Transcripts For CSPAN3 The Kennedy-Clinton Dinner 20171128

New hampshire democrats, please welcome to the stage chairman ray fosly. We have a message for christopher sununu. 2018 is coming. Yesterday, we launched a project to keep sununu accountable for his out of touch policies that are favoring his family, his friends, and corporate special interests. Instead of average staters. Were tired of his phony double speak and his aw schucks act, so were calling him out. Our focus is five key issues. Where his policies are hurting New Hampshire. Education, the economy, health care, the environment, and ethics. And we cant hold him accountable alone. We need your help. So follow sununureality, on twitter. Like sununu reality check on facebook. Go to our website, www. Sununurealitycheck. Com to learn more about sununus record and share it to hold him accountable. Folks, chris sununu won by 2 in 2016. So lets get to work and make sure he loses by far more than 2 in 2018. So is everyone clear . Everyone clear what our focus is . For the next 11 months. All right then. So good evening, democrats. Im pleased that we are joined by congressman and president ial candidate john delaney. Congressman jim ryan. My good friend congresswoman and dnc vice chair grace meng. Congresswoman annie kuster. Congresswoman carol jay porter. And our extraordinary senator, maggie hassan. So tonights dinner is a chance to pause and reflect on the year weve had. While we have plenty of work to do, New Hampshire democrats have a lot to celebrate. This year, we celebrated and sworn in the first ever alldemocratic, allfemale congressional delegation in american history. They fight for us in washington every day. And theyre winning. Incredibly important battles to protect all the progress that we have made. This year, we sent donald trump a message on his very first day in office by showing up in concord, across the state, and around the country, and throughout the world with the womens march. This year, weve won eight out of ten special elections. Five in republican districts. And our First State Senate special election victory since 1984. We have won house special elections across the state. In carol county, merrimack county, sullivan county, hillsborough county, and rockingham county. Simply put, there is no district that a democratic candidate who works hard cant win in 2018. That would be enough to celebrate, but its not all we did. This november, we broke records across the state with our incredible municipal victories. Joyce craig became the first woman elected mayor in manchesters 151year history. [ applause ] her victory flipped a larger city from red to blue for the First Time Since 2003. And in nashua, sweet nashua, we pulled off a clean sweep of nashuas alllarge seat thanks to dave tenza, donna kelly, and brandon law. So shauna kelly and linda harriet became the first ever woman of color elected to the National Board of aldermen. Now, think about this. Two years ago today, nashua had a republican mayor and had had one for over 25 years. With republican majorities of aldermen and school board members. Today, we have mayor jim daunchs with an overwhelming majority. Lets hear it for the nashua city democrats. And jerry cannon became the first ever Transgender School board member in all of New Hampshire. Congratulations. [ applause ] its been a long time coming. And Jeremy Hutchison became the first ever lgbtq city councillor in rochester history. And openly gay mayor Dana Hilliard was reelected to his third term. Paul was elected to a fifth consecutive term, and concords mayor was reelected to a sixth consecutive term. Election night was a historic night of record, of 110 women, Young Democrats, persons of color, the lgbtq community, and a great night for democrats all across. But folks, we have a lot to accomplish. We need to make chris sununu a oneterm governor. We need to hold on to the first and second congressional districts. We need to win majorities on the council and the senate and the house. Democrats, with our success of 2017, we have the team, the energy, and the attitude to win in 2018. So lets go do it. [ applause ] so theres another line here that they added in since i last saw it. So i was reading it as because i was thinking theres another line. So the line is, and for all of you wonderful yankees, this is going to be the best line of the night. And please dont forget to take the pumpkins in the conclusion of the program. The centerpieces are yours. Weve got a full program tonight, but i want to start and take a moment to acknowledge our fantastic staff. Our executive director amy kennedy. Communications director wyatt roden. The political director erin durmel. Finance director dallas thompson. Operations director peter kramer. Communications assistant sarah guggenheimer. Deputy political director donald stokes. Organizer erin cotton. Sue ford, deputy Operations Director ethan morehouse, and lets also acknowledge our house and Senate Caucus director nick taylor. The house and Senate Caucus finance director, and the New Hampshire Young Democrats executive director, representative amelia keen. We are so lucky and so proud to have the best damn party staff in the country. Lets also take a moment to acknowledge our officers, our first vice chair martha fuller clark. Our second vice chair mo backly. Our secretary, our treasurer brian wrap, legal counsel, bill christy. Finance chair, katie wheeler. Dnc woman, cathy sullivan. Dnc man bill shaheen. And at large member glen dodo. Thank you, everyone. Lets have a great night. New hampshire democrats, to lead us in the pledge of allegiance, please welcome to the stage the newly elected atlarge member of the National Board of aldermen, shoshauna kelly, dave kensa, and brandon log. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. New hampshire democrats, please welcome to the stage manchesters mayor elect, joyce craig. Good evening, New Hampshire democrats. Im honored to welcome you here tonight as a mayor elect of manchester. And as the first woman elected to lead the queen city. Its so wonderful to be here with all of you. So many of you joined the hundreds of manchester residents in knocking thousands of doors, making phone calls, sharing our campaigns message with your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues, your work over the many months really made the difference. And i will forever be grateful for your support. I want to offer a special thank you to Senators Hassan and shaheen and Congress Woman custer and sheaporter for their support and encouragement through this process. You know, New Hampshire has led the way in demonstrating that we all do well when women serve in leadership roles. And i am thankful [ applause ] im so thankful to have four outstanding role models. And thank you, too, to chairman buckley and the staff of nhdp for your support of our campaign and for organizing tonights festivities. I would also like to thank congressman delaney and ryan for their support during our campaign and also congressman meng for being with us tonight. While im extremely proud of our efforts to bring change to city hall, i know that the real work begins now. As mayor, ill focus on improving our schools, making our streets safer, bringing businesses to our city, and making real and lasting progress against the opioid crisis. Manchester [ applause ] thank you. Manchesters best days are still ahead of us. And i hope you all will join me in building a Better Future for the people of manchester. Because we all know that when manchester prospers, so does the rest of our great state. So thank you all, and i look forward to this wonderful evening. [ applause ] New Hampshire democrats, please welcome to the stage congresswoman carol sheaporter. Its i who really have to thank all of you. Im so grateful for the gift that you gave me to serve the First District of New Hampshire and all the help that came from across the state over and over again. So i want to thank all of you and say that were not done yet. We are not done. We have a lot of work to do. You heard what the chairman had to say. Im sitting here with some wonderful colleagues, and i know that we are going to turn this around in 2018. A full reckoning is coming. And its soon. Very soon. So when i started to run in 2006, i said i was running for the rest of us. Throughout the time, we have always had different slogans we used, keeping it for the 99 , youre familiar with the phrases we had. And then it started to get kind of serious, i mean really serious, since donald trump came. So i started running through some slogans in my head that would help me every single day. And one of them was from Winston Churchill who has been very helpful. He said when youre going through hell, just keep going. Which i found very helpful to get us through. And he said a number of things like that. But then i started thinking of my own slogans, because we have to stick together. You all know that, and we have shown what we do when we stick together. We have done great things and we will continue to do great things. But sometimes there are things that we dont like, somebody said this or somebody thinks that or something out of washington. Now when i look at myself in the mirror every morning when i wake up, i say to myself, shut up and row. And so thats our message, at least my message right now. We are definitely in turbulent waters. We know that. Were confronted with a president that we never could have imagined even in our worst nightmares. Nobody would have written a story about it because nobody would have believed it. If there would have been a screenplay, people would have laughed and said not possible in this country, but were with a president and a administration that challenges us. The wonderful thing is that we are a very good people. And we know what we need to do. And were working on it, every day. On wednesday night, i had the great privilege of hearing tony bennett, and he received an award for american music. It was absolutely beautiful. 