Hats. You wear so many hats and you just are always a voice for so many people. Im so honored to have your support. And thank you for everything. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And confluence brewery, thanks for taking us in. Oh, that was at the last minute as you all know because youre here and you just you shifted the plan and you came here and i cant thank confluence brewery and all of you on a rainy afternoon for being here. Im very, very touched and, so, thank you. Im kamala harris. Im running for president of the United States. And and so i wanted to share with you a couple of my thoughts and then im really looking forward to taking questions because as youve probably heard me say before, i fully intend to win this election. I really do. But part of the measure of our success for me is also going to be that at the end of this process that we are relevant. And in order to ensure that, it is really important to me that i and we listen as much as i talk. Especially at this stage of the campaign. So im hear to listen to you as much as i am to talk. But ill share with you a couple thoughts. First of all, can we get a big shoutout for naral . Yay. There we are. So i thank you for cohosting this meet and greet and, wow, i just want to thank the leaders of naral and most of whom are volunteers, for the work that they and you do every day because i think we all know that this is a Pivotal Moment in the history of our country. Its a moment in time that is requiring us each to look in the mirror and ask a question. That question being who are we . I think we all know part of the answer to that question is we are better than this. And one of the issues upon which we base that perspective is that right now, and its not a new moment in america, but it is a highlighted moment, womens access to Reproductive Health is under attack in america. And we have got to stand firm. We have got to stand firm. Just a few weeks ago, i was in alabama. You all know whats happening and likely to happen in georgia and missouri. And we are not being alarmists when we say women will die, and in particular, poor women and women of color. Those who cannot leave where they are which is in a place where politicians have decided to tell women what to do with their own bodies. They cannot leave where they are in a place where politicians have decided that they know better about what a woman needs than her own physician. And were at a moment in time, then, that is requiring us to recognize that these women are going to need our support and our help and their families because they have a right, of course, to make decisions about their lives. And so many of them will not even be able to leave the state in which they live. Naral, youre doing that work of supporting these women and helping them in those places and being leaders around the country. The access of women to health care is under attack, and many of you may know, my sister, maya, amayymia and i, mia is there somewhere. There she is. You know, i grew up, we grew up hearing about Womens Health issues. Our mother was a Breast Cancer researcher. She was a scientist. And she from my earliest memories would come home enraged often about the lack of dignity that women were given in the Health Care Delivery system, in the context of scientific research, in the context of taking women seriously and at their word when they indicate or express what their needs are. Easte and so this issue is all too familiar to me and it is an issue that is an issue that not only represents what is right in terms of giving a woman her constitutional right to privacy and to exercising free will and exercising agency, it is not only an issue that is about the health and wellbeing of women and that we may actually and women may actually die, it is also an issue about understanding equality. Equality. Fundamental aspects of equality. Many of you watched the Kavanaugh Hearings. You remember when i asked that question . Is there any law that you can think of that tells a man what to do with his body . You could see people going all kinds of interesting places with that, right . No. Its about equality. Its a fundamental issue of equality. So im going to tell you on this issue, specifically, part of what im prepared to do is not only continue enjoying with all of our brothers and sisters in this fight for full reproductive freedom for women, but also i will tell you, after elected, i am prepared to require that as it relates to any state that has a history of restricting a womans access to Reproductive Health care, that that state has to clear that law, it clear it for constitutional muster, to clear that it comports with roe v. Wade, through the United States department of justice. Thats called preclearance. And until that law clears for constitutional muster, it cannot go into effect. [ cheers and applause ] because clearly we need some oversight. Constitutional oversight. So well play on the defense, but lets also take it on the offense. So, you know, and this is just, you know, this issue is one of the many issues that, for me, i mean, it relates to kind of the issues that people are talking about from the time of my birth. Our parents, mia and i, our parents met when they were students in the 1960s, when they were active in the civil rights movement. So mia and i joked we grew up with a bunch of adults who spent full time marching and shouting about this thing called justice, right . And fight for justice and equality we know is something k kor Coretta Scott king said its a fight that must be fought and won with each generation. Right . And when she said it, i think there were two points there. One is that its the very nature of this fight for justice and equality, that whatever gains we make, they will not be permanent. Its the nature of it. So the second point, then, is knowing its the nature of it, do not