I started in thousand oaks, look where you are going to end up. That is so wonderful. Keep, i cannot thank you enough. You have been such a leader and a friend. Thank you for everything you do, always. D. C. , walking the halls, pounding the pavement, always fighting for oakland. Thank you. Haynes. Dear reverend we have been friends a long time , and our friendship is based on ongoing conversation weve been having about how each of us can pulpit to figure out how to lift folks up and do it in a way that is about an ongoing commitment to social justice. I cannot thank you enough for opening this Beautiful House of worship to us as afternoon. Thank you. [applause] it is so wonderful to be home, i cannot even tell you guys. It is so wonderful to be home. Daughter of oakland, california. A proud daughter of oakland, california. Thank you all for being here. You have taken out time from your busy lives and days to be here and have this conversation. I think you could there is a lot of talk about i thank you. There is a lot to talk about. Im going to talk about a little bit, the bulk of our time will be we are going to have a conversation. The microphone will be passed around so i can know what you are thinking and answer questions if i can. Lets start with this moment in time in which we live. You know, many of you know my background. My parents met when they were graduate students at the university of california berkeley in the 1960s, if they met when they were active in the civil rights movement. I have joked many times, my sister and i have joked, we have been surrounded by adults marching and shouting about this thing called justice. When we look about what has been happening in just the last eight months of our country, we know we are living in a truly challenging moment in time. An inflection moment, i would say to similar to when my parents met. It is challenging the country to look in the mirror and answer a question, which is, who are we . Folks, i believe the answer is a good one. I believe we are a great country, flawed though we may be. But this is a moment in time that is challenging us to fight for who we are and the ideas upon which the country was founded. Themachieved so many of may be. This moment in time is challenging us to fight, to stand up, to be heard, to not turn a blind eye but to face and confront the truths that are challenging this country. When we look, for example, at what happened in charlottesville. Man, really . Devastating. It hit all of us, i know, to a really raw core. When we had to look at an image of folks marching with torches , and then have the president of the United States talk about both sides . I believe we should always keep an open mind, this is what we teach our children, look at both sides, there are other perspectives, we should always think of other perspectives and be open to different opinions. There is no question about that. On most issues, there is a rational and reachable and reasonable debate that invites consideration of both sides. But the line gets drawn and it becomes clear that there are not both sides to consider when it is so clearly the right side and wrong side. For those confused about the wrong side, there are just a couple of simple fines. The wrong side is the side with torches and swastikas. [applause] sen. Harris that is the wrong side. Can not have the leader of our country or those who profess to be leaders in any way condoning or being complicit with the kind of behavior that is dividing our country. [applause] sen. Harris it is wrong. It is wrong. And when we look at the history of our country, we know we have had those moments before. Listen, you know, some of you knew my mother. We would have this ongoing debate, i would say sometimes, andy, she would be fighting marching back in the day. Sometimes i would say, mommy, you are a bit of a pessimist on this. She would say, you are an idealist. I would say, im an optimist. And she would say, im a realist. I write back home from washington, d. C. To find myself somewhere between an optimist and realist. On this subject, lets be clear. We have had these moments in time where people will suggest a right side and a wrong side in terms of separate but equal or jim crow or all of these issues we have had. Marriage and marriage equality. All these issues we have had in our distant and recent future. On some of these issues, they are not debatable. So this is a challenging moment in time. It is requiring us to stand up, the vocal and fight. But i believe strongly, still do it with a sense of optimism, and at least lets not be tired and lets not be overwhelmed. Our handsnot throw up when it is time to roll up our sleeves. So lets look at where we are in terms of this moment in time, then, and the specific challenges and fights we have in front of us. But lets do it in a way that as we go forward is also reflective on recent history in terms of our success. Part of what i wanted to bring everyone together this afternoon was to thank you. To thank you. Folks have been saying, what does it matter . What can we do . Will it make a difference . What you all data, what communities what you all did, what communities around our country did in fighting against the repeal of the Affordable Care act was phenomenal. [applause] up. Harris you guys stood and the folks who cant be here this afternoon but who were right out there, whether they were marching on the streets, whether they were writing emails or texting or calling, made a difference. And lets put this in perspective. For seven years they were saying they were going to get rid of this thing. They had politicized something fundamentalal, the right of health care, they politicized it. They slept the name obamacare on it and decided it was about anybody who wanted to defeat the president. And for seven years they said they were going to get rid of it. Then they came into office and said this would be the first thing they were going to do. The first priority. Told, i think all of us, and i certainly, was a ied. Worr we dont have the majority in the house or senate, and you know about the white house. And we were worried. But the thing that happened