91 years old. He came running out faster than joyce and i did. He came bounding out on stage. When it was time to come out, when he came time to give his speech, he just stood there. And he said, i wasnt really prepared, america is the greatest country in the world. It was the best speech i ever heard. Because thats who we are. Thats what we are. And we will overcome this. So yes, were in turbulent seas. If we row together, and then when we get to shore and we will, when we get to shore, we can pull out our maps and say, should we go left or right . I myself prefer to go to the left, but some might want to go to the right, but we will get ourselves out of this. We are the people we have been waiting for. Were here. You can see the energy, feel the excitement, and joyce, i cant tell you, if i didnt have a wonderful mayor in rochester, i would be looking to move to manchester. So we know that we have everything we need. We have the New Hampshire Young Democrats, which has just done tremendous work. We see this now, i love the candidates who are running in my seat, i think its awesome. I really do. I think its going to help amplify our message and the rest of our state will be able to hear what we stand for. Because we know what we stand against. We stand against tyranny, we stand against the deconstruction of the administrative state. We stand against the violation of Human Dignity and right and all that, but we also stand for economic security. We stand for advantage for everybody. We stand for fairness. We stand for supporting business and supporting families and individuals. So we have something we can be very proud of. We have a marquee that has all of our good stuff on it, now we just need to stand together and put this message out across our state. We will win. We will win, and we will win because we have something they dont have. We are right. We are on the right side of history. [ applause ] no question about it. And people are realizing that around the country. Theyre realizing that this agenda is the agenda that will help lift them and their families. So i just want to say thank you for your confidence in me and the hard work you have done. And say that im not going away. I plan to be very, very involved, and well get through 2018 and then we all have a really big lift, which is called 2020s president ial election. Well get it done. Right here in New Hampshire. Thank you, everybody. I love all of you, and im so grateful. Thank you. [ applause ] New Hampshire democrats, please welcome to the stage former nhdp chair cathy sullivan. I know, i came onstage before they did my walkon music. So anxious. So i want to say a few things about carol sheaporter because she was my congressman, and i was always so proud to have csp as my congresswoman. Every vote she took was always the right vote. And she was always there, as she said, fighting for the rest of us. I remember the first time i really met carol, she came to my office to talk about running for congress. I was quite impressed. And at that point, she had stood up and protested the policies of george w. Bush. [ applause ] she went to jeb browlys town hall, she knew his record better than he did and was able to avlg him the pointed questions that drove him crazy. One thing i will always remember about carol sheaporter is she made me cry once. She may not know the story but a lot of you do because some of you were here when it happened. It was the night of the election 2006. When she was running for congress the first time. And i was in manchester at the coordinating campaign headquarters. And people say, well, you must have known you were going to have a good night. No, i always think were going to lose. I had a good feeling about john lynch, okay. But other than thament, and judy and i had been driving around all day going to different polls in manchester. At one point, i called into headquarters and said how is it looking. And mike and nick were like, you know, the turnout is not the way it should be, and some of the districts. I was like, i knew it. I knew it. And then, of course, it was really the best night of my political life, because we had came from losing badly in 2002 to coming back in 2004. And then 2006, the results are coming in, and were all standing there. The numbers are coming up. This town, that town. And yeah, john lynch was winning. Things were looking good here. Some senate races. Were all feeling really good. But things in the First District were close, and then epiing came in, and carol won epping. And i started crying. And i remember bob was there, and he said im going to take a picture of you crying. I said get that camera away from me. Im crying because when carol won epping, i knew she was now going to be our congresswoman, and i knew we were winning everything that night. And thats the night that carol sheaporter made me cry, because she took epping. And she has been through her career, her political career, one of the most courageous people you could ask for. When she [ applause ] i mean, this is someone who, no secret when she ran for congress, a lot of people were like, i dont know. We have to think about this. And people in washington were not necessarily supportive. But she came out, and she surprised the heck out of everybody. And she won that primary. And then, you know, won the general election. Was reelected, and then lost a race in a republican wave year. But she came back. She came back. She didnt give up. She came back, and she ran again. And then, when we had another republican wave year and her opponent lied about her and ran a tv ad lying about her and unfortunately defeated her, she came back again. She didnt she never said im done in the light of events where some people might have said i have done enough. Ive done enough, but she always came back and picked herself up. And so, its not just because of the work she did in congress for veterans and for the middle class and working people. But also because she just always came back and she fought back. And thats why i am so proud to give you and im going to cry again because im going to miss you, the Kathy Sullivan courage award, because you deserve it, congresswoman. [ applause ] thank you. I wondered why you kept talking about me. Thank you very much. Im so honored. And what Kathy Sullivan doesnt say about herself is there might be a tougher irish woman around, but i dont think so. So thank you, kathy. Thank you, everybody. Im so honored. New hampshire democrats, please welcome to the stage congresswoman grace mang. Thanks, ray. Good evening, everyone. Its great to be in the granite state. Thank you for dialing the temperature up ten degrees for me. Thank you, chairman buckley, for your wonderful welcome to this great state, and for your friendship. It truly means the world to me. Ray is one of the reasons that i was elected to be a vice chair of the dnc, so on a good dnc news day, im so thankful to him. Which means on most days of the year, im not. But in all seriousness, it means the world to me to share the stage this evening with three of the four great women who represent the great state of New Hampshire. Youve heard lots already tonight about congresswoman carol sheaporter, who was my classmate as well going to congress, and she gives new meaning, as you know more than anyone else, to the phrase never give up and always keep getting up. So thank you, carol, for your service. To senator maggie hassan, who has broken so many barriers, not just for women but for all americans, and no big deal, she only saved health care for the whole country. [ applause ] and to my good friend, one of my closest friends in congress, also my classmate, congresswoman annie kuster. Who really has no ego in the fights that she leads in congress. Whether its working on Workforce Development or combatting opioid abuse and Sexual Harassment in the workplace, annie just gets it done and never cares about whether her name is on the bill or news conference. Im also honored to be here with two of my colleagues and friends, congressman john delaney and congressman tim ryan and his wife as well. Right now, the National Media is still focused on the Democratic Victory that occurred in virginia recently. But we know that the victories of 2017 began right here in New Hampshire. And continue to happen. Winning eight special elections in ten tries, resulting in four red to blue flips. Electing joyce craig as mayor of manchester after 12 years of republican rule. Congrats, joyce. And averaging 53 of the vote in districts where republicans have a registration advantage is incredible no matter what state youre from. Now, ill be honest. We know that the path to retaking congress in 2018 and the white house in 2020 will not be an easy one. Just as the wins we witnessed here in New Hampshire and recently in virginia were not easy, but those wins were the result of days, months, and years worth of hard work. Often unseen and underappreciated. And it is that same dedication that will make future victories possible. And frankly, to each of you here tonight, i say now more than ever, we need you to continue to fight, to fight on behalf of every single american. And that is part of our partys message, that we do fight for everyone. No one gets left out. Winning races is a great feeling. But insuring that our fellow citiz citizens concerns are heard in the policy making process is a much better one. You see, at this point in american history, we arent just fighting for a new deal again. Were fighting for the basic right to a fair deal. When republicans in Congress Seek tax cuts for the ultra wealthy and want to pay for those giveaways by slashing medicare and social security, we must say no. When corporations try to offshore even more american jobs, we must say no. When the president seeks to strip millions of americans of their health care and separate d. R. E. A. M. Ers from their families and the only home they have known, we must say no. And these issues are not debatable. They are about common decency and dignity. They are about our shared economic security. You know, ever since the election of november 2016, every room we go into, and im sure my colleagues hear it, people keep asking whats our message . And sure, its important to have a message. But there are many places in america throughout the last election and the last few years where we might not even have a messenger. We keep debating amongst ourselves within our democratic family whether we should be talking to communities of color, whether we should be talking to people in rural communities, or whether we should be talking to the white working class. You know, whether youre a part of an emerging community of firstgeneration americans, or whether youre part of a community that is emerging into a new era with new ideas and new industries that your parents and grandparents could never have dreamed of, its the Democratic Party that will fight to give you the fair deals that we need to succeed. We dont have to choose who we talk to. Thats not what our party is about. We can do it all. We fight to make sure that every single voice is heard and valued. And its not just the urgency of our fight but its the quality of our fight. Its our Democratic Party, as we just saw with the tax vote in congress. Its our party that fights for every american. You know, as a vice chair of the new dnc, that is our message. That we have learned the lesson that swooping into a race a few weeks before election day isnt helpful. Its not effective, and its not even respectful. [ applause ] the work put in every day between today and election day, whether its fundraising, building better tools for our activists, crafting better messages, or insuring that state and local parties have the resources they need to succeed, thats the task at hand, and we do it so that we could talk and communicate with every american. Im committed to insuring that these things are happening at the dnc. And i need every person here to remain committed to the specific fight that youre fighting here at home. We need you. We cannot be successful without you. I am all in. I have two young boys at home, ages 8 and 9, that i look forward to tucking into bed tomorrow night. But tonight, i stand here with you and our shared fight to build a Better Future for their generation, to offer them a better deal than the one that we were offered. It reminds me of a story, my husband and i always try to tell our boys