — pave a pathway to your apprenticeship program, because it matters.  It matters.

Through my American Rescue Plan, there’s — not a single Republican voted for, I might add — I also enacted the Butch Lewis Act — (applause) — the most pro-labor law in 50 years, because of you — because of you.  That one act — that one act has already protected hard-earned pensions of over 1 million workers and retirees and counting. 

We made that happen.  While Trump promised it, he never even lifted a finger to try to get it.  Are you surprised? 

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  I — hell no, I’m not, either.  (Laughter.) 

Trump put union busters on the Nabor La- — the National Labor Relations Board throughout his administration.  I’ve appointed people in my administration that actually care about American workers, like former bui- — the building trades leader, Marty Walsh, who was a great Labor Secretary — (applause) — during my administration.  

By the way, if you ever need — if you’re ever in a foxhole, I tell you, you want Marty Walsh — (pronounced in an accent) — with you, man.  (Laughter.)  Oh, you think I’m kidding.  He’s the real deal.

You know, I’ve walked proudly on union picket lines, while at the same time, Trump bashed unions from non-union shops.  (Applause.)  Are you surprised?

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  Look, I want to sign the PRO Act into law.  (Applause.) 

Trump said he’d veto it.  Trump said he’d veto it.  Beyond that, he supports a National Right to Work law, for God’s sake.

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I — think about it.  What is the single biggest killer that could happen?  A National Right to Work law. 

Look, he might as well say he doesn’t support any unions.

Are we going to let him — that happen, pal?  We’re not going to let that happen.

AUDIENCE:  No!

THE PRESIDENT:  Let me ask you: Does anyone here think the tax system is fair?  Raise your hand. 

Well, Trump is proud of his $2 trillion tax cut in his administration that overwhelmingly benefited the very wealthy and the biggest corporations while exploding the federal debt.  Trump added more to the national debt than any president in a single term in all of American history — to the national debt. 

I cut the national debt so far — (applause) — and still got all those other things did by doing simple things like, you know — remember those 40 Fortune 500 company — or those — those Fortune 500 companies, 40 of them — I think, no, it was 50 — who didn’t pay a single penny in taxes and made 40 billion dol- — 4 billion — $40 billion? 

Well, guess what?  I did a terrible thing.  I made them pay 15 percent.  (Laughter and applause.)  And we cut the deficit by $70 billion. 

Look, now Trump is saying if he gets elected, he wants to give another — by the way, that tax credit of his expires next year.  Okay?  (Applause.) 

Well, let me tell you something: It’s going to stay expired and dead forever if I’m reelected.  But anyway.  (Applause.)

He wants another — he wants to give another massive tax cut for the wealthy.  And he also says he wants to cut your Medicare and Social Security, and you’re going to let him — that happen? 

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  No, he — by —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  By the way, these — these guys mean this stuff.  They mean it.  And the Republican caucus went ahead and said they want to do that too.

Look, folks, I remember there used to be two parties — real parties, you know.  But this ain’t your father’s Republican Party.  This is a different breed of cat.

Look, I got a better idea.  I’m going to protect Social Security and Medicare by making the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share of the — (applause) —

No billionaire — (applause) — look — look, guys — no billionaire — and there’s a thousand of them in America — a thousand billionaires — no billionaire should pay less in taxes than a teacher, a nurse, a construction worker, a police officer. 

Guess what?  You know what their average — average tax rate for a billionaire in America is?  8.3 percent.  That’s what they pay.  

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m serious.  I’m serious.  

Look, if we just charge them 24 percent in their tax, which isn’t the highest tax rate, we’d generate fi- — fifty- — $500 billion over the next 10 years, allow us to significantly cut the deficit, allow us to move all — have daycare.  Allo- — allow us to do so many things to make the country stronger.  

I want to point out one thing.  It’s a little off point, but I wanted you to remember it.  I asked the Treasury Department, because I was getting all this compliment and, from some, criticism about being so pro-union — I said, “What happens to wages generally when unions have to get paid a decent salary?”  Everybody’s salaries goes up.  Everybody.  (Applause.)  You grow the economy.  You grow the economy.  You grow the economy.  

Look, the bottom line is we’re doing what’s always worked best in this country: investing in all of America and all Americans.  

Our plan is working.  So far, we’ve created over 15 million new jobs, including 848,000 construction jobs for a record 8.2 million across the construction industry.

Folks — (applause) — and, by the way, did you know there are only two presidents in American history who left office with fewer American jobs than they entered it: Herbert Hoover and, yes, Donald “Herbert Hoover” Trump.  (Laughter and applause.)  Only two.  (Applause.)

Look, folks — folks, we’re moving again.  We’re moving again as a country.  We’re beginning to gain momentum.  We have the best economy in the world, but we got a lot more to do.  But we’re moving again because you guys and women.  I mean — I’m not being solicitous.  That’s why we’re moving.  We’re building again.  And we’re just getting started.  

Let me close with this.  As I travel the country, I see the amazing things you’re doing — I mean it, all over the country, in red states and blue states.  

And this past June, I was in Philadelphia, Sean’s hometown.  And I married a Philly girl.  You don’t screw around with Philly people.  (Laughter.)  

If I didn’t vote for every Phi- — root for every Philly team out there, I’d be sleeping alone.  (Laughter.)  You all think I’m kidding.  (Laughter.)  

Look, remember when that tanker truck crashed and closed the key stretch of I-95 in Philly?  It was expected, like in the last administration, it would take months and months for anything to happen.  

Well, 150,000 vehicles travel that overpass every single day.  So, what did we do?  We contacted all of you.  We organized.  You organized.  We rebuilt that.  You rebuilt that in less than two weeks, record time.  How?  Because you’re the building trades — laborers, operating engineers, cement finishers, plumbers, pipe fitters, steelworkers.  (Applause.)  So many union workers.  (Applause.)

You showed up — you showed up around the clock.  (Applause.)  And you got it done.  (Applause.)

By the way, that’s America.  

By the way, unions are more popular today than they’ve ever been in a long, long time, not because of Joe Biden supporting them — because of you.  You always step up.  You step into the breach.  You get things done.  

That’s the union movement.  That’s what it’s about.

In Baltimore, we’re moving heaven and earth — or as my dad, from Baltimore, would say, Baltimore ¬– Baltimore.  (Pronounced in an accent.)  

We’re moving heaven and earth to rebuild the F- — the Francis Scott Key Bridge after its tragic collapse, and we’re doing it with you — with union labor and American steel — (applause) — and American steel.

That’s America.  That’s the union movement.  (Applause.)

Look, folks, I mean you’re doing — you ought to see — I mean, I’ve been to the site.  It’s incredible.  I’ve been over that bridge a lot.  I mean, I commuted every day for 36 years as a U.S. senator, when my wife and daughter were killed and I used to commute back and forth to be with my boys.  And I’ve over that — that area in Baltimore Harbor.  You — it’s incredible what you’re doing.  

And, folks, the choice is clear.  Donald Trump’s vision of America is one of revenge and retribution.  A defeated former president who sees the world from Mar-a-Lago and bows down to billionaires, who looks down on American union workers.  It’s not just he’s not supporting; he looks down on us.  

I — no, I’m not joking.  Think about it.  Think about the guys you grew up with who you’d like to get into the corner and just give them a straight left.  (Laughter.)  I’m not suggesting we hit the president.  (Laughter.)  But we all know those guys growing up.  We all know guys like that growing up.  

My vision of America is one of hope and opportunity — the view from Scranton and working-class Americans like you.  

Here’s the future I see, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart.  I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s chances, not because I’m President, because of the state of the moment.  The world needs us.

Look at we — I just signed — we just signed the bill to give support to Ukraine.  We — (applause) — we rebuilt NATO.  (Applause.)  We increased it. 

Like it or not, we’re the leading country in the world.  The rest of the world looks to us.  

I see an America where we defend democracy, not diminish it.  I see an America where we protect freedoms, not take them away.  I see an economy that grows from the middle out and the bottom up, where the wealthy pay their fair share so we can have childcare, paid leave, and so much more, and still reduce the federal deficit and increase economic growth.  

Folks, imagine what we can do next.  Four —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.) 

THE PRESIDENT:  — more years (inaudible). 

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Are you ready?

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Are you ready to move forward?

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you.  We’re all ready.  We’re ready to move forward not back.  

Are we ready to choose unity over division, dignity over hate, truth over lies? 

Are you ready to choose freedom over democ- — for democracy?  (Applause.) 

We can do this.  I give you my word as a Biden, I’ve never been more optimistic about our future in my entire career.  

We just have to remember who we are.  And I mean this.  Think about it.  We are the United States of America, and there’s nothing beyond our capacity — nothing, nothing, nothing — when we do it together.  (Applause.)  We got to do it together.  

God bless you all.  God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.) 

Thank you all.  I don’t want to go.  (Applause.) 

1:05 P.M. EDT 

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Washington, D.C.

Thank you, Maria.

You give me hope too.

It’s what you do.

In Alzheimer’s, you’ve given others hope during some of their darkest times – even as you were going though yours – shining your light so others can find their way forward.

And you’re giving so many women hope.

Just look at this incredible center at the Cleveland Clinic, and all the women and families whose lives will be changed because of you.

In this moment, I can’t help but think of your mother – who changed so many lives of her own. You carry forward her legacy – fighting for the health of our nation and the planet, always looking for the best way to make the biggest difference for the most people. And with each mark you make on the world, you gift us with a little of her light and her love too.

I know all of us are so thankful. And I think she would be so proud.

Her tenacity is a part of you. Because when you set your mind to something – you don’t back down.

I’ve seen it myself – it’s why I’m here today.

Yes, it all started with that meeting Maria talked about.

I’d met you as second lady, when you were First Lady of California. But we had never sat down like that – never talked about what was on our hearts.

You laid out a problem that was so simple – but so often ignored: that women’s health is understudied and research is underfunded. And too many of our medications, treatments, and medical school textbooks are based on men.

This has created gaps in our understanding of conditions that mostly affect women, only affect women, or affect women and men differently, leaving women seeking health care in a medical world largely designed for men.

It was one of those moments that happen in life, where you learn something and you can never see the world the same way again.

Suddenly, the problem almost felt obvious – because we all know it.

If you ask any woman in America about her healthcare, she probably has a story to tell. You know her.

She’s the woman who gets debilitating migraines, but doesn’t know why, and can’t find treatment options that work for her.

She’s the woman going through menopause, who visits her doctor and leaves with more questions than answers, even though half the country will go through menopause at some point in their lives.

She’s the woman whose heart attack isn’t recognized because her symptoms don’t look like a man’s, even as heart disease is the leading cause of death among women.

As I’ve traveled to research centers and conferences and universities, I’ve shared this with the people I meet. And I see the nods each time – as women, and men, have the same realization I had with Maria.

But it’s not enough to just talk about it. President Biden and I knew we had to work to change this.

That’s why Joe has pushed forward all those pieces that may not have seemed possible before: The first White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, requesting $12 billion from Congress in his State of the Union, signing an Executive Order to make sure that when the government funds research, that work includes women from the beginning. And ensuring that when we make discoveries, those ideas get to the women and families waiting for answers.

And, as part of the initiative, ARPA-H – the agency Joe created to pursue breakthrough health research at lighting speed – launched a “sprint” for women’s health. That means this year, the agency will invest millions to push forward innovations that could be life-changing for women.

All of you have been a part of work like this on Alzheimer’s and other diseases. You’ve poured in resources. You’ve pushed science forward. You’ve changed how we talk about this disease. You’ve seen the power of conversations like the one Maria and I had – how they ripple outwards, reshaping our world.

All of you can create those ripples too – can take what you’ve learned here and share it, can find ways to shift the world. 

Because, if this is the difference one year can make, imagine where we will be this time next year – or the year after…or in 10 years!

There is so much more for us to discover – lives that could be transformed, or even saved. Families that could find the answers they need. Patients who no longer have to struggle with pain or confusion – who could get a second chance at life, not only women, but men too. Because these discoveries could give us insight into all of us. 

That’s the power of research: to investigate and innovate, to help and heal, to build a better health care system – one that places women and their lived experiences at its center.

Thank you for being a part of this work.

Together, we will write new stories about women’s health care. Ones where women leave doctors’ offices with more answers than questions. Where no woman or girl has to hear that, “it’s all in your head,” or, “it’s just stress” ever again. Where women don’t just survive, they lead long, healthy, and happy lives.

Thank you.

###

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The South Lawn

Thank you, Sharona.

It takes incredible courage to not only heal, but to also share your journey so that others can heal too. It’s that same bravery you called on when you chose to put on the uniform and protect others.

Thank you and your daughter for your service.

Every time the President’s Own play, you fill the hearts of all who hear you with pride – and today is no different. Let’s give the Marine Band another round of applause for that incredible rendition of our National Anthem. 

Warriors never ride alone.

That’s the promise of the Wounded Warrior Project – and, as you can see today: it’s true.

Because this isn’t a race. It’s a ride.

It’s not about how fast you can go or leaving people in your dust. It’s about riding as one.

And there’s a magic when you come together. In every look, laugh, encouraging word, or maybe a smile, you pull each other through the pedals, the miles, the days.

Recovery isn’t a race either. You don’t succeed by going faster. Some days you may even feel like you aren’t moving at all. There are challenges that never seem to go away. But warriors find a way forward, together. Because healing is not a straight line. It’s a journey that continues – and at some point, maybe today – you look back and realize just how far you’ve come.

And it’s not just you.

Beside the riders here, there are families.

You – military spouses and kids – may not have worn a uniform, but you serve our country too. Missions may end – wars may come to a close – but the sacrifices that your families make endure.

The Bidens are a military family.

My father was a Navy Signalman in World War II. And our son, Major Beau Biden, served for a year in Iraq as part of the Delaware Army National Guard.

So, as a military mom, and as your First Lady, I want to let you know how much all of you mean to me and to your Commander-in-Chief, President Biden.

The United States doesn’t demand military service of our citizens – you step forward: everyday heroes who sacrifice your own safety, willingly and proudly, so that others can be free.

You represent the best of this country. And you and your families deserve nothing less than our unconditional respect and support.

That’s what Joining Forces – my White House initiative to support military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors – is all about.

And so many of you have been with us from the beginning – have become old friends. It’s great to see you again. Thank you for your ideas, your hard work, and your collaboration. It’s what has allowed us to make so much incredible progress over the last three years:

An historic Executive Order that expands veterans’ access to high-quality, home-based care, which Joe signed last year. He got the PACT Act done, which means more benefits and health care for veterans harmed by toxins. His Administration is investing a record amount in free mental health services for veterans. He’s removing barriers to employment for military spouses, and pushing the private sector to hire veterans and military spouses. And he’s working to end veteran homelessness and prevent veteran suicide.

My husband often says that we have many obligations as a nation, but only one sacred obligation: to support you and your families when we send you into harm’s way, and when you return.

As President – and as a military dad – he never loses sight of that conviction.

That’s why he’s working tirelessly to make sure you and your families have what you need to thrive.

Today, and every day, we ride with you – your President, your nation, and all of us here.

With all my heart, thank you for your service and sacrifice.

May God bless our military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors.

Now, it’s time to begin your ride!

###

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State Dining Room

10:57 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.  It’s a good day for America, it’s a good day for Europe, and it’s a good day for world peace, for real.  This is consequential.

I just signed into law the national security package that was passed by the House of Representatives this weekend and by the Senate yesterday. 

It’s going to make America safer.  It’s going to make the world safer.  And it continues America’s leadership in the world, and everyone knows it. 

It gives vital support to America’s partners and they — so they can defend themselves against threats to their sovereignty and to the lives and freedom of their citizens.  And it’s an investment in our own security, because when our allies are stronger — and I want to make this point again and again — when our allies are stronger, we are stronger.

I’m grateful for all — grateful to all those in Congress — Democrats, Republicans, independents — who voted for this bill.

It’s a path — to my desk, it was a difficult path.  It should have been easier, and it should have gotten there sooner.  But in the end, we did what America always does: We rose to the moment, we came together, and we got it done.

Now we need to move fast, and we are. 

Over two years, Russia has been responsible for a brutal campaign against Ukraine.  They’ve killed tens of thousands of Ukrainians, bombed hospitals — deliberately picked them out — bombed hospitals, kindergartens, grain silos; tried to plunge Ukraine into a cold and dark winter by striking their power grid.

Ukrainians have fought — the Ukrainians have fought back, defending their country and their families with extraordinary courage.  Many of you have been there with me many times.  It’s amazing what they do.  I mean, it’s amazing. 
 
Against such a larger military, Ukraine has regained over half the territory that Russia took from them in this invasion.  And they won important victories against Russia’s navy.  But make no mistake about: They’re a fighting force with the will and the skill to win — the will and the skill to win.

For months, while MAGA Republicans were blocking aid, Ukraine has been running out of artillery shells and ammunition.

Meanwhile, Putin’s friends keep giving him — are keeping him well supplied.  Iran sent him drones.  North Korea has sent him ballistic missiles and artillery shells.  China is providing components and know-how to boost Russia’s defense production.

With all this support, Russia has ramped up its airstrikes against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure, rained down munitions on U- — brave Ukrainians defending their homeland.  And now Americans are going to send Ukraine the supplies they need to keep them in the fight.

This weekend, there are reports — and this is — I find this amazing.  There are reports of cheers breaking out of the trenches in eastern Ukraine — probably came from one of your folks — a reporter or someone.  I’m not sure where it came from.  But that they’re cheering as they watch the House vote in support for Ukraine.

It’s not like they don’t understand what we’ve done.  Not like they don’t understand how critical this is for them.

I’m making sure the shipments start right away.

In the next few hours — literally, the few hours — we’re going to begin sending in equipment to Ukraine for air defense; munitions for artillery, for rocket systems; and armored vehicles. 

You know, this package is literally an investment, not only in Ur- — Ukraine’s security but in Europe’s security, in our own security.
 
We’re sending Ukraine equipment from our own stockpiles, and then we’ll replenish those stockpiles with new products made by American companies here in America: Patriot missiles made in Arizona, Javelins made in Alabama, artillery shells made in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. 
 
In other words, we’re helping Ukraine while at the same time investing in our own industrial base, strengthening our own national security, and supporting jobs in nearly 40 states all across America.
 
You know, the United States is not acting alone, to state the obvious.  Our allies in Europe and around the world, who for — constantly been asking me, “Are we going to step up?  We’re not going to walk away, are we?  How many” — and some of you have been in these international meetings with me.  They’re very concerned.  Had we failed to step up, Lord only knows what would happen to the cohesion of NATO.
 
We’re also sendi- — they’re also sending significant help to Ukraine.  We’re all standing together against this brutal dictator.  
 
As I’ve argued for months, this is directly — directly in the United States’ national security interest.  If Putin trium- — triumphs in Ukraine, the next move of Russian forces could very well be a direct attack on a NATO Ally.  And you all know full well that invoking Article Five of the North Atlantic Treaty would be the first thing that comes to mind, which declares an attack on one is an attack on all.
 
If Putin attacks a NATO Ally, like he’s attacking Ukraine today, we’d have no choice but to come to their aid, just like our NATO Allies came to our la- — our aid after the September 11th attacks here. 
 
That’s why we’re supporting and surging support now to Ukraine: to stop Putin from drawing the United States into a war in Europe and in the future. 
 
You know, it seems to me we should take a little bit of a step back and realize what a critical moment this was for the United States and for NATO.  This is a historical moment.
 
In the last two years, we’ve helped unify, strengthen, and expand NATO.  Imagine if instead we had failed — we had failed to step up now and support Ukraine.  All those gains would have begun to unravel, the cohesion of NATO would have been weakened, and our national security would have been undermined, without any question.
 
You know, Putin started this war believing he could easily break the will of the people of Ukraine.  When that failed, he changed his strategy a little bit, thinking he could break the — break the will of NATO, break the will of the United States, break our will.  Well, he’s failed again.
 
America stands with our friends.  We stand up against dictators.  We bow to no one — to no one, certainly not Vladimir Putin. 
 
Look, this bill also includes vital support for Israel.  Just 10 days ago, we saw Iran launch over 100 missiles and drones at Israel.  And because of them and other allies across the countr- — world, including from the region, none — no serious damage occurred.  An unprecedented attack that followed years of Iran supporting Hezbollah, Hamas, and proxies of their own — their own attack on Israel.  They — they fund these guys. 
 
My commitment to Israel, I want to make clear again, is ironclad.  The security of Israel is critical.  I will always make sure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself against Iran and terrorists it supports.
 
And with this aid, the United States can help replenish Israel’s air defense and provide other critical defense so Iran can never carry out the destruction it intended with its attack 10 days ago.
 
