The sanders who took the stage was the same man who pitched his economic populist message to adoring crowds across the country, but also worked hard to connect with a skeptical audience by framing his message as one of morality and justice. He quoted from the bible and praised pope francis. He bowed his head in prayer and spoke about how to bring people together. Here is the speech now. It is 50 minutes. Thank you. David, they do that chant a lot better than you do. Thank you for that warm introduction and welcome to convocation this morning. We are humbled to welcome a very special guest. Senator Bernie Sanders. [applause] the democratic candidate for president of the United States. We made roomrs, for a lot of your supporters locally on the front row, so you have a fan club. 2006, senator sanders was elected to the u. S. Senate for the first time after serving for 16 years as the sole congressman from vermont. He went on to be reelected in 2012. He was born in oakland, new york and attended brooklyn, new york and attended the university of chicago. In 1981, he was elected mayor of burlington, vermont by 10 votes. Under his leadership, he helped transform erlang 10 one of the most exciting and livable city hesh he transformed helped transform burlington into one of the most exciting and Livable Cities in the nation. Tirelessly forht families. He was dubbed the amendment king for passing more amendments than anyone else in congress. He lives in burlington, vermont now. Since david came to me and told me that senator sanders had agreed to speak at liberty, i said that is great. Asking, can you find Common Ground with the senator . I think i did. Senator sanders, if you would come up. [applause] i think in the future, he will be a fan of the liberty flames. We already found some Common Ground, i hope. We welcome you to Liberty University. We are humbled and honored that you would come here. Please give him a warm welcome. [applause] sanders bank sanders sen. Sanders thank you. President falwell and david, thank you for inviting my wife jane and me to be with you this morning. Let me start off by a knowledge acknowledging what all of you already know. That is the views that you have and i have on a number of important issues are very different. I believe in womens rights. [applause] right of a woman to control her own body. [applause] i believe in gay rights and gay marriage. Views, and it is no secret. Today, becausee i believe from the bottom of my heart that it is vitally important for those of us who hold different views to be able to engage in a civil discourse. Too often in our country, on , there is too much shouting at each other. There is too much making fun of each other. , and i say this as someone whose voice is hoarse because i have given dozens of speeches and a last few months, it is easy to talk about people who agree with you. I was in greensboro, North Carolina last night. We have 9000 people. Mostly they agreed with me. Tonight we have thousands. That is not hard to do. That is what politicians do. We talked to people who agree with us. But it is harder. But not less important. To try and communicate with those who do not agree with us on every issue. [applause] sen. Sanders and it is important to see where if possible, and i do believe if possible, we can find Common Ground. Now Liberty University is a religious school, obviously. [applause] and all of you are proud of that. [applause] you are a school which, as all of us in our own way tries to understand the meaning of morality, what does it mean to live a moral life . And you try to understand in this very complicated modern world that we live in, what the words of the bible mean in todays society. You are a school which tries to teach its students how to behave with decency and with honesty, and how you can best relate to your fellow human beings. And i applaud you for trying to achieve those goals. [applause] let me take a moment, or a few moments, to tell you what motivates me in the work that i do as a public servant, as a senator from the state of vermont. And let me tell you that it goes without saying, i am far from being a perfect human being, but i am motivated by a vision which exists in all of the great religions, christianity, judaism, islam, buddhism, and other religions. That vision is so beautifully and clearly stated in matthew 7 12, and it states so in everything do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets. That is the golden rule. Do unto others what you would have them do to you. That is the golden rule and it is not very complicated. Let me be frank. As i said, i understand that the issues of abortion and gay marriage are issues that you feel very strongly about. We disagree on those issues. I get that. But let me respectfully suggest that there are other issues out there that are of enormous consequence to our country and in fact to the entire world, that maybe, just maybe, we do not disagree on. And maybe, just maybe, we can try to Work Together to resolve them. [applause] amos 5 24, but let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream. Justice, treating others the way we want to be treated. Treating all people, no matter their race, their color, their stature in life, with respect and with dignity. [applause] in my view, it would be hard for anyone in this room today to make the case that the United States of america, our great country, a country which all of us love, it would be hard to make the case that we are a just society, or anything resembling a just society today. [applause] in the United States of america today, there is massive injustice in terms of income and wealth inequality. Injustice is rampant. We live, and i hope all of you know this, in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. But most americans do not know that. Because almost all of that wealth and income is going to the top 1 . That is the truth. We are living in a time and i warn all of you if you would, put this in the context of the bible, not me, in the context of the bible we are living