to keep fighting, never to give up. When they do bad on their math test, when they miss that soccer goal during soccer, when they have trouble with a friend, just to keep trying. Keep persisting and never give up. One day, i was putting my son to bed. He was 7 at it time, and he said he wanted to go to the toy store. It was dark out, it was late. I said, you know what. Its probably closed. I dont think its going to happen. And he looks at me with all seriousness, and he said, but mom, you told me to never give up. As i mentioned, we need you. Our party needs you. We need you and we need new people. We need more people. America needs you. We need to be there for that woman whose live was saved because her Breast Cancer was detected early enough at the local planned parenthood clinic. [ applause ] we need to be there for our neighbors in Rural America whose top export has become their grandchildren. We need to be there for the families, Multigenerational Families who are dealing with the serious effects of substance abuse. And we need to be there to fight with our allies and friends in labor for a living wage for americans so that [ applause ] so that a single mom whos working two to three jobs doesnt have to come home and tell her kids that she still cant afford to get them a christmas gift. Our work is not done. It has just begun. And in the words of the great son of New Hampshire, the poet robert frost, we have miles to go before we sleep. Miles to go before we sleep. Thank you for your time tonight. Thank you for fighting for america. [ applause ] New Hampshire democrats, please welcome to the stage congresswoman annie kuster. Good evening, New Hampshire democrats. And welcome to the resistance. What do you think of my dear friend grace meng . Thank you for making the trip and spending a day with me here in New Hampshire. Thank you, carol sheaporter, for your incredible leadership and your courage and for hanging in there when times got tough, and never taking no for an answer. Im really grateful to have you as my colleague. Thank you. And im excited to welcome my colleague john delaney and tim ryan. This is how we choose the next president of the United States. So welcome to New Hampshire. Im so excited to be here with billy shaheen. Thank you. I hear jeanne is on some awesome trip, but im glad shes keeping the world safe for democracy. And to magga hassan, who literally has her finger in the dike. You all elected her by 1,000 votes out of 700,000 votes cast. And without her, tens of millions of people, including 110,000 people right here in New Hampshire, would have lost their health insurance, so give maggie a big cheer, and thank you for electing her. And while youre standing, give yourselves a big cheer. If you knocked on doors, if you made phone calls, if you wrote a check, if you made a difference, you turned this country around last tuesday. Thank you. Joyce craig, and every candidate, thank you. Thank you. People keep asking me how im holding up, and i said, much better since last tuesday. Much better. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. So because of you, im hopeful tonight. Its your voice, its your calls, its your letters that have made the difference and helped maggie and jeanne and everyone else hold the line on health care for the United States of america. Its your voice thats making the difference, and were going to need you again on this. We have the president s god damn tax bill. This past week, republicans in the house and in the Senate Committee advanced a partisan tax plan that is a raw deal for hardworking New Hampshire families. And dont be fooled when republicans talk about tax reform. Hell no, this is nothing more than a tax scam for millionaires and billionaires and corporate special interests. And you are paying for it. So let me walk you through it, and ill try to be quick. Its 429 pages. I wont hit every single one. But heres what happens. The republican tax scam eliminates the deduction for interest on student loans. Seriously . That is just plain cruel. Their tax scam eliminates the deduction, listen to this one, designed to encourage employers to hire veterans. People with disabilities, and very low income people that cannot find a job and are unable to obtain work, and that is just plain cruel. And their tax scam even eliminates the deduction for teachers to buy paper and pens for their students. And that is just plain cruel. Now, this republican tax scam eliminates the Home Mortgage deduction and the Real Estate Tax deduction for individuals. But maintains all those deductions for big corporations. Thats cruel. So when mitt romney said corporations are people, my friends, i dont think so. Congressional republicans think corporations are much better than people. But New Hampshire democrats know people are people. And we need to stand up for every single last one of them. [ applause ] so keep your calls and letters coming. People ask us all the time, should you call us . The answer is yes, were going to vote right, but we can then tell our colleagues, i just got 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000 phone calls. But the other thing you need to do, as you did with health care, and you did this, and thank you. You need to call your friends in maine, you need to call your friends in alaska, you need to call your friends in arizona, and every other state, and if theyre lazy, you can write the email for them and then have them forward it. So weve got to put the pressure on and stop the tax bill in the United States senate. [ applause ] and heres why. The bill that was passed in the house over our dead body is a terrible bill. I have convinced you of that. This senate bill is worse. And the reason is that the senate bill slipped in eliminating the mandate for health insurance. So all of us will pay more. Now, ive lost track of the exact number, maybe my colleagues remember. I have voted over 55 times. I have only been there for five years, not to repeal the Affordable Care act. And i still dont think we should repeal the Affordable Care act. We can repair it, we can fix it. Ive got a good plan for that. We can lower the rates, and we can make it sustainable in the long run. But while republicans in washington are giving us a raw deal, i think that democrats are fighting for a much better deal. We need better wages and better jobs and a Better Future for all the and a Better Future for all the American People. Grace was with me today. We had an amazing tour at nash Waugh Community college. They have got a fantastic program for advanced manufacturing and micro electronics. Weve got great jobs in New Hampshire. 2. 4 unemployment, we have tremendous opportunity. You do a twoyear program at nash Waugh Community college, there is a job waiting for you with 55,000 in income. Thats real money where i come from. We can do better for young people, for people that are changing careers, for people that just want opportunity. And we had an amazing day talking about fighting the opioid epidemic. This morning, and i hope jim daunchs is in the house. We celebrated the oneyear anniversary of the stap Stations Program in nash waugh. 1,200 people getting their help. And this afternoon, with grace, we had the opportunity to sit down with people in recovery. And let me tell you, there is nothing like sitting and talking to somebody who is turning their life around, getting the help that they need, getting the treatment, and the recovery. But there is a long term life long chronic disease. This is not a 28day, one and done program. We were excited to meet the folks at revive recovery in nash waugh. I know there are great recovery programs going on all over the state. We have got to increase the number of beds. Focus on education and law enforcement. Get them into treatment and get them life long recovery. New hampshire may be the hardest state hit by this epidemic but we are going to be the first out of this and we are going to lead the way teaching cities all across the country how to do this right. Thats why i was very proud to help create the diplomat heroin task force. We have republicans and democrats actually working together. You wont hear about it in the press. They dont write about it when we work together. You but its happening. We passed 14 bills last year and at the end of the year president obama signed into law a billion dollars in funding. But guess what. Its not enough. Now we are coming back with a new agenda, were calling it kara 2. 0. The comprehensive addiction and recovery act. And we are going to make sure that the funding that New Hampshire deserves comes here to make a difference in communities all across the state. So thank you. We have got Innovative Solutions and we are going the make a difference and we are going to get this done. Now, times do change. I say to young people in my office, i remember ash trays in restaurants and smoking on airplanes. I remember the death toll from highway accidents for cars without seat belts. And i remember the tragic deaths and the collective fear that we all felt from hiv aids. But heres the deal. Ordinary People Living ordinary lives can make extraordinary change. And in the last week in the last month i have had a chance to witness this and be a part of this with the hashtag me too campaign. Thank you all of you for standing up for survivors of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment. We are drawing the line right here, right now. And whether its the United States congress or wall street or hollywood, we have had enough. Its not funny. We are not amused. Because guess what. Every Single Person in the workplace deserves to be treated with dignity. We deserve to be treated with respect. We are going to make a difference. There are young people in this room that deserve a chance. And i am going to stand up and fight for them every single day. Thank you for all you are doing. Thank you New Hampshire. Lets go out and change the world. [ cheers and applause ] [ applause ] New Hampshire democrats, please welcome to the stage, mr. William shaheen. [ applause ] i dont get any respect. [ laughter ] you know, i was in washington on wednesday, and jeanne said to me, you know, i cant come friday night, would you give my speech. I said yeah ill give your speech. Look what she gives me. One page. I guarantee you if she was here she would have a book up here. She gives me one page. No respect. Now, for those of you who know me, i had Three Sisters and no brothers. I have three daughters and no sons. God thought it would be a good idea to make my wife the governor and a u. S. Senator. [ laughter ] its tough. Tough. [ applause ] now, i got to tell you, for the men in the audience, im holding out for you. You understand . I love the fact that we have an all female delegation. I love the fact that joyce won the mayors race. I love those things, but i still represent some of the men. So ive made three things that im never ever going to do. You are never going the hear me say, hey, honey, i think we are lost. We need to stop and ask for directions. Not gonna do it. You are never going the hear me say, jeanne lets not watch the football game. Lets try to find a true romantic story on tv. [ laughter ] you are never going to