But at the same time, this bill significantly — significantly increases humanitarian assistance we’re sending to the innocent people of Gaza, who are suffering badly.  They’re suffering the consequences of this war that Hamas started.  And we’ve been working intently for months to get as much aid to Gaza as possible.
 
This bill includes $1 billion for additional humanitarian aid in Gaza.  We’re going to immediately secure that aid and surge it — surge it, including food, medical supplies, clean water.  And Israel must make sure all this aid reaches the Palestinians in Gaza without delay. 
 
And everything we do is guided by the ultimate goal of bringing these hostages home, securing a ceasefire, and setting the conditions for an enduring peace. 
 
You know, there’s more that this bill does, in- — as you all know, the press here, including providing for support to strengthen even further our allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as humanitarian aid to places including Haiti, Sudan, and Somalia. 
 
But there’s one thing this bill does not do: border security. 
 
You know, just this year, I proposed and negotiated and agreed to the strongest border security bill this country has ever, ever, ever seen.  It was bipartisan.  It should have been included in this bill, and I’m determined to get it done for the American people.  But I’ll come back to that in another mom- — another time. 
 
This is a reminder of what America can do when we s- — when we come together, despite our differences. 
 
I want to thank everyone in Congress who made it possible, especially the bipartisan leadership: Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson; Leader Jeffries; Leaders Schumer and McConnell.  They don’t always agree, but when it matters most, they stepped up and did the right thing.  And I mean this sincerely, history will remember this time.  History will remember this moment.
 
For all the talk about how dysfunctional things are in Washington, when you look over the past three years, we see that time and again on the critical issues we’ve actually come together.  It hadn’t always been easy, but when it’s come time to decide to rebuild America, we did it with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is just underway. 
 
When it came time to invest in our semiconductor industry and technica- — technologic- — technologies of the future, we did it with the CHIPS and Science Act. 
 
And when it came time to stand with Ukraine and Israel and help the people of Gaza, we did that as well. 
 
At the end of the day, most of us — whether we’re Democrats, Republicans, or independents — believe that America must stand up for what is right. 

We don’t walk away from our allies; we stand with them.  We don’t let tyrants win; we oppose them.  We don’t merely watch global events unfold; we shape them. 
 
That’s what it means to be the ins- — the indispensable nation.  That’s what it means to be the world’s superpower and the world’s leading democracy. 
 
Some of our MAGA Republican friends reject that vision, but this vote makes it clear: There is a bipartisan consensus for that kind of American leadership.  That’s exactly what we’ll continue to deliver. 
 
I thank you all very much.  And now I’m going off to make a speech at a hotel that I am late for.  And I’ll have plenty of time to answer questions on this and other matters. 
 
Thank you.
 
  11:08 A.M. EDT
 
 

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Hillsborough Community College
Tampa, Florida

3:04 P.M. EDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Florida!  (Applause.)  Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello.
 
AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, God love you.  Well, thank you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.
 
Kaitlyn, thank you for that introduction.  And more importantly —
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)  (Laughter.)
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you, Joe.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you for that introduction and for your courage, if you’re back there — your courage for the — and to share your story.  (Applause.)  That’s not an easy thing to do. 
 
You know, Kaitlyn represents millions of women who are enduring unbearable pain and cruelty because of Donald Trump. 
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Booo —
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Sadly, it’s pain and cruelty that millions of women in Florida now face.  You know, but as I said — as she just said, it’s not inevitable.  It’s not inevitable.  We can stop it.  When you vote, we can stop it.  (Applause.)
 
And thanks to Representative Kathy Castor.  Kathy, where are you?  There she is.  Stand up, Kathy.  (Applause.)  Kathy is doing an incredible job in Congress, and I — and is a great, great friend.  Thanks for riding over with me from the airport.
 
You know, the worst sentence in the English language these days is, “The President is at the airport.”  It means you got to show up, you know?  (Laughter.)  But anyway, thank you.
 
And I want to thank Debbie, our next U.S. senator.  Deb, stand up.  (Applause.)  As one — as one senior senator, years ago when I was a freshman running for reelection in the United State Senate, said to me — he said, “I’ll campaign for you or against you, whatever will help the most.”  (Laughter.)
 
It’s really important you win.  This is a critical, critical race.  (Applause.)
 
Debbie is running against Rick Scott —
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo —
 
THE PRESIDENT:  — who wants to sunset Social Security.
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo —
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I think that voters are going to sunset Rick Scott.  (Applause.)
 
It’s important, man. 
 
And thanks to all of you here today.  It’s good to be at a community college.  As a matter of fact, my wife has been campaigning all over the country with me between classes.  My wife still is a full-time professor at — (applause) — at Northern Virginia Community College. 
 
(An audience member drops his cell phone.)
 
You lost your phone.  Get that man his phone.  He’s going to be in trouble.  Or that woman her phone.  (Laughter.)
 
She’s teaching this very day, Jill is.  Community college, as she often says, is one of the best-kept secrets in America.  (Applause.)  No, I really mean it.
 
You know, if I have my way in the next four years, I’m going to make community college free.  (Applause.) 
 
And it’ll grow the economy.  It won’t cost the taxpayers.
 
Look, next week, one of the nation’s most extreme anti-abortion laws will take affect here in Florida.  It’s criminalizing reproductive healthcare for — before women even know whether they’re pregnant. 
 
I mean, this is bizarre.  I can put — you can put a doctor in prison if he takes care of a patient, as you just heard some version of from Louisiana. 
 
You know, this extreme Florida law is going to impact 4 million — 4 million women in the state of Florida.  Florida is one of the Twenty-one states in America — where America — you can’t get access you need for care.  This adds up to one in three women throughout the United States of America have this limitation.
 
For 50 years, the court ruled that there was a fundamental constitutional right to privacy, but two years ago that was taken away.  
 
Let’s be real clear.  There’s one person responsible for this nightmare, and he’s acknowledged and he brags about it: Donald Trump.
 
AUDIENCE:  Booo —
 
THE PRESIDENT:  In fact, Trump has bragged about overturning Roe v. Wade, which meant there’s no federal right, no decision can be made — all those decisions are made at a state level.  A lot of people don’t even know that.  They don’t focus on it.  It’s a — every state can make a decision. 
 
Well, you know, now Trump says the law is, quote, “working the way it’s supposed to.”
 
Trump goes on to say individual state laws are working — his words — “brilliantly.”  “Brilliantly.” 
 
It’s a six-week ban in Florida.  It’s really brilliant, isn’t it?  Even before women know they’re pregnant.  Is that brilliant?
 
AUDIENCE:  No!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Look, just take a look at Arizona.  That goes all the way back to 1864, before Arizona was even a state and before women had the right to vote — concluding that that’s the law of the land in Arizona.  And today, MAGA Republicans refuse to re- — repeal that ban in — in Arizona. 
 
Trump is literally taking us back 160 years.  He says it’s up to the states and this is all about states’ rights.  But he’s wrong.  The Supreme Court was wrong. 
 
This should be a constitutional right in the federal Constitution, a federal right.  (Applause.) 
 
And it shouldn’t matter where in America you live.  It’s about — this isn’t about states’ rights.  It’s about women’s rights.  (Applause.)  No, I really — I mean this.  I —
 
Look — folks, look, now he’s worried the voters will hold him accountable for saying he’s responsible for getting Roe v.  Wade overturned.  (Laughs.)  Donald Trump is worried voters are going to hold him accountable for the cruelty and chaos he created. 
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We will!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Folks, the bad news for Trump is that we are going to hold him accountable.  (Applause.)  We — we are.  He should be held accountable.
 
He should be accountable for states enacting extreme laws that put IVF treatments at risk for women desperately trying to have families. 
 
Voters are going to hold Trump accountable for women being turned away from emergency rooms, like my introducer was; forced to travel hundreds of miles to get basic healthcare; forced to go to court to plead for help to protect herself and her ability to have children in the future. 
 
Folks, voters are going to hold Trump accountable. 
 
When — (applause) — when women are told by extreme politicians and judges to wait, get sicker and sicker to the point where your life is determined to be in danger. 
 
Pregnant women in America are risk — at risk, particularly Black women in America. 
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Yes.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  No, that’s the statistic.  Data shows they’re already too likely to die from complications at birth. 
 
I believe voters are going to hold Trump accountable when family members and doctors are threatened with prosecution for trying to help them.  Not only that, I believe voters are going to hold Trump accountable and his MAGA extremist friends to prevent all women in America from getting safe and effective medication, like mifepristone.  Approved by the FDA 20 years ago, they’re trying to outlaw that now.  (Applause.)
 
For 50 years, the court had recognized that women in America had a fundamental, constitutional right, and then Trump took it away by the — with the deal he made. 
 
Now, in America today, in 2024, women have fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers had because of Donald Trump.
 
Look, I don’t think we’re going to let them get away with it.  Do you?
 
AUDIENCE MEMBERS:  No!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  And, folks, in a sense, I don’t know why he’s — we’re surprised by Trump.  How many times does he have to prove we — [he] can’t be trusted?
 
Trump bragged how proud he was to get rid of Roe v. Wade over it — he took credit for it.  He said there has to be “punishment” for women exercising their reproductive freedom.
 
AUDIENCE MEMBERS:  Booo —
 
THE PRESIDENT:  His words, not mine. 
 
He described the Dobbs decision as a “miracle.”  Maybe it’s coming from that Bible he’s trying to sell.  (Laughter.)  Whoa.  I almost wanted to buy one just to see what the hell is in it.  (Laughter.) 
 
Folks, it was no miracle.  It was a political deal to get rid of Roe v. — a deal.  A political deal he made with the Evangelical base of the Republican Party to look past his moral char- — if they looked past his moral and character flaws in exchange for his commitment to appoint justices of the Supreme Court who would overturn Roe.  Don’t think he’s making the deal right now with MAGA extremists to ban nationwide abortion in every single state, because he’s making it.
 
In fact, the MAGA majority in the House of Representatives has introduced three separate bans — three separate bans to choi- — to ban choice nationwide — in every single state, based on the state — each state.
 
These bills — they’re overwhelming — have overwhelming support of Republicans in Congress.  But know this: As long as I have the power of the presidency, it’s never going to happen.  (Applause.)
 
I mean it.  Congress ever — if Congress ever passes a ban, I will veto that ban.  (Applause.)
 
Elect a Democratic Congress.  Kamala and I will make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again.  (Applause.)
 
Let’s be clear.  The overturning of Roe v. Wade also puts at risk broader rights of privacy for everyone.  If you think I’m exaggerating, here’s what Justice Thomas wrote in his curr- — concurring opinion in Roe v. Wade.  He wrote that the future cases of the Court should reconsider — reconsider all substantive due process precedents, from Griswold — Griswold legalized the use of contraception — O- — and Obergefell — legalized same-sex marriage. 
 
Justice Thomas means it, and so does Donald Trump.
 
Again, here’s what that means: the right to make the best decisions for your health, the right to use birth control, the right to marry the person you love.  All that is at risk now because there it is no longer viewed by some of our good friends in the Court as a constitutional guaranteed right.
 
Are we going to let that happened?
 
AUDIENCE:  Nooo —
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  No way, Joe!  (Laughter.)
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I like it, man.  Will you come with me?  (Laughter.) 
 
Folks, the extreme laws passed that’s overturning Re- — Roe v. Wade have no place in the United States of America. 
 
But what does have a place in America is your voice.  (Applause.)
 
And this decision overturning Roe v. Wade and saying states should make the decisions of the court practically dared women — practically dared women to be heard. 
 
Here’s what they wrote in that decision, “Women are not without electoral or political power.”  No kidding.  No kidding.  (Applause.)  I mean, almost challenging you. 
 
I said at the time, I don’t think the court of the MAGA Republicans have a clue about the power of women in America.  (Applause.)  I re- — I mean it.  I mean it.  But they’re beginning to find out.  (Applause.)
 
Since the Dobbs decision, which states said should make these decisions — the Court said that the state should make the decision — states all over this country, from Ohio, Kansas, Michigan, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Virginia — women and men in every background voted to record numbers to protect — in record numbers to protect reproductive freedom. 
 
This November, you can add Florida to that list.  (Applause.)  You can. 
 
Are you ready to do that?  You got to show up and vote.  (Applause.)
 
Are you ready to protect freedom?  (Applause.)
 
It was Donald Trump who ripped away the rights of freedom of women in America.  It will be all of us who restore those rights for women in America.  (Applause.)
 
And when you do that, we’ll teach Donald Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans a valuable lesson: Don’t mess with the women of America.  (Applause.)
 
And when you do that, we’ll teach Donald Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans a valuable lesson: Don’t mess with the women of America.  (Applause.)  And I mean it.
 
Folks, let’s get this done.  Go to JoeBiden.com, sign up, get involved.  I know you all in this room are involved.  Talk to your family and friends.  Organize your community.  Register voters.  Get them out to vote the old-fashioned way.  Pick them up on Election Day.  Call.  “Do you need a ride to the polls?”  (Applause.)
 
And let’s remember who we are.  We’re the United States of America.  And there is nothing — nothing beyond our capacity if we work together.  (Applause.)
 
May God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops. 
 
Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you. 
 
We’re going to get this done.  (Applause.)
 
AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you, Joe!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Love you. 
 
AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Let’s get it done.  (Applause.)
 
3:18 P.M. EDT

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Nashville, Tennessee

Melodies that fed our souls with a voice that demanded a place on stage – and didn’t take “no” or “wait” for an answer. 

Patsy Cline created a rupture, a shift, a before and an after.

She changed the music industry so profoundly, it’s hard to imagine what our world looked like before.

And with each barrier broken, she pulled a generation with her – women for whom the world’s doors now open a little more easily.

Her music gives voice to the feelings we can’t always define, tracing the contours of our joys and sorrows. It reminds us that we aren’t alone.

With the car radio playing and the windows rolled down, we belted out our pain, her songs carrying us through our heartbreaks and longings, weaving hope through our tears. 

That’s the magic of music.

I teach writing at a community college, so I know the power of good storytelling.

And music – especially country music – tells our stories – what it means to live a life. Of sweet dreams shattered and loves found. Of hard work and soaring ambition. And those memories that remind us of home.

And in those lyrics and plucks and strums, we hear the story of America – the grit and independence that define us, and the love for our home that unites us.

We’re here tonight to once again lose ourselves and be brought together – perhaps even have our hearts healed – by the power of Patsy’s stories. To celebrate that, here in America, our differences are precious and our similarities infinite.

And when those familiar harmonies swell – the distances between us shrink, the barriers fall away, and we find ourselves singing along with strangers and friends alike.

Serving as your First Lady is the honor of my lifetime. And it’s so special to be here with Patsy’s family – including her incredible daughter Julie – as we commemorate an American icon.

And while Patsy may have left us far too soon – as we sing as one, as her music beats in our hearts, as she inspires us to find a strength we didn’t know we had – we add new chapters to her story, carrying forward a legacy that has no end.

May God Bless you all. And may God protect our troops and their families.

Thank you.

###

The post Remarks as Prepared for Delivery by First Lady Jill Biden at “Walkin’ After Midnight: The Music of Patsy Cline” Event appeared first on The White House.

Hmong Cultural and Community Agency

La Crosse, Wisconsin

12:25 P.M. CDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  So, it’s good to be with everyone and to be back in Wisconsin.  And I — is this on?  (Referring to the microphone.)  It doesn’t seem like it is.  Is this — is the mic working?

Well, I can project.  How about that? 

(The microphone is turned on.)  Okay.  There we are.

It is good to see everyone here.  And I’m really looking forward to this conversation, mostly because of the announcements we are making today, which, I will say to the head of SEIU and all of the SEIU leaders and the — the workers who are here, we all know the — what we’re announcing today is long overdue and we still have more work to do.  (Applause.) 

But it is a milestone, and it is something we should celebrate, because it is — it is not happening without the kind of leadership that we have seen historically and currently from SEIU and all of the workers.  So, I thank you all.

I want to thank the administrator, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.  I’ve been working with her during the course of our administration.  She is bold.  She is impatient.  (Laughs.)  She knows things need to get done, and she pushes that they will get done.  And so, I’m so glad that you’re here today with us.

Secretary-Treasurer of SEIU, April Verrett, I want to thank you for your leadership always. 

And then, I know we have Mark Pocan here.  Where — (applause) — oh, right over there.  Right over there.  I want to thank you for your work in the United States Congress.  I get a chance to see you all the time, and you’re always fighting for the people of Wisconsin.  And I thank you for that.  Thank you.

So, today’s conversation really is about the — the safety, the dignity, the guarantee of self-determination that comes with the work that home healthcare workers and care workers do.

Today is about recognizing the gift that home healthcare workers and care workers give to us as a society.
    
You know, it’s now over a decade ago that I spent a day with an SEIU member, Wendy Ko.  And I will tell those who don’t or have not witnessed firsthand this work what an extraordinary day that was.

I saw an individual, Wendy Ko, who started and ended her day with the most extraordinary work that required physical strength and — and work, emotional work, the work that comes with caring, and the amount of output, then, that is required to care about someone in a way that, again, is about uplifting their day and giving them dignity and giving them the respect that they rightly deserve.

Home healthcare workers, the physical part of their work includes literally helping people get up out of bed, changing the sheets so that that person, if they are bound to a bed, can — can have that kind of safety and — and dignity that comes with caring for people. 

It’s about helping people go to the restroom. 

It’s about cooking for people.  It’s about asking the person that they’re caring for “what would you like to eat today,” and trying to give them something that they know they might enjoy and that they will eat and have a taste for, right?  Like, really caring about people to ask. 

It’s about helping people get dressed in the clothing that makes them comfortable and doesn’t irritate them.

It’s about saying to them, “Hey, it’s a sunny day today.  Let’s go outside and take a walk, or I’ll take you to the park.”

It’s the kind of care that really comes from a very special place of — of humanity.  And the value of this work — not only to the individual they’re caring for, but the value of this work to that individual’s family and to us as a society — cannot be understated.

And so, I am —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Woo!  (Laughter.)

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And so, I am so grateful to our home healthcare workers, to our care workers, to the members of SEIU for the work you do every day.  And again, I say, it is about time that we start to recognize your value and pay you accordingly and give you the structural support that you deserve.  (Applause.)

So, here’s the situation right now.  There are approximately 1.2 million Americans who are living in federally funded nursing homes.  And so — and that’s about four out of five of the nursing homes in our country.  Okay?  So, the vast majority of nursing homes are federally funded.

And the majority of federally funded nursing homes are understaffed.  The estimate is 75 percent of those nursing homes are understaffed.  And understand what that means for the resident of that nursing home. 

It means that there may be no one available to help them out of bed.  It means there may be no one available when they fall.  It means that they will receive less medical attention because the workers — the care workers in that facility are going from room to room, from resident to resident, and understaffed in terms of giving folks what they want to give in terms of level of care. 

It means more loneliness when we’re talking about anyone from our seniors to people with disabilities who are in those homes and who want and enjoy the interactions that they have with these care workers.

For caregivers, it means that in the midst of this noble and selfless work that they do, that they don’t get paid enough for the kind of work that they need to cover, and it means that they have less ability to — to do what they want to do and, frankly, their life calling, which is to care for other people.

And I just want to remind everybody — I know a lot of us don’t like to remember the height of COVID, but our — our care workers were — were do- — you know, and then — and it was right, at the time, that we would talk about frontline workers and people would be out on their balconies banging pots to thank them.  Well, we need to thank them every day, not just during the height of a crisis, because the work they do is that essential.

And so, the two announcements that we are making today recognize that we owe you, those workers, so much more than applauding you.  We owe you more than that structurally and in our system.

So, for the first time, we are establishing — the first time in the history of our country, we are establishing national minimum staffing standards for federally funded nursing homes.  (Applause.)

And, again, for residents, this will mean more staff, which means fewer ER visits potentially, more independence for families.  It’s going to mean peace of mind in terms of your loved one being taken care of.  And for care workers, it’s going to be more time with their patients, less burnout, and lower turnover.

Second, our announcement is about a new requirement to help increase pay for home healthcare workers.  (Applause.)  And so, that means a new requirement to help raise pay for home healthcare workers. 

So, Medicaid currently pays $125 billion a year to home healthcare companies, which is hundreds of thousands of workers.  However, before this change in the system, which means forever, home care companies were not required to report how their federal dollars were being spent.

Now, we are requiring that 80 percent of that money be spent on paying workers as opposed to administrative overhead costs.  (Applause.) 

And, again, I’ll close by saying this.  This is about dignity.  And it’s about the dignity that we as a society owe to those, in particular, who care for the least of these.  This is — if you’ll pardon this, but thi- — this is God’s work — (laughs) — to care for people who often you’ve never met before, they’re not related to you, and you care for them as though they’re a member of your family.

