Seriously. You are never too young to have an opinion so let your voice be heard now. For more information go to our website, studentcam. Org. Senator Bernie Sanders of 2020 democratic president ial candidate spoke with College Students and others at a town hall on the campus of Simpson College in iowa. [applause] thank you. Thank you all very much for coming out this afternoon. And let me thank those who have already spoken, sylvia, doctor libby and chris thank you very much. [applause] what i want to do is dual format a little bit different than i usually, so want to involve you in the discussion. Id want to give you a long speech, ill limit it to three hours. [laughing] i want to touch on that are so many issues out there but a want to touch on some of the very essential issues, get your thoughts on it. And a want to start up with the issue of money and politics. If you run for president of the United States or governor, or send for that mattermatter, its an expensive proposition. My concern right now is that, especially since citizens united, what weve seen is a major corruption of our political system and the concept of democracy meaning one person, one vote. What most of us believe, if we were arguing about an issue, we would raise a hand in majority wins. Everybody has the same boat. But increasingly in american politics, that is not the case. So you have a handful of billionaires who are literally spending hundreds of millions of dollars in all kinds of ways to super pacs of whatever, electing candidates who represent the wealthy and the powerful. And that concerns me very much because that whole process undermines american democracy, which is why you end up in congress with the Republican Leadership talk about tax breaks for billionaires and cuts to social security, medicare and medicaid. You go out on the streets in indianola or anywhere else, not 5 american people, that is the ideology because that is what money interests want. So first point i i want to maks with got to do with the impact of money in politics. That means to my mind overturning this Disastrous Supreme Court decision on citizens united. [cheers and applause] it also means public funding of elections. [applause] it also means working aggressively to end voter suppression. [applause] what democracy is supposed to mean is that im a candidate, youre a candidate, you get up there and you say this is what i believe and i want your support. Not i cant get that part of the state support, or i can get people of color support, im going to suppress the vote. That is a cowardly cowardly underlying the marks it supposed to be about. So let me tell you when we were in the white house, our view will be that if you are 18 years age in the United States, you vote, end of discussion. [applause] i am enormously proud to tell you this, that our campaign has rewritten the history books in terms of campaign finance. As of today we have received for our campaign some 4. 2 million contributions coming from 1. 2 million americans, which is more than any candidate in the history of the United States of america. [cheers and applause] so unlike some candidates, we dont have and never will have a super pac. Unlike some candidates, i will not spend my time going to wealthy peoples homes raising large sums of money from a handful of millionaires. [applause] our average contribution, if you can believe it, is 18. Our major source of employment who contributes to our campaign are not wall street bankers, not ceos. They are teachers. [cheers and applause] they are workers at amazon, workers at target, workers at walmart. What we are running uniquely in American History is a campaign of the working class, by the working class, and for the working class of this country. [applause] second issue, want you to think about this. A lot of debate going on about healthcare in america. Four years ago i came to iowa and i said i believe that health care is a human right, not a privilege. [applause] that it is an International Embarrassment that we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee health care to all of our people, while at the same time we are spending twice as much per person on health care, 11,000 for every man, woman and child, twice as much as any other major country on earth. My view and im glad that all over this country more and more people have accepted that view is that we need to move toward a medicare for all singlepayer program. [applause] what that Program Means is that there are no more premiums. There are no more copayments. There are no more deductibles, do you know what a deductible is . What of the craziest things ive ever heard in if you are the average family in america, right in the middle of our economy you make about 60,000 a year. You are paying 12,000 a year for year for your healthcare entrance of premiums, copayments, Prescription Drug drug cost, outofpocket expenses. Thats 20 of your income. So all those people now, early, how are you going to pay for medicare for all . Take a look whats going on right now. Take a look at the millions and millions of workingclass families who are paying 15, 20, 25 of their of their limited incomes for healthcare right now. What we are proposing is a much simpler proposal and a much fairer proposal. What we are saying for comprehensive health care that includes dental care, hearing aids, eyeglasses and Home Healthcare [cheers and applause] what we are proposing is a 4 