hear me say, hey, hoppy, lets go shopping and let me watch you try on clothes while i hold your purse. [ laughter ] not gonna happen. Although, since shes been in washington i have had to make some changes, or else, you know, i have got learn how to make my bed, which is a difficult thing. Got to learn how to do the dishes and put the dishes in the dishwasher. A gave a shot at trying to do laundry. Thats a difficult thing for guys. Im telling you right now. So i asked her to help me with this situation. So i decided im going to do the laundry. And i said, you know, honey, i said, what setting should i put on the washing machine . And she says, well what does it say on your shirt . I said, it says university of New Hampshire. [ laughter ] no respect. No respect. I told her the other day im going the make her the happiest woman in the world. She says ill miss you. [ laughter ] dont laugh too hard. Thats not that funny. Okay. So shes not here tonight, and i do miss her. I wish she was here and i know she wishes she were here. She was asked to stand in for john mccain leading the halifax security forum. She is the only senator that went up to halifax to meet with the leaders from around the world to represent the United States of america and im very proud of her. [ applause ] she wanted me to thank raymond for doing such a great job and all the people of the Democratic Party. She wanted me to thank you carol and annie for their tireless effort that they fight all the time. She told me, of course, one of my newest and biggest u. S. Senators, maggie hassan. Maggie. But then she writes to me but im partial to the senior senator. Oh, im not supposed to say that. [ laughter ] and she wanted me to welcome give a warm welcome to the three the could congressmen and the congresswoman that have come to join us here in New Hampshire. Congresswoman meng, and congressman delaney. Did i get them all right . Jesus christ. I never get a chance to speak. I have to sit and listen all the time. I grabbed a quote from john adams when he was writing to his son john equipsy adams why he should run for office he was thinking about not running and and he sent this letter to his son. He said, public business my son always has to be done. It will be done by somebody. If its not done by good people, it will be done by bad people. If its not done by honest people, it will be done by dishonest people. If its not done by the wise, it will be done by the unwise. Thats why we all have to continue this fight. If jeanne was here tonight, she would say, dont hate. There is no room for hate, even though you could clearly justify it. No. You need to be focused. You need to be determined. And you need to be together. Because we have got to do stuff both inside New Hampshire and outside New Hampshire. We need to take back the house of representatives. We need to take the u. S. Senate. God bless you. [ applause ] so wednesday night i got a call from Stephanie Shaheen because she got a call from her mom, and says, stephanie, you have got to be there with daddy to make sure he stays on script. And she said, i cant, because ive got something at m. I. T. Ill call raymond. Raymond will watch daddy. Im so dead. [ laughter ] thanks, billy. So we have a number of great v. I. P. S i want to acknowledge. Our former congressman paul hoeds. [ applause ] former House Speaker terry f norreli. Former attorney general, joe foster. [ applause ] our former democratic nominee for governor, twice, paul mceachern. [ applause ]. Former executive counsellor, deb pignatel pignatelli. [ applause ]. Collin vserrano certain. Executive counsellor andy ballinski. Executive counsellor chris papis. Senate democratic leader, jeff wood burn. Deputy leader, donna susie. Senator lou del sandro. Senator clark. Senator betty lass kyi. Senator danphyte feltis. Senator jake haughn. And senator kevin cavanaugh. [ applause ] House Democratic leader, steve cher live. Would all of the House Democrats please stand up. Lets give them a big round of applause. [ applause ] and our First District congressional candidate, degland mceasternern. Mark mckenzie. Mindy messmer. Terrance oroark, chris papis, lincoln solidati. Maura sullivan. Carols shoes are so big, it takes seven of them to fill it. So Franklin Roosevelts words, vision, and strength of character healed the nation and saved the world. Fdr was determined to use his position to improve the lives of others. Each year we present a deserving democratic the fdr award for his commitment to justice, social and economic. This years fdr award recipients entire life has been about justice, justice in the courtroom as a trial lawyer, in the New Hampshire house and the New Hampshire senator senate and at the department of justice. 22 since 22 years ago he consistently used his position to support progressive causes here in New Hampshire and nationally. As House Democratic whip, Senate Majority leader, attorney general of New Hampshire, he has more than deserves the fdr award. Ill honored to present the 2017 fdr award to former attorney general joe foster. [ applause ] boy, i am really honored to have this award. Its a total surprise to me. There are some people from my law firm who are not democrats, and i guess maybe i should have realized when i saw them here. [ laughter ] some of us arent that quick. So i just want to say thank you to all. Its been an honor to serve the great people of New Hampshire and in the roles that raymond enumerated of the it really has been a love of my life. Thank you very much. [ applause ] New Hampshire democrats, please welcome to the stage congressman john delaney. This walkout music is a new concept for me. We dont do it in maryland. Im a big Bruce Springsteen fan. When ray asked what music would you want . I said one of my favorite Bruce Springsteen songs. And he said well, its taken. By the great senator from New Hampshire. And i said well im not going to pick youngstown, because i know tim ryan will come out with youngstown. So i had to go down the list and come up with another song. But it is a good tradition. Thank you all for having me. It is a great privilege to be here with you all and to share an even that is full of such affection and love towards each other. You can really feel it as someone who is not part of this community for a long time it is an impressive thing to peel. It is a great privilege to be here with the amazing federal delegation that you have here in New Hampshire. A friend of mine wrote a book a few years ago, dee dee meyers, called why women should rule the world. You have read that book here in New Hampshire, havent you. [ applause ]. So we gave you another book tonight because you have already read that one, obviously. Its great to be here with grace. We do have four members of the class of 2012 at our table there. And shes doing a great job with the dnc. Prior to people like grace getting involved in the dnc, your instincts were we should sell the building move the place out of d. C. And get new people. But we have great leadership there. And it is a blessing that we have you grace. Its great to be here with my good friend tim who well hear from in a few minutes. And i dont want to get started until i thank the chairman, mr. Buckley. He as best i can tell is a real singular talent for the Democratic Party. No, seriously. He runs a tight ship. As someone new to the scene, he runs a tight ship. He represents you well and we are blessed to have you as a democrat around this country. You make us all feel very welcome. Thank you. So two weeks ago, almost two weeks ago we started taking our country back. We started taking our country back. And we did it with terrific candidates like joyce craig and like so many other people. Like the governorelect of virginia. And these people ran by doing two things. They tapped into the energy that exists in our party right now. But they also talked to people about what they care about. They didnt just run a campaign saying how bad the republicans were and how bad the president is. And theres a real lesson to be learned from these campaigns that i really hope we dont forget. Because we are in a tough spot right now as a nation. Not across the long term. I am a huge optimist about the long term prospects of this amazing country. If you think about how the world is going to unfold across the next 100 years you couldnt think of a country better positioned to succeed for itself and importantly for its people in the next century. But right now we are in a really tough spot. And im not just talking about the wrecking ball in the white house. Its really deeper than that. In many ways, hes a punctuation of everything thats wrong with our politics. Hyper partisan politics is tearing our country apart. Its dividing communities. Next week we are all going to sit at thanksgiving tables. All around this country people are going to sit at this uniquely american holiday. Instead of talking about new ways to took the turkey and the nfl game on television they are going to be divided over politics. How did we let this happen in our country . How did we let this happen . And maybe the biggest problem with it is it has prevented us from doing anything. We have had such huge opportunities, such largescale opportunities in this nation across the last several decades, and some very significant challenges we should have dealt with, but we didnt do it. Why . Because hyper partisan politics prevents us from getting anything done. If you go around this country, you see huge parts of this country that have been left behind by rapid change thats occurred in our economy. And last election, we blamed our decision to become part of a Global Economy for what happened. Clearly that was the right thing to do. How could we not have become part of a Global Economy . But the fact that we knew this would happen to so many communities around this country and we did nothing about it and we still to this day, since i have been in congress, five years, i have never voted on anything thats actually going to help the communities that have been left behind by the pace of rapid economic change cha we experienced in this country. And its going to happen again. Et cetera a not going happen again. Its not going to be because of globalization. Its going to be because of technology. Because of automation, because of artificial intelligence. Whatever you want to call it if you go outside of politics and you talk to people in business, academia, in the nonprofit world, they are obsessed with how these changes are fundamentally changing everything. They are changing our society. Our economy. The jobs of the future. What our security risks are. The demographics of this country. And are we doing anything to prepare our country and our citizens for these changes . No. I left a book as a gesture of my thanks for having he. Its by Thomas Friedman. Its how technology and Climate Change and Global Change are fundamentally effecting everything and Global Leaders are doing nothing about it. Because of our inability right now to deal with the changes that are about to happen, we are putting at risk one of the most sake credited fundamental ideals of this country, the american dream. The notion that if you work hard and you play by the rules you and your family can live a better life. This is very personal to me like it is for many of you. My parents didnt go to college. My dad was a construction worker. He was an electrician. When he worked which was most of the time life was good. He got paid enough to support our family. And when he didnt work, we had health care. Why . Because he was in a labor union and they gave him health care. [ applause ] i was an entrepreneur before i ran for office. 