Please welcome to the stage Michael Bennett. Hello, iowa. You are a Patient Group of people. I didnt know how patient. And i want to thank you for allowing all of us to impose on you. I want to particularly thank you for the kindness that youve shown me and my family as weve travelled the state of iowa. I want to thank my friend, tom harken, my chairman who is right here, tom, thank you for your leadership. And thank you for your friendship. Ive been in the senate, as tom knows, for ten years. Its hard for me to believe its been a decade. Weve done two committees together. Tonight i want to talk to you not as a senator but as the only superintendent of schools who has ever run for president of the United States. I worked with kids in the Denver Public schools before i went to the senate. Its a School District thats got about a billion dollar budget. For reference, thats about three times the size of a certain municipality in the state of indiana. Im just saying. It has 95,000 children in it. Most of whom live in poverty. Most of whom are kids of color. And if their parents were here tonight, what they would tell you is that they are killing themselves at work. And no matter what they do, they cant get their kids out of poverty. And it remind me a lot of the town Hall Meetings ive had for the last ten years in colorado and in iowa and in new hampshire. Where people come and they say, michael, we are working really hard, but we cant afford housing. We cant afford healthcare. We cant afford Higher Education. We cant afford Early Childhood education. Iowa, thats why im running for president , to restore opportunities to the american people. Thats what we have to do. When i was deciding to run for president im not as much of a celebrity as some other people and im not as well known, but i went home to talk to my kids and my wife, susan. I asked them what do you think. Should i run for president . My 15yearold, of course, said yes, because she saw it as a way of keeping me away from her and out of the house. I dont know whats going on there tonight. My 20yearold daughter said to me you should run, dad, because if you run and you tell the truth and you lose, no one can fault you for it. I said thats good, caroline, because there is no other reason for me to run but to tell the truth. I dont think theres any other way for me to win. And so i was so happy about a month or two ago when i was able to take the headline of the Des Moines Register and show it to caroline, that headline on the editorial said Michael Bennett pounds truth into this campaign. And iowa, thats what im trying to do because this time is too important. Its too important. And thats why i want to tell you tonight, iowa, that our kids do not have the time for us to spend the next ten years fighting a losing battle for medicare for all. Thats not because its a big idea. Thats because there are better ideas. And here are some from the perspective of the kids that i used to work for. We can make sure that everybody in this country that works hard 40 hours a week can actually raise a family in this country because theyre paid a decent wage. From the standpoint of the kids i used to work for in the Denver Public schools, we could end childhood poverty in america. That would help. I have a plan. I have a plan withat would revee the trump tax cut. Reduce childhood poverty in one year by 40 and end 2 a day poverty for kids living in iowa and in colorado and in america. For 3 of the cost for medicare for all, we could cut childhood poverty by 40 . That sounds like a big idea to me. Iowa, iowa, heres another idea. We can make our schools engines of opportunity again in the United States of america. And we could do that not by promising free college, but by delivering free preschool to every kid in america who needs it. Let me tell you something, thats every kid in america. What about the 70 of kids who graduate from high school and dont go to college . We could fix high schools so that when they leave, they can earn a living wage, not just the minimum wage. That would transform the lives of millions of americans and our economy. We could create universal healthcare in three years with the public option ive been fighting for since we passed the Affordable Care act. Its called medicare, give everybody in the country the choice of a public option or private insurance if they want it. Reduce health costs by getting drug costs down. We could do it as i said in three years. And we need to address Climate Change, iowa. But its not enough to be urgent about it. Thats not enough. We need a solution that will last a generation. And thats why you cant accept the politics in washington where Michael Bennett puts his climate plan in for two years and the climate deniers rip it out. And then we put it in for two years and they rip it out. Thats how politics in washington works today. Thats not good enough for the american people. And trying isnt enough. Having good intentions is not enough. We have to win it. We have to win again and again and again so our kids inherit a planet that can be sustained. And to do that, iowa, to do that we have to fix our broken politics. We have to take the money out of politics and put people back into politics. Im telling you, if you elect me president , ill lead an effort in every one of the 50 states to overturn Citizens United and give the next generation of americans in our democracy, which is why we need to do. This might sound really hard. But its no harder than anything any other americans have done. I tell kids when they come to washington, d. C. , they have a tendency to think it was all just there. The capital was there. The white house was there. The Supreme Court was there. None of it was just there. 