In Portsmouth, New Hampshire on Tuesday,
Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders came together to discuss
their commitment to building an America that is stronger together and an
economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top.
After thanking Sen. Sanders for his endorsement and pointing to the
importance of standing together, Clinton said, “And now, with your help,
we are joining forces to defeat Donald Trump, win in November, and yes,
together build a future we can all believe in.” Clinton’s and Sanders’ remarks, as transcribed, are below: HILLARY CLINTON:
“Thank you! That was so great.
Hello, New Hampshire! It is so great, it is so great to be here with
so many friends, old and new. to be back with so many friends old and
new.
Thank you! Thank you so much. I have to say it is such a great
privilege to be here with Senator Sanders. Being here with him and New
Hampshire, I can’t help but reflect on how much more enjoyable this
election is going to be now that we’re on the same side. Because you
know what? We are stronger together.
And I want to give a special thanks to someone who has been with
Senator Sanders every step of the way, not just throughout this campaign
but over the years, his wonderful wife, Jane Sanders.
And also I’ve had the pleasure of meeting his son, Levi Sanders! Thank you!
I also appreciate greatly having the opportunity for all of us to
hear from the speakers beforehand, Governor Maggie Hassan, the next
Senator from the state of New Hampshire!
Senator Jeanne Shaheen who is doing a tremendous job for you.
And we are delighted to have heard from and to have with us Bill McKibben and Jim Dean.
Over these last few weeks, Bernie and I have worked together on plans
to put college within reach for more people, and to ensure that
everyone in America has access to quality, affordable health care. And
now, with your help, we are joining forces to defeat Donald Trump, win
in November, and yes, together build a future we can all believe in.
Just as Bernie said, over the years, I’ve gotten to know him as a
colleague and a friend. His reputation for passionate advocacy hasn’t
always made him the most popular person in Washington. But you know
what? That’s generally a sign you’re doing something right.
Throughout this campaign Senator Sanders has brought people off the
sidelines and into the political process. He has energized and inspired a
generation of young people who care deeply about our country, and are
building a movement that is bigger than one candidate or one campaign.
So thank you, thank you Bernie – for your endorsement, but more than
that, thank you for your lifetime of fighting injustice. I am proud to
be fighting alongside you because my friends, this is a time for all of
us to stand together. These have been difficult times for America.
This is a time for all of us to stand together – because these have been difficult days for our country.
Taking on the systemic racism that plagues our country – and
rebuilding the frayed bonds of trust and respect between law enforcement
and the communities they serve – will require contributions from all of
us. And we have to begin by starting to listen to each other. And more
than that, we then have to do something that will help us fix these
problems.
We have to reform our broken criminal justice system, take back our
democracy from the wealthy special interests, and make our economy work
for everyone, not just those at the top. And you know what? We have to
do all these things at the same time.
That’s why throughout this campaign, we’ve been calling for
eliminating racial profiling and disparities in sentencing. Ending the
era of mass incarceration, dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline,
providing more employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated
people.
In addition to that, I am proposing two new steps that get law
enforcement the support they need while also stopping the tragedy, the
tragedy of black men and women – and black children – being killed in
police incidents.
First, let’s bring law enforcement and the communities they swear to
protect and serve together to develop national guidelines on the use of
force by police officers.
And second, let’s provide better training on implicit bias, that remains
a problem even in our best police departments but it also remains a
problem across our society.
I’m asking for all of us to really search our hearts and minds to
make sure that we don’t have those implicit biases. Let’s learn from
police departments like Dallas that had made strong progress, and apply
their lessons nationwide. Because everyone in every community benefits
when there is respect for the law and when everyone is respected by the
law.
Remember, when gunfire broke out in Dallas, the peaceful protestors
and the crowds that had gathered to support them ran to safety, while
the police officers – who just minutes before had been talking with and
taking pictures with and protecting the protesters – the police officers
ran the other way – they ran into the gunfire. That’s the kind of
courage and dedication our police and first responders show every single
day.