in a time where a handful of people have wealth beyond comprehension, and im talking about tens of billions of dollars. Enough to support their families for thousands of years. With huge yachts and jet planes and tens of billions. More money than they would ever know what to do with. But at that very same moment, there are millions of people in our country, let alone the rest of the world, who are struggling to feed their families. They are struggling to put a roof over their heads, and some of them are sleeping out on the streets. They are struggling to find money in order to go to a doctor when they are sick. Now when we talk about morality, and when we talk about justice, we have to, in my view, understand that there is no justice when so few have so much and so many have so little. [applause] there is no justice, and i want you to hear this clearly, when the top 1 10 of 1 , not 1 , the top 1 10 of 1 today in america owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 . And in your heart, you will have to determine the morality of that, and the justice of that. In my view, there is no justice when here in virginia and vermont and all over this country millions of people are working long hours for abysmal abysmally low wages of seven dollars an hour, eight dollars an hour, nine dollars an hour, working hard but unable to bring in enough money to adequately feed their kids. At the same time, 58 of all new income generated is going to the top 1 . You have got to think about the morality of that, the justice of that, and whether or not that is what we want to see in our country. In my view, there is no justice when, in recent years, we have seen a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires while at the same time the United States of america has the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. How can we . I want you to go into your hearts, how can we talk about morality, about justice, when we turn our backs on the children of our country . [applause] now you have got to think about it. You have to think about it and you have to feel it in your guts. Are you content . Do you think it is moral that 20 of the children in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, are living in poverty . Do you think it is acceptable that 40 of africanamerican children are living in poverty . In my view, there is no justice and morality suffers. When in our wealthy country millions of children go to bed hungry. That is not morality. And that in my view is not what america should be about. [applause] in my view, there is no justice when the 15 wealthiest people in this country in the last two years, two years saw their wealth increase by 170 billion. Two years. The wealthiest 15 people in this country saw their wealth increase by 170 billion. My friends, that is more wealth acquired in a twoyear period that is owned by the bottom 130 million americans. And while the very, very rich become much richer, millions of families have no savings at all. Nothing in the bank. And they worry every single day that if their car breaks down, they cannot get to work and if they cannot get to work, they lose their job. And if they lose their job they do not feed their family. In the last two years, 15 people saw 170 billion increase in their wealth. 45 million americans live in poverty. That in my view is not justice. That is a rigged economy, designed by the wealthiest people in this country to benefit the wealthiest people in this country at the expense of everybody else. [applause] in my view, there is no justice when thousands of americans die every single year because they do not have any Health Insurance and do not go to a doctor when they should. I have talked personally to doctors throughout vermont and physicians all over this country. Without exception, they tell me there are times when patients walk into their office very, very sick and they say, why didnt you come in here when youre sick . And the answer is, i do not have any Health Insurance or i have a high deductible or i thought the problem would get better. And sometimes it doesnt, and sometimes they die because they lack Health Insurance. That is not justice. That is not morality. People should not be dying in the United States of america when they are sick. [applause] what that is, is an indication that we are the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care to all people as a right. And i think we should change that. [applause] and i think, i think that when we talk about morality, what we are talking about is all of gods children, the poor, the wretched. They have a right to go to a doctor when they are sick. [applause] there is a lot of talk in this country from politicians about family values. You have all heard that. Let me tell you about a family value. In my view, there is no justice when low income and workingclass mothers are forced to separate from their babies one or two weeks after birth, and go back to work because they need the money that their jobs provide. I know everybody here, we all are. Maybe in different ways, but all of us believe in family values. Jane and i have four kids. We have seven beautiful grandchildren. We believe in family values. But it is not a family value when all of you know that the most important moments in time of a human beings life is the first weeks and months after that baby is born. That is the moment when mother bonds with the baby, gets to love and know her baby, and dad is there as well. That is what a family is about. Those of you, at least those of you who are parents more parents back there than here i suspect you know what an unforgettable moment that is. And i want you to think whether you believe it is a family value that the United States of america is the only, only major country on earth that does not provide paid family and medical leave. [applause] now in english, what that means is all over the world, when a woman has a baby she is guaranteed the right, because society understands how important that moment is, she is guaranteed the right to stay home and get income in order to nurture her baby. And that is why i believe when we talk about family values, that the United States government must provide at least 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave. [applause] in my view, there is no justice in our country when youth unemployment exists at tragically high levels. I requested a study last month from a group of economists, and what they told me is that 51 of africanamerican High School Graduates between the ages of 17 and 20 are unemployed or underemployed. 