And I think everybody would want them for themselves or a member of their family.  And so, let’s recognize the gift that these talented professionals give to families and to all of us as a society.

And with that, I thank you all.  And I am now going to turn it over to April Verrett. 

END                 12:35 P.M. CDT

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Prince William Forest Park
Triangle, Virginia

2:54 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, hello, hello.  (Applause.) 

Thank you, Za’Nyia, for sharing your story that embodies the spirit of Earth Day. 

On this day 54 years ago, with literally toxic rivers burning, air filled with pollution, millions of Americans from every age and background rallied together to stand for our environment and for future generations. 

I got to know Senator Gordan Nelson — Gaylord Nelson, excuse me — from Wisconsin when I got to the Senate.  And he organized the first Earth Day.  I later introduced the first climate bill in the United States Senate.  And all these years later, as president, I was able to sign into law the Inflation Reduction Act, the most si- — (applause) — the most significant [climate] investment every anywhere in the history of the world, and we’re just getting started.

Earth Day pushed the country forward, leading to Environmental Protection Agency, and we’re fortunate enough to have with us the EPA Administrator Michael Regan.  Where are you, Michael?  (Applause.)  Stand up.  Get up.  Get up.

I stole him from Carolina.  We’re not letting him go back.  (Laughter.)

And we’re joined by our great Secretary of Interior, Deb Haaland.  (Applause.)  Deb, stand up.  The first Native American ever to serve in a Cabinet.  (Applause.)

And AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith — Michael, where are you?  There y- — (applause) — joined by members of the Congress, including Ed Markey of Massachusetts, who, by the way, thought this was an important idea a long time ago and talked about dealing with the Climate Corps — one — needed one.  Ed, we owe you a lot, pal.  We owe you a lot.  (Applause.)

And Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who understands what beautiful territory looks like up in Vermont and has done everything in his power to protect it.  Bernie, you’re the best.  (Applause.)

And Representative Ocasio-Cortez of New York — you know, I learned a long time ago: Listen to that lady.  (Laughter.)  Listen to that lady.  We’re going to talk more about another part of the world too, real quickly.

Look, joined by all of you advocates and community leaders, that’s — this is a good day.

It’s fitting to be here in Pric- — Prince William Forest Park.  On March 31, 1933, during the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roose- — Roosevelt created the the Climate [Civilian] Conservation Corps, which is talked about a little bit, to put Americans to work to conserve our country’s natural resources. Thousands — thousands of young Americans from the Civilian Conservation Corps built this park, providing jobs, recreation, hope, and healing at the time.  

We know today we face another kind of existential threat that requires equally bold and clear action.  As President, I’ve seen the devastating toll of climate firsthand.  Since I’ve been president, I’ve flown over all the major fires and the thousands upon thousands of acres that have burned flat by wil- — wildfires — more acres than the entire state of Maryland combined.  I’ve met with families whose homes were wiped off the map by devastating hurricanes, floods, and storms. 

Last year was Earth Day’s [the Earth’s] hottest day [year] on record.  And over the last two years, natural disasters and extreme weather in America have caused $270 billion — $270 billion in damages.  And the impacts we’re seeing — decades in the making because of inaction — are only going to get worse, more frequent, ferocious, and costly.

But since Kamala and I took office, we’ve been acting.  And today, I’m proud to announce two major steps forward. 

The first: Energy costs are among the biggest costs for families to budget, particular poor and middle-income families.  In fact, low-income families can spend up to 30 percent of their paychecks on their energy bills.  It’s outrageous. 

To reduce family energy costs for folks with low and moderate incomes today, the Environmental Protection Agency will invest $7 billion from my Inflation Reduction Act in a new program called “Solar for All.”  (Applause.) 

It will award grants — 60 grants across the country to states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities, and nonprofits to develop programs that enable low-income and disadvantaged communities to benefit from residential solar power.  And it’s a big deal. 

This new Solar for All program means that 900,000 households — 900,000 will have solar on their rooftops for the first time and soon.  Millions of families will save over $400 a year on utility bills.  And that’s $350 million nationwide.  My dad said it matters what’s there at the end of the — end of the paycheck.  But a month is out, do you have anything left?

It means we’ll cut more than 5 million metric tons of carbon pollution annually. 

And, folks, Solar for All will give us more breathing room and cleaner breathing room.  It’s going to also create 200,000 good-paying and union jobs over the five — (applause) — over the five years in communities that need them most: fenceline communities. 

You know, as I always say, I think about climate — when I think about it, I think not only about health and safety, but I think about jobs.  And that brings me to my second announcement.  

Last fall, I talked about a historic new program that my administration is launching, with the help of my colleagues on my right here, called the Cl- — the American Climate Corps.  As I said — and I’m not being solicitous — Ed — Ed Markey talked about that long before — long before.

It’s patterned after the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Peace Corps and America Corps [AmeriCorps]. Like them, it brings out the best in young people to do what’s best for America and will put tens of thousands of young people to work at the forefront of our climate resilience and energy future — clean energy future. 

Today, I’m proud to announce that Americans across the country can now apply — now apply to become the first members of the American Climate Corps.  We’re recru- — (applause) — we’re recruiting for over 2,000 positions in 36 states to start with — in Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, with many on the way.  Just go to ClimateCorps — as mentioned already, ClimateCorps.gov to apply.  You’ll get paid to fight climate change, learning how to install those solar panels, fight wildfires, rebuild wetlands, weatherize homes, and so much more that’s going to protect the environment and build a clean energy economy. 

To ensure a pathway to good union jobs and careers, you’ll have access to pre-apprenticeship training through a new partnership we’re announcing today with the North American Building Trade Unions [Trades Union]. And when y- — (applause) —

As you may remember, when I announced in 2020, I initially didn’t announce my climate position until I talked to the unions, because unions were all ag- — they thought climate cost them jobs.  Well, guess what?  IBEW stepped up, and they all stepped up, and now our strongest support comes from union members.  (Applause.)

When you finish your service — when you finish your term of service, you’ll also be eligible for a streamlined path to federal government jobs related to climate and clean energy.  

We’re also announcing a new collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies that puts American Climate Corps members in energy communities — like former coalmining communities, power plant communities — that have powered our nation but have been fenceline communities that have hurt very badly for generations. 

Today — today’s announcement builds upon an unprecedented and historic action we’ve already taken to tackle the climate crisis, deliver environmental justice, and build a clean energy future.  Just look at the last few weeks alone. 

To ensure clean energy [air], we issued new standards for chemical plants that emit toxic pollution.  Now, (inaudible).

And because of the Clean Air Act, we’re going to reduce the number of people at risk for cancer in fenceline communities who have been smothered for decades by pollution by 96 percent, according to the studies.  

And by the way, parenthetically, you know, my state of Delaware, which everybody thinks is a wealthy state — I lived in a place called Claymont, Delaware.  It’s in that arc that goes up into Philadelphia — into Pennsylvania and to the Delaware River.  More — more energy plants, more oil refin- — refineries than anywhere, including Houston, Texas.  And I lived in just — literally, the school I went to was literally a quarter mile from that border.

And the prevailing winds were southeast, where we lived.  So, there was never any incentive for the Pennsylvanians to move to do something, but it affected Delaware.  And we had the highest cancer rate in the 1970s of any nation — any state in the nation.  And guess what?  A lot of us from — me included, ended up with bronchial asthma and many other diseases. 

Fenceline communities are the ones we have to help first, because they’ve been taking the brunt of all this.

To ensure clean drinking water, we issued the first-ever national drinking water standard that’ll protect people from exposure to harmful substances known as “forever chemicals.” 

And after 30 years of inadequate protections, we finally are going to put a ban on asbestos, which we know causes cancer.  (Applause.)  

It’s all part of a plan to reassert America’s climate leadership.

We rejoined the Paris Agreement and sparked a domestic clean energy manufacturing boom, providing incentives for 80,000 farmers to implement climate-smart agricultural practice.  So, plant what absorbs carbon from the air and get them — pay them for doing it.   

We’ve quadrupled the number of electric vehicles sold, and 11,000 dealerships have now signed up to sell more.

We’re modernizing our infrastructure with better roads and highways and energy grids and more so they can withstand and recover from extreme weather. 

Already underway, we’re replacing every single lead pipe in America so everyone can turn on a faucet, home or at school, and drink clean water that doesn’t contain lead.  (Applause.)

We’re also reduting [reducing] flood risk for communities, improving drought re- — resilience, and conserving 41 million acres of our most precious and sacred lands and water.

I committed that I’m going to try to reserve — take — of all non-developed land and waters, we’re going to take 30 percent of it by 2030 and make sure it is conserved, period.  We’re well on our way.  (Applause.)
We’ve already attracted nearly $700 billion in private sector investments in advanced manufacturing and clean energy, creating tens of thousands of jobs here in America. 

And all across the board, we’re lifting up communities and workers too often left out in urban, rural, suburban, Tribal communities all across the country.

But, folks, despite the overwhelming devastation in red and blue states, there are still those who deny climate is in crisis.  Our MAGA Republican friends don’t seem to think it’s in crisis.  They don’t — they don’t want our — they actually want to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which provides the funding for a vast majority of these projects, and roll back clean air — protections for clean air and clean water. 

And y- — I’m not going to go into it now, but you — I’m not making it up.  It’s real.  Just listen to what they say.

Anyone in or out of government who willfully denies the impacts of climate change is condemning the American people to a very dangerous future — and the world, I might add.  They want to take us backwards, sideline our workers, let China and others lead the race for clean energy. 

I’m determined — absolutely determined — that we move forward — we move forward.  (Applause.)

Let me close with this.  In 1933 — and it was referenced by the congresslady — that when Roosevelt outlined the Civilian Conservation Corps, he said, quote — and I’m quoting — “More important than the material gains will be the moral and spiritual value of such work.”  He always put it in the context that went beyond just what the immediate need was. 

I’d say the same holds true for what we’re doing here today.  It has a moral imperative. 

And I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future.  We just have to remember who we are.  We’re the United States of America.  And there is nothing — nothing beyond our capacity if we work together.  (Applause.) 

And so, happy Earth Day, folks.  (Applause.)  And God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.

We’re going to get this done, I promise you, come hell or high water. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)

Come on up.

All right, guys.  Let’s get this done.  Okay?  (Applause.)  All right.

God bless you all. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)

3:08 P.M. EDT

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Prince William Forest Park
Triangle, Virginia

3:09 P.M. EDT
 
Q    Mr. President, what’s your message to the protesters?
 
Q    Do you condemn the antisemitic protests on college campuses?

THE PRESIDENT:  I condemn the antisemitic protests.  That’s why I’ve set up a program to deal with that.
 
I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians and their — how they’re being —
 
Q    Should the Columbia University President resign?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I didn’t know that.  I’ll — I’ll have to find out more about it.
 
Q    Should she resign?
 
Q    Do you need the abortion issue to win the election?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  No, I need the abortion issue just to follow what’s right.
 
Q    What will your legacy be on abortion?
 
THE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.)  What will your legacy be as a newsperson?
 
3:10 P.M. EDT

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La Crosse Center

La Crosse, Wisconsin

1:56 P.M. CDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Can we hear it for Charlotte?  (Applause.)

Hi, everyone.  Hi.  Please have a seat.

I just want to say about Charlotte — she and I got a chance to visit just for a little bit.  And, you know, when we look at leaders like Charlotte, let’s just all know that our future is bright.  Our future is bright.  I mean, she’s dedicating herself to caring for other people.  She wants to study rural medicine and be an OB-GYN, where there is such a need for that work. 

And when I look at someone like her and all of you who are here, I know we’re going to be okay because we know what’s at stake.  And we’re prepared to fight for all that we know is right and good. 

So, thank you all.  And thank you for spending the time to be here today.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

How’d the training go?  Everybody good?  You pulled out your cell phones and figured out that whole app and everything?  We’re good, kind of?  (Laughter.)  Kind of.  We’ll keep — we’ll keep working on it.

So, let me just say, it’s — first of all, it’s good — (The Vice President picks up a handheld microphone.)  Here, this is what I wanted.  I hate talking behind a podium.

Let me just first, again, thank everybody who’s here.  You know, there is so much at stake in this election.  I know you all know that.  That’s why you are here instead of the 5,000 other things you could be doing. 

And I am very optimistic about what we are capable of.  I know what we are fighting for.  We’re not fighting against something; we’re fighting for all that we believe in to be good and right about our country. 

We love our country.  We love our country.  And we understand, then, what is at stake in terms of foundational, fundamental principles and ideals, including one of the most important: that of freedom.

I believe freedom is fundamental to the promise of America.

The promise of America is the promise of protecting and respecting individuals’ rights and liberty and freedom to make certain decisions, including those of heart and home.

And what is at stake right now in our country — on the topic of this convening, but there are so many others — is so fundamental to the question of what kind of country do we want to live in.  That’s what is before us in November.  And each of us has the power to answer that question.  What kind of country do we want to live in?

And what we know is that, sadly, almost two years ago now, the highest court in our land — the court of Thurgood and RBG — took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America, from the women of America.

And thereafter, in state after state, we’ve been seeing laws proposed and passed that would criminalize healthcare providers — in some states, providing prison for life for doctors and nurses who simply provide healthcare.  Laws being proposed and passed that make no exception even for rape and incest. 

And many of you know, I started my career as a prosecutor.  You may not know why. 

So, one of the reasons is because, when I was in high school, I learned that my best friend was being molested by her stepfather.  And I said to her, “You’ve got to come and stay with us.”  I called my mother.  My mother said, “Of course she does.”  And she came to stay with us. 

And so, I decided at a young age I wanted to take on the work that was about protecting women and children from violence.

The idea that some would be proposing and passing laws that say to a survivor of a crime of violence to their body, a violation to their body, that you don’t have a right to make a decision about what happens to your body next, that’s immoral.  What we’ve been seeing in terms of the harm that has resulted — and those are the stories we know.

And so, we are here to say that we understand the nexus between where we currently are — including some in Wisconsin which would try and enforce a law from the 1800s.  I was just in Arizona.  I mean, can you imagine?  In the 1800s, in Arizona — before Arizona was even a state, before women could vote.  And there is a direct nexus between where we are on this subject and elections.

And on this subject in particular, there is a clear line between where we are now and who is to blame.  Because the former President was very clear with his intention: He would fill and appoint three members of the United States Supreme Court with the intention that they would undo the protections of Roe.  And when they then got on that court, they did exactly what he intended.

And remember, let’s not forget that interview where he said women should be punished.  Let’s not overlook that he has said he is proud of what he did.  Proud that healthcare providers could go to jail, no exception?  Proud that our daughter — Doug and my daughter will have fewer rights than her grandmother?

And look at the reality of this in terms of the stories every day.  But here’s the thing: I’ve been traveling our country on this subject.  And one of the things I do believe is that the majority of us, as Americans, do have empathy.  And what I’m finding is that more and more people will openly agree that one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree the government should not be telling her what to do with her body.  (Applause.)  Right?

If she chooses, she will talk with her priest, her rabbi, her pastor, her imam, but it should not be the government telling her what to do. 

What I am finding is that, when people go on election day, if they are encouraged and reminded that their vote can actually make a difference in terms of who holds that local seat, who holds that statewide seat — God love your governor.  God love your senator.  (Applause.)  God love Pocan.  Where is he?  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)  Right there. 

People, when they are encouraged and reminded of the power of the individual and their vote to weigh in on the subject, they see and know what is possible. 

So, that’s what we are in the process of doing, is traveling the country — I am — and you here, as leaders in Wisconsin, reminding people of what is at stake, reminding them that I think most of us don’t intend that other people would suffer, that most of us don’t intend that the government would be making such personal decisions for other people, and that this is a moment where we must stand up for foundational, fundamental values and principles.

And here’s the other piece that I will say.  When we think about what is at stake, it is absolutely about freedom.  (Applause.) 

You know, we talk about democracy.  Well, let’s think about it.  I think of — of democracy as — as having basically a — there’s a duality to the nature of it.  On the one hand, incredible strength.  When a democracy is intact, the strength it has in terms of what it does to protect its people and protect individual rights and freedoms when intact.

It is also very fragile.  It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it.  And so, fight we will and fight we must.

And here’s the thing: When we fight, we win.  (Applause.)  (Laughs.)  When we fight, we win. 

So, I will say let’s just make sure that we do everything we possibly can.  I’m just looking for — here, that’s where I knew it was.  A hundred and ninety-seven days.  (Laughter.)  We have 197 days to go, which is kind of a long time but really a short amount of time.  And there’s a lot we can get done. 

And I know I’m preaching to the choir here.  Elections can be fun. 

You know, one of the things that I love about ca- — yes, think about it.  (Laughter.)  But think about it.  I don’t know if the person you’re sitting next to right now you’ve met before or not, but what I love about campaigns: You get to meet people that you may have never met before who all come together because we care and we understand what’s at stake, and we understand the power of the collective, and we remember that we’re not in it alone; we’re all in it together.

And so, let’s think about these next 197 days — yes, 197 days — in a way that we remind ourselves that this is what the strength of our country looks like.  It’s about everybody staying engaged and involved. 

It’s about remembering that the sign of real leadership is based not on who you beat down but on who you lift up.  That real leadership — (applause) — right? — is about looking at someone and knowing that the character is about the kind of character that has some level of compassion and concern and care about the struggles of other people and then takes it upon themselves to do something about it.

And that’s what we are, then: a room of leaders who care and are willing to get engaged. 

And so, in this process, Wisconsin, I say: Let’s reelect Tammy Baldwin to the United States Senate — (applause); Pocan to the Congress — (applause); and Joe and me to the White House.  (Laughs.)  (Applause.)

Thank you all very much.  Thank you.  Thank you.

END                  2:06 P.M. CDT

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Aurora, Colorado

Thank you, Lieutenant Governor Primavera. You’re a fighter and a true champion for the people of Colorado. Dianne, you took my breath away last night – it was cold and late, very late, and you were out at the airport to welcome me to Colorado – your service knows no bounds. Thank you.

Today marks 25 years since 12 students and a teacher were killed in the shooting at Columbine. And, in this community, almost 12 years ago, that same pain ripped through Aurora.

This has to stop. Enough funerals. Enough death.

President Biden knows that. And that’s why he’s doing everything he can to protect our communities. But he can’t do it alone. Congress must act to end this senseless gun violence. 

Please join me in a moment of silence.

Thank you.

Mayor Coffman, thank you for helping us make women’s health research a priority for the women of Aurora. You have dedicated yourself to common-sense solutions for the people of Colorado, and the President and I applaud your leadership.

President Saliman – the University of Colorado is making a tremendous difference. We are at an incredible inflection point, ready to make significant advances in this women-focused research and your leadership will help lead the way.

Thank you all for joining us today, for giving me part of your precious weekend.

If you ask any woman in America about her healthcare, she probably has a story to tell. You know her. You may even be her.

She’s the woman who gets debilitating migraines, but doesn’t know why, and can’t find treatment options that work for her.

She’s the woman going through menopause, who visits her doctor and leaves with more questions than answers, even though half the country will go through menopause at some point in their lives.

She’s the woman whose heart attack isn’t recognized because her symptoms don’t look like a man’s, even as heart disease is the leading cause of death among women.

This is why we are here today.

Too many of our medications, treatments, and medical school textbooks are based on men and their bodies. And that’s because research on women’s health has always been underfunded and understudied.

Even though we’ve made great strides in the last 20 years, women are still seeking health care in a medical world largely designed for men. 

In November, President Biden changed that. He launched the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research to fundamentally transform how our country approaches and funds women’s health research.

Joe called on Congress to invest $12 billion into women’s health research at this year’s State of the Union.

And we’re pushing forward innovation that could be life-changing for women. We’re making sure that when the government funds research, that work includes women from the beginning. And when we make discoveries, those ideas get to the women and families waiting for answers.

That’s the power of research: to investigate and innovate, to help and heal, to build a better health care system. 

Somewhere in this room may be the idea that will cure cancer, cure heart disease, cure Alzheimer’s.

Heart health, brain health, chronic diseases – you might just have the answers if only we dissolve the barriers standing in your way.

Through the White House Women’s Health Research Initiative, we begin to do just that.

We will write new stories about women’s health care. Ones where women leave doctors’ offices with more answers than questions. Where no woman or girl has to hear that, “it’s all in your head,” or, “it’s just stress” ever again.

Where women don’t just survive, they lead long, healthy, and happy lives.

Thank you.

###

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Washington Hilton Hotel
Washington, D.C.