So yes – let’s take real, meaningful action to end the epidemic of
gun violence in America. From Sandy Hook to Orlando to Dallas, and so
many other places, these tragedies tear at our soul. And so do the
incidents that don’t even dominate the headlines. Just this past Sunday,
a young man, Seth Rich, who worked for the Democratic National
Committee to expand voting rights, was shot and killed in his
neighborhood in Washington. He was just 27 years old.
Surely we can agree that weapons of war have no place on the streets
of America. Our police and first responders should never have to face a
madman, a racist, a person filled with hatred, with an assault weapon.
We owe it to every officer who puts his or her life on the line to
protect us – so let’s protect them.
And we can’t stop there. This is part of a broader challenge across
our country. Inequality is too high, wages are too low, and it is just
too hard to get ahead for too many Americans.
We need an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Not just the millionaires and billionaires but everybody.
And to do that, we need to go big and we need to go bold. This isn’t a
time for half measures. So we are setting five ambitious goals.
For starters, in my first 100 days as President, we will make the
biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.
More jobs here in New Hampshire and across our country, especially in
places that have been left out and left behind. In communities of
color. In coal country. Indian Country. Everywhere where a person
deserves the same shot at the American Dream as anybody else in our
country.
And when I say good-paying jobs, I mean it. As Bernie said, Donald
Trump thinks wages are too high. He actually stood on a debate stage and
said so. He does want to get rid of the federal minimum wage
altogether.
Well, both Senator Sanders and I believe anyone who is willing to
work hard should be able to find a job that pays well enough to support a
family. And Bernie is right – $7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. So
sorry Donald, if you’re watching, we’re not cutting the minimum wage –
we’re raising the minimum wage.
We’re going to create millions of good jobs by making America the
clean energy superpower of the 21st century. As Bernie reminds us so
powerfully, we owe it to future generations to work together to combat
climate change. And we’re going to do it. We’ve got the intelligence.
We’ve got the innovation. We’re going to roll up our sleeves and
demonstrate to the world what America is made of. We’re going to have
that clean energy economy. We’re going to make it work for everybody.
And make no mistake – we will defend American jobs and American
workers by saying ‘no’ to the assaults on the right to organize and
bargain collectively. And we’re going to say ‘no’ to attacks on working
families and ‘no’ to bad trade deals and unfair trade practices,
including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Second, we’re going to make college debt-free for all and help
millions of people struggling with existing student debt save thousands
of dollars.
Here in New Hampshire, students are carrying one of the highest debt
loads in the country. I’ve heard from young people who can’t start a
business, move out of their parents’ home, or even get married because
of all the student debt holding them back.
So with your help, we’re going to make it so future students won’t
have to borrow a dime to attend public colleges or universities. Thanks
to the new proposal Senator Sanders and I worked on together, for
families making less than $125,000 a year, we will eliminate tuition at
those schools altogether. And we will do more to help students cover all
the costs of getting an education – including books, supplies, and
living expenses.
Because in the words of a student I met here in New Hampshire,
‘paying for college shouldn’t be the hardest thing about going to
college.’
Third, we’re going to rewrite the rules, and crack down on companies
that ship jobs and profits overseas. Let’s reward the companies that
share profits with their employees instead.
And we will defend and strengthen the tough reforms President Obama
put in place on the financial industry – not let Donald Trump tear them
up. Because we do, we do need to make sure that Wall Street can never
wreck Main Street again.
Number four, we’re going to make sure Wall Street, corporations, and
the super-rich pay their fair share of taxes. When people say the game
is rigged, the best evidence is our tax code. It is riddled with scams,
loopholes, and special breaks. It is wrong that some millionaires do pay
a lower tax rate than their secretaries, and we’re going to stop it.
Now compare what Senator Sanders and I intend to do with Donald
Trump’s tax plan. His tax plan would make our current system even worse.