despair. Do not be overwhelmed. Lets not throw up our hands when its time to roll up our sleeves. Right . So on this fight for womens reproductive freedom, this is one of those things where we just get to work and we do what needs to get done on the defense and on the offense, but there are so many other issues right now at play as well, right . So ill tell you, you know, that same mother of ours, she was 5 feet tall, but if you ever met our mother, you would have thought she was 7 feet tall. And she was fierce, and she was the kind of parent who if you ever came home complaining about something, our mother would look at you, perhaps one hand on her hip, and with a very straight face, she would ask, well, what are you going to do about it . So i decided to run for president of the United States. [ cheers and applause ] you know. There you go. And lets talk about whats at play right now. So weve got this guy in the white house currently, okay, okay, and he talks about how hes going to make America Great again. But what i would suggest is that he has actually betrayed america. He ran on a platform that said, farmers, im going to take care of you all. I dont need to tell iowa that this socalled trade policy, trade by tweet, has resulted in iowa farmers, some whom are looking at bankruptcy, those who had cultivated a market over at least the last decade in china to sell soybeans, those soybeans are now sitting rotting in bins. I dont need to tell you how he betrayed people when were looking at the fact that it is very possible that as many as 700,000 autoworkers in the United States may lose their job by the end of the year. Lets talk about betrayal of American Families when because of that socalled trade policy, which i call the trump trade tax, American Families right now are spending 1. 4 billion a month more for everything from shampoo to washing machines. Its not about make America Great again. He wants to take america backward. And were prepared to turn the page. Were prepared to turn the page. [ applause ] and to turn the page, were going to need to prosecute the case against four more years of this administration. And so as a former prosecutor, i will share with you, im here to teach you and tell you about part of my background. I have a background where successfully, i have prosecuted the big banks who preyed on homeowners. Prosecuted pharmaceutical companies who preyed on seniors. Prosecuted Transnational Criminal Organizations that preyed on women and children. And i will tell you, we have a predator living in the white house. [ applause ] and the thing about this person is hes got predatory instincs s and a predatory nature because let me tell you a secret about predators. They prey on the vulnerable. They prey on those who they assume are weak. They prey on those who they assume are desperate. And the thing about predators is this. Theyre cowards. And what we need and want in our america is a president of the United States who recognizes that her strength derives from an ability not to beat people down but lift people up. Lift them up. And so look at the rap sheet on this case. Lets look at the rap sheet, shall we . So lets look at the fact that promised working people that they would be helped but he passes a tax bill benefiting the top 1 and the biggest corporations. You look a the trump trade tax. You can look at whats happening in terms of yet again continuous attempts to take health care from American Families, including reviving preexisting conditions as a ban on getting access to health care. You look at the fact that there are children in cages and theyre separating children from their parents in the name of Border Security when, in fact, what that is is a human rights abuse being committed by the United States government. [ applause ] theres plenty of evidence to prosecute this case, but lets also talk about the fact that what is before us right now in this election is not only, its not only about that. Its also about the future of our country. Its also about the future of our country, and fighting for this country we love. Tomorrow, we will celebrate our nations independence. Tomorrow, we will reflect as hopefully we do always, on the fact that we are a nation who derives its greatest strength from the fact that by our very nature, by our very nature, we are aspirational. We are a nation that was founded on noble ideals, the ideals that were present when we wrote the constitution of the United States and all of its amendments and the bill of rights and the declaration of independence, and those words we spoke in 1776, that we are all equal and should be treated that way. We are aspirational. Were also clear eyed. Weve not yet reached those ideals, but the strength of who we are is we fight to get there and so fight we will, and fight we must and let us be clear. This is a fight that is born out of optimism. This is a fight that is born out of seeing and knowing what can be and believing in that unburdened by what has been. This is a fight that is born not only of knowing we must fight for the soul of our country, but a fight born out of love of country and this is a fight therefore, for our america and the america we believe in, the america we believe in, because we believe that working people should be able to get through the end of the month without worrying about how theyre going to pay their bills. We believe in an america where you only have to work one job to have a roof over your head and put food on the table. We believe in an america where teachers are paid their value. We believe in an america where women are paid the same as men. We believe in an america where women will always have access to Reproductive Health. We believe in an america where no child of earth has to attend a hearing to determine whether they should hide in a closet because of a gunman roaming the halls of their school. We believe in