12:08 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello!  (Applause.)  Hello, hello, hello!  (Applause.)  It’s good to be home.  (Applause.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  As my mother would say, “God love you.”  Please have a seat if you have one.  I don’t wa- — (laughs) — want you all to have to stand for me.  (Laughter.)

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Four more years, Joe!

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I tell you what, man — (applause) —

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  The reason I got the first four years is the IBEW, and that’s no malarkey.  You guys stood up first.  (Applause.)

Kenny, thanks for that introduction.  I tell you what, I caught the tail end of the little film there.  Pretty impressive.  He’s now a movie star.  (Laughter.)

Look, most of all, I want to thank Kenny and all of you for your partnership and your friendship.  Union workers, IBEW, I’m President and that’s not — no malarkey, because of you.  That’s no joke.  I wouldn’t be standing here had you not stepped up when you did in 2020.  (Applause.)

I was home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where I was raised, and I visited a — the place I used to live in, et cetera.  I tell you what, my grandfather, Ambrose Finnegan, he’d be proud as hell I’m listed as the most pro-union president in history.  He — (applause).

I had an uncle named Ed Finnegan.  He’d say, “Joey, you are union from belt buckle to shoe sole.”  Well, I tell you what, it’s because you built the country.  You’re proof of what I’ve always known.

And I mean this sincerely.  I’ve been saying it for a long time, and it’s finally getting through — not to you but to everybody.  Wall Street didn’t build America.  The middle class built America.  And unions — unions built the middle class.  (Applause.)  And that’s no — you built the middle class.  There would be no middle class without you.

Folks, you’ve been hosting this conference for a long time.  But it’s fair to say in the last four years, there’s been more excitement and energy than ever — of all the work you’re doing.  I know because I see you all across America as I go across the country. 

Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 51,000 new infrastructure projects have been announced so far, and we’re just beginning — roads, bridges, ports, airports, clean water systems, affordable high-speed Internet — all across America, installed by IBEW workers.  (Applause.)

I said when you guys endorsed me, “When I think of climate, I think of unions.  I think of jobs.  Jobs.” 

Improved power grids, new offshore wind turbines put up by the IBEW workers.

A national network of 500,000 electric vehicle stations are going to be built by IBEW workers.

And let’s hear it for Davis-Bacon requirements.  (Applause.)  They guarantee these projects will pay a prevailing wage.

Project Labor Agreements that make sure they hire highly skilled workers who have a voice on the job. 

And, by the way, these projects are using American-made materials, creating even more good-paying American jobs — union jobs.  (Applause.)

You know, since the 1930s — and I have to admit to you, in my early days in the Senate, I didn’t realize this law said it would — the law that established the rights of a union to organize back in the ‘30s — well, that law said — a little piece in it no one paid much attention to.

The law said that when the federal government spends taxpayers’ dollars, it has to — it has to buy American products with it and it has to use American labor.  But that was honored in a — in the exception.  The vast majority of the presidents didn’t do it, and the last guy didn’t even know it.  (Laughter.)  A lot of things he doesn’t know.  (Applause.)

But, look, that’s “Buy American.”  Past administrations, including my predecessor, failed to uphold it. 

But not anymore.  My administration uses American products and American labor to build those products.  (Applause.) 

And, by the way, for all you trade — skilled trade representatives out there, it’s totally within all the rules and regulations.  And there’s no violation.  We’re not violating anything, man, except we’re showing the world what we can do.

At the same time, we’re making the most significant climate investments ever.  When I think — I said, when I think of climate, I think of jobs: union jobs, good-paying jobs, many that don’t require a college degree.  And that’s what we’re seeing. 

We’ve attracted $700 billion in private investments in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and more here in America, creating tens of thousands of good-paying IBEW jobs. 

The bottom line is — this is not an exaggeration — the next decade and beyond, you’ll be coming to this conference seeing how critical the IBEW is and how transformative the proje- — the process you’re going to be making for the country.  And I mean transformative.  

Take nuclear power, the biggest source of clean energy.  It employs over 60,000 workers, including many of you.  The key to meeting the goal of a 100 percent clean power grid by 2035 depends a lot on it.  That’s why we’re keeping existing plants open, restarting shuttered plants, and building America’s first new nuclear plants in decades.  (Applause.) 

And we’re investing to make sure America leads the way on new technologies, like advanced small modular reactors of the future.  That also means manufacturing the fuel that’s needed to run these reactors. 

For too long, we’ve relied on imported uranium to power nuclear reactors — imports from places like Russia, who we can’t trust at all.  My administration is working to change all that.  We’re investing $3.4 billion — $3.4 billion in producing advanced nuclear fuel right here in America. 

You know, folks — (applause) — this — this is — I know we — we’re going to look back on this 20 years from now and be talking about what a revolutionary period this was for the country.  We’re going to make a real gigantic difference. 

Today, I can announce that the IBEW plant in southern Ohio has already produced the first 200 pounds of that powerful enriched uranium — the first ever — first ever made in America.  And it’s on track to produce nearly a ton by the end of the year, enough to power 100,000 homes in this country. 

Folks, thanks to your partnership revitalizing key American industries, we’re reducing reliance on imported oil, creating more jobs for IBEW workers.  So far, more than 2,000 new clean energy projects have come online nationwide since I took office, creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. 

We’re giving tax breaks that are five-times greater to projects that are prevailing — providing a prevailing wage.  If you don’t provide a prevailing wage, you don’t get the tax break.  And we use registered apprenticeships to train their workers. 

Look, we’ve invested $440 million to expand registered apprenticeship programs.

Most Americans may not know — and I love it.  And you guys should talk more about it, in my humble opinion.  Everybody thinks, “I — I want to be an electrician; I’ll show up and I….”  “Well, here.  Here, here’s your card.”  Come on, man.  (Laughter.)  Think about it.  (Applause.)

You — by the way, go on out and ask people who know you — that you’re acquainted with who aren’t in the business at all, “What’s it take to be an electrician?”  You say, “Oh, well, you just say (inaudible).  You get a little bit of training.”  Four to five years of training to become an electrician.  You’re the best in the world.  That’s why it’s the (inaudible).  (Applause.) 

No, I really mean it.  I mean it.  You’re the best in the world.  It’s like having to go college, for God’s sake.  I’m serious.  (Applause.) 

And I tell you what, every businessman I talk to, I remind them of who you are.  Not a joke.  Not a joke. 

And once workers are trained, we’re making sure they get the good pay and benefits they deserve.  

Through my American Rescue Plan, I also enacted the Butch Lewis Act, the most pro-labor union worker law for retirees in 50 years.  (Applause.)  All we’re doing is protecting pensions for thousands of IBEW workers and others.  The idea made — they made it hard for you to get it done is just — it blows my mind.

But we made it happen, while my predecessor never lifted a finger to do hel- — any help.  A matter of fact, he lifted a finger — he put a thumb on it.

Look, not only that, he put union busters on the National Labor Relations Board.  The people I’ve appointed to the National Labor Relations Board actually care about American workers.  (Applause.)  No, I’m not kidding. 

And despite the Supreme Court and our Republican friends trying to block us, they haven’t stopped me from pursuing an alternative path to relieve the crushing burden of student debt.  That includes forgiving loans for vocational schools, community college, and some apprentice programs as well.  (Applause.) 

And, by the way, all these things are saving America money.  We’re not costing money.  It’s saving America.  It’s growing the economy, for God’s sake.  People are doing better.

I could go on, but I’m not going to.  I’m going to resist the temptation.  (Laughter.)  Because, boy, I’m tempted these days.  (Laughter.) 

Together, we’re doing what always worked best for this country: We’re investing in America.  It’s — that’s not complicated.  We’re investing in Americans — not just America, Americans — building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down — not the top down.  Because when you do that, the poor have a ladder up, the middle class does very well, and the wealthy still do very well, except they don’t pay enough taxes.  (Applause.) 

By the way, just parenthetically, you know how much — we have a thousand billionaires in America.  You know what the average federal tax rate is for them?  Billionaire — billion — not million, billion.  8.3 percent federal tax.

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I’m serious.  Isn’t it bizarre?  Anybody willing to trade their tax rate for yours — (laughter) — raise your hand.

Look — and, folks, our plan is working.  So far, we’ve created 15 million new jobs.  Unemployment hasn’t been this low for this long in 50 years.  And that includes record-low unemployment for Black and Hispanic workers as well.  Wages are rising.  Manufacturing is booming.  We’ve created close to eight hun- — you’ve created close to 800,000 new manufacturing jobs since I became president.  (Applause.) 

And I got to tell you, when I was a senator and vice pre- — I got so sick and tired — I know a little about corporations.  There are more corporations in — in — (laughs) — registered in my home state of Delaware than every other state in the Union combined.  They’re not all bad guys, but they ain’t all good guys, either.  (Laughter.)

Look, think what’s happened, all kidding aside, for the years — the previous 15 years, 20 years.  Corporations look for the cheapest labor in the world, sent the jobs — sent the product to those — sent the jobs to those laborers, whether they’re in Asia or Europe, wherever they were, and then they sent the product back home.

Well, instead of importing foreign products, I’m exporting f- — their products, and we’re making those jobs American jobs, created here in America where they belong.  (Applause.)

It’s not that complicated.  No, I really mean it.

Five hundred fifty thousand jobs brought home — home, home home.  (Applause.)

But it’s pretty basic stuff.  I won’t get off course here talking about chips, but all those computer chips, we — we invented.  We s- — we made s- — about the tip of the finger, the size of it.  Well, guess what?  I — you know, I went over to South Korea.  They said, “What are you doing that for?”  I said, “I’m going to get them to invest in America instead of us having to import all of this stuff.”  We had this — this space between what we needed and what we could get.

Well, guess what?  We’ve been — we created $500 bi- — $50 billion in investments here.  They’re bringing it here.  And I asked the guy at Samsung why.  You know what he said to me?  He said, “You have the best workers in the world, and you have the safest place in the world to invest.”

But, look, folks, my predecessor and his MAGA f- — allies have a very different view. 

He promised “Infrastructure Week” every week for four years and never built a damn thing.  (Laughter and applause.)  That’s a fact.

Now, he’s saying Republicans, they want — this is not your father’s Republican party; this is a different breed of cat — these MAGA Republicans.  Now they want to repeal the climate law that would gut all those new jobs and industries we’re creating here in America. 

My predecessor rolled back protection for American workers.  He opposed increases in federal minimum wage.  And he was proud — very proud of his $2 trillion tax cut when he was president that overwhelmingly benefitted the — the wealthy and created the — and the biggest corporations and exploded — exploded the federal debt.  I cut the federal deficit.  He exploded it.  (Applause.)

By the way, this is no — there’s no exaggeration here. It’s going to expire.  And if I’m reelected, it’s going to stay expired.  (Applause.)

Look, let me close with this.  There are two different ways of looking at our economy.  Some folks learn very different lessons growing up than you and I did.  I learned the best way to get — I — or they learned and my opponent learned the best way to get rich is inherit it.  (Laughter.)  I can’t argue much with that, but they — you know?  They learned that paying taxes is for working people, not the super wealthy.  They learned that telling people “you’re fired” is something to be laughed about.

Not where I come from, not where I was raised.  I guess that’s how they look at the world from Park Avenue and Mar-a-Lago, but I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware — working-class and middle-class towns, like many of you did as well. 

Nobody handed you anything.  You paid your taxes.  And being told you were fired wasn’t entertainment; it was a devastating nightmare to a family. 

Folks, where we come from it matters. 

That’s why when I look at the economy, I don’t see it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago.  I literally see through the eyes of Scranton and where I grew up and my grandpop’s kitchen table.  I see it through the eyes of working people like you and the basic value set you represent: honesty, decency, hard work, faith.  It matters.  Fairness matters. 

And if you believe like I do everyone in America deserves just an even shot — no guarantee, just a shot — but guaranteed to have a shot.  In America, we leave nobody behind where we come from. 

Folks, that’s the America you all are building.  That’s the America you’re recreating. 

And let me ask you: Are you going to keep doing it?  (Applause.)

I know we can do this because of you, the American worker. 

And I give you my — I’ve never been more optimistic about our future than I am today.  Folks, we just have to remember who the hell we are.  We’re the United States of America.  And there’s nothing beyond our capacity — nothing, nothing, nothing.  (Applause.)

God bless you all.  Thank you, thank you.  And on behalf of America, thank you.  You’ve really done it.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.

12:25 P.M. EDT

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Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

2:16 P.M. EDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  I tell you what, I’m not sure I want this night to be over with.  (Laughter.)
 
I tell you what, man, this is a bit of a dream for me.  I mean it sincerely.  Having the Kennedy clan here supporting me like they are, that really means a lot to me.
 
You know, when I was the age of some of you guys in this audience, the — all I had to look to — not all I had — had to look at the Kennedy family. 
 
I have — as I said, I have — I have President John F. Kennedy’s desk, the Resolute, where John-John came out through the front of the desk, you know?  And I sit there and I look at the — those two — those two busts by the fireplace.  I’m sitting at my desk, from here to the wall, there’s President — or excuse me — Martin Luther King and there’s Teddy Kennedy, whose brother is the one sitting — brings to my head about what we got to do, but his brother sitting there on that other — other pedestal, Robert F. Kennedy. 
 
And, look, you’re — you’re my ticket to the White House:  you, Pennsylvania.  No, it’s not hyperbole.  You’re the ticket to the White House. 
 
And I was able — (applause) — and you’re getting a whole hell of a lot of people on board. 
 
I went home, as they say, to Scranon — (pronounced in an accent) — (laughter).  There’s no “T” in Scranton if you’re from Scranton.  (Laughter.) 
 
I went home to Scranton, and we got a chance to talk about a lot of things.  But the main thing we got to talk about is the value set that’s up there, just like it is throughout the working-class areas of this state — you know, an awful lot of good people, decent people I grew up with, people who taught me, for real, that — that everything was about treating everybody with dignity, no matter who you were.  Not a joke.  Not a joke. 
 
And so, then we headed off to Pittsburgh.  And, you know, Pittsburgh is back — the “City of Bridges,” 438 of them, as a matter of fact.  They keep building them too — (laughter and applause) — a whole hell of a lot of them. 
 
But — but, you know, steel — you know, I’ve always joked and said that this not only a steel state, this is — this is a state that has a spine of steel.  And the folks in Pittsburgh are really working like hell, and they’re doing well. 
 
And we’re finally making sure that United States Steel stays United States Steel.  It’s not going to be anything — anybody else’s steel.  (Applause.)
 
And then, you know, we — I’m here because — some of you remember — some of you — I’m only 42, but — (laughter) — some of you who are a little bit older may remember that, for the longest time, my little state of Delaware, just south of here — I was raised in — after Scranton, in Claymont, Delaware, right on the border.  And, you know, for the longest time, Delaware had no television station.  We — we were covered by Philly. 
 
And one of the proudest moments of my life — I nearly got killed politically — was when I was the most popular senator in Pennsylvania.  (Laughter.)  No, really.  Remember that?  It was — because they had to cover — I was on tele- — Philadelphia television as much as both the senators were from Pennsylvania.  (Laughter.)
 
But, look, there’s a lot at stake.  And I’m only going to take a few seconds.
 
AUDIECE MEMBER:  Take as long as you want.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  No, no, no, no, no, no.  (Laughter.)
 
It really is about — our democracy is really at risk.  It’s not a joke.  I mean, I’m being deadly earnest.  And this guy means what he says.  If we haven’t learned that now, we’re kidding ourselves.  He means what he says.
 
And when he talks about being a dictator on the first day, he means being able to negate elements of the Constitution.  He’s named where they were.  He said what he would do.  
 
The idea that he thinks that those insurrectionists were “patriots” and he’s going to free them all if, in fact, he gets elected — I mean, this is a full-blown attack on the Capitol in a way that hadn’t happened since the Civil War.
 
So, there’s a lot going on.  He’s committed to be opposed to — not — not just figuratively, literally — everything you’ve helped me get done — everything.  He wants to get rid of the Affordable Care Act.  He wants to get rid — just go down the list.
 
So, what you’re doing here is bigger than me, bigger than you, bigger than any — all of us combined.  It’s about what kind of country our kids are going to live in.  Not because I’m running — not Joe Biden.  I mean this sincerely.  Not because of me, but because of the op- — the opposite, what happens if we lose this election.
 
And it’s — you know, Joe has done a hell of a job.  I asked Joe to be the Envoy to Ireland when we were — (applause) — no, it’s a big deal.  The Irish accords, we were not sure they were going to — weren’t going to fall apart.  He went over, he gained the respect of the Republic as well as the North, and he made sure they stayed in place.
 
So, Joe, I got to warn you: If I win, you’re not going anywhere, pal.  (Laughter and applause.)  Y- — you may — you may be out of the country, but you’re going to be working with us.  (Laughter.)
 
Any rate.  So, I just want to — I just want to thank you all.  You’ve been incredible to me.  Philadelphia has always been the base of how I’ve won all my elections.  I mean, for real.  (Applause.)   So, I’m counting on it.
 
And, you know, Pennsylvania is — I think Pennsylvania is one of those states where it’s kind of unique.  It’s a very successful state.  It’s a wealthy state.  But it’s also a working-class state, where people keep their word, where people mean what they say, where people show up and do what they say they’re going to do.  And that’s who we are. 
 
So, I’ll end by saying: For the longest time, as a young senator, I heard about trickle-down economics.  You know, there used to be — there was a law that was passed in 1934.  It was about unions and could they be — were they legal or not, so on and so forth.  But the law that ended up being passed said not only are unions legit and they have a right to — you can’t artificially stop them from organizing, but they did a second thing.
 
It said that, in the United States of America, if a president is given money from the Congress to do something that is for America — build a new aircraft carrier deck, build a highway, build — whatever it is the money is given for — he should do two things or she should do two things: Number one, make sure they use American products and, number two, American workforce.
 
That was honored in the breach for the vast majority of the years.  When I came to office — and the only excuse could be is there weren’t workers that could do the job in America and if there weren’t materials to be able to do the job. 
 
But since I’ve been President, it’s been investing in America.  The longest time we spent, including some administrations — even some Dem- — (inaudible) some Democratic administrations.  
 
What did we do?  Corporate America — and I know a little bit about corporate America, being from Delaware — more corporations incorporated there than every other state in the union.  That’s not a joke. 
 
But I’ve always been straight with them.  But what did corporate America decide to do?  If they had to build something, they found the cheapest labor in the world to build it with.  So, they go overseas so they — the labor was cheaper — whether it was to Taiwan, South Korea, wherever it was — and then they’d import the product back home.  We changed that.  We are making sure we build it here and sending the product over there.  (Applause.)   And that’s why we’re working.
 
And for the longest time, you notice, the — the mainstream economists criticized me, said I didn’t get it right.  But guess what they’re saying now?  No, I’m serious.  Not — not the right wing, but even the conservative economists.  It’s working.  Invest in wor- — because they started to say, “This about the government making judgments of what’s best for the country.  Let the free enterprise system do it.”  The free enterprise system didn’t do it as well as we’re doing it now.  It’s still a free enterprise system.  We decide where to invest the money. 
 
So, thank you for all you’ve done.  We’re going to do well here in the state because of you.  But it gets down to basic things.  As Joe said, it’s about picking up the phone.  It’s about knocking on doors.  It’s about standing in the shopping centers.  It’s about showing up and just asking, “What do you care about?  What’s on your mind?”  Because an awful lot of people become very sour.  Think about it. 
 
It used to be the way we would communicate.  Most people picked up the paper and read the, quote, “Philadelphia Inquirer,” in the old days, picked up the phone, or turned on the TV and watch the nightly news.  They don’t do it anymore.  It’s on this phone.  It sounds —
 
No, that’s not a joke.  If you — if you look at the percentages of people where they get their news, and there’s so much on — and it’s not — you can almost not blame them because so much of what you read is just flat lies.  Simply not true. 
 
And so, the only way to get through is eye to eye.  That’s the best way to do it.  And that’s why I’m counting on all of you. 
 
And lastly, I’ll point out that, you know, we have 11 headquarters here in Pennsylvania and still we’re going — keep going.  But we also have more people employed here as volunteers — volunteers for full-time employees as well in this effort.  He doesn’t have one single headquarter in this state.  The one he had, he closed.  No, I’m serious.  He doesn’t have any headquarters around the country.
 
You know how much money we raised so far?  We raised a whole hell of a lot of money.  We got one point — but here’s the deal: 1.6 million people.  Let me make sure that’s — either two or six.  I — the press is here and I don’t want to be misquoted.  (Laughter.)  Get the exact number.  Hang on.
 
AIDE:  1.6.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Is it one si- — it’s 1.6, isn’t it?
 