Independent analysts say he would add $30 trillion to the national debt
in order to give a massive gift to the wealthiest Americans, Wall
Street money managers, and our largest corporations. But after all, what
else should we expect from someone who calls himself ‘the King of
Debt’?
Now we have been pointing out the problems with his tax plan for months. And I think Donald is starting to feel the pressure.
In fact, even as we speak, he’s apparently bringing in the biggest
names in trickle-down, supply-side economics to help him figure out what
to do – now these are the same advisors who brought us 30 years of a
disastrous Republican philosophy that gave the huge breaks to those at
the top.
Now you don’t have to be psychic to know what’s going to happen next:
they’re going to come back with another plan with maybe some bells and
whistles, Bernie, that tries to disguise the fact that they still are
slashing taxes for the wealthy, large corporations, and Donald Trump
himself. And they’ll try to use voodoo economics to tell us all the ways
it will actually help the economy.
But they’re not fooling anybody, at least I hope they’re not. Just
like his current plan – which he calls ‘inspiring,’ ‘tremendous,’ and
‘amazing’ – you know, he uses a lot of adjectives to avoid telling you
any specifics. Here’s what we know for sure: whatever he comes out with
next is going to give huge tax cuts to the corporations and the rich at
the expense of the middle class.
Now there’s that old saying, you’ve heard it, I used to hear it a lot
in Arkansas, you can put lipstick on a pig – but it’s still a pig.
And I’ve got to tell you, the first time that the Republicans pulled
the voodoo economics, you know, they fooled us. Shame on them. But if
they come back with the same argument and people fall for it, shame on
us. But I will promise you this, Senator Sanders and I will spare no
effort to make sure the people of America know that once again Trump and
his cronies are trying to pull the wool over our eyes and come back
with the same failed policies that hurt us before.
We’re not going to let them get away with it again.
And finally, our fifth goal is we’re going to step up and respond to
the way American families actually live and work in the 21st century.
Our families and our workplaces have changed, so isn’t it time for our
policies to change too?
Let’s expand Social Security to match today’s realities, not cut or privatize it.
Let’s join the rest of the developed world and offer paid family leave.
And finally, let’s guarantee equal pay for women once and for all.
I can just envision the tweets Donald is putting together. And Donald
Trump can accuse me of playing ‘the woman card’ all he wants. If
fighting for equal pay and paid family leave is playing the woman card,
then deal me in.
And I’ll tell you, these aren’t just my fights. These are Bernie’s
fights. These are America’s fights. And I feel with all my being, these
are fights we have to wage and win together.
As Bernie and his supporters have argued so eloquently, we won’t get anywhere unless we overhaul our campaign finance system.
It is past time to end the stranglehold of wealthy special interests
in Washington, and get back to government of the people, by the people,
and for the people.
That’s why as president from my very first days, I’ll make campaign
finance reform a top priority. We will do everything we can to overturn
Citizens United. And we will require everybody – Democrats, Republicans,
and Independents, whoever – to disclose their donors.
And while we’re at it, we are going to create a small-donor matching
system to make it easy for more Americans to be elected at every level
of government. Because just like Bernie, I’ve met so many people here in
New Hampshire with great ideas for our country. I want to see you run
for office and win.
And here’s another radical idea: Let’s make it easier to vote, not
harder. Let’s fight back against attacks on voting rights across the
country – attacks that disproportionately affect low-income voters,
people of color, students, the elderly, and women.
That means we need to restore the Voting Rights Act and then keep
going. All Americans should be automatically registered to vote on their
18th birthday. Every state should have at least 20 days of in-person
voting. And no one in America should ever have to wait more than 30
minutes to cast their ballot.
So Senator Sanders and I will be working to get unaccountable money
out of politics and the voices of everyday Americans back in.
Because as Bernie has said: This isn’t a progressive issue. It’s not a conservative issue. It’s an American issue.