income tax when member, all, copayments, out of pockets are gone. Or personal income tax, exempting the first 29,000. So that means if you are that sam and bill, he make 60,000, make 60,000, you are paying for of 31,000, roughly 1200 a year for comprehensive health care. Pretty good deal i would think. [applause] so for all my critics who dont want to take on the Healthcare Industry, you go tell your constituents that bernies proposal will cost the average American Worker 1200 a year. Their proposal will cost 12,000 a year. I think weve got the better deal here. [applause] and the reason we can do that is, number one, we eliminate 100 billion in profiteering from the Drug Companies and insurance companies. And then second of all, this system is so byzantine and complicated and crazy. We have thousands of separate Insurance Programs in america. You have 5000 deductible, your in this network, that when. Youre on medicare, youre on medicaid. Trying to administer that system is costing us 500 billion for you. And by the way, doctors, nurses are going nuts trying to do with insurance companies, as our patient or anybody here do with an Insurance Company . There you go. Trying to fight for the coverage that you thought you entitled to. While youre paying for the guy the other end of the phone tell you you are not covered. Thats pretty crazy. How our system is not a radical idea. I didnt come up with his idea in the middle of the net. What to do with canada come all over the world. Canada, you have a little card, you go to the doctor, thats it. You dont take out your wallet. You dont take out your credit card. You pay for your healthcare through a tax system that we are proposing. Okay . That eliminates an enormous amount of administrative bureaucracy which in set saving the system many hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Furthermore, we take on the greed and corruption of the pharmaceutical industry, all right . [applause] we are spending a a couple f months ago, three or four months ago i went to canada from detroit with people who have diabetes. We bought insulin for onetenth of the price. You got it . Same product comes and company, onetenth of the price. Why is that . The answer is in this country, Drug Companies can charge anything they want. Completely unregulated. Every other country in the world says sorry, you can charge the people in our country this price. That is what we are going to do. [applause] four years ago, came to iowa and ive proposed something which at that point was seemingly a very radical idea, and that is that in a changing world and in the changing economy, and a competitive global economy, we should rethink what Public Education in america means. And that is that free Public Education for k12 is no longer good enough, that we have to make public colleges and universities tuition free. And that means that we have to make sure that every person in this country who wants Higher Education, in a private school, and a public school, in a trade school, can leave School Without debt. [cheers and applause] him and we do that by expandingl grants vary significantly. We do that by expanding the Workstudy Program and of the financial aid. Bottom line is that if you want Higher Education in america, you should be able to get it, regardless of the income of your family. And other thing that we do, ill tell you meant how pay for it. The other thing that we do is cancel all student debt in america. [cheers and applause] now, some of my critics say well, thats a a very expensive idea. Sounds great. How are you going to pay for it . 11 just ago, against my vote, congress bailed out the crooks on wall street. Two years ago trump and his friends gave 1 trillion in tax breaks to the top 1 of the largest profitable corporations. What we are proposing to pay for free tuition at public colleges and universities, a massive expansion in pell grants, Workstudy Programs, cancel all student debt. We pay for that to a modest tax on wall street speculation. [applause] the last point i want to make before we open it up is an issue that worries me very, very much and it should worry every person in this room, every person in this country, every person in this world are and that is what the scientists are now telling us, the people who know the most about the issue, is that they have underestimated the speed and severity in which Climate Change is ravaging our country in the entire world. And what they are telling us, that it is possible by the end of the century, if we do not get our act together, that the planet earth will be five, six, seven degrees fahrenheit warmer than it is right now. And what that means is almost unimaginable. What that means is that rising sea levels will devour coastal communities in our country, cities like miami, charleston, new york city will be underwater or partially underwater. Countries like bangladesh, vietnam, good part of those countries will be underwater. What it means is when our forests are driedup, we will have even more wildfires and weve seen with her own eyes in the last few years. You all know whats going on in california right now. You may not know that australia is burning right now as well. Last summer in europe thousands of people died because they had the hottest summer in recorded history. France, germany, uk, and so forth. What we are looking at is extreme weather disturbances, massive rainfalls putting houston underwater and