an america where everyone is given dignity and is treated with equality and fairness, and that is why we will continue to fight, and as we march toward this election in 2020 with and born out of an ultimate and fundamental belief that we are all in this together, and that we all rise and fall together, and that the power is in the people, with all that in our hearts and our souls, i promise you, des moines, we will win this election. [ cheers and applause ] we will win. [ chants of kamala ] okay, you want to take some questions now . Okay, lets take some questions. Shall we go with katie here . Do you have a hello. My name is katie and i am an undecided iowa democrat. Im excited to be here for two reasons. First of all, because i was very impressed with your performance in the debates. [ cheers and applause ] it was awesome. And also because im just very happy to be in a room with so many prochoice iowans. We never get together enough. I personally have been an active supporter for the past ten years because ten years ago i found myself facing an unplanned pregnancy. I was a College Student and i never really thought too much about reproductive rights because i never thought i would need them. But i do distinctly remember the moment i found out. I had two immediate thoughts before the denial and the grief, and all those feelings that come later, i remember thinking i need to have an abortion, and oh, i live in iowa. I knew that abortion was a controversial subject but up until that point i never really considered how the controversy would impact the whole trajectory of my life. I remember being really panicked as i was google searching is abortion legal in iowa, and how to get an abortion in iowa, and i remember just seeing pages and pages of results about all the different ways Iowa Republicans were trying to restrict reproductive rights. Fortunately, i was lucky, and i was able to get abortion care in my home state without having to jump through too many legal hoops, but that feeling, that fear of i know what i need, but i dont know if ill be able to legally access it, has stayed with me. Its been ten years now, since my abortion, and if im totally honest, my feelings about it have kind of fluctuated. Sometimes im 100 confident i made the right decision, and sometimes im not that sure. Sometimes i think about it, and im really happy that i was able to choose my own path and sometimes i am sad about the path i didnt choose, but the one thing that has been constant is im incredibly grateful i was able to make that decision for myself. [ cheers and applause ] the other thing that has been constant is republican lawmakers have been trying to take that power away and thats why for me its essential that the next. Of the United States be an individual who is not just prochoice but someone who will be a National Leader for the cause of reproductive justice. As you said, i havent been around quite a long but im very tired of this fight and i want a president who will not just defend the status quo but will do everything in her power to ensure that future generations have access to a full range of Reproductive Health care. So my question, this is a crowded field, where we know defending Abortion Access is the floor and not the ceiling for candidates. We know each candidate has promised to veto dangerous antichoice legislation, but with roe v. Wade under dire and immediate threat, we need more than that. My question for you is, what is your plan for pro actively safeguarding reproductive freedom and locking in these fundamental rights and what would a Harris Administration do that others might not to protect reproductive choice . Thank you. [ cheers and applause ] i just first im in awe of your courage to speak, really. To speak in this venue, with all who are here, and with such grace to tell your story that is a very personal story, and is a story that many women in america can tell, but you have a special ability to have the confidence and the courage to speak it in a room like this, and those truths need to be heard by everyone. So i first just want to thank you for that. I really do. So you know, listen, first of all, i think what im offering in terms of preclearance is something that no one has talked about or offered before. Its a new approach, and maybe it comes from the fact that, in my background, i was for two terms the attorney general of california. I ran the second Largest Department of justice in the United States, second only to the United States department of justice. I will also tell you, in terms of my background, i shared my parents were active in the civil rights movement. What inspired me to want to become a lawyer was actually those lawyers who were active in the civil rights movement. It was Thurgood Marshall and Charles Hamilton houston and constance baker, the individuals who understood the skill and the power of the law, to translate the passion from the streets to the courtrooms of our country, and ensure that people who deserve full equality under the law receive it. Thats why i wanted to be a lawyer, to make sure that happened. It is through that lens that i do think of a number of issues, including this issue, which is lets continue with our activism. Lets continue to take it to the streets. Lets also do what we need to do around litigation against these bad laws, but lets also, from a proactive position think about how this is a fundamental issue of justice, and in that way, thats how i think about the role of the United States department of justice, which is why im saying in a Harris Administration we will have preclearance requirements for any state that infringes on a womans access to Reproductive Health care, if they have a history of doing that. So that is a new and a different approach. I will also tell you that for me, this is not a new issue working on this. I have been working on womens access t