was i think it became very clear that though we may not have the power in the house, may not have the power in the senate, may not have the power in the white house, we have power. The people have the power. [applause] sen. Harris and that is what happens. That is what happens. So people were marching and they were shouting and showing up at town hall meetings. It was funny to watch sometimes in the townhall meetings of socalled red districts and red states, people showing up there, youve got to love it, some said i do not want obamacare but i do want the Affordable Care act. [laughter] sen. Harris i will go with that. But the people spoke. And it was an interesting experience because that night of the vote, which im sure many of you saw, it was early in the morning by the time it happened. Erward, there was a group i am sure somebody here was probably there. Lots of people came from all over the country and were Holding Vigil outside the capital. After the vote, i went outside to speak with the folks out there to thank them. One of the things that occur to me was that, and again, silver about what we do makes a difference and so we cant give up. So it was a travesty, the motivation behind trying to repeal the Affordable Care act, because it was all about tax cuts for the most rich. Travesty because it was about saying Health Care Care is a privilege and not a right. Also that we have to have that battle. But the beauty about what happened is that in spite of everything that was going on, it showed our democracy can work. That is the beauty of what happened. Our democracy worked, the people. Poke and the people won so when i come home to share my thoughts with you, i do that from a perspective of here and the experiences i have had in to leavei want everyone as we go through this next phase of the fight remembering that the voices, the marching, the shouting, it does matter. So then lets think about, ok, what are the battles ahead . Im going to start with something that is imminent, meaning next tuesday, september 5. Hat is the issue of daca it is an acronym that stands for byolicy that was initiated the previous, our president , and the policy relates to these young people we call dreamers. Who are dreamers . Its a name we have given to a population in california of 220,000 people, in california, and many more across the country. Young people who are brought into the United States, many of them before they could walk or talk, brought into the United States with their parents. They have only known this is their only home. And they are undocumented immigrants. And so these are dreamers, we set up a policy that said, lets figure out who they are and depending on whether they fit criteria and clear a vetting, we are going to the further deportation. We are going to say they should not be deported. So we have this system was designed to do that and that is what it did. We went through asking these kits a bunch of questions. What personal questions about their background, the circumstances around their arrival, who are their parents, have they committed crimes, are they living a productive life . We asked them to give up all that information and we explicitly said, if you give us this information so we can determine if you qualify, we will not share that information with ice. Momentwill step back a to give you some recent history on this before i get to september 5. I serve on many committees, you have heard about those from the reverend. One of those is the Homeland Security committee of the United States senate. In the various committees that i in then, we early on process, months ago, have the responsibility for reviewing denominations the president made to the fill his cabinet. One was the secretary of homeland of security, which was the agency that have the most authority for dealing with immigration in our country. This candidate comes before us, general john kelly. A series of folks and senders ask questions. I asked him about daca. Held up aess of piece of government paper that had frequently asked questions that we gave these kits. Guess what we said on this ease of government issue paper . We said no, if you give us this information, we will not share it with ice. Keepasked dude, will you americas commitment to these kids . Say he would commit to keep our promise. I asked him in private, will you keep the promise . He would not make the commitment. I asked him in a question for the record, will you keep the commitment . He would not say he would keep the commitment. Fastforward to today. Were looking at it situation where ten state attorneys general, all republicans, are threatening to sue the United States government if the president does not resend recend daca. They are threatening that if there is not an indication to re cend it by next tuesday, they will sue the United States government. Lets be clear about what this means. 220,000lifornians have dreamers who are right now living in terror. Right now. They dont know what is going to happen. Friendly, none of us know what is going to happen. Of us know what is going to happen. And we have an attorney general of the United States that says if those attorneys general sue, he will not defend the country against the lawsuit. You know, jeff sessions. Have a fight on our hands. And regardless of what happens on tuesday, this issue about ,reamers, this issue about daca the issue about their parents, the issue about needing to pass conference of Immigration Reform is a fight that is front and center and present and we cannot lose any steam on marching and shouting about the need to recognize a truth. Unless you are a native american , your people were immigrants. [applause] sen. Harris we are a nation of immigrants. And we have got to stop vilifying and criminalizing whole populations of people, because they came and arrived here from south of the border. This fight is real and it is present, and we have to speak truth about the issue that is at play. Lets look at what is happening in terms of this ban on our trans brothers and sisters who have stepped up and said they are willing to sacrifice their lives in defense of our country by serving in our