resulting in farmers not being able to have the time they need to grow the crops that they need. It means shorter planting seasons because farmers will find that their fields are in mud, and drought is not very productive if you want a good crop. What the United Nations is telling us is that a result of Climate Change we can be looking at hundreds of millions of people who are climate refugees. That means if you live in a community where there is no water you can drink or you cant grow your crops, you have to pick up and move. When were talking hundreds of millions of people on the move, you are talking but increased danger of international conflict. Now, that is the reality. It is a very sad state of affairs, it really is, that we havent ignorant person in the white house who not only does not recognize the reality of Climate Change, trump thinks its a hoax but, in fact, is exacerbating the problem by encouraging more fossil fuel production. So what do we do . We do everything humanly possible to transform our Energy System in the worlds Energy System away from fossil fuels to Energy Efficiency and sustainable energy. In that regard i am very proud to tell you that we have introduced the most comprehensive farreaching Climate Change proposal ever introduce by any candidate for president in the history of this country. [cheers and applause] and my critics say, bernie, its a very expensive proposal. Youre right, it is. Its a very expensive proposal, 16 trillion is a lot of money. But i want you to think about what the alternative is. What is the alternative to saving the planet . How much is too much to spend to make sure our children, grandchildren and future generations live in a world that is healthy and is habitable . Our plan is based on the green new deal, and what that means, we believe that as we transform our Energy System, we can create up to 20 million good paying jobs. Theres an enormous amount of work to be done. [applause] bottom line is that in terms of Climate Change we are going have to be bold and we are going to to be tough and were going to have to tell the fossil fuel industry that their shortterm profits are not more important than the future of this planet and as president i intend to do that. [applause] but here is what makes a very difficult issue even more difficult. And that is, it is not an american issue. We can tomorrow to all the right things transform our Energy System, but if china and russia and india, pakistan and europe do not come on board, the world will be in very bad shape. So what i promise you that as president of the United States, i will not be like trump denying the reality of Climate Change. I will not be encouraging more fossil fuels i will be helping to lead the people of the world to stand up and fight for the planet that is healthy for their kids. [applause] and the message that i will take around the world, and i cant guarantee you that it will succeed, the message that i will take is that maybe, just maybe, and this critical moment in World History that instead of spending 1. 8 trillion every year on weapons of destruction designed to kill each other, maybe we should pool our resources and use that money to fight our common enemy, which is Climate Change. [cheers and applause] all right, let me throughout the question to you and then you throw out a question to me. The impact of Climate Change is increasingly apparent. I mean, and what i want to get you nervous about, and im nervous already, my wife always tells me i totally depress everybody a replay cycle. Have to hand out tranquilizers at the gate here. But its not just what the scientists are saying. When you look at climate you are looking at thousands and hundreds of thousands of trained over millions of years. But we are seeing changes and own lifetime. Just think about the devastation that puerto rico experienced, that the bahamas experience, that new orleans experience, hurricane sandy, billions of dollars of damage on the east coast. Think about the forest fires, the wildfires that we are seeing all over the world. Think about the fact that fish provides protein for hundreds and hundreds of millions of people, and fish are dying in the ocean as the ocean becomes more acidified and warmer. People are seeing this. They providing about every single day. Why is it do you think that you have leaders here in iowa and around the country who still refuse to acknowledge the reality of Climate Change . Why is that . How could that be . Raised your hand. Raise your hand. Lets start up a discussion. Standup. Theres theres a mic coming to you. [inaudible] do you think its a question of Campaign Contribution and the power of money . Okay. Make sure that mic is on. Okay, more discussion on Climate Change. How can it be that so many leaders and other people, if im a farmer here in iowa, ive got to be concerned about Climate Change in terms of the quality and quantity of what im going to be reducing. What are people not to do with that . Yes, maam. People believe stuff that just isnt true and i think its because of fox news. Okay. [applause] see, on this one though what is interesting, this is not a scientific debate anymore. The scientists are all acknowledging the reality of Climate Change that it is manmade. But now what people have to do is deny the reality of their own eyes. If california is burning, if Crop Production in iowa is going to go down because of torrential rain and mud on