11 years after i graduated from college, i was taking my First Company public on the new york stock exchange. I was the youngest ceo in the new york stock exchange. And i remember walking into that building in lower manhattan, that kind of monument to american industry. And i looked over my shoulder at jersey city, new jersey, custom is where im from. And i thought of the union hall for local 164, which was my dads union. And i thought about how every year in college i would go to that union and i would thank those electricians. You know what i was thanking them for . They paid for me to go to college. Right . I was thanking them [ applause ] i was not really thanking them for giving me the scholarship. I was thanking them for giving me an opportunity that none of them had. When i looked gazed to the left, i could see ellis island, where my grandfather came in 1924 with his Seven Brothers and sisters. But they were all let in. But he was detained. He was a little boy. And the reason they detained him is because he had one arm. And back then we didnt let people into this country who were disabled because we didnt think they could contribute to our economy. After a while, he had an appeal. He was sitting in a big room full of hundreds of people speaking dozens of languages. And the judge came in. My grandfather is sitting there, a one armed boy. And he notices that when the judge walks in and puts on his robe the judge had one arm. And he used to tell the story over thanksgiving. Thats when he knew he would be an american. But these are the stories of this great country. [ applause ] and these stories are not unique to me. You have these in our own families. Right . These are the stories of this great country, of people coming to this country with hope, dreaming of opportunity, settling in, building their communities, building their country. People work hard, play by the rules, and they are not asking for riches. They are just asking for a fair deal. People dream about their children and make sacrifices so they can live a better life. And again, there is no guarantee. But they want institutions that can support them in doing that. These are the stories the american dream. These are the fiber of the american dream. But its fraying now. Right now, 60 of the kids in this country live in a county where theres absolutely no evidence of any economic upward mobility. So we are basically writing off two thirds of the children in this great country from the american dream. They dont have that shot. And what that means is this is becoming not a country of opportunity, but a country of birth right where you have to be born into the right part of the country or go to the right school to have a shot. We know how those stories end. We need a president who cares about this, like you do, like i do. Because youve lived the american dream. Member of your family lived the american dream, and this country is built on these kind of stories. We need a president who will go to the parts of the country that have been left behind by this rapid change and not future forth a tax plan that will cement in wealth in this country. We need a president who will look at the tax code and say im going to reframe it so we can spend 1 trillion on infrastructure rebuilding our country. And guess what, that is a bipartisan idea. That is a bipartisan idea. We need a president who will look at the tax code, and instead of creating incentives for companies to move their jobs overseas by going to a territorial tax system we want a president who will change the tax code to create incentives for people to invest in communities that have been left behind. That is a bipartisan idea. We want a president we want a president who will change how the government contracts so that it only does business in places that have been left behind economically. That is a bipartisan idea. Instead of ramming down the throat of the American People a tax bill that is based on people lying and selling out, we need a president who will actually use a tax code to take care of places that have been left behind because thats our obligation of the we need a president who is going to look into the future, who understands what Thomas Friedman is talking about in his book. He understand that is the world is changing and we need to do something about it. We need to make our country more entrepreneurial because thats how you succeed in the future. We need to make our country more competitive. And importantly, we need a new social contract. The social contract that i succeeded under needs to change. We need to be preparing our kids for a totally new world. People are going to need to be trained across their lives. They are not going to have one job anymore. They are going to have four or five. Health care and retirement can no longer be linked to employment because as long as it is people wont leave their jobs and pursue opportunities. Thats the kind of president and thats the kind of leadership we need. We need a president who doesnt want to repeal the estate tax but who wants to expand the earned income tax credit. A bipartisan idea. But if we are going to do any of these things, if we are going to do any of these things, what we really need a president to do is to bring us together. To restore civility to politics, to restore respect for the proe profession of public service. [ applause ] to actually begin a dialogue about the things we agree on instead of always always talking about the thing we dont agree on. President kennedy said it well in baltimore, maryland, in 1958. He said we shouldnt seek the democratic answer or the republican answer. We should seek the right answer. Thats the kind of president we need. [ applause ] and it is not only as a matter of substance the right answer for this country. But it is as a matter of politics the right position for the Democratic Party to take. We believe government can and should do transformative things to lift up our people, take care of those that are left behind, and prepare us for the future. So how can we not become the party that wants government to work, that wants government to be civil, that wants there to be competence in government . This is what the American People are craving for. The kind of principle leadership thats put country ahead of party. That doesnt mean you stop fighting for your values. That doesnt mean you stop trying to advance the causes where there ant broad agreement but what it does mean is you take things where there is agreement, where there is broad agreement and you get them done and you lead the country. Thats the kind of president we need. Because if we dont start doing that, then the grandson of the one armed immigrant who worked on the floor of the joseph dixon pencil factory for 50 years, right, the son of the electricity whose parents didnt go to college whose union paid for him to go and had the privilege of getting a great education which changed my life, paid for by other people, by the way. Anyone who thinks you get it alone in this world isnt following stories carefully. Goes on to list two stocks exchanges before i was 40. Has the opportunity to work in the congress of the United States, with amazing people and has the opportunity to stand before you and ask for your support its not going to become and stay that country unless we actually bring that country together. And the Democratic Party can do it. It can never happen while donald trump is in the white house. He can never make the Republican Party a party that can bring us together. But we can. And this is our moment. Donald trump became the president of this amazing country because two of things. One, democrats didnt turn out. And two, for some reason, we stopped talking to people about what they care about. I think the first part is going to take care of itself. The energy that you are showing, the enthusiasm that this party is showing is extraordinary. But we have to remember, we have to talk to people about what they care about, not what we care about. We as democrats have so many issues we care about, and i believe in the fullness of time well be proven right on just about every one of them. But that doesnt mean it moves peoples hearts and minds. What moves peoples hearts and minds is their job, their pay, and the opportunity for their kids. And every time we are not talking about that and every time we are talking about how bad the republicans are, its a missed opportunity for us. Thats how we take this country back in my opinion. So you saw it last week here in New Hampshire and we saw i will all around this country. If we outwork them, if we outsmart them, and if we outvalue them, we can win. We can outwork them with the sense of urgency that we are losing our country, we are losing representative democracy. And people know it. We can outsmart them by talking to the American People about policies that they care about, thats based on what is happening in the world. And we can outvalue them by talking about what this country wants. They want us to be brought together. They want civility back in politics. They want a president who will spend the first 100 days only doing bipartisan things. They want leaders who dont talk about half of the country as if they are entirely wrong about everything they beliefle they want the truth. They want transparent see. They want competence. They want civility. And if we do that, well restore some of their lost faith in our government. The American People have an extraordinary connection with their government. Were proud of it. Were proud of the good and noble things weve done around this world. We havent been perfect. We havent been perfect. But we fundamentally change the trajectory of human kind and were prout of it. And when our government is failing, were failing. If we can restore faith and trust in government, well restore peoples faith in themselves. And then we can actually take advantage of the extraordinary blessings we have as a nation, put ourselves on the right trajectory, take care of those we left hyped for the last several decades and prepare this amazing country for a future that can and will be brighter. God bless you. Thank you. [ applause ] there is no cause of the Democratic Party thats more important than organized labor. So please join me in recognizing our brothers and sisters in labor, New Hampshire aflcio president glen bracket. New hampshire firefighters president bill mcwillan. Scasiu president , rich gulla. Aft New Hampshire president , representative doug ley. Andre jean from the air traffic controllers. Rorgeer bruinel from the painers. George cardoza. Terry from the letter carriers. Beverly brakeman from the auw. Our friends from auw 490 and 2320. Could all members of organized labor please stand up. Lets give them a big