AIDE:  1.6.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.
 
MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  1.6.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  One point six million individual contributions.  Okay.  (Applause.)  Those of you that have been involved in politics before know what — the next number I’m going to give you is important: 97 percent of those contributions are under — under $200.  (Applause.)  Ninety-seven percent.  
 
Five hundred fifty new contribut- — individual contributors just since the last election.  I mean, is the — and we raised a lot of money last time around. 
 
So, folks, we’re really moving.  And I think we’re going to see in all the — in — I didn’t even get into the — into the issues which you all know so well. 
 
But I mean — and isn’t it amazing how principled the opposition is?  (Laughter.)  Trump: “I am the reason why Roe v. Wade was overturned.  I think it should be state’s rights issue now.”  (Laughter.)  “But, wait, I don’t know.  Maybe….”
 
These guys — I’m going to get in trouble.  Anyway.  (Laughter and applause.) 
 
Thank you all so very, very much.  Appreciate it, appreciate it, appreciate it.  Thank you.  And thank you.  (Applause.)
 
      2:28 P.M. EDT
 

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Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

1:47 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Please, have a seat if you have one.  (Laughter.)

Mom and Dad, I hope you were listening.  (Laughter.) 

What an incredible honor.  What an incredible honor.  I don’t want to become emotional, but what an incredible honor to have the support of the Kennedy family.

John White Jr., thanks for those kind words and for carrying on your family’s civil rights legacy.  And so is your son Kellan, who — who’s doing a hell of a job on our campaign.  (Applause.)  He’s helping us win Pennsylvania.  (Applause.)

Kerry, I — that was — that was the most meaningful introduction I’ve ever gotten in my life, other than when my sister introduced me.  And I want to thank you for your friendship, well beyond the introduction.

It’s an incredible honor to receive the endorsement of your family.  And it means so much to me. 

Your mom, Ethel, whom I spoke with on the phone a couple weeks ago — well, I guess, last week — to wish her happy birthday, she’s always been so gracious to my family during the most difficult time of my life.  She’s done so much for the country and the world in her own right. 

And, of course, your dad, who I never got to meet — I just missed — he was a senator from Syra- — from New York.  He came up to Syracuse University and spoke, and I waited in line, but I didn’t get a chance to physically meet him.  I never got — but he inspired me.  And his passion and courage inspired my generation. 

Like millions of Americans, I remember that night on April 4th, 1968.  I was finishing law school at Syracuse University when we heard Dr. King had been assassinated.  The pain and the outrage sparked riots and despair all across the country, including in my home state of Delaware. 

And then we heard a familiar voice I’d listened to many times — your dad, Bobby Kennedy, standing in the back of a truck in Indianapolis asking for peace and quoting one of his favorite Greek poets.  He said, and I quote, “Even in our sleep, our pain, which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart until, our own despair — in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.” 

I had a hard time to believe that day that there was any wisdom, trying to work out from despair where — where we’d go.

It was even harder to believe just two months later, on June the 5th [6th].  I had just graduated from law school, earned an incredible — and learned about an incredible man, later that night, had been assassinated.  Yet another tragedy in your family and a gigantic tragedy for the country. 

Only two political heroes I had growing up were gone within a month of each other — months of each other. 

We faced a real inflection point as a nation. 

When I returned home to my city of Wilmington, one of the cities — only city since Reconstruction to be occupied by the military, the National Guard, with drawn bayonets on every street corner for nine straight months following Dr. King’s murder. 

When I graduated that summer, I went home to take a job at one of the oldest law firms in the state.  But after only a matter of months, I left that law firm and took a job as a public defender because I wanted to be more engaged in the effort. 

I went on to run for the county council, for the United States Senate, and then as Vice President of the United States.  I’ve done so in large part because I thought that’s something your dad would have done.

I’m not — I’m not exaggerating that.  He’s always been on my mind, been one of my heroes.  

Today, I sit behind the Resolute Desk, where President John F. Kennedy once sat.  And as I look from the desk — if you’ve ever taken a tour of the White House, I sit in that desk and I look — in front of the fireplace, to the left is a bust of Martin Luther King and to the right is a bust of your dad.  And I remember to keep — keep looking and remind myself what they would do in tough calls.  (Applause.)

The principles Bobby Kennedy embodied were principles taught by my grandparents and parents around our kitchen table.  And that’s not hyperbole; that’s a fact.  My dad said everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect, no matter what their station — no matter what.  

And they thought — I was taught the worst sin of all — I mean this from the bottom of my heart — the worst sin of all was the abuse of power — physical power, economic power, or psycholo- — that was the worst sin of all — abusing power.  (Applause.)  

And then we have an obligation to each other: to leave no one behind, to give hate no safe harbor. 

It’s up to all of us to preserve and protect the very idea of America. 

You know, we’re unique — we’re in unique in America — in world history.  We’re the only nation founded on an idea.  Every other nation in the world is founded on geography, ethnicity, race, religion — except us.  Think about it.  The idea was, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal,” in the image of God, and deserve to be treated equally throughout their lives.  (Applause.)

We’ve never fully lived up to it, but we’ve never walked away from it.  We’ve never walked from it.  And we’re not going to walk away from it now.  (Applause.)  

Today, we face another inflection point in history.

The 2024 election is about two fundamentally different visions of — for America.  Donald Trump’s vision is one of anger, hate, revenge, and retribution.  He embraces the insurrectionists of January the 6th.  He’s running on it.  And as mentioned already, he promised to be a dictator on “day one” — his own words.  And he calls for —

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  No, he — you know he means it.  And he calls for another “bloodbath” when he loses again.  (Applause.)

Look, your family, the Kennedy family, has endured such violence.  Denying January 6th and whitewashing what happens is absolutely outrageous.

I have a very different view of America, one of hope and optimism, like I hope all of you do — optimism that Bobby Kennedy embodied. 

I see an America where we defend democracy, not diminish it.  I see an America where we protect our freedoms, not take them away.  And I see an America where the economy grows from the middle out and the bottom up — and that way, the middle class does well and the poor have a shot — and where healthcare is a right, not a privilege.  (Applause.)

By the way, all the stuff we’ve done so far — we’ve done it, and guess what?  We’ve cut the budget by a lot of money: $172 billion so far.  So, don’t tell me it can’t be done.  (Applause.)

I see a future where the planet — we save the planet — as this guy is busting his neck doing — from climate change, literally — the climate crisis in — in America.

And we’ve got to do something — the idea we send our kids to school teaching them to duck and cover.  Think about that.  The idea, in the United States of America, (inaudible) duck and cover at school.  More kids being killed by gun violence than almost anything else.

Folks, the America we’re building is significantly different.  We’re going to get it done.  And now, it’s time to keep going and not slow down, because there is so much at stake.  

Let me close with this.  I know Bobby Kennedy liked Greek poets, and they’re great, but I prefer Irish poets.  (Laughter.)  And that’s not a joke, unfortunately.  (Laughter.)  My colleagues used to always kid me for quoting Irish poets on the floor of the Senate.  They thought I did it because I’m Irish.  That’s not the reason.  They’re the best poets in the world.  (Laughter.)

The one I enjoy particularly is Seamus Heaney.  He wrote a poem called “The Cure at Troy” that reminds me of the courage of Bobby Kennedy, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart.  And it goes like this, one stanza.  It says, “History teaches us do not hope on this side of the grave.  But then, once in a lifetime, that longed-for tidal wave of justice will rise up, and hope and history rhyme.”

In 2024, we have a chance to make hope and history rhyme again.  Are you ready to do that with me?  (Applause.)

Are you ready to move forward, not back?  (Applause.)

Are you ready to choose unity over division, dignity over demolition, and choose truth over lies?  (Applause.)  Are you ready to choose freedom over [and] democracy?  Because that’s America.  (Applause.)

Folks, I’ve been doing this a long — I know I only look like I’m 40, but I’ve been doing this a long time.  (Laughter.)  But I’ve never been more optimistic about our future, and I mean it. 

We just have to remember who we are.  We’re the United States of America.  There is nothing — I mean this sincerely.  Think about it.  We’re the only nation in the world — as a student of history, I can say — that’s come out of ever crisis stronger than we went in. 

There’s nothing — nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together.

God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.

Thank you.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

 1:58 P.M. EDT

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The East Room

Thank you, Julie.

When we first asked Julie about this, we thought she would be joining us on one of these screens – on a video call from Germany.

But your husband knew that you had to be here, because you’ve worked too hard on this issue to miss this. And I agree – I think we all do.

And I heard you met your boss, Daniel, in person for the first time!

Bosses like Daniel, who support military spouses on their teams, are critical to making sure spouses can continue in their careers no matter where they may move.

Julie, you’ve fought to make this moment possible – and you’ve helped so many other spouses through the process…as their best advocate, as their expert, as their lifeline. Thank you and your family for your service.

Welcome to the White House!

It’s great to see so many old friends here – to celebrate this moment with people who have been with Joining Forces since the beginning.

Today is only possible because of you and the many others who have been working for decades to make sure military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors have what they need to thrive.

I’m grateful for your ideas, your hard work, and your collaboration.

Congresswoman Crockett – thank you for your leadership and your tireless support of military spouses.

And a special thank you to Deputy Secretary Verma and Deputy Secretary Hicks for all the work your departments have done to bring us to this milestone.

After an Executive Order is signed and the excitement has faded, the work begins – the implementation. That’s where lives change. And that’s what we’re seeing today. Thank you both.

For just a moment, I want all of you to picture a mom of three kids on a base overseas.

She seems to have it all under control.

Her hair is tied back, so that little hands have nothing to grab, and she seamlessly moves between distracting her toddler and keeping her eight-year-old from stealing another cookie from the snack table.

She smiles when she tells you how proud she is of her husband’s service. What an extraordinary opportunity it is to be able to travel the world and live in another country. How her kids are adjusting to their lives abroad so well.

It’s not until you turn the conversation to her that you see those tiny cracks in her wall of strength.

How is she doing?

Well, she does miss her work. She couldn’t take it with her when she moved overseas. Yes, she’s applied to other jobs, but with no luck.

Application after application, she feels like her degrees and experience are going to waste.

After months of trying to find a job, she’s ready to take anything – after all, there are bills to pay – but it won’t be the job she loved.

It won’t be the career she’s worked so hard to build.

I can’t tell you her name, because I’ve met her more times than I can count.

Since we launched Joining Forces more than 10 years ago, I meet her and spouses like her everywhere I go.

And I meet their service members too.

They’re stressed about how difficult it is to make ends meet on one income, questioning how long they can serve their country when their spouse is unhappy or unfulfilled.

We can’t allow our military families to meet these challenges alone.

When I brought these stories back to my husband, President Biden, he listened.

And then he took action. That’s what Joe does, he sees a problem and then he gets to work fixing it. He doesn’t waste any time.

So, last June, Joe signed an historic Executive Order to address the barriers that military spouses face when trying to find work – by making it easier for the federal government to hire them, encouraging federal employers to give spouses time off when they have to move, and reducing child care costs for military families.

A critical part of the Executive Order is allowing military spouses who work for the federal government to take those jobs with them if they have to PCS overseas. With today’s agreement, we’re making that a reality.

It’s common-sense. It’s simple. And it’s long overdue.

We know that the work doesn’t end today.

Child care, jobs with private employers, being able to start your own business, or transfer your professional license to different states – we won’t stop until these are solved.

Our military spouses – so many of you here – may not wear a uniform, but you serve our country too, and it’s our responsibility to support you.

This isn’t just a moral obligation, it’s a national security imperative.

For more than 50 years, our military has been made up entirely of volunteers. We don’t demand service of our citizens – you step forward.

But we put that principle at risk when we force our service members to choose between their love of country and their love of the families who serve alongside them. We must give them the support they need to choose both.

That’s what today is all about.

Our service members deserve nothing less. And neither do all the spouses like Julie, on every base around the world, who are looking to carve out a life while supporting the people they love most.

With all my heart: thank you for your service and your sacrifice.

And now, I’d like to invite the Deputy Secretaries over to the signing table.

###

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United Steelworkers Headquarters
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

2:29 P.M. EDT

 THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Pittsburgh.  (Applause.)  Please have a seat.

 Robert, thank you for that introduction and for sharing your story about being a third-generation steelworker and a Marine Corps veteran.  Where are you?  Are you over on this side?  There you are.

 Well, I want to thank you for the — your new president, by the way.  Dave McCall has been a friend of mine and a friend of a former president.  We — we miss him, but it’s great to have you, Dave.  You’ve been a good friend.  And we’re both longtime friends — (applause) — we’re both longtime friend of Tom’s as well.  We miss him dearly.

 Dave, you’re doing a great job in his footsteps and — and it’s just going to get better, in my view.

 There’s an expression that comes to mind: “You go home with them that brung you to the dance.”  And you brought me to the dance.  (Applause.)  No joke.

 The Mayor and I are buddies.  I told the Mayor — and I mean it sincerely — the first outfit ever to endorse me as a 29-year-old kid running in a tough year for United States Senate, making me the second youngest man ever elected to the Senate, was a guy named Hughie Carcella.  And back in those days, the s- — we had a big steelworkers — we had a lot of steelworkers in Claymont, Delaware, where I was from, because they worked in Worth Steel Company. 

And — and I’ll never forget coming to me and saying, “We’re going to get you help.”  And I came out to Pittsburgh and you — and the steelworkers endorsed me.  It changed everything.  (Applause.) 

Nixon won my state — Nixon won my state of Delaware with 60 percent of the vote, and I won with an astounding 3,100 majority — (laughter) — 3,100 majority.  And it’s thanks to you.  I really mean it.

 I’m Pittsburgh and — because of — and I really mean it: My love for Pittsburgh goes back to my Scranton days.  My Grandfather Finnegan always talked about Pittsburgh.

 Any rate, to make a long story short, the bottom line, for all kidding aside, is I’m president because of you guys.  I really am.  And I’m proud, as was mentioned earlier — I’m proud to be the most pro-union president in American history, for real.  (Applause.)

 Where I was raised, it ain’t labor; it’s unions — unions.  (Applause.)

 I had an uncle.  He’d say, “Joey, you are union from belt buckle to shoe sole.”  (Laughter.)

 Well, I want to thank some folks who had my back and — and had to stay back in Washington and couldn’t be here today.  Representatives Summer Lee and — you know, I — she — by the way, there are votes going on — and Chris DeLuzio.  And Senator Bobby Casey is one of my closest friends, as his dad was.  And John Fetterman, who I want to stay on his side no matter what.  (Laughter and applause.) 

 And thank you to all the state and local leaders here, including the Mayor of Pittsburgh, Ed Gainey.  Ed, you’re the best buddy.  You’ve — you’ve really stepped up.  (Applause.)

 And a great leader, JoJo Burgess, an Army veteran from a steelworking family.  He was my guest at the State of the Union just a couple of years ago.  He came back home to Washington, Pennsylvania, and decided to run for mayor, and he won.  (Applause.)  And he’s still working as a steelworker.  But that’s America.

 Look, folks, it was — I was — almost exactly five years ago that I began my campaign for president right here in Pittsburgh, where I announced.

 I said one of the reasons I was running was to rebuild the backbone of America, the middle class.  And it was already mentioned — it’s been mentioned a thousand times, thankfully, since then — that the backbone of America has a steel spine.  It really does have a steel spine.

 You heard me say it before: Wall Street didn’t build America; the middle class didn’t build — built America, and you guys built the middle class.  Unions built it.

 And that’s why I’m here today to announce a series of actions that I stand by you, the American steelworker.

 Look, first, U.S. Steel has been an iconic American company for more than a century.  And it should remain a totally American company — (applause) — American owned, American operated, by American union steelworkers — the best in the world.  And it’s — that’s going to happen.  I promise you.  (Applause.)

 Second, American steelworkers can outwork, outcompete as long as they have fair competition.  But for too long, the Chinese government has poured state money into Chinese steel companies, pushing them to make so much steel — as much as possible — subsidized by the Chinese government.

 Because Chinese steel companies produce a lot more steel than China needs, it ends up dumping the extra steel into the global markets at unfairly low prices.  And the prices are unfairly low because Chinese steel companies don’t need to worry about making a profit, because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily. 

 They’re not competing.  They’re cheating.  They’re cheating.  And we’ve seen the damage here in America.

 You know, back in the early 2000s, the Chinese steel began floating the mar- — flooding the market wi- — in steel towns all across Pennsylvania and Ohio, who were hit very hard.

Between those years, 2000 and 2010, more than 14,000 steelworkers [and ironworkers] in Pennsylvania and Ohio lost their jobs — 14,000.

 Let me ask you: Are we going to let that happen again?

 AUDIENCE:  No!

 THE PRESIDENT:  I promise you that I’m not going to let that happen again.

 Look, right now, my U.S. Trade Representative is investigating trade practices by the Chinese government regarding steel and aluminum.  If that investigation confirms these anti-competitive trade practices, then I’m calling on her to consider tripling the tariff rates for both steel imports and aluminum imports from China.  (Applause.)

 And we know that Chinese steel and aluminum are being imported into America through Mexico that avoids the tariff.  And just yesterday, I had a delegation down in Mexico meeting with AMLO, the Mexican president, to address this issue. 

Mexico and the United States are going to work together to solve it, I promise you.  I promise you.

 My administration is also taking a real hard look at the Chinese government’s industrial practices when it comes to global shipbuilding, which is critical to our economy.  We depend on a fleet of commercial shipping vessels that carry American products around the world.

 Shipbuilding is critical to our national security, including the strength of the United States Navy.

 That’s why my administration takes it very seriously that U.S. Steelworkers, along with four other unions, have asked us to investigate whether the Chinese government is using anticompetitive practices to artificially lower prices in the shipbuilding industry.

 We’ve heard you.

 And if the Chinese government is doing that and the unfair tactics to undermine free and fair trade competition in the shipping industry, I will take action.  That investigation is going on.

 Taken together, these are strategic and targeted actions that are going to protect American workers and ensure fair competition.

 Meanwhile, my predecessor and the MAGA Republicans want across-the-board tariffs on all imports from all countries.  That could badly hurt American consumers.  It’s estimated it would cost the average American family an average of $1,500 a year if they succeeded in doing that.

 Trump simply doesn’t get it.

For years, I’ve heard my — many of my Republican and even Democratic friends say that China is on the rise and America has been falling behind.  You may have noticed, the last two years, I’ve been the only one disagreeing with that.

I’ve always believed we’ve [they’ve] got it all wrong.  America is rising.  And we have the best economy in the world, which we do.  (Applause.)

And since I’ve come to office, our GDP is up, our trade deficit with China is down to the lowest level in over a decade, and we’re standing up against the Chinese government unfair economic practice and industrial over-capacity.

 And we are the strongest economic — economy in the world.

 In addition — and, by the way, China has got more — I always say to my colleagues — when I meet other world leaders, I say, “Would you trade places with China?  Would you trade places with their problems?”  They’ve got a population that is more people in retirement than working.  They’re not in- — they’re not importing any — they’re not bringing — they’re xenophobic — no — nobody coming — else coming in.  They’ve got real problems.

 I’m not looking for a fight with China.  I’m looking for competition, but fair competition.

In addition, we’re standing up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.  I’ve revitalized our partnerships in — and our alliances in the Pacific with India, Australia, South Korea, the Philippines, and other Pacific Island nations.

 I’ve made sure that we have the most advanced technologies that we’ve developed and invented, and they can’t be sent to China or undermine our — because it’ll undermine our national security.

 When I spoke with Xi Jinping, he said, “Why?”  I said, “Because you use it for all the wrong reasons, so you’re not going to get those advanced computer chips.”

 Finally, for all this tough talk on China, it never occurred to my predecessor to do any of that.

 The bottom line is that I want fair competition with China, not conflict, and we’re in a stronger position to win the economic competition of the 21st century against China or anyone else because we’re investing in America and American workers again, finally.  (Applause.)

 You know, there’s a law, back in the ‘30s, that passed when we — about whether unions could exist.  There’s a provision that no — very few people — very few presidents ever paid attention to.  If a president is sent money from the Congress to do something for the public, he must use American products and must use American workers, unless you couldn’t find them.  Well, guess what?  A lot of them didn’t find them, except me.  (Laughter and applause.)  No, I mean it.  Not a joke.

 Everything we build, we build with American product and with American workers, period.  (Applause.)  And it doesn’t violate any trade agreement. 

 Thanks to my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we announced over 51,000 new infrastructure projects all across America — (applause) — so far — we’re just getting started — including roads, bridges, ports, airports, clean water systems, high-speed affordable Internet, all across America.