the fields, there has to be an explanation. Any other thoughts on that . Yes, maam. A mic is coming. Weve got to get religion out of politics. You hear people standing at the pulpit saying vote for this person, because they are god sent, and they deny Climate Change because humans are not supposed to have that power. That belongs to god. Thats interesting. Ive heard that over and over again where people in the churches are campaigning and theyre supposed to be nonprofit. You report it to the irs and they dont want to listen. Thats interesting. Thank you. [applause] people have a hard time believing that human beings and carbon emission can be doing what it is doing. In other thoughts on Climate Change . What would you like to see . Out to give you an overview. What would you like to see a congress and the president doing on Climate Change . I have a hand over there. Yes, sir. What needs to be done is trump has thats a lot of small refiner exemptions to i asked the president president you would commit to making that transparent and reducing. Absolutely. We are looking at all forms of sustainable injury. By the way iowa does is a lot of credit for being leaders in this country in wind energy. Biofuels is another tool and we have to expand that. All right. I want to go to another issue i might. Healthcare my colleagues often tell me on the floor of the United States senate, we have the best Healthcare System in the world. All right, tell me if thats true or if its not true, why it is not true. What are some of the experiences that you as patients have bumped into in terms of the Healthcare System . I see a hand right here. Stand up and give us your name if you would. My son is leading candidate for almost 20 years. Hes raising a family there, four children. They said everything, skin graphs and head injuries and broken bones and every illness a child could get, and they have wonderful healthcare. There is no waiting. Theres urgent care. I take this gets to the doctor and all i do is show them the card and my son pays about 2000 in a federal tax. We ought to talk about that packs in this country. Hes getting some medical care thats worth at the least 25,0 in Premium Payments he would be paying if you worked in this country. Thank you. [applause] so how does that happen . I lived at 50 miles the Canadian Border in arlington vermont. Thats true. Ive been up there. When you go in canada arlington vermont. Someone has a major surgery, in hospital for months, whats the deal when you leave the hospital . Zero. [applause] and then it happens that while her son of course pays taxes, it ends up that they spend half as much per person on health care as we do. Because they dont have the joy of having to do with the private insurance industry. I know your son is upset about that. Thats a joke, it to joe, i know that. All right. So more discussion. Thank you for that. And again, you go abroad and you say to people, in our country will go bankrupt when they get sick. Literally dont even know what youre talking about. Its inconceivable to them that people could go bankrupt because they got sick. And yet we have a Republican Party fiercely defending the system, and youve got the democratic establishment defending the system with some modest modifications. But this is what i believe. Way back from when Teddy Roosevelt c100 ago, more, more than 100 years ago, Teddy Roosevelt talked about health care as a right, universal healthcare. Franklin Delano Roosevelt talked about it. Harry truman talked about. John f kennedy talked about it. Lyndon johnson talked about it. Obama talked about it. Harder talked about it. Now after 100 years of talk, maybe we have the guts to take on the Healthcare Industry and passed medicare for all. [cheers and applause] all right. Thats my rant. Your thoughts. More experience on the with the wonderful Healthcare System. Right here. Yes, you. Stand up. I am a child of a single parent and have four younger brothers and one thing i remember when i was younger is that my mother could never afford healthcare for all five of us. So we relied very heavily on my insurance and hawkeye and medicare and all of that stuff and when she lost her job we lost her healthcare and my brother got really sick. So she had to pay out of pocket, out of College Tuitions for my brothers and myself. And so having universal healthcare is really important to lower income, higher incomes everybody, its really important for me in deciding on who to vote for. Thank you very much. [applause] what is your name . [inaudible] her story is told all over the country. That is why 30,000 people in this country every year die. Because if you get sick and you cant afford your copayment, you cant afford the doctors office, you hesitate to go and and sometimes by the time you walk into the office, its too late. This is an insane and cruel system that you describe. Other thoughts on health care, personal experiences. Its hard enough to get coverage for medical care, but coverage that is adequate for Mental Health care is extremely difficult to get. [cheers and applause] absolutely and positively criminal. We have a Mental Health crisis in this country, and for ordinary people it is very, very hard to find the Mental Health treatments that they need. The rich, you can find it, if youre middle class, working class, lower income it is very, very difficult. I want everybody to understand because every time i go to an event like