230 years ago, it was just an idea. Thats all it was. And the founders of this country did two incredible things in their generation. They led a successful revolution against a colonial power. That had never happened before. They wrote a constitution that was ratified by the people that would live under that constitution. That had never happened before. But they did something terrible as well. They perpetrated human slavery. And well be with that for the rest of our days. Whats important to remember is it took other americans to end slavery in this country. Frederick douglass born a slave in the United States of america and because of his leadership and what he did, he saw human slavery end in this country in his generation. Do you know what . I think that Frederick Douglass is as much a founder as the people who wrote the constitution. Thats what i believe. Thats what i believe, iowa. I believe the women that fought for my daughters to have the right to vote are founders just like the people who wrote the constitution. Thats what i believe, iowa. And thats what i think of all of you. Thats your job as citizens in this republic. You are founders of the republic. Its that elevated sense of what your responsibility is. When you have a president who doesnt believe in the rule of law, who doesnt believe in the separation of powers, who doesnt believe in the independence of the judiciary, who doesnt believe in the freedom of the press. He does not believe in our democracy. You have a job to do. You may not have asked for it, but you know what your job is . Its to save this democracy for the next generation of americans. That is what youre being asked to do, iowa. That is what you are being asked to do. And i know you wont shirk that responsibility. We cant and live up to the example that our parents and grandparents did for us. Im not scared of donald trump, iowa. And i dont think you are either. Ive had the hardest job you can have in america, being a school superintendent. Other than being a school teacher. By the way, we should pay them what they deserve as professionals. I know what to do with a schoolyard bully like donald trump. And i need your help. I need your help, iowa, to help you. I need you to help put me in a position to be able to win this race because i know i have the experience and temperment and agenda to beat donald trump. I know its an agenda that cindy and abby can run on. Im the only person in this race thats 1 twon two national racen a swing state. I know how to win colorado and iowa and maine and arizona to get us a majority in the senate and to get us the white house as well. But i cant do it without you. So im asking for your help tonight. If you want a president who gives a damn about your kids, join my campaign. If you want someone who is going to fight for an economy that works for every morning, join my campaign. If you want somebody who is going to fight for our democracy and to reestablish our alliances around the world, join my campaign. Iowa, if you want somebody who will tell you the truth, even when its hard to do it, join my campaign. I want to thank you all of you, again, for the opportunity to be here tonight for the kindness you be se youve shown and we look forward to seeing you on caucus night because more surprising things have happened than this, iowa. I can assure you of that. Lets go do our work as founders. Thanks for having me today. Its great to see all of you. Thank you, iowa. Please welcome secretary julian castro. Good evening, iowa. First of all, let me say a huge thank you to troy price and to all of the leadership of the Iowa Democratic party, to your great congresswomen and congressmen. To all of the local and state elected officials that are here and all the great Iowa Democrats who are going to help win back the senate in 2020. Its great to be here in des moines with you. On january 20th, 2021, at 12 01 p. M. , were going to have a democratic president , a democratic house, and a democratic senate. The question for us here tonight is what kind of america are we going to become . You see, there is going to be life after donald trump. What is that going to look like . What kind of america are we fighting for . The next president has the responsibility of trying to heal this nation, trying to bring it together. I want to talk to you tonight about the america that we can build in the years to come. I hope if yall have been tuning into this campaign youve noticed that this campaign has marched to the beat of its own drummer. Weve been a little bit different from all the other campaigns. We havent been the same. Weve been speaking up for the most vulnerable folks in this country. People sleeping on the streets and in storm drainage tunnels in las vegas. Folks who are the victims of police brutality. A woman named Arletta Swain in iowa who has lived in her trailer home for 40 years and got a notice a few months ago that her rent was going up by more than 60 because some private equity group bought up the trailer park. Weve been fighting for those who are often left out. Cast aside. Marginalized. Because somewhere along the way in our country, we forgot to talk about the poor, to talk about the most vulnerable. Were great at talking about the middle class and we need to fight for the middle class and im fighting for the middle class. But we also need to fight for the poor and those who have the least. Those who suffer the most. Thats what this campaign has been doing. And thats not an accident. Like many of you i live an American Dream story. I grew up with my mother and my grandmother and my brother on the west side of san antonio. My grandmother had come to the United States as an orphan when she was seven years old. She worked as a made, a cook and a baby sitter for her whole life because