 You may remember, my predecessor promised “Infrastructure Week” after week after week — (laughter) — for four years and never built a damn thing.  (Applause.)  Nothing.  No, I’m serious: Nothing.

 And, by the way, these projects are going to be using — using American-made materials, like American steel and American concrete, creating good-paying American jobs — union jobs.  (Applause.)

 Why?  As I said — I’ve already said it, but since the ‘30s, the law has said we could do that.  And that’s exactly what I’m doing. 

 And we’re buying American.  We are selling American.  It’s all about America.  We buy America.

 And past administrations, including my predecessor, failed to uphold that “Buy American” provision.  Not anymore.  That’s — that’s over.  We — American products and American workers.

 Look, folks, you know, I signed the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant law taking on climate change ever anywhere in the world — anywhere in the world. 

We didn’t get anybody to vote for it, other than my Democratic friends.  Okay?

 Well, guess what?  That includes billions of dollars in investments in industries of the future, including clean American steel.  It’s clean because the way we produce it here emits much less carbon than the steel made in China.

 Last month, my administration announced the largest investment ever in clean manufacturing in American history — in all of American history.  (Applause.)  It included up to $1.5 billion in six clean steel projects across America — $1.5 billion.  It’s going to create and support thousands of union jobs, including at — at Butler Works in — in Lyndora, Pe- — over in Lyndora, Pennsylvania.

 My predecessor and his Republican friends in Congress want to repeal that law that would cut those jobs.  And it would cut the jobs if you repeal the law.  I’m serious. 

The — I know when I say these things, you wonder can that — could they be — possibly be that stupid?  (Laughter.)  I — I shouldn’t say it that way.  (Laughter.) 

But I’m serious.  Think about it.  Just check it out.  That’s what they want to do.  But that’s not all.

My predecessor rolled back protections for American workers.  He opposed the increase overall for federal minimum wage.  He put union busters on the National Labor Relations Board.

AUDIENCE:  Booo —

THE PRESIDENT:  For real.  Well, you know he did.  Think — think of what the board looked like before I became president.  Not a joke.  Not a joke.

Meanwhile, since I was sworn in as president, because of you, look at what we’ve achieved together.  Through my American Rescue Plan, I enacted the Butch Lewis Act, the most significant law — (applause) — the most significant law for union workers and retirees in 50 years. 

Think of what would happen if we didn’t get that passed.  And none of them wanted to help me.  But we got it done.

It protected the hard-earned pensions of more than 120,000 steelworkers.  (Applause.)  Folks, you’ve had my back, and I promise I have your back.

We made that happen while my predecessor never lifted a finger to help.

 I also increased the federal minimum wage for federal contracts.  The people I’ve appointed to the National Labor Relations Board actually care about American workers.

 So far, we’ve created 15 million — as mentioned earlier — new jobs — a record in a — in a term of a president — (applause) — 492,000 new jobs so far in Pennsylvania alone.  (Applause.)  Under my predecessor, who is busy right now — (laughter) — Pennsylvania lost 275,000 jobs.  I mean, let’s — let’s look at the facts.

 On my watch, unemployment hasn’t been this low for this long in 50 years.  (Applause.)  That’s 50 years.  Wages are rising.  American manufacturing is booming.  We’ve created up close to 800,000 new manufacturing jobs since I became president, including 28,000 manufacturing jobs right here in Pennsylvania. 

 We’ve attracted $680 billion — let me say it again — $680 billion in private-sector investment in advanced manufacturing and clean energy here in America, including $4 billion just here in the state of Pennsylvania so far.

 Folks, instead of importing foreign products and exporting American jobs, we’re exporting American products and creating American jobs.  Think about — think of all the time — think — think of the last years where they’d go — American — corporate America wanted to go find the cheapest labor in the world, send the jobs overseas, and then import the product home.  Not anymore.

Together, we’re doing what’s always worked best for this country.  We’re investing in all of America, in all Americans. 

And we’re building an economy from the middle out — not — and the bottom up, not the top down.  Because when we do that, the poor have a ladder up and the middle class do well and the wealthy still do very well.  (Applause.)  We all do well.  No, for real.

 Look, let me close with this.  I just came from my hometown, Scranton, Pennsylvania, a place like Pittsburgh that sort of climbs into your heart and never leaves you.  And it really doesn’t.

 My mom didn’t live in — in Scranton since she was — 1954, but when you’d ask Mom where is she from, she’d say, “Scranton.”  “Scranton.”  (Laughter.)  Well, where you learn basic — a basic value set, like you do here. 

 Money doesn’t determine your worth, I would always be told.  Everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect. 

My dad used to say, “A job is about a lot more than a paycheck — worth a lot more than a paycheck, pal.  It’s about your dignity.  It’s about respect.  It’s about being treated with respect.” 

 And he’d say — he’d always — and I give you my word.  These are phrases he’d always use.  He’d say, “You know, not only being able to give — have respect, but being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it — mean it.”

 Look, everyone — everyone deserves a fair shot — just a fair shot.  And we’re going to leave no one behind.

 Folks, that’s my view of the economy — from Scranton, from Pittsburgh, from the thousands of working- and middle-class neighborhoods all across America.  It’s a future we are building together.

 As I said, I always think of my dad.  I really mean it.  My Dad, during the war, he didn’t get to go to college.  He got a — he was from Bal- — as they say in Baltimore, Baltimore — (pronounced in an accent) — (laughter) — he was from — he was from Baltimore, and then his father, then, worked for American Oil Company and moved to Wilmington and then to Scranton to open up business — to open up stations. 

 And — but he always would come home and — and he’d go back and close the business.  He didn’t own it; he was a — managed a dealership.  And he’d say, “A job is a lot more than a paycheck.”  And it really is.  It’s about treating people with dignity.  It’s about treating them with respect.  And, look, it’s going to be okay.  It’s going to be okay.

 Folks, because of you, the American worker, I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future.  And I mean it.  I really, truly am.

 When my son died, I decided I wa- — he had spent a year in Iraq, and he — unfortunately, his hooch was next to a burn pit.  And he went one of the most fit guys in his — in his regiment, and he came home with stage four glioblastoma.  They’re more brain injuries for — for folks fighting in Iraq than any other place in the world.

 Remember what happened to all those firemen in 9/11?  Same thing happened because these burn pits are just awful.  They put everything from human waste to — anyway —

And — and I — and so, I wasn’t going to run.  But what happened was, when he passed, you remember that — right after that — well, you don’t remember him passing in 2015.  And I w- — I wasn’t going to run.  I was going to write a book about inflection points in American history, where the actions we take in a short period of time determine what happens in the next five or six decades.  Well, that’s one of the places we’re at right now. 

And when those folks came walking out of those fields — down in Charlottesville, Virginia — carrying Nazi banners, singing the same garbage that they sang in Hitler’s streets in Germany in the ‘30s, carrying torches, accompanied by the Ku Klux Klan, and a young woman was killed, I decided that I had to run.  I had to run.  Our democracy is at stake, and it really is.

But you know what changes it?  When you make the economy grow.  When you stand up and ordinary people have an even shot and they’re not at all susceptible to the garbage that’s fed from these guys.  It’s pure garbage. 

I’m supposed to stop.  I — I shouldn’t keep going.  (Laughter and applause.)

Well, folks, look — look, we’ve got to just remember who we are.  And I can’t — well, when I left Scranton today, I wanted to go to the war memorial that has the names of all the Scrantonians who died in World War Two etched into a granite wall, because I wanted to see where my uncle — “Uncle Bosie,” Ambrose J. Finnegan — where his name was etched.

Back a- — when D-Day occurred and — on Sunday, the next day, my mother’s four brothers all went down to the recruiting station and joined the military.  Every one of them volunteered. 

And my uncle — they called him Un- — Ambrose — instead of “Brosie,” they called him “Bosie.”  My Uncle Bosie was a hell of an athlete, they tell me, when he was a kid.  And he became an Army Air Corps, before the Air Force came along.  He flew those single-engine planes as reconnaissance over war zones.

And he got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be — there were a lot of cannibals, for real, in that part of New Guinea. 

And — and then my son volunteered to go to Iraq for a year.  And he came back with stage four glioblastoma.  And they — and they gave — like many of you, risked your lives and you know people who gave their lives for the country.  They’re heroes. 

But one of the things that I — as I was doing that today, I was reminded of what my opponent said in Paris not too long ago.  They asked him if he would go visit American gravesites.  He said, “No,” he wouldn’t do it, because they were all “suckers” and “losers.” 

 I’m not making that up.  His staff who was with him acknowledge it today.  “Suckers” and “losers.”  That man doesn’t deserve to have been the Commander-in-Chief for my son, my uncle. 

So, folks, we got a lot of work to do, but I’m confident we can do it.  And I mean it.  I’ve never been more optimistic about our possibilities as a nation. 

So, let’s go out and get (inaudible).  (Applause.)

We’re the United States of America.  There’s nothing beyond our capacity — nothing.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)

2:50 P.M. EDT

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Wilkes-Barre Scranton International Airport
Avoca, Pennsylvania

12:05 P.M. EDT

Q    Mr. President, will you talk about the war memorial you were just at very briefly?  What did you see?  What did you hear?

THE PRESIDENT:  I wanted to see where my uncle, Ambrose J. Finnegan, was memorialized.  And there was a World War Two memorial built for those who lost their lives in World War Two. 

And when D-Day occurred, the next day, on Monday, all four of my mother’s brothers went down and volunteered to join the military.  And four of them — three of them made it.  One was 4-F — couldn’t go.

And Ambrose Finnegan — we called him “Uncle Bosie” — he — he was shot down.  He was Army Air Corps before there was an Air Force.  He flew single-engine planes, reconnaissance flights over New Guinea.  He had volunteered because someone couldn’t make it.  He got shot down in an area where there were a lot of cannibals in New Guinea at the time. 

They never recovered his body.  But the government went back, when I went down there, and they checked and found some parts of the plane and the like.

And what I was thinking about when I was standing there was when Trump refused to go up to the memorial for veterans in Paris, and he said they were a bunch of “suckers” and “losers.”

To me, that is such a disqualifying assertion made by a president — “suckers” and “losers.”  The guys who saved civilization in the 1940s — “suckers” and “losers.” 

And I just wanted to go and — we have a tradition in our family that my grandfather started.  When you visit a gravesite of a family member — it’s going to sound strange to you, but — you say three Hail Marys.  And that’s what I was doing at the site.

My — my gran- — my uncle, Ambrose Finnegan — Uncle — Uncle Bosie was a hell of a guy from what I — I never met him, obviously.

And — but I just wanted to see where he was memorialized.

Q    And, Mr. President, what do you think about these separate bills for Ukraine and Israel aid?  Are you confident that it’s going to get through?

THE PRESIDENT:  I’m getting briefed on it when I get on the plane.  That’s why I was talking to my staff.  I’ll tell you then.

Thank you.

     12:08 P.M. EDT

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Private Residence

Los Angeles, CA

5:56 P.M. PDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT:  (Inaudible.)  Everyone, sit down.  Sit down.  Hi.  Hi. 

Oh, this feels so formal.  (Laughter.)  I’m just going to stand here.

Sybil and Matthew, I — first of all, I just want to thank you guys for hosting us, but for everything that you do for our country and our world, really.  And I just — I so enjoy speaking with you about a range of topics.  And now we’re going to talk about high-speed Internet also.  (Laughter.)

High-speed Internet is really — it’s a big deal.  It’s actually a big deal.  And I’m going to get into other issues.  But, you know, I think that the pandemic in so many ways was obviously something that caused an extraordinary amount of suffering — right? — extraordinary loss of life; people lost their jobs; they lost their sense of normalcy; children lost, you know, very significant phases of their education.  And the pandemic in — in some ways was also an accelerator around some things we do need to get on with and do and embrace, including technology.  Right? 

So — but what it did is it highlighted those — the number of people who don’t have access to critical technology.  And it also facilitated the use of technology for those who had it in a way that we had been encouraging, such as telemedicine. 

But, I’ll — you know, I — when I — back in the day, I was campaigning in South Carolina — in rural South Carolina.  It was back in 2019.  And I was — I’ll never forget.  It was a day after I went to church with all these ladies, and then we did an event and everyone was in their finery.  And it was in a rural area of South Carolina, and I was talking about education — something that I know we all care about and have talked about. 

And I talked about the upside-down school day — this new way of doing education where we give kids a tablet to take home for the relatively passive part of the education, which is hearing the lecture from the teacher, and then we send them to sch- — the class the next day to do homework with the teacher, which, of course, can then address issues like a parent who’s working two or three jobs and can’t do homework with their kids or a parent who may not have graduated high school even or English is a second language, but why should that kid suffer — right? — because the resources aren’t there?  Upside-down school day.

And I’m very excited about it, and I’ve been talking about it for years.  And I’m in rural South Carolina talking about it — and blank stares, like nothing.  I’m getting nothing from anybody in this room.  (Laughter.)  And then I realized — and I could have just — I was so upset with myself — they don’t have high-speed Internet out there. 

So, this idea — this smart idea I’m coming in with — (laughter) — right? — about the tablet and the upside-down school day, it doesn’t connect with their reality. 

And so, what we have done is — one of the things of our accomplishments is that we are now on track to establish for every family in America that they will have access to and be able to afford high-speed Internet, and it’s going to be a game changer, whether it be telemedicine, whether it be —

You know, one of the things that we’ve been talking a lot about — and I’ve been spending a lot of time with young people, particularly Gen Z, who I love.  I — I — you know, I know if you have them in your life, it’s complicated.  (Laughter.)  But — but about mental health, you know, this younger generation really will talk about mental health. 

But one of the great things about telemedicine and mental health treatment is this isn’t — nobody has to see you walk into the “crazy house” to get treatment.  Right?  You don’t have to run into this person at the grocery store.  This can be somebody who lives 3,000 miles away, and technology will facilitate that kind of treatment that otherwise people did not have access to. 

So, high-speed Internet: one of our biggest accomplishments that may be invisible to a lot of people, but for a lot of people, it’s going to be a game changer. 

You know, my husband, Doug — he’s so very funny.  He’s like, “Honey, you know, the problem that we have in this reelect is that our list of accomplishments — like a CVS receipt.”  (Laughter.)  You know, the thing just goes on and on and on.  And we have to condense it and bring it, you know, down to maybe three or five things that people can process, but there’s so much. 

But with that, I’ll just say this.  We’re going to win this election.  We are going to win this election.  We’ve got a ton of good material, in terms of accomplishments, that directly impact real people in a very significant way, in a way that they feel as well as understand. 

And the stakes could not be higher.  You know, we all have been a part of these campaigns.  Every four — we’re perennials, right?  And every time, we said, “This is the most important election of our lifetime.”  This is the most important election of our lifetime. 

I mean, we literally are at a point where we are making a decision about what the trajectory of our country will be for generations to come. 

We were talking about — I was sharing with these guys that I recently saw, at the state dinner, the Prime Minister of — of Japan, Kishida.  And now, as Vice President, I have met with, my team tells me, over 150 world leaders — presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, and kings.

My last three international trips were Munich Security Conference, Dubai for COP28, and the UK.  Rishi Sunak invited me to come, and I presented on the future of the safety of AI. 

In any event, having now met many of these world leaders multiple times to the point that we are on a first-name basis, these last three trips, to a one, they came up to me, “Kamala, I hope you guys are going to be okay.”  And when they present that point, it is purely out of self-interest. 

You know, sometimes I think about and — and hope that we, as the American people, fully understand the significance of our country to the world.  You know, we do, in terms of a sense of patriotism about the flag and about — you know, there’s a certain righteous bravado that we have about who we are.  But I really do hope we fully understand how significant we are to the world — flawed though we may be, imperfect though we certainly are. 

But the outcome of this election will have implications that are, without any question, global and — and profound.  And we are going to win.  And everything is at stake. 

And one of the things that I think we all know and you all know, which is why you keep just doing what you are doing to be so supportive and actively supportive and engaged is — you know, when we talk about fighting for our democracy — and when I am traveling, which I’m traveling practically every day and will be through November — 203 days to go, if anyone wants to know — (laughter) — I talk about our democracy, and usually, the language I use is more about freedoms. 

But on the subject of our democracy, you know, there’s a duality to the nature of democracy, I think.  On the one hand, incredible strength when a democracy is intact — what it does to uplift and defend and protect the rights of its people — right? — the freedoms, the liberty of its people, what — incredible strength.  And it is very fragile.  It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it. 

And so, fight we must.  And fight we do.  And when we fight, we win.  And that’s it.  (Applause.)

END                 6:04 P.M. PDT

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Carpenters Training Center
Scranton, Pennsylvania

6:29 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Guys, you come up here.  Come on.  Come on. 

Good to see you, buddy.

PARTICIPANT:  Yeah, you too.

THE PRESIDENT:  Come on.

With the Bells and the Bidens, like all of you — my dad used to have an expression.  He’d say, “Family is the beginning, the middle, and the end” — “the beginning, the middle, and the end.” 

(Addressing Megan Bell’s daughter, Eloise.)  And you need Secret Service guarding you.  (Laughter.) 

But, folks, look, first of all, I want to thank the Carpenters Union.  They’ve been with me for my entire career.  They’ve been loyal to me, and I think I’ve been loyal to them.  (Applause.)

Now, one of the things that she hadn’t told you is Tommy is — along with Larry — Larry, stand up.  This is Larry Orr.  Larry is another one of the — (applause) — he lived right across the gates in Marywood — and another guy named Charlie Roth, the four of us were inseparable. 

When — when things changed for my dad up in Scranton and lost his job, we moved back to Delaware, where he was from.  And when he originally — that’s where he came from — Delaware — to Scranton.

And — and I’d come home, though, for every holiday, almost all summer.  And when I fell in love when I was in law school — actually, it wasn’t even law school; I was in college.  I went on spring break.  I had made $85 of — from a tax return.  (Laughter.)  And — oh, you think I’m kidding; I’m not.  (Laughter.)

And my dad didn’t own but he ran an automobile dealership.  And so, I had a car, and I put five guys in the car.  They all chipped in to pay the way down.  We went to Lauderdale.

Now, the problem is — I’m going to lose a lot of credibility with all of you — (laughter) — but I’m the only Scrantonian and the only Irishman you’ve ever met that’s never had a drink in his life because too many people have too many drinks in their life, in my opinion.  (Laughter.)  And so, we got down to Fort Lauderdale, and all everybody was doing is drunk most of the time.  And I found out that there was a possibility of being able to get on a plane for 20 bucks — $22 round trip to go to Nassau.

So, I thought, “Well, there may be some nice girls in Nassau.”  (Laughter.)  The only reason we all came down — any rate. 

So, I got on the plane, and I had two guys with me.  We had just finished spring football practice at the University of Delaware.  And I had been named as the likely starting safety that year and — next year.  And so, we started off, and a guy named — his nickname was Mi- — he was Mike McCrann.  We called him “Crash” McCrann.  He looked like Rock Hudson and acted like it.  (Laughter.)  And a guy named Fred Sears, who ran one of the biggest banks in Delaware later.

And so, we walked into — we went to the British Colonial hotel.  We — actually, we found a bunch of guys from Michigan.  We slept on the floor of their place.  And — and we went to go to the beach.  Turns out, all the beaches in Nassau — public beaches, there’s none of the college girls.  They’re — you know, they — they’re all locals, and there’s not many people.

So, we walked down to the beach this particular day — the first day we got there — and the British Colonial hot- — hotel had this chain-link fence that ran from the street all the way down into the water so you couldn’t cross into the — the hotel area.  And so, we wondered what the heck we were going to do.

Turns out they — a bunch of folks going in and throwing their towels saying “British Colonial hotel” on it over the wi- — barbed wire — not barbed wire — chain-link fence.  So, I had an idea.  We each grabbed a towel, put it around us, and we walked in the front door — (laughter) — no, I’m serious; true story — of the British Colonial hotel. 

And we walked in and we acted like — and you walked in, and you had the — the registration on the left and down the cent- — but straight ahead — like, from here, half again the distance from the back wall — was the glass looking out on the swimming pool and then beyond the swimming pool and onto the ocean. 

And so, we just walked in like we belonged there and walked right out.  (Laughter.)  And I’m standing there, and we’re all looking around, and I saw this beautiful young woman.  I said, “I’m going to go talk to her.”  And old Crash McCrann, I nicknamed — he was a fullback — I said, “No, I am.”  I said — and Fred Sears, my buddy, flipped a coin.  I won.  (Laughter.)