this people say wow, when medicare for all cover xy or z . The answer is it will. The last i heard, Mental Health issues are healthcare issues. [applause] but i do have to say that the issue with regard to health care is not only passing medicare for all, making sure everybody can get to a doctor, it is making sure we get doctors and nurses and psychologists and dentists to the areas of the country where we need them. [applause] you know, we should not be shutting down rural hospitals. We should be expanding Healthcare Facilities in rural america. [applause] and by the way, just as an aside, one of the things ive been working very hard on ever since ive been in the senate, with some success, is expanding Community Health centers all across this country. The good news is that as i understand that the house will shortly pass a major, major expansion of Community Health centers that ive helped sponsor. I think think we stand a good chance to get into the house. That will mean world clinics all over america. Please do your best to get your senators to support that. Im a student and my Little Brothers right behind you is about to be in college. Hes so little. I know, its terrifying but my older brother, yeah. My older brother is a senior in college, im a junior, hes about to be a freshman next year so my parents are about to havethree children in college at once. So. Be nice to your parents, very nice. Absolutely but then he is one of the smartest people ive ever met and he has always opportunity to go to the school but because of the money , we might not be able to go to some of these places where you could become i mean, who knows and i had the idea of his you know, whats the word im thinking of . Opportunities being limited because of, he has to go and pay 60,000 a year for an education. Did you want to say a word on this . What shes saying is youre really smart. He denies it, he says hesnot. Okay. Other thoughts. Right here,yes. One person wearing the suitin the room , okay. My name is nathaniel and i looked into this a lot, this is the thing that come up. Iowa has the highest Graduation Rate at 82. 1 percent but when it comes to Higher Education the Completion Rate falls down into the low 40s. Part of that problem is a lot of our students are able to deal with the challenges in school and the soft skills, theyre not prepared to handle all the aspects of Higher Education so having access to Higher Education , being able to pay for it is only one of the problems of completion andid like to hear more discussion on how we will better prepare students for the real world and for the job market. Thank you. [applause] thats a good questionbut let me get some more comments and we will get back to that. Let me ask you this one. And angela kind of raised the issue. If angelas family was extremely wealthy and im assuming that youre not , then he would not have to be making those choices. What do we think . Do wethink everybody in this country regardless of the income of their families should be able to go and get the Higher Education again, not just college. Grade schools or other types of education which will give them the skills they need to go out and get a decent job. Should that be open to all people regardless of income . [applause] all right, i think so and heres what is interesting and some of you may not know this but 50 years ago, here in the United States, some of the great publicuniversities and colleges, california and new york, you know how much tuition was it was virtually zero. So what has happened over the years is that states have cut back on their funding for public colleges and universities and the difference has fallen onto the students and their families and tuition is soaring and then you have the phenomenon of high college debt but i think to tell you a funny story i was at a meeting in washington two years ago and i said well, the idea of free tuition and college is not such a radical idea. It exists infinland and somebody jumps upand he says senator, youre wrong. In finland its notfree. They pay us to go to college. But picking up on angelas point with regard to her brother and multiplying that 1 billion times you said we want our young people to get the very best education that they can so that they can become the people that they want to become and what we need is a society. We need doctors, scientists. We need teachers. We need childcare workers, construction workers. We need a well educated workforce and people cannot afford to get the education they need not only hurts the individuals but hurts us as a society as well. All right, yes. With yourhand over there, sir. My name is tom and i wanted to add that i think what happens between birth and age 5 before kindergarten is critically important. Early childhood education and Child Care Needs to bepart of our Education System and well compensated. [applause] sorry, your first name . Tom hits the nail on the head. Every psychologist who studies the issue understands that the most important years of Human Development r0 through four. Zero through five and yet think about it. We give 1 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthy and large corporations. We are now spending more than the next 10 nations combined on the military. We provide hundreds of billions of dollars per year in subsidies and tax breaks for the fossil fuel industry which is destroying our planet and yet in iowa, in vermont, over this country