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 Cl