And so, I walked up, sat down on the end of the bench of the — and the sun was coming from — toward the water.  And it was later — and toward the water.  And I sat on the end of the chaise lounge, and I said, “My name is Joe Biden.  I’m from the University of Delaware.”  And she said, “My name is Neilia Hunter.  I’m from Syracuse.”  And I said hi, and we started to talk and just talking.  And I watched this — this yacht pull up in front.  I’m not — this is not a joke.

Well, to me, it was a yacht.  It was, like, 40, 45 feet.  (Laughter.)

And I see this guy with a white hat on, white, you know, uniform — not uniform — pants and the — and the shoes and the whole deal.  And he gets in a little dingy and he rows to shore.  And I’m just — I’m talking to her like — like you’re she, and I’m looking up.  And I watch the guy pull up, and he pulls a — the dingy up onto the beach.  And he starts walking toward us. 

And I’m just watching him.  And he walks straight to us, and he looks down at Neilia, and he says, “Neilia, are we on for dinner tonight?”  (Laughter.)

I thought, “Oh, man.”  (Laughter.) 

But what happened was he — she looked and she said, “Oh, I’m sorry” — it — it was the Wickwire family, a major highway contractor in New York — in Skaneateles, New York, in the state of New York.  And what — they were neighbors. 

And she said, “No.”  She said, “I — Joe and I are going to go to dinner.”  (Laughter.) 

And so, with that, he left, and she was mortified.  She said, “I’m so sorry, but I didn’t want to.”  I said, “Why don’t we?”  I had a total of $42 left.  (Laughter.)  But then, you could buy a McDonald’s hamburger for 19 cents or something.  (Laughter.)

So, she said, “Well, I kn- — I know a place we can go.”  And she’s a very classy lady.  She picked a place she thought we co- — I could afford.  And so, we walked into this particular restaurant and sat down.  I ordered a hamburger because I didn’t have any money, and she — the classy woman she was, she ordered the same thing, like whatever it was.

But anyway, we — and I was smitten by her.  I really was.  And, you know, sometimes there’s love at first sight.  This really was.  I was — my — I was just taken by her.  And she was really quiet, and she was lovely. 

And one thing led to another, and she said — the bill came.  And the bill was $48.  (Laughter.)  And I had $23.  And I could feel under the table — I could feel this.  (The President rests his hand on an audience member’s knee.) 

And I put my hand down, and she put 40 bucks in my hand.  (Laughter.)  Her father was fairly wealthy.  He was a Navy cook and an Auburn — if you know Auburn, New York, he had a large diner in Auburn, which was very profitable, and he — he also had the contracts to do Syracuse University. 

Anyway, he was a — a fairly wealthy guy.  And so, I took it, and I paid.  I said, “I’m so embarrassed.”  She said, “Oh, it happens to my father all the time.”  (Laughter.)

So, we’re walking back to the hotel she was staying at, and — and I swear to God, I hadn’t kissed her, I hadn’t done — we hadn’t done a single thing together.  And there was a chain and — that w- — post and chain divid- — stopping the parking lot from coming out of the — and so, like a horse’s tail, I was going to show — I jumped over the chain.  (Laughter.)  And I caught my ankle and fell.  (Laughter.)  Totally mortified. 

She said, “Oh, that’s okay.  That’s — are you okay?”  I said, “Yes.”  And I got up, and I looked at her, and I know — and this wasn’t a joke — I looked at her.  I said, “You know, I think I’m going to marry you.”  I give you my word.  (Applause.)

And she looked at me, and we hadn’t even kissed one another, and she said, “I think so.” 

From that time on, I quit the football team that year — that was spring practice — the next year, and I started commuting every single weekend. 

My dad ran an automobile agency, and I made money by getting — there was a place called Manheim Auto Auction, where they — and I would drive to Manheim.  And back in those days in Delaware, you could not — you could not have a car on campus.  And so, a lot of the guys I was with, they were happy to get a chance to drive a relatively new car.  They paid $10 for every car we delivered back to Delaware.

So, I’d get a van, take 10 guys up, get 100 bucks; I’d keep $50.  (Laughter.)  No.  And that’s how I’d go back and forth every single weekend — every single weekend.

And — but sometimes it just happens.  Sometimes it just happens.

And — and so, no man deserves one great love, let alone two.  When she was killed in that accident with my daughter as well, my two boys weren’t expected to make it.  And they were only just three and just four years old. 

And what happened was that I got put on that 10 most-eligible bachelors list in America.  (Laughter.)  You got it man.  I thought it was a pretty cool thing.  (Laughter.)

But I used to send more things to the Secret Service because I’d get women sending me pictures that I was afraid I’d get set up for.  (Laughter.)  And unlike the guy running, I didn’t take advantage of any of it.  (Laughter and applause.) 

Any rate, to make a long story short, all kidding aside, I — I would just give them to the Secret Service. 

So, I decided I couldn’t — I really couldn’t date anybody because every time I’d go out with somebody — I had more yentas in Delaware than you can imagine — very nice to me.  And so, I just gave up. 

And I get a call from my youngest brother.  He said, “Joe, I’ve got just the girl for you.”  And he was at the University of Delaware at the time, as this girl was.  She used to be nine years younger than me. Now she’s 25 years younger, but — (laughter) — 

So, he said, “You’ll love her.  She doesn’t like politics.”  (Laughter.)  And I met her, and this third date I went out with her, I realized I was going to marry her. 

No man deserves one great love, let alone two.  So, I’ve been an incredibly fortunate guy — incredibly fortunate. 

And that’s why I kept coming back up to Scranton, because what would happen is I would drive up on — after I — I paid my guys their money, I’d drive up on Friday — through Scranton, up 81, up into Syracuse, next to Skaneateles Lake — and then go back.  And I’d always stop at my Uncle Jack’s house on the way back in Scranton.

And, you know, everybody’s from Scranton, but no one ever leaves Scranton.  (Laughter.)  It’s in their — but any rate, I don’t know why the hell I told you that.  (Laughter.)  Except you reminded me.

MS. BELL:  It was my fault.  I told (inaudible).

THE PRESIDENT:  No, no, but — but, you know, look, folks, I’ve ran for — I — I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what you’ve done.  It’s a pretty basic thing for me. 

You may remember when I announced for president, I said I was running for three reasons, initially.  I said, one is to restore the soul of America.  We lost a sense of decency that was in the way we campaign and what people say and how they talk to one another. 

And the second thing, I said I wanted to rebuild the middle class because when the middle class works, everyone works — everyone does better.

I said, thirdly, I want to unite the country.  And I was, understandably, by the national press, viewed as I was — they’d give me credit for being a fairly significant United States senator and able to cross the aisle and get a lot done, but they thought I was extremely naive.

I don’t know how we can lead the world when we can’t unite ourselves.  I really mean it.  I mean, so, we got a lot of work to do.

And then I decided — my son Beau ended up going — volunteering to go to Iraq.  He was the attorney general of the state of Delaware.  And he came back — he — his — I was in, I think, 36, 38 times in Iraq and Afghanistan as a senator and as a vice president.  And — and he came back — he — his — his hooch — that’s where he slept — was only about 400 yards from a major burn pit.  And the burn pit is about the size of a football field — probably 80 yards long, 30, 40 yards wide — burning everything from human waste to oil and the rest.

And just like the 9/11 firemen got — my son came back after a year with glioblastoma — stage four glioblastoma.  And — and I lost him. 

And I didn’t — I wasn’t going to run again.  I really wasn’t.  Not a — I give you my word, I had no intention of running again. 

And then along came — along came what happened down in Charlottesville.  And I talked to the mother who lost that daughter who was killed by these — coming out of a field, in the United States of America, in the year two thousand and — I guess it was ’16, ’17, ’18, in that range, but a little later — carrying torches, Ku Klux Klan, Nazi banners — I mean, literally Nazi swastikas, and — and marching through the streets.

And my w- — my future opponent, my present opponent — they asked him what he thought of it.  He said there were “very good people on both sides.” 

And I’m going to say something that may sound outrageous to you, but I thought — I thought he’s the antithesis of everything I believe, and I thought I could beat him.  And that’s why I ran.

And so, what’s at stake now, folks, is our democracy.  It’s not hyperbole.  You may remember, when I got the nomination, the first thing I did, I made a speech at the — at the — in Convention Hall — excuse me, in — in Philadelphia.  And I made a speech on democracy.

And a lot of people said, “What’s he doing that for?”  Because it is at stake.  We’ve never had this kind of a campaign before.

And so, for me, it’s not about whether or not you’re left, right, or center — although it matters to my — my philosophy of government — but it matters about whether or not you’re going to abide by the basic rules, you’re going to have a sense of decency. 

You — I’ve never thought I’d see a time when I’m going through a — a neighborhood or a rural town that’s in the west and see big signs that s- — have a Trump sign in the middle that says “F Biden” and having a little kid standing with his middle finger — seven years old, eight years old.

Well, I promise, it happens all the time.  It’s not who we are. 

So, the point I’m making is this.  We are — think of — think of it this way: If the United States wasn’t leading the world, who could step up to do it?  No, not a — not a joke.  What other country?  What other country?

I’ve known every major world leader for the last 35 years.  I know them all by their first names — not a joke — not because I’m important; because of the nature of my job when I was Foreign Relations Committee and a senior senator.

And, you know, the rest of the world looks to us.  I walk in a room — no matter whether it’s the G7 or the G20, whatever it is — and they all look to me — not me, Joe Biden; America — because they know we are the essential nation.  And, you know, Madeleine Albright wrote about us being the essen- — she was absolute- — absolutely right.  Absolutely right.

And we have a chance.  We have an incredible chance to change the direction of the world without using American forces.  We have enormous chance.

So, I said before I ran, I was going to write a book on inflection points in American history, where the things that happen in a very short period of time can determine what the next four, five, six decades look like.  We have a chance.  We have a chance to change the dynamic in a way that we haven’t had before. 

The post-war era is over.  It’s over.  What’s going to follow?

So, I — when I started the book — and I decided to run instead.  I started the book, I talked about how technology has changed the direction in the world.  Were it not for Gutenberg inventing the print- — the printing press, there would be no unity in Europe.  They wouldn’t have been able to communicate with one another at the period of time.  All the way to the — it’s a silly example — Nixon would probably be president but for a televised debate where he perspired a great deal.

And — (laughter) — no, I — no, I’m not joking.  I’m thinking these things matter.

Even to now, look what’s happening on TikTok.  Look what’s happening.  What are the source of information?  These press people are all honest and decent, and they — they take real risks.  And not a lot — and they don’t all like me.  But they — (laughter) — no, I’m serious.  This is — they’re entitled to that.  But they take real risks.

But, folks, think about it.  Where do people get their news these days?  All the data shows hardly anybody watches the nightly news, in relative terms.  Who reads the New York Times and the — and the Wall Street Journal and the — and so on?  I mean, what percentage of people?  So, where did they get their news?  And it’s so much — so easy to just flat-out lie and not know what’s — what’s true. 

So, we got a lot at stake here — a lot at stake.  But for me, it gets down to a basic thing.  My dad used to say — for real; my word — he’d say, “Joey, a job is about a lot more than poli- — is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about your dignity.  It’s about respect.  It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it — and mean it.”

That’s what this is all about.  The va- — the vast majority of the American people just want an even chance — just a shot.  Just a shot.  And it breaks down into everything from taxes to philosophy.

But with your help, I’ve been able to get a lot done that no one thought could get done.  We’ve been able to get a lot done.  But there’s so much more we have to do, but we can do it.  But we have to win. 

And it gets down to old-fashioned politics, gets down to knocking on doors, gets down to telling stories about why you’re for who you’re for.  It gets down to being able to have — pick these people to put yard signs up.  It matters.

Last point I’ll make — and I’m talking too long, and I apologize.  (Laughter.)

The last point I’ll make is: We have over 100 — is it 120 or 160?  What’s it up to now?  Individual contributors?

AIDE:  Oh, 1.6 (inaudible).

THE PRESIDENT:  1.6 million individual contributors; 550,000 more than before then — since we started, new contributors.  You know what the — of — 97 percent of those contributors contributed less than $200 — 97 percent. 

There’s a real groundswell going on because of you.  It matters.  It matters.  And people are contributing $5, $10, $30, $50.  And it’s having a real impact and real effect. 

We have opened more campaign offices because of you all than he — he doesn’t — hasn’t opened any that I’m aware of.  I’m not being facetious.  I’m not being facetious.

We’re also in a situation where we’re in a position that we’re generating a paid staff.  That’s significant.  And we’re growing in every state. 

I’ve been to every — every single — every single of the toss-up states so far. 

And guess what?  If you knock anybody who knows anything about polling, it’s awful hard to poll these days.  Because — no, I’m serious.  But guess what?  Even in the polls that are being used now, we’re — we’re m- — we’re ahead in — in 35 polls, but — by the way — (applause) — it’s just about continuing to push. 

And, again, one simple proposition: How do we give hardworking Americans an even shot, an even chance — an even chance to make it?  Just that.  Nothing more than that.  And how do we move people together again? 

And I think we can do it.  I’m confident that we’re going to be able to do it.  And I feel very good about where we are because of all of you.  But thank you for what you’re doing.  Again, I — I didn’t mean to tell you so much.  (Laughter.)  But thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)

MS. FRIEDMAN:  Well, Mr. President, I think we have a few folks eager to ask you questions, if we may. 

THE PRESIDENT:  Sure.

MS. FRIEDMAN:  Absolutely.  Sam.

MR. KUCHWARA:  Mr. President, what made you run for president?

THE PRESIDENT:  A simple proposition, and I was — I asked that question — I just came from my old home where I was raised in Scranton.  A simple proposition that — just simply, people just want a shot.  They just want an even shot and just to be able to realize the possibility that what they care about will matter with what will happen. 

What made me run for president: In fact, when I moved from Scranton — my dad was born in Balti- — Baltimore.  They say Baltimore — (pronounced in an accent) — (laughter) — in Baltimore.  And his dad was with the American Oil Company.  And they opened up the — the American Oil Company, used — AMOCO, it became.  And the Blaustein family owned it.  He opened up York, Pennsylvania, then he opened up Scranton.  And they moved to Scranton when my dad was a junior in high school. 

And, you know, it’s — and so, I was born in Scranton, and then we moved back to Delaware.  When we moved back to Delaware, one thing that I hadn’t seen in Scranton — there were very few African Americans in Scranton when I was here in Lackawanna County — very few.  But in Delaware, we have the eighth largest Black population as a percent of population of any state in the nation. 

And in addition to that, we’re one of those border states that couldn’t — that — it was a slave state that fought on the side of the North because it couldn’t figure how to get to the South.  (Laughter.)  No, I’m serious.  So was Maryland.  So was Tennessee.  Anyway —

And so, I remember when we moved to Delaware, we lived on — in what later became Section 8 housing.  It was a long way — but very, very modest apartment complex was being built in Claymont with about 400 apartments.  And — and I remember that they’d drive — Mom would drive us up to school in the morning because it was too dangerous to — it was a — the Philadelphia Pike was an — was an access highway.  It wasn’t I-95, which is now the way to get there.  But she was worried us crossing the streets. 

So, I was in third grade.  My sister was in first grade.  And they’d drop us in the parking lot.  And we used to watch — and I couldn’t understand why this little Catholic school I went to, Holy Rosary — why this bus would go by when we pulled in the parking lot that had what was referred to then as — all full of “colored” children.  There were no whites in it.  And even though the major school — public school, Claymont High School, was a right-hand turn three blocks up. 

I remember asking my mother why they couldn’t come — why — why’d that bus go all the way downtown?  And she said, “Because they’re not allowed to go to school with white kids.”  “Not allowed to go to school with white kids.” 

And that had an enormous impression on me.  And it got me engaged in the Civil Rights Movement.  I wasn’t in any great shape, but I was a public def- — I became a public defender after getting a job with a fancy law firm. 

My city of Wilmington, Delaware, was the only city in America occupied by the military for 10 months, with the National Guard standing on the corner with drawn bayonets for 10 months when Dr. King was assassinated because of the riots that occurred. 

And so, I got involved trying to change the Democratic Party and turn it into more — the conservative party on race was the Democratic Party in Delaware.  And the Republican Party, which was the party of DuPont, was very, very restrictive on economic issues, but it was more open. 

So, I joined a group of senior members of the — of the Democratic Party to try to reform the Democratic Party and move it to more of a northeastern Democratic Party.  The governor of Delaware could choose to be part of the Southern Governors’ Conference or the Northeast.  And the Democrats often chose to be part of the Southern Governors’ Conference. 

In the southern part of the state there is a canal that goes across the top of my state, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal that cuts u- — bisects the state.  And when you just go below that canal — and I’m not — this is not a criticism — they talk at you like this.  Eastern Shore of Maryland.  (Pronounced in an accent.)  Very southern in the way they talk and the way they move and everything.

And so, I got involved in trying to change the party.  And one thing led to another, and I remember they came to me and said they wanted me to run — the local folks.  Trying to get people to run — just show up as Democrats in areas they — that they weren’t able to win. 

And so, I got a call — I was a public defender part-time in a — and I had a law practice.  I was starting alone. 

And with that, I remember a group of people from Elsmere, Delaware — the Democratic organization — came to see me, wanted me to run for the state senate.  And I said, “I can’t do that because I’m just starting a law firm, and I can’t go to Dover.” 

And they came back about three days later and said, “Well, why don’t you run for the county council?”  I said, “I can’t do that.”  And they said, “Come here.”  And they walked me to my window in my office and it looked across — and they said, “They meet there twice a week at night.”  (Laughter.)

So, they wanted me to run in a district no Democrat had ever run.  And I said, “Well, at least I can do my job.  I can go out and run.  Make — demonstrate that we’re running.” 

And the problem is I asked my sister who has graduated with honors from Delaware, who’s smarter than me and ran my campaign.  And she won a campaign where a Democrat had never won. 

And all of a sudden, I was in the county council.  And — but the Democra- — the Republicans saw something in me I didn’t see, for — it’s the God’s truth.  They saw in me that I was going to do something beyond that. 

I was elected to a four-year term.  And what they did was they reapportioned me to a two-year term.  So, it was either up or out.  And I was — I was happy with that.  I was prepared to leave and do my practice and work in the party. 

And one thing led to another, and I won’t bore you with the detail, but one day I showed up at an off-year convention, and I was in — I was in the motel after — the local motel getting changed after the afternoon session, go back to the evening session. 

And I’d come down with some young activists — they were a — a little older than me, but still young activists — who were involved in trying to reform the party.  And I was in one of those 8-by-10 bathrooms — you know they have a shower, a toilet, and a sink.  And I got a towel on me and shaving cream, and I hear, “Bam, bam, bam,” at my door really loudly.  And I wonder, “What the hell is that?” 

I thought it was this guy Bob Cunningham who had a radio show and a cou- — couple of other guys.  So, I say, “Okay, okay, guys.” 

And I walked to the door and opened it up and standing there was the former governor of the state of Delaware, Elbert N. Carvel, a big guy, about six-five.  Talked at you like this.  (Pronounced in an accent.)  (Laughter.)  And the state representative who got defeated four years earlier as a Democratic state rep — who was retired — and one of the — from the family that had more so — more senators appointed than any other family in American history, the — the Tunnells — and a former retired Justice and the — and the state chairman. 

And they said — and I’m standing in a towel with shaving cream on my face.  (Laughter.)  And with that, they looked at me and said — they come in and said, “We’re — we’re coming — we just had dinner.  We want to talk to you.” 

And I walked in, and I said, “Okay, gentlemen.”  And I ran to the bathroom thinking I could put something on.  (Laughter.)  All I could do is take off the shaving cream.  I had on a towel.  I walked out — two headboards nailed to one side of the wall, the desk to the other side. 

And I’m st- — they’re — he’s sitting on the end of the bed.  And I’m sitting down, and they said, “Joe, we just had dinner, and we think you should run for the Senate.”  I said, “Run?  Man, I’m not old enough.”  And the former Justice looked at me he said, “Joe, you obviously didn’t do well in constitutional law.”  (Laughter.)  “You don’t have to be — you have to be 30 to be sworn in, but you can be elected at any age.  You’ll be — 17 days after, you’ll be eligible. 

One thing then I — I don’t know about you, but all of us who have some teacher or some professor we really had faith in.  Well, my political philosophy professor at Delaware — which was between Dov- — Newark, Delaware — between Dover and my home — was one of those guys. 

And I called him, and I said, “Can I stop by and see you?”  And I remember seeing him and asking him my — a question: What he thinks I should do.  He said, “Joe, remember what Plato said.”  I’m thinking, “What the hell did Plato say?”  (Laughter.)  Seriously, it’s an absolutely true story.  He said, “Joe, the penalty good people pay for not being involved in politics is being governed by people worse than themselves.”  (Laughter.)  And I was opposed to the Vietnam War. 