51 . We have in this country sufficient amounts of money to put more people in jail than any other country on earth. The United States has more people in jail then china, a communist, authoritarian country. But apparently, we do not have enough money to provide jobs and education to our young people. I believe that is wrong. [applause] i am not a theologian. I am not an expert on the bible. Nor am i a catholic. I am just a United States senator from the small state of vermont. But, i agree with pope francis who will soon becoming to visit us in the United States. [applause] i agree with pope francis when he says, and i quote the current financial crisis originated in a profound human crisis, the denial of the primacy of the human person. This is what he writes. We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money, and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. [applause] the pope also writes there is a need for financial reform along ethical lines that would produce in its turn and economic reform to benefit everyone. Money has to serve, not to rule. [applause] now those are pretty profound words, which i hope we will all think about. In the popes view, and i agree with him, we are living in a nation and in a world, and the bible speaks to this issue, in a nation and in a world which worships not love of brothers and sisters, not love of the poor and the sick, but worships the acquisition of money and great wealth. I do not believe that is the country we should be living in. [applause] mr. Sanders money and wealth should serve the people. The people should not have to serve money and wealth. [applause] mr. Sanders throughout human history, there has been endless discussion. It is part of who we are as human beings, people who think and ask questions, and less endless discussion and debate about the meaning of justice and about the meaning of morality. And i know that here at Liberty University, those are the kinds of discussions you have every day, and those are the kinds of discussions you should be having, and the kinds of discussions we should be having all over america. I would hope, and i conclude with this thought, i would hope very much that as part of that discussion and part of that learning process, some of you will conclude that if we are honest in striving to be a moral and just society, it is imperative that we have the courage to stand with the poor, to stand with working people, and when necessary, take on very powerful and wealthy people whose greed, in my view, is doing this country enormous harm. Thank you all very much. [applause] mr. Sanders thank you. Thank you. [applause] thank you, senator. Obviously, just a few minutes with some questions. These questions, sir, are from our student body. We opened up to our Student Government the opportunity for questions to come your way, and a lot of questions poured in. I think these few questions in the few minutes we have with you will represent the main thoughts on the hearts of our students, the main things they wanted to know. I think you are going to find a lot of commonality obviously in wanting to see someone go to work and get paid more for it, wanting to see children not the hungry, wanting to see the reality of just racism being erased out of this country. You are going to find a lot of commonality obviously, for College Students to hear from you that Public Higher Education could be free, so anybody who is 19 will be excited about free college. The question is not so much the commonality in wanting to see those things, but how do we get there . In that kind of mindset, just a little bit about how we would get there. As far as race inequality is concerned, this question from one of our students. If you were elected president , what would you do to bring healing and resolution to the issue of racism in our country . We both want to see that go away. What steps would you begin to take if you were our leader in seeing that resolved . Mr. Sanders that is an excellent question. I would hope and i believe that every person in this room today understands that it is unacceptable to judge people, to discriminate against people based on the color of their skin. [applause] mr. Sanders and i would also say that as a nation, the truth is, that a nation in which many ways was created, and im sorry to have to say this, from way back on racist principles, we have come a long way as a nation. My guess is that probably not everybody here is an admirer or voted for barack obama. But the point is, in 2008 this country took a huge step forward in voting for a candidate based on his ideas and not the color of his skin. [applause] mr. Sanders and whether you like obama or not, and i do, he is a friend of mine and i work with him on many issues, that is a step forward for america. [applause] mr. Sanders but let me also say what everybody here knows, and my thoughts having just returned from south carolina, we all know to what degree racism remains alive in this country. I cannot understand, i really cannot. I think about it, i try to understand it, how a sick man can walk into a bible study class, discuss the bible, pray with people in the room, and then take out a gun and kill nine of them because the color of their skins were different than his. And i cannot understand for the life of me, how there can be hundreds of groups in this country whose sole reason for existence is to promote hatred. These are hate groups. And they say, join us so we can hate africanamericans or days or jews or emigrants or anybody that is