round of applause. [ applause ] after years of conversation, we changed our dinners name from Jefferson Jackson to Kennedy Clinton and we decided to create an award that represented the generational change of both president sees. Last year the award was presented to senator dan felt he is. This years recipient is already so accomplished and shes only 26. An army medic in the u. S. Army reserves. Graduating this year from unh with a degree in biology a. Freshman state representative serving on the state veteran Affairs Committee all at the same time while being the executive director of the New Hampshire Young Democrats, working with a great team of officers she is creating such a success that she is naturally recognized for her skills and talent. Im so pleased to present the 2017 Ken Lee Clinton emerging leader award to amelia keys of nash waugh. [ applause ] thank you. Thank you, everyone. And thank you chairman buckley and amy and nhtp for presenting me with this award. I must say im very surprised. Im shocked. Its actually the Second Surprise i have gotten tonight. The officers juan was having a whole table full with my family and friends. Now i know why. This is very exciting. I just started in politics. Im going on to my second year. I literally filed to run for office, and started working as the executive director for the young dems in the same week. And that was my intro to politics and its been great ever since. Ive im really proud of everything we have done over the past year, everything we accomplished but it certainly couldnt be done without lucas myer, the president and the rest of the young dems board. [ applause ] so thank you again to everybody who has helped along the way. And i very much look forward to 2018 and whats to come. So thank you. And if your young dem in the room, well be taking a photo after the speaking program. So just come onto the stage and well get that done. [ applause ] New Hampshire democrats, please welcome to the stage senator maggie hassan. Mug m thank you. Have a seat. Well, good evening New Hampshire democrats. And thank you to chairman ray buckley and the great nhdp staff for this wonderful event this full room. Thank you all. And it is truly great to be here with congresswoman carol sheaporter and kangwoman annie kuster. Carol, it has been an honor to serve alongside you. I want to thank you for your tireless efforts on behalf of the people of the First District and our wonderful state. Thank you so much. [ applause ] and to the incomparable billy shaheen, you told a fib or two. You said you didnt know how to make a bed but you were a captain in the United States army. So i know that is not true. [ laughter ] and ill tell jeanne. But what a pleasure it is to serve with the incomparable jeanne shaheen, and to be able to be mentored by her, and to learn from her. She does Extraordinary Service for this state and this country. And we should all be so incredibly grateful to her. [ applause ] i also want to recognize all of the elected officials here, local and state, particularly partly because i had the privilege of serving in our state legislature, but particularly our great Democratic Leaders in the house and the senate in New Hampshire. Thank you all. [ applause ] and just a word on that. We are all talking about the critical importance of making sure that we work each and every day to protect our opportunities and our state and our country and work for the change that we know is so essential to our future. To every Single Person here, please do not take your eye off the ball of the importance of our state legislative seats. Whether you are talking about voting rights. Whether you are talking about voting rights, whether you are talking about a womens right to Reproductive Health care, whether you are talking about the right to form a union and collectively bargain, it starts here at the state level. [ applause ] and for those of you who, as we move into 2018 and look at how you can make a difference if there arent enough people run forth the state house or the state senate in our district, sign up and run. We need you. And it is also the importance of state service and what we do here in the state that also makes me so glad that amelia won her award. Amelia where did you go. But thank you, thank you, thank you. And i also just want to congratulate and say a special word about my dear friend joe foster. Somewhere whats today . 2017. So somewhere almost 15 years ago i was knocking on doors in stratham, New Hampshire, the night before the 2002 election. And my phone rang. And it was joe on the other end of the phone. And joe was wishing me well and hoping for my success. A call he didnt need to make at a very busy time for all of us. I lost that election, but joe continued to encourage me to run, as so many of you in this room did. And then i had the pleasure of serving with joe. And there has never been a more dedicated Public Servant to doing whats right. But also finding the right way to do it. And when it was my great privilege and honor to serve as your governor and decide who i wanted to nominate to be attorney general, there was no question in my mind who it should be. There is nobody with more integrity, no one who understands the need and cause of justice better than joe foster. And we are incredibly grateful, joe, for everything you have done for our state. [ applause ] and i also want to thank our special guests tonight, grace meng, tim ryan and john delaney for joining us all. Thank you so much. We are so glad you are here. Most of all, though, i just want to thank everybody here, New Hampshire democrats. With the odds against us, you have shown up, spoken out, and fought for our values. And i am incredibly incredibly grateful. And you fought for the wonderful joyce craig, who i am also so pleased to see tonight. [ applause ] as we head into something, we have so much to be graveteful f this year as New Hampshire democrats. We have joyces success. And in our said house and senate we flipped four seats from red to blue with eight victories. And thats just the start. And there is nothing with joyces success, with the special elections we won, there is nothing more inspiring than watching the next generation step forward and take charge. And i want to particularly commend the New Hampshire Young Democrats for your work to elect Young Leaders in every corner of our state. [ applause ] now, as your senator, i am focusing on the work you sent me to washington to do. Fighting for a future where everyone who works hard has the opportunity to get ahead and stay ahead, where middle class is growing and thriving, where each generation is better off than the last, and where we are unleashing innovative economic growth. And i am committed to working with anyone who is focused on solving problems for our people, our businesses, our economy. Unfortunately, too many republicans in washington are focused on an agenda that rewards corporate special interests and the wealthiestview few while leaving middle class families and Small Businesses behind. Just take a look at the republican tax plan. New hampshire democrats, do you think its right to raise taxes on millions of hard working americans while corporate special interests get a permanent tax break . No do you believe that we should risk a 25 billion yearly cut to medicare all to give the wealthiest few a tax break . No and do you think a tax bill should be used to sabotage our Health Care System . No me neither. But that is exactly what the republicans want to do. Its no wonder that President Trumps top economic adviser admitted that it is big corporate ceos who are his words the most excited about this plan. And my republican colleague, senator ron johnson, has voiced his opposition, saying that under this proposal and heres his quote there will be a real incentive to keep manufacturing overseas. We need our help to fight against these proposals to make your voices heard loud and clear, as they were in the fight against trump care. Together, we have to keep up our momentum, harness the energy and success weve seen this year, and carry it into 2018 and beyond. Next year, we will have the opportunity to keep our congressional delegation blue and to turn the state house from the house and senate all the way to the Governors Office blue. [ applause ] that is why we must continue to stay organized. To congressman delaneys point, to engage with our fellow citizens. And to stand up for the values that make us strong. Im confident in the dedication and ability of everyone here to truly make a difference because i witnessed it firsthand. Weve proven that we have what it takes to recommend strong ma determined to fight for the people and our state and our economy and to build a Better Future. Carol quoted Winston Churchill in her remarks. Robert frost said that quote a little bit differently. He said the only way out is through. Our job as citizens, and our job as democrats is to love and protect our country, our state, our communities, and each other. That is what americans have always done. In america [ applause ] and in america, the way we love each other is we fight for justice for each other. [ applause ]. We understand the value of inclusion because we were founded by people who said that every single one of us matters and counts. And many of you have heard me say this before, our founders didnt count everybody at first, right . But they had the confidence that every generation of americans would work to bring more and more people in from the moirns in margin into the heart and soul of our democracy and our economy because they understood when you do that you unleash talent and energy thats really important of course for the cause of individual freedom and dignity. But you unleash talent and energy that helps us all compete and grow and thrive. That more than anything is what this moment in time is about. There are rough patches throughout american history. Go back and look at any of the periods in which things were the most fraught, including right after this country won the revolutionary war. We continue in the face of incredible difficult challenges. And sometimes intensely partisan differenc differences, to fine our way forward and find our way through. Thats what makes us the resilient granite staters we are, thats what makes us the resilient americans we are. We fight for each other. We love each other. And as we do that, we continue to form a more perfect unit with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all. Thank you very much. [ applause ]. Lets give it up for senator maggie hassan. [ applause ] you know, you go over the lists, you go over the lists, you spend hours with the staff saying does this one buy a ticket . No. Did this one . Is everyone here . Just so you dont miss anybody. And then you get a text from rentee curbing, former Senate President , executive counsellor bev holg worth is in the house. [ applause ] perfection still eleads mudes m billy. I want to thank our sponsors. Our first of the nation sponsors dr. Jeffrey clark and senator martha fuller clark. [ applause ] Painters District Council number 35. [ applause ] bridge communications. [ applause ] these are the guys that pay the big bucks that