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After her Cincinnati rally with Tim Kaine today, Hillary boarded Hill Force One and took questions from her traveling press corps while in flight to Hampton, Illinois for the 49th Annual Salute to Labor there.  Look for Hillary around the 20 minute mark.

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Here is the message Hillary would like to share on Labor Day.

On Labor Day, we celebrate American workers and all that the organized labor movement has done for us — from bringing us a 40-hour work week, the weekend, and overtime pay to securing limits on child labor. Hillary’s got plans to strengthen organized labor and help workers around America enjoy the benefits of good-paying jobs — including a living wage, the ability to raise a family, the flexibility to balance work and life, and a sense of dignity and pride in one’s work. You can dive into the details below, but here’s the gist:

  • Hillary will increase access to work training, apprenticeships, and entrepreneurial opportunity, invest in new, good-paying jobs, and create incentives for those jobs to remain in America.
  • Hillary will fight for higher and fairer pay overall, ranging from raising the minimum wage to encouraging profit-sharing by employers.
  • Hillary will fight for policies that support workers’ financial and logistical needs at every stage of life, giving Employer Law Advice so those who are raising a family or preparing to retire can do so without any worries.

It’s important to remember that while Hillary fights to make life better for workers, Donald Trump and Mike Pence are doing the opposite: Trump wants to eliminate the federal minimum wage, made Trump-branded products overseas, stiffs the small business owners and contractors who work with him, and has hired union-busting firms to stop his own workers from organizing. Mike Pence pushed to undermine Social Security, and both Trump and Pence support so-called “right to work” laws which make it much harder for workers to bargain for better salaries.

As the granddaughter of a factory worker and the daughter of a small business owner, Hillary knows that our workers have the right to fair wages, safe working conditions, and reasonable hours. Here’s the rundown of what Hillary’s got planned once she’s president:

Protecting American workers

Hillary has specific plans for job creation and economic policies that will increase the number of good-paying jobs and trained workers here in the United States while protecting workers from exploitation and outsourcing. In fact, she plans to make the largest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II.

  • In her first 100 days, Hillary will invest over $275 billion to spur the creation of good-paying jobs in infrastructure, and invest further in clean energy, research and technology, manufacturing, and the small business sector.
  • She’ll help small businesses create good-paying jobs by cutting red tape, providing tax relief and increasing access to capital.
  • She’ll invest in high-quality training, apprenticeships, and skill-building for all workers, including free community college and improved access to vocational education.
  • She’ll pull back tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, and reject global trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership that do not meet a high bar of creating good-paying jobs and raising pay.

Higher and fairer pay

Workers should be paid fairly for the time they put in on the job, and Hillary will fight for employees to take home every dollar they worked for.

  • Hillary supports a federal $12 minimum wage, and supports prevailing wage laws and the “Fight for $15” where economically feasible.
  • She’ll support collective bargaining rights for unions and make it easier for workers to choose to join a union and bargain for better wages and benefits.
  • She’ll reward companies that share profits with their workers by awarding a two-year tax credit equal to 15% of the profits they share (with a higher credit for small businesses).
  • She’ll fight for equal pay for women, especially women of color (the most frequent victims of the gender pay gap), including through passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act (which she introduced three times as a senator).

Work-life balance: a fairer, more flexible workplace

Jobs should provide not only wages, but humane working conditions, reasonable hours, and a sense of dignity and pride. 21st-century families face unique challenges — more dual-income families, more female heads of household as breadwinners, and a health care system that still places undue burdens on family caregivers (a quarter of American women return to work just 10 days after having a child). In response:

  • Hillary will continue the fight for paid family and medical leave, with a goal of guaranteeing 12 weeks of paid leave to care for any family member (not just a newborn).
  • She will work towards universally affordable childcare that caps fees at 10% of a family’s income.
  • She will defend and expand Social Security, especially for widows and those who took time out of the workforce to care for family members, and fight pension cuts and other attempts to undermine retirement benefits.

Whether they report to a factory or a classroom, work at computers or behind cash registers, or make careers of caregiving and social service, our economy — and our families — depend on American workers. Their dedication deserves all the appreciation and gratitude in the world — and they deserve to be properly compensated for it. Hillary has detailed plans to help labor and working families, and you wonks are the best at helping people understand those fine details! Share her plans and start as many conversations as you can.