Anyway, one thing led to another.  I ended up running not with any enthusiasm as I started.  But we had the same kind of thing of — just a lot of young people and people who hadn’t been deeply involved. 

Just — there was a — we had a picnic for our volunteers at the end of the summer.  And there was ads on the radio, “Do not take I-95 South.  Biden is having a picnic.  There was no accident.”  (Laughter.)  No, I’m serious.  (Laughter.) 

Nixon won by 60 percent of the vote.  We won by a rousing 3,100 votes. 

But my point is, it wasn’t planned.  I love reading these biographies of me that “Biden knew he was going to run for president.  He knew it was going to happen.” 

But look, folks, it matters — it matters what we do.  You wouldn’t be here.  You wouldn’t be here doing it — forget me.  I mean, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t think a lot was at stake.  And we have enormous opportunities — enormous opportunities. 

But I know that probably over-answers your question but — (laughter) —

MS. FRIEDMAN:   Amazing.  Mr. President, thank you so, so much.  Hasn’t this been amazing?  (Applause.) 

7:00 P.M. EDT

The post Remarks by President Biden at a Campaign Event | Scranton, PA appeared first on The White House.

Scranton Cultural Center
Scranton, Pennsylvania

2:29 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, Scranton.  (Applause.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  I think I should go home now, except I’m already home. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)  Please, take a seat if you have one.

Amy, thank you for that introduction and for your work as an educator.  You know, it was great to meet your family, including your husband, Michael, whose uncle Jimmy McNulty was the former mayor and grew up with me in Scranton, Pennsylvania. 

You know, thanks to the mayor, Paige C- — C- — excuse me, I’m going to — I was going to talk about the old mayor — Paige Cognetti, for that welcome.  And she’s been incredible.  She’s been with me all along the way.

It’s always great to be with one of America’s best governors, and I mean this sincerely: Josh Shapiro.  (Applause.)  He’s the best.  Stand up, Josh.  Get up. 

I think — I think Josh and a lot of people are always tired of hearing me talk about Scranton, but it — but, you know, Scranton is a place that climbs into your heart and it never leaves.  I mean that sincerely.  It’s home, that’s a special thing that’s etched into your heart. 

For me, it was 2446 North Washington Avenue, just a block away from Amy’s house.  (Laughter.)

We used to come back after morning mass at St. Paul’s on Sunday — St. Clare’s wasn’t built until I had moved — and my grandfather, who worked for the newspaper, and my uncles would hold court around a kitchen table with a guy who was sort of the — the David Broder of the — of the Pennsylvania pr- — Scranton press.  You think I’m kidding.  It wasn’t, but anyway.  And he would — they’d — they’d come and have breakfast at the table.  And a kid could wander around the table where the adults were sitting, but you could — but you could never sit at the table. 

And I’d walk up and stand next to my grandpop and — while he was — while they were having conversation, and they were talking about what — they’d talk about what was going on in the neighborhood.  They’d talk about what was going on in the world.  They were all learned men.  And — and I learned a lot here in Scranton.  

I learned that money doesn’t determine your worth.  My grandfather would tell me, “Joey, nobody — nobody is more worthy than you, and everyone is your equal.”  And that was a —

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Yes.

THE PRESIDENT:  No, that was — (applause) —

I learned that no one’s looking for a handout.  All anybody wants is a fair shot — a fair shot at making it, and they deserve a fair shot. 

My dad had a saying.  He’d say, “Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck.  It’s about your dignity.  It’s about respect.  It’s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it’s going to be okay,’ and mean it.” 

You know, people like Donald Trump learned very different lessons.  He learned the best way to get rich is inherit it.  (Laughter.)  Not a bad way.  I’m not —

He learned that paying taxes was something people who worked for a living did, not him. 

He learned that telling people “you’re fired” was something to laugh about. 

I guess that’s how you look at the world when you’re in Park Avenue and Mar-a-Lago.  But if you grew up in a place like Scranton, nobody handed you anything.  You paid your taxes.  You made sure being told “you’re fired” wasn’t entertainment; it was a nightmare that people worried about.  

And all people knew — all I knew about the people like Trump who looked down on us were the people that haven’t changed.  They wouldn’t welcome us in their homes and their clubs. 

Folks, where we come from matters. 

When I look at the economy, I don’t see it through the eyes of Mar-a-Lago.  I see it through the eyes of Scranton — and that’s not hyperbole; that’s a fact — where honesty and decency matter, where faith matters, where family is everything, where we grew up knowing in our homes that Wall Street didn’t build this country.  The middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class.  (Applause.)

We know the best way to build an economy is from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down.  Because when you do that, the poor have a ladder up, the middle class does well, and the wealthy still do very well.  We all do well. 

That’s a stark contrast from my opponent.  He looks at the economy from Mar-a-Lago, where he and his rich friends embrace the failed trickle-down policies that have failed working families for more than 40 years. 

Scranton values or Mar-a-Lago values: These are the competing visions for our economy, and they raise questions of fundamental fairness at the heart of this campaign that I want to talk to you about a little bit today.

Folks, does anybody really think that the present tax code is fair?  Raise your hand if you think it’s fair.  I’m not joking.  Well, neither do I.  (Laughter.)

I’m a capitalist.  If you want to — if you’re able to go out and make a million bucks, fine.  That’s okay.  But just make sure you pay your fair share in taxes.  (Applause.)

A fair tax code is how we invest in the things that make this country strong: healthcare, education, defense, and so much more. 

But here’s the deal.  For more than 40 years, our Republican friends have promised that the best way to grow the economy is from the top down.  But here’s what they don’t tell you: It’s never worked.  The benefits don’t trickle down.  

When the very wealthy pay less in taxes, then we have to borrow more and invest less in the things that families really need, from schools, to hospitals, healthcare, roads, bridges, and so much more.  

Think what’s happens when that factory closes in Scranton or anywhere around the country, when the school is underfunded, when inequity grows larger and larger. It puts the middle class further in th- — out of reach and rips the dignity and pride and hope out of communities all across the country, including right here in Pennsylvania.

Folks, trickle-down economics failed the middle class.  It failed America.  And the truth is, Donald Trump embodies that failure.  He wants to double down on trickle down. 

His failure starts with his $2 trillion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefitted the wealthiest and biggest corporations and exploded the federal debt when he was president.  Donald Trump added more to the national debt than any President of the United States in a term in all of American history — more to the national debt.

Meanwhile, when the pandemic hit, Trump failed the most basic duty any president owes the American people: a duty to care and a duty to respond.  Remember when he told us, “Don’t worry; this will all be over by Easter”?  Remember when he told us, literally, inject bleach?  (Laughter.)

Bless me, Father.  (The President makes the sign of the cross.)  (Laughter and applause.)

Look, think about it.  Think about it.  Because he failed to care, not only did people die, but millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes, their livelihoods.  On Trump watch — on Trump is [Trump’s] watch, for the four years he was president, we lost — nearly 3 million jobs were lost.  275,000 of those jobs lost right here in Pennsylvania.  In the Scranton area, Trump lost 17,400 jobs.  180,000 manufacturing jobs lost nationwide, including 37,000 manufacturing jobs right here in Pennsylvania. 

There are only two presidents on record in all of American history that left office with fewer jobs than when they entered office: Herbert Hoover and, yes, Donald “Herbert Hoover” Trump.  (Laughter and applause.)

Look, Trump is running again on the same trickle-down — failed trickle-down policies.  Nothing has changed. 

Just a few months ago, at a closed-door event in Mar-a-Lago, he told his millionaire and billionaire donors the following — this is a quote — “You’re rich as hell, and we’re going to give you tax cuts,” end of quote.  And then they all laughed about it, not because they didn’t think it would happen, because they knew it will happen if he’s elected. 

How does that make me feel?  How does it make you feel?  How does it make the people I grew up with feel?  I think it’s outrageous.

Trump wants to renew another round of billionaire tax breaks and corporate giveaways.  And, look, I come from the corporate state of the world: Delaware.  I represented it for 36 years.  They’re entitled to make a fair profit.  It makes sense.  There is more corporations incorporated in Delaware than every other state in the nation combined.  But this is ridiculous, what’s going on now. 

You know, there are about 1,000 billionaires — billionaires in America.  Do you know what the average federal tax rate for a billionaire is today in America?  For real: 8.3 percent.  (Laughter.)  That’s how much federal ta- — no, I’m serious.  Not a joke.  Far less than the vast majority of Americans pay in federal taxes. 

No billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher, a nurse, a sanitation worker.  (Applause.)  I mean it. 

And that tax break that he passed several years ago is about to expire.  But Trump wants to give another billionaire tax break. 

Listen to what he says.  Trump says his MAGA friends want to, quote, “terminate” — I love his terminology — “terminate” the Affordable Care Act.  That would mean over 100 million Americans with preexisting conditions who now have healthcare because of the Affordable Care Act would lose their coverage.  One hundred million.  It means millions of young people would be kicked off their parents’ healthcare policies once they turn 26.

The Affordable Care Act is paid for by a surtax on the very wealthy investment income.  Trump wants to get rid of that, and as a consequence, would cost millions of American who lose coverage an average of an additional $6,000 a year to maintain their healthcare.  It would mean billionaires would get, as a consequence of not having to pay the tax anymore, another $3.5 million tax cut per billionaire. 

You heard me right.  Billionaires would each get an additional tax cut every year of $3.5 million.  That’s 70 times what a typical family here in Scranton makes in one year. 

I have a better idea.  As soon as I came into office, I expanded tax credits through the Affordable Care Act and saved millions of Americans another $800 per person per year on their healthcare premiums.  (Applause.) 

Healthcare should be a basic right.  Those tax credits are going to expire next year though.  And I want to make those tax credits permanent.  It’s the first thing I’ll do if I’m reelected is make them permanent.  (Applause.)  

Folks, and my plan calls for a minimum federal income tax of 25 percent — just 25 percent on billionaires.  Well below the top rate, but fair, and they can afford it.  Do you know how much money that would raise?  That would raise $500 billion over the next 10 years.  Five hundred billion dollars.  (Applause.)  It would be a drop in the bucket for them.  They wouldn’t have to sell one single bit of their assets.

And imagine what we could do for America.  Imagine a future with affordable childcare, paid leave, homecare, eldercare, and more, like every major country in the world has.  Of all this is not only good for families.  It creates jobs.  It generates growth.  It generates income.  It generates economic vitality.

Because guess what?  When you have childcare and you don’t have to go out and hire somebody, you can go to work.  It ge- — I asked the Treasury Department to do a study: What would — what would — what’s the effect of this?  The effects of what I’m talking about is increase — increase economic growth. 

We have the most successful economy in the world today. 

But, folks, how does Trump pay for these billionaire tax cuts?  Well, Trump recently said Social Security and Medicare, quote — here’s his quote: “There’s a lot you can do in terms of cutting,” end of quote. 

Well, right on cue, the MAGA Republicans in Congress released their budget, which hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention.  The budget they proposed for next year would raise the retirement age of Social Security and would slash Medicare. 

Think about that for a second.  MAGA Republicans want billionaires to pay less in taxes, want seniors to work longer before they can retire on Social Security benefits, and they want to cut Medicare. 

I got a better idea.  Let’s protect Social Security and Medicare and make the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share — (applause) — in high taxes.

And, by the way, whether you’re liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, or independent — whatever you are, think about it.  We’re not asking much.  Just asking for just basic fairness. 

You know, I’ve already been delivering real results in a fiscally responsible way.  But I know not everyone is feeling it. 

Just the other day, a defeated-looking guy came up to me and asked if I could help.  He was drowning in debt.  I said, “I’m sorry, Donald, but I can’t help you.”  (Laughter and applause.)  Nothing I can do.  (Applause.)

Look, on a serious note, since I came to office — (laughter) — I’ve already cut the federal deficit.  You know, all the stuff they talk about what we’ve done — and I’m going to be self-serving a little bit: Every other — every objective alternative points out we’ve had the most successful economy of any major economy in the world so far.  A lot more to do, but guess what?  During the whole time, I’ve been able to cut the federal deficit at the same exact time by over $1 trillion — $1 trillion.  (Applause.)

And I signed a bipartisan budget deal that will cut another trillion dollars over the next decade as well.  And I know what to cut.  (Applause.)  I want to cut the federal deficit even more by making big corporations and the very wealthy begin to finally pay their fair share.  We’re not asking anything that’s unusual.

Under my plan, nobody earning less than $400,000 will pay an additional penny.  I hope you’re all able to make $400,000.  (Laughter.)  I never did.  But they’re not going to pay an extra penny in federal taxes.  That’s a promise.  Nobody.  Not one penny. 

You know, I have to say: If Trump’s stock in the Truth Social — his — his company — drops any lower, he might do better under my tax plan than his.  (Laughter and applause.)  It’s possible.

Folks, look, I want to cut taxes on hardworking folks here in Scranton and all across the country, in Claymont — where I moved from Scranton to Claymont, in Delaware — all across the country, like Amy’s family. 

In fact, the Child Tax Credit I extended during the pandemic put up to $300 per child — per child [a month] in the pockets of around 40 million working families, and it literally cut child poverty in half.  And we still reduced the deficit.  (Applause.)  We still reduced the deficit.  That included helping 1.4 million families and nearly 2.4 million children right here in Pennsylvania. 

Republicans refused to extend it, which raised taxes on working families.  I want to restore it — restore the expanded Child Care Tax Credit, because no child should live in poverty in this country — no child.  (Applause.)

We’ve got a lot more work to do.  I know the cost of housing is so important.  I want to provide families like Amy’s a $10,000 tax credit to help them buy their first home or trade up for a little more space.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Thank you.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, no, it’s important.  And, by the way, it will grow the economy.

When Trump was president in 2020, 55 of the largest corporations in America of the Fortune 500 made $40 billion in profit and paid zero — zero in federal income taxes. 

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Sinful.  Sinful.

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, guess what?  I came along and took care of the sin.  (Applause.)  Not anymore. 

Thanks to the law that I wrote and signed, big corporations now have to pay a minimum — they should be paying more — a minimum of 15 percent tax.  It was a start but not enough. 

By doing that 15 percent tax, they pay for every program that people are now benefitting from and still cut the deficit by $70 billion.  (Applause.) 

And, by the way, that 15 percent is still less than working people play in federal tax- — pay in federal taxes.  It’s time to raise the corporate tax — minimum tax to at least 21 percent so every big corporation finally has to pay their fair share.

But, you know, Trump and his MAGA friends want to get rid of the corporate minimum tax. 

With the same law, I gave Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drugs, which is why those of you have diabetes and need insulin, instead of paying 400 bucks a month, you’re now paying $35 a month for insulin.  (Applause.)

I’ve been working on taking on Big Pharma my whole career.  But guess what?  If I put you on Air Force One, we flew out of here, and you went — you name — you took a prescription you had from a drug company in America, I will take you to any city you name, whether it’s Berlin, whether it’s in Canada, whether it’s in Hungary.  Wherever it is.  And you’ll pay 40, 60 percent less for that same exact prescription.  Not a joke. 

And, by the way, when we in fact reduce some — there’s much more to come in that healthcare proposal — that Medicare proposal. 

For example, seniors, beginning in 2024 [2025], no matter how much their prescription drug costs are, they’ll never have to pay more than $2,000 a year, no matter what.  (Applause.)

And, by the way, companies will still make money.  They’ll still make a significant profit — still make a significant profit.  It helps reduce the — and, by the way, when we do this, it has a benefit, and that’s already part of the law I passed.  But guess what?  Not only does it reduce the federal deficit — help with the prescription holder, it reduces the federal debt. 

You know how much the first tranche of this has done?  It’s reduced the federal debt by $160 billion.  (Applause.)  Why?  Because Social Security — Medicare does not have to pay out $400 a month.  They’re paying out $35 a month.  (Applause.) 

But Trump has committed, if he’s reelected, from — gets elected again, he wants to get rid of the law and give Big Pharma the power again to charge again whatever you want, which will also increase the deficit.

Folks, are we going to let that happen?

AUDIENCE:  Nooo —

THE PRESIDENT:  We can’t.

And that same law empowers the IRS to go after the super wealthy.  You know, what — you ever — it’s amazing how the — we had passed legislation increasing the number of auditors.  Guess who wanted them all cut?  No, I’m not joking.  Republicans. 

Why?  Because it takes an awful lot of sophistication to be able to go through the tax returns of these billionaires to know what’s going on. 

But while you work hard and pay your taxes, Trump wants to give his billionaire friends the power to avoid paying even what they already owe, not what they should be paying.

I know you — if you didn’t know better, you’d think I’m making this up, but you can check it all out. 

Folks, he’s coming for your money, your healthcare, and your Social Security.  And we’re not going to let it happen.  (Applause.)  We’re not going to — can’t let it happen.  

Look, let me close with this.  As you obne- — observed — I can’t hide it, Scranton fills me with enormous pride.  My mom didn’t live in Scranton permanently since 1954.  I swear to God, whenever she was asked, no matter where we were, “Mrs. Biden, where do you live?  Where are you from?”  She’d say, “Scranton.”  (Laughter.)

Do you know anybody who’s from Scranton that still doesn’t brag about being from Scranton?  (Laughter.)

Look, because I see here what I saw in Claymont, Delaware, where we moved — it used to be a big steel town with 4,000 workers — all gone now.  Although, we’re back for — with other growth.  In Claymont, Delaware, and what I see in so many towns around America: a deep pride — a deep, deep pride in your work, a deep pride in your family, a deep pride in your community and in your country. 

I’ve always thought the World War Two monument downtown by City Hall says so much about Scranton.  My Uncle Ambrose Finnegan — Bosie Finnegan from North Washington — he served and died in World War Two.  Right after D-Day, on Sunday, all four of my mother’s brothers signed up to go fight in the military.  In those days, you could do it — brothers could go off to war together.  Fathers and brothers could do the same.

And that war — I — and everybody called him Bosie Finnegan.  Bosie was a hell of an athlete, but Bosie joined the Army Air Corps before there was an Air Force.  And his name is etched on the monument down by City Hall.  Here in Scranton, I grew up understanding we have many obligations as a country, but we only have — and I got in trouble for saying this from the time I was a young senator.  We only — we have many obli- — we have only one truly sacred obligation, and that is to equip those we send to war and take care of them and their families when they come home or if they don’t come home. (Applause.)

I don’t want to lose my temper on this.  But I think about that statue in town now that I’m Commander-in-Chief.  And I had them double-check if my memory was correct that Uncle Bosie, Ambrose J. Finnegan’s name is etched on that statue. 

I have to say, there are a lot of things that Donald Trump has said and done that I find extremely offensive.  But one that offends me the most is when he refused, as president, to visit an American cemetery outside of Paris when he was president.  Why?  He said that those soldiers who gave their lives were, quote — it was his quote — “suckers” and “losers.”  “Suckers” and “losers,” he said it. 

Who the hell does he think he is?  Who does he think he is?  These were heroes.  (Applause.) 

These soldiers were heroes, just as every American who has served this nation.  (Applause.)  Believing otherwise, that alone is disqualifying for someone to seek this office.  Thank God I wasn’t standing next to him.  (Applause.)

But as I’ve said, Donald Trump looks at the world differently than you and me.  He wakes up in the morning in Mar-a-Lago thinking about himself, how he can help his billionaire friends gain power and control and force their extreme agenda on the rest of us. 

Listen to what he says.  He says, quote, “I’ll be dictator on day one.”  Quote, “I am your retribution.”  He promises, quote, “a bloodbath” if he loses.  This guy denies January 6th.  Listen — listen to what he says, because you know he means it.  

I wake every morning thinking about how to make life better, like you do, for working- and middle-class families here in Scranton and all across the country, where the power and the freedom rest with you and “We the People.” 

Maybe that’s why millions of everyday power- — folks are powering our campaign.  So far, 1.6 million people have contributed to our campaign, with 550,000 brand new this time around.  (Applause.)  And they’re new contributors.  But guess what?  97 percent of these contributions were under $200.  It matters.  You matter. 

My grandfather would tell me when I walked out the door in North Scran- — in North — North Scra- — in North Washington Avenue in Scranton, he’d yell, “Joey, keep the faith,” when I was a kid.  And my grandmother would yell, “No, Joey, spread it.  Spread it.”  (Applause.) 

Let’s keep the faith.  Let’s spread it.  Let’s remember who we are.  We are the United States of America.  (Applause.)  There is nothing — nothing beyond our capacity than when we act together.

God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.  (Applause.)

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you, folks.  (Applause.) 

Thank you.

AUDIENCE:  Four more years!  Four more years!  Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  Thank you.

 2:58 P.M. EDT

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