make the profits so we can have lower price. So you might wanted to be more enthusiastic. [ applause ] professor firefighters of New Hampshire. American federation of teachers, the uaw. Congressman john and april delaney. Congressman tim ryan. Congresswoman grace meng. The human rights campaign. Larry drake and joan jacobs. Our granite champions sharks halloween and goran professional association. Senator donna susie. Lincoln so daddy. Paul man troe. Representative shannon chand lee. The National Air Traffic controllers association. Congresswoman annie kuster. Counsellor chris papis. Our primary victory sponsor senator jeanne shaheen. Senator maggie hassan. Congresswoman carol shay porter. New hampshire aflcio, the salem town democrats, the honorable catherine wells wheeler, ibew 490. Senator dan feltis. Senator betty lass kyi, and dr. Elliot lass kyi. Represent mini bessmer. Paul carey and larry guard. Represent andi. The honorable judy reardon, and the National Association of letter carriers. Lets give them all a big round of applause. [ applause ] Eleanor Roosevelt was a fearless fighter for justice. Her entire life was spent working to make the world a better place for all. For more than a quarter of a century, the New Hampshire Democratic Party has been honoring an outstanding woman who fought hard and succeeded in providing an opportunity for life success regardless of their circumstances. This years recipient of the Eleanor Roosevelt award embodies eleanors spirit. During her decades of service in our community in the house and in the senate her record is exemplary, extraordinary and shes always fighting on the side of righteousness. Eight years ago in a closed door Senate Caucus, she implored her colleagues to support Marriage Equality because being jewish she grew up nothing what it was like to be treated less than. Shes always worked towards the goal of nobody ever feeling less than. I am honored to present the 2017 Eleanor Roosevelt award to senator betty lass kyi. [ cheers and applause ] wow. Thank you all. I couldnt be more surprised or more honored. But in this season of thanksgiving i just want to tell you all how grateful i am and have been for the last almost 30 years to have served all of you and the people of New Hampshire and the people of our great country. So i thank you so much. And i will treasure this always. Thank you. [ applause ] New Hampshire democrats, please welcome to the stage, congressman tim ryan. Thank you. All right. Weve got a few ohio guys here. I want to just say i wish i would have brought our 13yearold daughter here tonight to hear these amazing Democratic Women that we had speak to us tonight. [ applause ] but i did bring my beautiful wife. So everybody say hello to andrea ryan. [ applause ] and maggie, and i know jeanne is not here, thank you for your amazing leadership on the senate side. Its been an incredible battle over the past few weeks and months, and you guys have been there. Carol and annie, you guys are the best. Always i just want to say, in ohio we have a heroin epidemic of equal proportions as New Hampshire. And theres not a day that goes by when we are not in session where kaerl and annie arent grabbing people around the house saying we have got to stay organized, organized. Thank you for your Amazing National leadership on this. [ applause ] and grace and john, thank you so much for your leadership, john, i enjoyed your words tonight. I think youre right on the money, buddy. Thank you for contributing your message here tonight. And our old buddy paul hotes is here. My man from way back. [ applause ] i just want to say [ inaudible ] way back, has it been that long . I just want to Say Something real quick. You know, you get into politics to make a difference. When you see people presented with the opportunity, after being in a place like the United States congress, when you can clearly make the easy decision and cling to your job and your staff and your title. When push came to shove and there was an opportunity to give every single american access to healthcare. It was representatives from places like New Hampshire, like carol and like paul who literally put their jobs on the line to make that happen. We want to thank you for doing that. [ applause ] those are the heroes. Ray buckley, my old buddy from way back. I mean, old, ray, i mean old. That wasnt a slip of the tongue. And my buddy, donny souci who is here. As soon as i got up here, i had worked in congress for a couple years, i had caught the political bug and was in my first year of law school. Anybody who is in your first year of law school know youre looking for distractions from anything but law school. I met someone who was running for the state senate and we had a great campaign, we almost pulled it off. My old buddy steve is here who ran awhile back. [ applause ] and his wife, ellen and kimberly are here, and they took me in when i didnt have any family in New Hampshire. God bless you guys, thank you so much, steve, for that. So for most of my career in congress, i was single. Not married. Its late, i wanted to make sure you know where im coming from. And so thats a certain lifestyle, as you all know. About four and a half years ago, i got married and i met my wife andrea, fell in love and we got married. And so i went from being single to being married. Change in lifestyle. I married a woman who had two children. Mason and bella. So i went from being single to being married with two kids. Definite change in lifestyle. So when we first got married, she got rid of her place and i got rid of my place and we went to get some neutral territory. And whats the first thing you do after you get married and you have two kids . Youve got a new house . You got to go out and get a dog, right . So i go from being single to being married with two kids and now were on our way out to get a dog. We take the kids out, we go to the shelter to pick up some rescue pups. And what happens when you go out to get a puppy with two kids . You get two puppies. So i go from being single to being married, two kids, two dogs and then three and a half years ago we had brady. And so single, married, three kids, two dogs. Just one wife. Just one wife. So something happened a few years back, i was in the family room, and i noticed something i hasnt noticed for a while. Silence. The house was completely silent. I looked around, and everybody was upstairs in bed. Probably in the same bed, but thats a whole other story. So whats a guy from northeast ohio do when hes alone and, you know, used to watching like, paw patrol and nick at nite and team umizumi and all the kids shows. You get the Remote Control and you say i cant believe i got the Remote Control. I get it and i start flipping through the stations. Whats a guy do from ohio . You got to find sports. I find a sports station that has a documentary from the old basketball coach jimmy valvanno. Remember jimmy v . This is great. Hes one of my favorite coaches, im half italian, this is my guy. He starts giving this speech. He says god must have loved ordinary people. Because he made so many of us. He said every day ordinary people do extraordinary things. Every day in so many different ways. Ordinary people do extraordinary things. As im listening to that, as someone whoop is involved in t work were involved in. I thought to myself, when were at our best as a party. Thats what it means to be a democrat. Everything we do, is about giving ordinary people an opportunity to do something extraordinary. [ applause ] all of the speakers tonight touched upon this in one fashion or another, that whether youre in Youngstown Ohio or in New Hampshire or deep south or youre black, white, gay, straight, you should have an opportunity to do something extraordinary if youre willing to put the work in to be able to do it. And thats what this whole game is about. This is about us being able to give ordinary people an opportunity to do something extraordinary. And the problem we have now, is that the systems in which we are trying to allow our kids and our fellow workers and entrepreneurs and innovators is that were stuck in these broken systems that wont allow people to do something extraordinary. Make it so difficult. Look at the broken Healthcare System. We spent two and a half times more money than anyone else in the industrialized world, we get worse outcomes. Our Education System is not working the way its supposed to be. We rank 30 in science, 19 in math in international studies. Look at our food system, we have half the country that has diabetes or prediabetes. Look at our agricultural system that is causing algae blooms in the great lakes. Dead zones at the mouth of the mississippi river. And over the next 70 years if we dont do anything well have a six degree increase in the temperature of the planet. The systems are broken. And heres the problem. My wifes dad is from back home, was a steel worker. And we celebrated in our community an anniversary a few weeks back. September 19th, 1977, in youngstown which isnt much different than manchester or some of the working class communities. We have an anniversary called black monday. Thats when the United States sheeting tube closed one of its local factories, 5,000 workers, one day gone. There was no notice. Now you get 90 days, you know, you got to tell them, 90 days then were going to close it down. You just showed up, and there were locks on the gate. And my fatherinlaw worked at sheeting tube. And i remember i saw this, the New York Post did a story. I send the text of the story, you have different text chains with your football buddies and different chains. I sent this article to my wifes side of the family. And ill never forget what her mom, andreas mom sent back. She said, you know, ill never forget that day. Never forget it. Bobby came home, dirty faced, lunch bucket in hand and we had no idea what we were going to do. We had just borrowed 4,000 from his parents for a down payment on the house. And we got a loan out for the house. Now everyone around him lost their job. No idea what they were going to do. Whats frustrating is this broken Economic System that we have, that was 40 years ago. That was 40 years and we have still failed to fix an Economic System that has thrown millions of americans under the bus. [ applause ] and that, my friends, is what this is all about here tonight and the organizing and everything else. Because you know why . This old system, these old systems that are broken, the Republican Party is doubling down on the old system. Every way. The tax system. That the senator talked about and the congressional delegation talked about. Theyre doubling down on that. Like john said, youre going to lock this in. Just the way it is right now. Double down. Do you know why . Theres a lot of people that have a lot of money that like it just the way it is. For kickers, to pass this tax bill theyre going to go to the chinese banks and the Chinese Government and theyre going to borrow 2. 