military. And now they have issued, this administration, a ban on their ability to serve to protect our freedom. That is fundamentally a violation of peoples civil rights, which is to treat them differently under the law based on, in this case, their gender. [applause] sen. Harris we have to fight. We have to fight. [applause] sen. Harris we have so many fights ahead of us. Lets talk about the ongoing fight against trans parenthood. And a womans right to make a decision about her own reproductive health. [applause] sen. Harris dont make women suffer because our bodies were created to perpetuate the human species. But we have a fight. Know,e a fight, as we around the reality of climate change. Let me just tell you weight. We all agree, i know. Let me tell you what is going on. Another committee i am on is environment and public works, pw. Y call it e we had a hearing which essentially questioned whether science should be the basis of public holocene Public Policy. Right. Meanwhile, and here is the underlying issue in terms of the seriousness of the irresponsibility of it all. Guess what . This at its core, and at the height of what is most important, on the issue of climate change, it is about the need we have to have clean air and drink rainwater. Thathat is an issue impacted flick, michigan, that impacted alabama and mississippi and florida and texas and california and everywhere in between. And they are playing ticks for the benefit playing politics for the benefit of big oil. Lets be clear about that. And we have got to fight. We have got to fight on the issue of criminal justice. We have an attorney general of the United States who wants to bring back the war on drugs, which was an abject failure. [applause] sen. Harris an abject failure. He wants to bring back mandatory minimums. They are talking about private prisons. We have got to fight. Here is an opportunity, however. We also know, again, with the understanding that so many of the issues we all, regardless of where we live as americans have more in common than what separates us, lets talk about crisis. Sis the opiod i started my career in the deputy as a deputy da during the height of the crack epidemic. One of the things i know is how seriously we criminalize what is essentially a Public Health matter. We criminalize a Public Health matter. I see an opportunity, perhaps now in a way we didnt have been, we know what is going on and what was going on, but lets look at the opportunity we have now without ever forgetting our history. This might be a moment in time where collectively we can reach out to our brothers and sisters in those states, including our suffering from this opioid epidemic, and join hands and say we have to deal with it and deal with it as a Public Health matter. I see an opportunity in this crisis even though we have an attorney general trying to reinvent the war on drugs. There is an opportunity there. I see an opportunity in terms of what we are doing in one of the first bills ipass, which is to deal with the cash bail system in our country. [applause] sen. Harris and what we need to do the work toward getting rid of what is essentially a debtors prison system where we are punishing people and keeping them and course rated because they cant afford to get out. We have got to fight to change that. We are working to do that. Understanding that this, by the way, is not just a criminal justice matter, what an Economic Justice matter. N Economic Justice matter. [applause] sen. Harris i will close my comments for now and we will have a discussion, by saying, there is a lot to be concerned about and a lot to be troubled about. Im trying to figure out a new word for troubled because i find myself saying that is troubling a lot. [laughter] a friend of mine said, just call it a hot mess. Dictionary, synonyms for hot mess. I will say this, there are two recentthat happened in history that, again, leave me with a sense of optimism and realism, and optimism. One is a situation that happened, and tragic situation that happened many months ago in kansas. You may remember this. What happened was essentially two there were indianamerican men in a bar in kansas, and there were other patrons in the bar, and a fellow came in, and he said, you dont belong here, it out of here. That kind of thing. And essentially the patrons in the bar were like, you are a jerk, get out. The guy left, he came back with a gun and started shooting up the place. And hes in the bar killed one of the indianamerican men. The patrons in the bar came to their defense, so much so that i believe one was shot in the chest. Why are you talking about that . Heres the thing, i dont know any of the people who were in scene,r at that tragic but what i do know is that kansas voted for the president i doubledigit numbers. So i am willing to wager that the patrons in the bar, some of them, maybe all of them, voted for the president. But when confronted with a moment where they had to make a decision about what was the right thing to do, they did the right thing. Houston. People have been getting their boats, they have been putting on their slippers, going from all kinds of places to put on to help the families in houston. Least half of its population, it seems, i dont know the exact number, but a significant black and brown population who have been very, very impacted by the storm. In the folks are bringing their boats. They are not asking these families who did you vote for, what party are you registered with . They are getting out there and helping them. Lets take away what we can from these moments to remind ourselves about who we are as a country. And when we see in justice, and when we see what is wrong, lets speak up, stand up and fight. But lets take away those moments, also, where we are reminded of our better selves. With that, i thank you. I am happy to answer questions. [applause] before we take questions, i want to a knowledge several individuals with us today. We want to acknowledge keith carson. [applause] we want to acknowledge the oakland fire color guard. [applause] supervisorcognize melia corn from San Francisco. [applause] recognize and see, District Attorney