is very difficult for a workingclass person to find the quality affordable childcare or prek education they need so what we have proposed is kind of a revolution in education. And it means that we will have universal affordable childcare with wellpaid, well trained childcare instructors. It means that we are going to invest heavily in Public Education in this country, especially in title i schools serving lower income kids. It means that no child in america will go hungry. It means and this is maybe the most important issue, we have got to decide as a nation what our priorities are. What we believe in. I happen to believe that education is something that we shouldbe involved in from the day where born to the day we die. Thats what makes us human beings. So we have got to respect education and respect educators. I was in the hampshire a couple weeks ago and i dont know how different it is here in iowa. I was at a meeting with teachers and they said bernie, you know that in some School Districts in the hampshires which is not a poor state , teachers begin at 28,000. All over this country in south carolina. Teachers are leaving who have years and years of experience are leaving the profession in droves because they have to work two or three jobs to make aliving. Taking money out of their own pockets for school supplies. Think about the future of a nation which does not cherish and prize education and our educators. So to the young people here, i hope very much that you will think about becoming teachers. And childcare workers. We desperately need to add in my job if elected president is to make sure that all teachers in this country earn at least 60,000 a year. [applause] because i want, i want the young people here in any place else to be saying you know what, teaching is an enormously important and gratifying profession. Cant do much more important work and being a teacher and i want young people to say i am proud of going into the teachingprofession and im going to earn a decent living when ido that, i dont have to work two or three jobs. Do i see your hands . Yes sir, right here. My name is lou and i guess what really sticks with me about education is the cultural stigma against Community Colleges and trade workers and like trade schools. Because not, in the system we have now not everybodys going to be able to afford university and we need teachers and mechanics and cleaners and servers do not only like shame the people who want to go into these professions but deny them the resources they need when they go into thoseprofessions whether by choice or by not. Its ridiculous. Thank you. Thats well stated. A couple of years ago, i dont know if you study what goes on in germany. Okay. A couple of years ago we brought the ambassador from germany to the United States and i wanted him totalk about your apprenticeship programs. And in germany , they are doing very much what youre talking about. They have done away with or tried to do away with the stereotyping that oh, im going to become a bigger. Im going to become a furniture maker or im going to become a construction worker and somehow that is less important than somebody who graduates college what they have done and we have a very Strong Program of apprenticeships. Youre going to high school, you are paying to learn how to become a bigger or furniture maker, whatever it may be. And a significantnumber of their people do that. We have in this country youre a plumber, i dont know about iowa but in vermont you make a prettygood living. An automobile mechanic its a good living, carpenter makes a good living. A lot of important work that has to be done in our society , we need workers to do that. They need that opportunity to get the education and the training they need in order to do that work andmake a living. Your point is right. All right. Yes maam. My name is natalie and i have, my Childcare Costs more than my mortgage. It costs so much money that i cant afford to have her in preschool because you have to add that on top of what you pay for daycare and theres no way to get her there was its three hours a day and we both work full time and we have no ability to get transportation there i feel like shes already behind as we dont have the money to pay for it. Shes a beautiful little girl, i can see thatfrom here. Natalie raises exactly in many ways somebody correct me if im wrong but in some cases childcare is more expensive than public colleges and Community Colleges. But it gets back to the point that natalie makes. Natalies sometimes, some of mycolleagues are still living in the 1950s. When daddy went to work and mommy stayed home with the kids. Ill tell you a story if i might. A number of years ago when i was in the house, somebody help me write a speech and the person said 80 percent of mothers with kids on other five are in the workforce area and i cant remember what it was you and i said thats ridiculous, go back and check the facts. It turnsout to be correct. Over this country you have moms and dads working who is taking care of the kids west and mark can they find high quality and affordable high care so when they go to work there feeling good about wheretheir kit is at and the answer is coast to coast we cannot. Workingclass families cannot find that Quality Childcare and we are going to change that. Okay. Young man over there. All right. My name is reich and and i wanted to know the job outline the high school to the dropout