And let me close with this: To everyone here and everyone across the
country who poured your heart and soul into Senator Sanders’ campaign,
thank you. Thank you. I was proud of the campaign we ran, it was a
campaign about issues not insults. And our country desperately needs
your voices and involvement and so does this campaign and so does the
Democratic Party. Because you know what? we need to take back the Senate
and take back the House and make sure we have Democratic governors and
Democratic state legislators. Let’s open the doors to everyone who
shares our progressive values.
This is one of the most important elections in our lifetimes. So I’m
asking you to stand with us. And then, I’m asking you to keep working
with me in the weeks, months, and, yes, years ahead. You will always
have a seat at the table when I’m in the White House.
As Bernie will tell you, talk is cheap. We need to keep fighting to
make sure everything we’ve stood for is real in the lives of people
across America.
This amazing country of ours is worthy of our best efforts. This
election, let’s send a clear message: In America, we don’t tear each
other down – we lift each other up. We build bridges, not walls. We put
common interest ahead of self-interest. We stand together because we’re
stronger together.
So I need your help. Please join this campaign. Make it your own. You
can take out your phone right now and text JOIN, J-O-I-N, to 47246. Or
go to hillaryclinton.com. We accept $27 donations, too, you know.
I can’t tell you how grateful I am to be standing here with Senator
Sanders. Because I think both of us realize that each of our campaigns
together represent the best of who we are. And now it is time for us to
take that message to the rest of the country. I am fully aware that the
other side will do everything possible to distort, to misinform, and we
can’t let that happen. We have to be standing up and fighting for the
America that we know we can create together. I am confident and
optimistic about our future, particularly when it comes to young people.
I think America’s best years are still ahead of us. So join with us.
Let’s make this happen together and win the election!
Thank you very much!” SENATOR SANDERS:
“Bill McKibben, Jim Dean, Governor Hassan, Senator Shaheen, thank you
very much for your kind remarks. And let me begin by thanking the 13
million Americans who voted for me during the Democratic primaries. And
thank you, New Hampshire, for giving us our first great victory. And a
very special thanks to the people of the state of Vermont whose support
for so many years – as a Mayor, as a Congressman, as a Senator and as a
presidential candidate – have sustained me and Jane and our entire
family. Vermont, thank you.
Let me also thank the hundreds of thousands of volunteers throughout
this country, in every state in the Union, who worked so hard on our
campaign and the millions of contributors who showed the world that we
could run a successful national campaign based on small individual
contributions – two and a half million of them.
Together, we have begun a political revolution to transform America
and that revolution continues. Together, we will continue to fight for a
government which represents all of us, and not just the 1 percent – a
government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and
environmental justice.
I am proud of the campaign we ran here in New Hampshire and across
the country. Our campaign won the primaries and caucuses in 22 states,
and when the roll call at the Democratic National Convention is
announced, it will show that we won almost 1,900 delegates. Far more
than almost anyone thought we could win. But it is not enough to win
the nomination. Secretary Clinton goes into the convention with 389
more pledged delegates than we have and a lot more super delegates.
Secretary Clinton has won the Democratic nominating process. And I
congratulate her for that. She will be the Democratic nominee for
president and I intend to do everything I can to make certain she will
be the next president of the United States.
I have come here today not to talk about the past but to focus on the
future. That future will be shaped more by what happens on November 8th
in voting booths across our nation than by any other event in the
world. I have come here to make it as clear as possible as to why I am
endorsing Hillary Clinton – and why she must become our next president.
During the last year I have had the extraordinary opportunity – an
extraordinary opportunity to speak to more than 1.4 million Americans at
rallies in almost every state in our country. I was also able to meet
with many thousands of other people at smaller gatherings. And the
profound lesson that I have learned is that this campaign is not really
about Hillary Clinton, or Donald Trump, or Bernie Sanders, or any other
candidate who sought the presidency. This campaign is about the needs
of the American people and addressing – and addressing the very serious
crises that we face. And there is no doubt in my mind that, as we head
into November, Hillary Clinton is far and away the best candidate to do
that. It is very easy to forget – and Republicans want us to forget –
where we were seven and a half years ago when President Obama came into
office. As a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior on
Wall Street, our economy was in the worst economic downturn since the
Great Depression. Some 800,000 people a month were losing their jobs,
we were running up a record-breaking deficit, and the world’s financial
system was on the verge of collapse. We have come a long way in the
last seven and a half years and I thank President Obama – I thank
President Obama and Vice President Biden for their leadership in pulling
us out of that terrible recession. But I think we can all agree that
much, much more needs to be done.
