Ms. Pelosi good morning everyone. As our nation prepares for we thank god for all the blessings he has bestowed upon us, our men and women in uniform who keep us safe. We thank them and their families for the sacrifices they make for our democracy, for our freedom. This year, we wont be able to be joining each other in the traditional way, but virtually well come together to thank god for our blessings. As we do so, though, it will be with great pain, with great pain that in our country and the course of this year, 250,000 americans have lost their lives from the coronavirus. Daily cases have averaged over 60,000 in this past week. Hospitalizations have set a national a record for three days in a row last week. And over 11. 7 million and growing have been infected. Cases are set to rise. On the economic front, 20 million americans are on unemployment with the benefits soon set to expire and millions have fallen into poverty and our food insecure and face the threat of eviction. This is
But i also want to say just an aside here at the outset that we are still in quarantine. We are following orders. We are fine. No symptoms developing for either of us. I have learned that i am somewhat of an inpatient patient. This is one of the first times i have been pinned down, but , december 1chnology will get here when it gets here. In the meantime, we will be celebrating thanksgiving home alone. Better safe than sorry. Maybe we will make up for it next year with emily from around the state and around the country coming in and maybe do two thanksgivings next year family from around the state and around the country coming in. We are wishing a lot of others good health and strength and food and clothing and shelter they need because we know so in india are stepping up to help and fill that need. This year has reminded us both of everything that we took for past. D in years even the most basic things like at sporting events. All those traditions and annual rituals or routines that h
This should give us all great hope. It could be here as early as december and we will be ready. We will be ready to get it out as soon we receive it. We have been told that it will come in batches. In the first several months the priority will be to get it out to protect the most vulnerable and to protect our essential health workers. We will then be able to move to the general population. At some point after that, we hope to achieve significant immunity in ohio. , i want to talk to you about what we do until then. We are now at the most crucial phase of this pandemic. Of our third midst wave in ohio. In the spring, as the virus , we shut things down, flattened to the curve, and were able to open back up. In the summer, we got hit again. The virus was heaviest in urban areas and some of our mayors in the department of health issued mask orders in these hotspots. Mask wearing in those areas went up dramatically. As a result, cases dropped dramatically. Now seeing a third spike. But this
Year has brought and think about what lies ahead. You know, our First National day of thanksgiving, authorized by the continental congress, took place december 18, 1777. It was celebrated by general George Washington and his troops on the way to valley forge. It took place under extremely harsh conditions and deprivation. Lacking food, clothing, shelter, theyre preparing to write out a long, hard winter. Today, you can find a plaque in gulf mills marking that moment. The plaque reads, this thanksgiving, in spite of the suffering, showed the referencing character that was forging the soul of a nation. Forging the soul of a nation. Faith, courage, sacrifice, service to country, service to each other, and gratitude even in the face of suffering have long been part of what thanksgiving means in america. Looking back over our history, you see it has been in the most difficult circumstances that the soul of our nation has been forged and now we find ourselves again facing a long, hard winter
The legal and tax historian discusses his book. Let me introduce todays speaker, dr. Tera hunter, professor of American History and professor of African American studies at princeton. She is a specialist in 19th and 20th century history. She specializes in gender, race, labor, and the history of the United States south. A little bit about her publications, which are multiple awardwinning, her most recent book is bound in wedlock slave and free black marriage in the nineteenth century. Published in 2017. A book about African Americans and marriage in the 19th century, a winner of multiple awards. And a variety of other prizes. The list goes on and on. Congress as a policy. Wherever the union army appeared in confederate territory, enslaved people fled. They were housed in what were called contraband camps. These were makeshift campsites that were situated next to union army camps. They provided very important source of labor in the camps. They provided intel, information, that proved cr