rate of high school to prison. Its called the pole to prison pipeline is what it is and thats a whole other issue we didnt spend time on today but i want to deal with thatissue because its north enormously important. When we talk about an agenda that works for workingclass people which is what our campaign is about it means that we must bring fundamental reform to a broken and racist criminal justice system. [applause] and what it means, and ill be very brief, im talking about our criminal Justice Program isfirst of all , picking up on the young mans question, we should be investing in our young people and education and job training rather than building more jails and having more incarceration. Ill give you an exampleof what i mean by that. In vermont, i was down there a couple of years ago and i high school which is primarily a workingclass high school and she said bernie, i love the kids in the school and i am going to do everything i can to make sure none of them dropout because if they dropout of school, the likelihood of them doing well in life is significantly reduced. She says i hired members. I am available at 3 00 in the morning if a kid is having a problem with her parents or a boyfriend or whatever it may be. Our job is to make sure that kids get the education that they need are not falling through the cracks. If a kid dropped out of high School Without an education, without job training, there is a strong likelihood that kids will end up doing dumb things and ending up in jail were going to invest in our kids, in jobs and education, not more jails or incarceration. Second thing were going to do is end prisons and Detention Centers in america. [applause] going to end cash bail in america because many of you may not know it, you may not know it, there are 400,000 people in jail at this moment. You know why theyre in jail mark was there before and they cannot afford bail. Havent been convicted of anything. Youre arrested, not convicted. You dont have the 500 bucks for bail, you stay in jail. That is unbelievable. That is what took place in Charles Dickens time. It is taking place right now. Other things that youre going to do. And this is a big deal. Is and the socalled war on drugs which has been so destructive. And that means we are going to legalize marijuana in every state in this country. And expunge the records of those who beenarrested for the sale of marijuana. [applause] im going to have to apologize because were getting on a plane to take us to nevada where its a little bit warmer than it is here. But let me just say this. All of you know that iowa plays a very outsized role in the american political process. And i got to tell you, having been all over your state that i have been impressed by the seriousness of the people of iowa accept very heavy response ability. I suspect that many of the people inthis room , they hovered other candidates. And thats a right thing to do. You want to make sure that your voting for the candidate who comes closest to your views. All i can ask of you is that what i believe is not only that it is imperative that we defeat donald trump who is the most dangerous president in the modern history of this country, and it gives me no pleasure to tell you i think many of you know. It is a pathological liar. His administration is corrupt and i think youre going to see more of that evidence as the impeachment process unwinds. He is a racist. He is a sexist. He is a homophobe. His attacks against undocumented people are clearly xenophobic and hes a religious bigot and an embarrassment to me. And i have conservative friends but theyre not racist or sexist and its an embarrassment to me and i think to this country that we have somebody with that value system in the white house right now. So with your help, we are going to defeat trump and i believe that i am the strongest candidate in the Democratic Party to do just that. [applause] so we need your help here in iowa to win. We need your help to win the democratic nomination and im here to ask you something even more. And that is i am running not just to defeat trump. I am running so that together, we can transform our government and our country so that finally, we have an economy and a government that work for all of us, not just the one percent. I want to thank all of you for coming out today. And i want to thank you very much, i need your help. Lets go forward together. Thank you. [chanting ] bernie, bernie. [inaudible]. [inaudible] the house will be in order for 40 years, cspan has been providing america unfiltered coverage of congress, the white house , the Supreme Court and Public Policy events from washington dc and around the country you can make up your own mind. Created by table in 1979, cspan is brought to your by your local cable or satellite providers. Cspan your unfiltered view of government. In congress this week the house returns at noon today with two weeks left on this years legislative calendar. As early as wednesday theyre expected to take up a bill to lower prescriptiondrug costs. As leaders they work is also possible on defense programs. In the senate continued work on judicial and executive nominations. This week about is expected on John Sullivan to ambassador of russia. Replacing John Huntsman and stephen hahn to be fda commissioner. Live coverageof the house on cspan and live Senate Coverage on cspan2. Cspans campaign 2020 coverage continues with republican president ial