Too many Americans are still being left out, left behind and
ignored. In the richest country in the history of the world there is
too much poverty, there is too much despair.
This election is about the single mother I saw in Nevada who, with
tears in her eyes, told me that she was scared to death of the future
because she and her daughter were not making it on the $10.45 cents an
hour she was earning. This election is about that woman, and the
millions of other workers in this country who are falling further and
further behind as they try to survive on totally inadequate wages.
Hillary Clinton understands that we must fix an economy in America
that is rigged and that sends almost all of the new wealth and income to
the top one percent. Hillary Clinton understands that if someone in
America works 40 hours a week, that person should not be living in
poverty. She believes – we all believe – that we must raise the minimum
wage to a living wage.
And further, she wants to create millions of new jobs by rebuilding
our crumbling infrastructure. Our roads, our bridges, our water systems,
our wastewater plants.
But her opponent – Donald Trump – well, he has a very different view.
He believes that states should have the right to lower the minimum wage
or even abolish the concept of the minimum wage. If Donald Trump is
elected, we will see no increase in the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an
hour – a starvation wage.
This election is about which candidate will nominate Supreme Court
justices who are – who will nominate Supreme Court justices who are
prepared to overturn the disastrous Citizens United decision – a
decision which is allowing billionaires to buy elections and is
undermining our democracy. (Applause.) This election is about who will
appoint new justices on the Supreme Court who will defend a woman’s
right to choose – who will defend the rights of the LGBT community – who
will defend workers’ rights, the needs of minorities and immigrants,
and the government’s ability to protect our environment.
If anyone out there thinks that this election is not important, take a
moment to think about the Supreme Court justices that Donald Trump will
nominate, and what that means to civil liberties, equal rights, and the
future of our country.
This campaign is about moving the United States toward universal
health care – and reducing the number of people in our country who are
uninsured or under-insured. Hillary Clinton wants to see that all
Americans have the right to choose a public option in their health care
exchange – which will lower the cost of health care for millions. She
also believes that anyone 55 years or older should be able to opt in to
Medicare – and she wants to see millions more Americans gain access to
primary health care, dental care, mental health counseling, and low-cost
prescription drugs – through a major and dramatic expansion of
community health centers throughout this country. Hillary is committed
to seeing thousands of young doctors, nurses, psychologists, dentists
and other medical professionals practice in underserved areas as we
follow through on President Obama’s idea of tripling funding for the
National Health Service Corps.
In New Hampshire, in Vermont, and across this country, we have a
major epidemic of opiate and heroin addiction. People are dying every
day from overdoses. Hillary Clinton understands that if we are serious
about addressing this crisis, we need major changes in the way we
deliver mental health treatment throughout this country. And that is
what expanding community health centers will do and that is what getting
medical personnel into the areas we need them most will do.
And what is Donald Trump’s position on health care? Well, no surprise
there. Same old, same old Republican contempt for working families. He
wants to abolish the Affordable Care Act – throw 20 million people off
of the health insurance they currently have, and cut Medicaid for
low-income Americans. The last thing we need today in America is a
president who doesn’t care about whether millions of Americans will lose
access to the health care coverage they desperately need. We need more
people with access to quality health care, not fewer.
Hillary Clinton also understands that millions of our seniors,
disabled veterans, and others are struggling with the outrageously high
cost of prescription drugs. She and I are in agreement that Medicare
must negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry – and that
we must expand the use of generic medicine. Drug companies should not
be making billions in profit while one out of five Americans are unable
to afford the medicine they need. The greed of the drug companies must
end.