3 trillion and theyre going to bring that money back to the United States. Were not going to invest it back in our people, were not going to invest it to rebuild the country. Were going to give it away to the wealthiest people in the country. Thats insanity. Thats insanity. Especially when you look at the fact [ applause ] especially when you look at the fact that over the last 30 years, since we did tax reform the last time, 96 of income growth, 96 went to the top 10 . The top 1 own 90 of the wealth of the country. And were going to give that group a tax cut and borrow the money from china to give it to them . Theyre doubling down on the old system. We see whats happening with climate. And theyve put it, a global climate, a global warning denier as head of the epa . We know were unhealthy as a country. A young boy, a young child, a young baby in youngstown, ohio, has less of a chance of survival than a baby born in iran. And we have the Republican Party saying were going to throw 20 more Million People off the healthcare rolls. Were going to disinvest and try to undermine the very program that provides healthcare for our citizens. This is not right. This is why were here. This is why weve come together. This is the job before us. Is that the Democratic Party has got to be the party that builds the new system. Weve got to be the party that builds the new system. [ applause ] theres been a concentration of wealth. And as congressman delaney said, theres a concentration of opportunity depending on your zip code. We have continued to prioritize capital over labor and it must stop. [ applause ] so the challenges are great. Let me tell you a quick story. Those of you who are in manchester a couple weeks ago for joyce i love joyce, craig, shes absolutely phenomenal. Joyce, the greatest. There was an old basketball coach named john wooden. I know the setticeltics are on roll. You had to steal a cleveland cavalier, but thats okay. If you want to send tom brady to the browns, wed be happy to take him. The browns may even make tom brady a loser. I want to tell you that. Its like a disease we have in the Cleveland Browns organization. I just threw myself off my whole so this was this great basketball coach at ucla, his name was john wooden. And back in the day, arguably one of the best ncaa basketball coaches of all time. He was coaching a young kid. He was a really tall kid from new york city. He could dunk the basketball. And so they dominated, because he just dunked the bauble and they kept winning and kept dunking. It was so good that the ncaa actually had to come in and say no ones allowed to dunk anymore. They like, banned the dunk. Imagine . So he was out of his mind. Had no clue what he was going to do. John wooden came up and was talking, all right, no, what am i going to do, i came here, was going to the pros, my life was set and they banned the dunk. John wooden said to him, this ban on the dunk is going to be your greatest opportunity. Lou thought he was insane. This is going to be your greatest opportunity. He went on in order to survive, learned the sky hook. And went on to the nba and became Kareem Abdul Jabbar and they won many, many championships at the Los Angeles Lakers because of the sky hook. That challenge youre celtics fans, you dont mean that. I was a celtics fans growing up, i dont like the lakers. That man took that challenge and he turned it into an opportunity. And the lesson for us as we look at these staggering challenges that we have, is that weve got to take these challenges and weve got to turn them into opportunities squmpt the opportunities are there. They are there. When we need to address Climate Change, were looking at Industries Like wind and solar, that are growing at 25 a year. This country needs to double down on wind and solar and renewable injury. [ applause ] we have the Healthcare System is broken, this is an opportunity for us to come in and say, you know what . Theres a link between Global Warming our food and our healthcare and our Education System. If we start growing our food right, if we start using regenerative agriculture, well pull carbon out of the air and put it back in the ground where it belongs. We can get rid of our food deserts. We can make sure people have healthy food and we can start bending the cost curve on healthcare in the United States by seeing all of this stuff is connected. [ applause ] we need to build systems. Think about how revolutionary this can be. We need to Start Building systems. That put the people first, and then build the system around the people. Not have the people continually perpetially feed into the system. Thats what we have now. People paying for the healthcare if it were not for the changes we made be a lot worse. People working and working and just cant get ahead. They just cant get ahead. No matter how hard they work. Thats not right. You should be able in the United States if you put an honest days work in, an honest days week worth of work, you should be able to have a good and happy and successful life here in this country. And thats what hangs in the balance. [ applause ] let me just wrap up by saying, that we have done this before. We just gave awards away that recognized the power of the roos investmen think about the changes in the economy when we moved into the sdra industrial age. The government wasnt keeping up, so people came together, led by our brothers and sisters in the Union Movement here in the United States of america. [ applause ] those manufacturing jobs werent good jobs, they were tough. We have a museum of labor and industry in downtown youngs town. If youre ever in youngstown come on by. Better chance of ohio people coming to New Hampshire. I got it. But go see whats happening. Go see what happened in this place. How people lived, now workers died, how they lost limbs. How they didnt make any money. How the economy screwed them over at every turn. And then we all came together and said were not going to live that way anymore. There were fights. People died. There were battles. Its the old irish, im irish, its the old irish is this a private fight or can anyone get into it. I see weve got a few other irish people in this place. Im in the right room then. But we had to fight for it t. No ones going to give this to us. No ones going to give it to us. Like my old football coach, you got to go take it. You got to go get it. We didnt have 40 hour work week. We went and got it. We didnt have an eight hour work day, we didnt have civil rights, we went and got it, we went and got it. [ applause ] and so building america 2. 0 is going to take a strong Democratic Party. The other team isnt going to do it. Were only a country of 238 Million People competing in a globe of billions of people. We need every american citizen on the field, playing for us with team usa jersey ready to go out there and kick some butt. [ applause ] i never once i played a lot of sports in my days, long, long, long time ago. Played a lot of sports in my days. Never once was i on a Successful Team that didnt absolutely love each other. Just so exknitted together by le and respect and appreciation for what everyone on the team had to do, whether it was in the weight room or training room, or doing sprints or what position you played. Even if you didnt get in the game, because you practiced hard to make us better. You contributed. Thats what we need to get back to in the United States. The attitude that everybody matters. Union, nonunion, professional, worker. Whatever you do, you matter in this country. You make our economy work. If youre a Healthcare Worker or if youre a hospice worker or if youre waitress trying to make ends meet, you matter in this country. You belong in the Democratic Party and were going to make sure you belong in this party. [ applause ] so we got to love each other. Weve got to respect each other. Weve got to continue to work hard as we move forward. And i will just leave you with what Bobby Kennedy used to end a lot of his Campaign Speeches with in that very brief energetic and passionate campaign. I do not promise you ease. I do not promise you comfort. But i do promise you these, weariness, hardship, and sacrifice. And with these, i promise you victory. Thank you so much. [ applause ] thank you, everybody, on your way out dont forget to take your pumpkin. New hampshire democrats, take your pumpkin, tip your bartenders and remember there is one way out of the parking lot. Please drive safely, thank you and have a good night. We have a mutual friend, dave lang told me to stop by and say hello. We were in canada im jackie by the way. Tim ryan. My husband is bruce. Good to see you, meet my wife,a andrea. Good to meet you. 9th percentile and under the deduction. 90 enough, they own the country, they have bought most of the republicans. Let them pay for it. Put it in one paragraph. Really think about it. Good to see you. How long have you been here . Six months. I go back to ohio all the time. Democratic leaders wont be meet ing with President Trump after all. The hill was the story, Democratic Leaders pulled out a planned meeting at the white house with President Trump after he tweeted earlier today that he, quote, didnt see a deal to avoid a government shutdown. Quote, given that the president doesnt see a deal between democrats and the white house, we believe the best path forward is to Charles Schumer said in a joint statement, rather than going to the white house for a show meeting that wont result in an agreement, weve asked leader mcconnell and speaker ryan to meet this afternoon. Youll read the full story at thehill. Com. They were to have met with President Trump at 3 00 p. M. Eastern this afternoon at the white house. Coming up in just a couple of minutes here on cspan 3, were going to be hearing from the Senate Budget committee in just a moment. Coming up, the Senate Budget committee will be gaveling in, about ten minutes, theyll consider tax reform legislation, that includes a provision to open the Arctic National wildlife refuge to expanded gas drilling and another repealing the insurance mandate in the health law. Theyre expected to vote to report out the merged bill to the senate. Live coverage at about 2 30. Also online at weecspan. Org. Well hear from the press secretary, Sarah Sanders has a briefing coming up this afternoon at 3 00 eastern. Follow that over on cspan 2. This morning Jerome Powell was nominated to head the Federal Reserve board. Went before the Senate Banking committee. During his confirmation hearing he responded to a question on whether he thought the fed would raise Interest Rates in december. Heres what he said. Let me ask you this question, are you going to raise rates in december and next year . Ive made it a practice to not talk specifically about individual meetings, thats why we have the meeting. Were all supposed to hold back onts that final decision and go squin listen carefully to each others views, all the reserve Bank President s, all governors, thats how we do it out of respect for each other. I will say i think the case for, you know, for raising Interest Rates at our next meeting is coming together. Do you anticipate we will be raising rates in december . Well, to repeat myself, senator, im not going to give you a really specific answer on december i dont know what coming together means. Thats why i asked the question again. It means i think the conditions are supportive of doing that, but we need to have the meeting and listen to each