she never even finished elementary school. She raised miy mom as a single parent and my mom raised my brother and me as a single parent as well. My brother and i are proud products of the Public Schools of texas. And just to think that only two generations after my grandmother got here, like i bet a lot of your relatives did, wherever they came from with hardly anything, one of her grandsons, my brother, joaquin, represents the 20th congressional district, the neighborhood that she moved to in san antonio. And the other one is here asking for your vote for president of the United States of america. That is what america has been, what it can be, what we have to be. Im running for president because i believe that every single american should have the opportunity to live out their dreams. I want to make sure that we build an america where thats possible. That we fight for an america where your child can get great education because we invest in universal prek for three and fouryearolds. When i was mayor of san antonio, we took to the voters a Ballot Initiative to significantly expand high quality full day prek for 4yearolds and we got it done. I want to make sure that we improve k12 education by paying teachers what they deserve. Reducing class sizes and making sure that special Needs Children can get the education they need at their school. Because too oftentimes the parents of special Needs Children feel like they have to be lawyers to argue with a bu burocracy that makes it hard for their children to get that education. I want to make sure every single american can get a good Higher Education with tuition free public colleges and job training and certification programs. The grandmother i grew up with, she had with, she had type two diabetes and like a lot of diabeticses, her condition got worse and worse until right before she passed away in early 1996, she had to have one of her feet amputated, which is not uncommon for severe diabetics, but that whole time, she had medicare. Imt to strengthen medicare for people who are on it and make sure its available to every single american who wants it and, and then if somebody has a strong private Health Insurance plan, that they should be able to hold on to that. That we can do both of those things. We can also end the distinction between physical health care and Mental Health care and invest in Mental Health care. We should never allow the profits of being pharma or bring Insurance Companies to determine who gets care or medication. Theres no reason that insulin should ten times as much in the United States as it does in canada. I want to make sure that in this country, no matter who we are, youre innocent until proven guilty. We invest in public defenders. We reform our cash bail system. We legal iize marijuana and invt in diversion programs to keep more young people out of the criminal Justice System in the first place. And we work to ban the box and give people effective Second Chance in life if theyve been incarcerated. Well work to make sure were a fairer nation. That you cant be discriminated against because of your Sexual Orientation or your gender identity. Im proud that when i worked as Barack Obamas housing secretary, we extended protections to the Lgbtq Community in housing. I want to make sure we have no second class citizens in United States of america and that women get equal pay for equal work that we protect a womans right to get to get an abortion in this country as its under assault. And then no matter who you are, if you work hard in this country, that you can prosper. We need a tax code that rewards po people who have the work for a living and not only amazon and big corporations and wealthy individuals, every american. I remember what it was like growing up in a household where we worry ied about being able t pay the rent on the first of the month and had the electricity turned off sometimes. I remember watching as my mother lost her hair when she was about 38 years old and my brother and i were 11 and they didnt know what the reason was and finally, the doctors told her it was stress. There are a lot of families out there there aare stressed out. We need to make sure the Government Works for working families in the years ahead. That also means investing in affordable housing. It means unleashing a Clean Energy Economy by tackling the Climate Crisis. Seen not only as a crisis, but an opportunity to create great jobs. It also means r hharn messaging vision of imgranlt grants in this country. I believe, i believe that we dont have to give into cruelty, that we can have Border Security but treat people with compassion and common sense. No more kids in cages no more separating families no more playing games with people seeking a better life in more criminalizing desperation we can have a different, better, positive, vision. A more humane way of doing immigration and you know, i dont want to make america anything again. I dont want to go backward. I want to go forward. I want to make this country better than its ever been in the years to come. With one exception. I want to restore some integrity and decency in the oval office because its been missing. And we can do that. I got elected to the city council in san antonio when i was 26 years old and when i was 27, i quit my job at the law firm that i was working at as a young lawyer so that i could vote on an environmental deal that i thought, a land deal that i thought was bad for our environment in san antonio. I quit my job and i did the right thing to stand up for the constituents that i represented. We can have clean government again in this country. One that is based on the hopes and the dreams and the wishes of the people and not the powerful, not the lobbyists, not the special interests. We can