This election is about the grotesque level of income and wealth
inequality that currently exists, the worst it has been in our country
since 1928. Hillary Clinton knows that something is fundamentally wrong
when the very rich become richer while many others are working longer
hours for lower wages. She knows that it is absurd that middle-class
Americans are paying an effective tax rate higher than hedge fund
millionaires – and that there are corporations in this country that make
billions of dollars a year in profit, yet because of the loopholes that
their lobbyists created, in a given year, they do not pay a nickel in
federal taxes. That is wrong.
While Hillary Clinton supports making our tax code fairer and more
progressive, Donald Trump wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars
in tax breaks to the very wealthiest people in this country. His
reckless economic policies will not only exacerbate income and wealth
inequality, they will increase our national debt by trillions of
dollars.
This election is about the thousands of young people I have met
throughout this country, who have left college deeply in debt, the many
others who cannot afford to go to college, and the need in this country
to have the best educated workforce in a highly competitive global
economy. Hillary Clinton believes that we must substantially lower
student debt, and that we must make public colleges and universities
tuition free for the middle-class and working families of this country.
This is a major initiative that will revolutionize higher education in
this country, and improve the lives of so many of our people. Think of
what it will mean – think of this – when every child in this country,
regardless of the income of his or her family, knows that if they study
hard – if they take school seriously, yes, they will be able to get a
college education, and leave school without debt.
This election is about climate change, the greatest environmental
crisis facing our planet, and a need to leave this world in a way that
is healthy and habitable for our children and future generations.
Hillary Clinton is listening to the scientists who tell us that if we do
not act boldly in the very near future, there will be more drought,
more floods, more acidification of the oceans, more rising sea levels.
She understands that we must work with countries around the world in
transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel and – away from
fossil fuels and into energy efficiency and sustainable energy, and that
when we do that, we can create a whole lot of good paying jobs. Well,
Donald Trump, like most Republicans, sadly and tragically is choosing to
reject science. Something no presidential candidate should ever do.
He believes that climate change is a hoax. In fact, he wants to expand
the use of fossil fuels. That would be a disaster for our country, and
for the entire planet.
This election is about the leadership we need to pass comprehensive
immigration reform, and repair a broken criminal justice system. It’s
about making sure that young people in this country are in good schools,
or at good jobs, not in jail cells. Secretary Clinton understands that
we do not need to have more people in jail than any other country on
Earth, at an expense of $80 billion a year.
In these stressful times for our country, this election must be about
bringing our people together, not dividing us up. While Donald Trump is
busy insulting Mexicans, and Muslims, and women, and African-Americans,
and our veterans, Hillary Clinton understands that our diversity is one
of our greatest strengths. Yes, we become stronger when black and
white, Latino, Asian-American, Native American, all of us stand
together. Yes, we become stronger when men and women, young and old,
gay and straight, native-born and immigrant, fight to rid this country
of all forms of bigotry.
It is no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of
issues. That is what this campaign has been about. That is what
democracy is about. But I am happy to tell you that at the Democratic
Platform Committee, which ended Sunday
night in Orlando, there was a significant coming together between the
two campaigns, and we produced – we produced by far the most progressive
platform in the history of the Democratic Party. Our job is to see that
platform implemented by a democratically controlled Senate, a
democratically controlled House, and a Hillary Clinton presidency. And I
intend to be in every corner of this country to make certain that it
happens.
I have known Hillary Clinton for 25 years. We were a bit younger
then. I remember her as a great First Lady, who broke precedent in terms
of the role that a First Lady was supposed to play. And as she helped
lead the fight to universal health care, I served with her in the US
Senate, and know her as a fierce advocate for the rights of our
children. And I know her, and all of you know her, as one of the most
intelligent people that we have ever met. Hillary Clinton will make an
outstanding president, and I am proud to stand with her today. Thank
you all very much.”