In the Quad Cities, Clinton Champions America’s Labor Unions and An Economy That Works for Everyone

At the 49th Annual Salute to Labor Picnic in Hampton, Illinois on Monday, Hillary Clinton reiterated her belief that we are stronger together, and explained why America’s labor unions reflect that. Labor unions are also crucial to Clinton’s plan to build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top, she said, given their fights for fair wages and safe working conditions that built the world’s largest middle class. Unlike Donald Trump, who led a union-busting campaign against his employees and said he thinks wages are too high, Clinton will make sure unions always have a seat at the table and a champion in the White House. Clinton said, “I am going to say no to attacks on unions, I am going to say no to rolling back collective bargaining, I am going to say no to unfair trade deals like the TPP […] But I will say yes to the American dream. And here’s what I believe. The American dream is big enough for all of us. If we build it, we will expand it and create more opportunities. And as we run this campaign on issues, our most important goal is getting the economy to work for everybody.

Clinton’s remarks, as transcribed, are below:

“Hello! Wow, thank you all. Thank you. Thank you so much. And it’s wonderful to be back. I had such a good time last year, I said, ‘Put that back on my calendar for Labor Day. I want to be on the banks of the Mississippi with friends from Illinois and Iowa, talking about how we’re going to make this economy work for everybody, not just those at the top.’ And it gives me such a great sense of real privilege and honor to be up on this stage with the people you see before you, starting with my friend and former colleague, the great senator from Illinois, Dick Durbin, who has been – in so many ways the conscience of the United States Senate. You heard him say he comes from a union family, he knows what hard work is. He stands up every day in that Senate – I hope you get a chance to watch him on CSPAN some time, because he carries such passion and conviction in his voice about everything that he’s fighting for. So thanks to our friends from Illinois for sending Dick Durbin to the Senate for all the years – and for however long he wants to be there.

And please be sure he is joined by Tammy Duckworth as your next senator. Dick reminded me that I endorsed Tammy here last year. I was looking for the right occasion to do that, and I figured right here in her state would be the perfect opportunity. I just can’t tell you how much I admire this brave woman. And she’s going to bring so much to the Senate, to our national debate about issues that are critical to America’s future. So please do everything you can to make sure that Tammy is in the Senate.

And let me also recognize and thank your congresswoman, Cheri Bustos. Thank you. Cheri has already made a great impression in the Congress, and she is working hard every day. She’s another keeper. She’s somebody who will only do more and more as she is there longer and has the chance to really make things happen for her constituents.

I also want to recognize my friend, Congressman Dave Loebsack from across the river who was here earlier. I don’t think I need to remind everybody from Iowa, but please turn out and vote not only for Dave, but vote for Democrats. Vote for Patty Judge for Senate. Vote for other Democrats for Congress.

And it’s a thrill to be here with three great union leaders, people who I admire and really appreciate the chance to work with and look forward to working with as president. The UAW president, international, Dennis Williams; IBEW international president, Lonnie Stevenson; and of course, president of the NEA, for the educators, Lily Eskelsen. Now, each of these leaders are pretty special people, and I think you know, Doug was pretty happy that they’re here. He told me, ‘We’ve got three international presidents here.’ And I said, ‘Knowing these three, they’re happy to be here.’ This is not some kind of Labor Day obligation; they are with their members, they’re working on behalf not only of those in the union, but we know – it was just proven again last week – that unions not only raise incomes and provide benefits for union members, but because of unions, everybody is better off. And that’s a message I’m going to talk about every single day in this campaign.

Now, this is such a beautiful day, and you all came out here to celebrate Labor Day with all of us. And I am thrilled that I have a chance to just say a few words.

I really believe we are stronger together. That was the theme of our convention. And coming out tomorrow, Tim Kaine and I have a book called ‘Stronger Together,’ and – I’ll tell you why we did this book. I think if you run for president, you ought to tell people what you want to do. Right? And what I’ve tried to do in this book – and it’s so great having Senator Kaine by my side now – is to lay out a blueprint for America’s future. How are we going to get more good jobs, infrastructure jobs, advanced manufacturing jobs, clean renewable energy jobs? How are we going to make sure that the economy not only is growing and producing more jobs with rising incomes, but is being fair so that people are treated fairly? That’s why we support raising the national minimum wage so that you’re not living in poverty when you work full-time.

My opponent thinks wages are too high. I don’t know who he talks to – but he actually says that and he doesn’t believe in raising the national minimum wage. I also believe in doing more to support small businesses. My dad was a small businessman; I believe that we need to do everything we can to help small businesses succeed.

Tim Kaine and I were together in Cleveland earlier; we talked about that. Tim’s dad ran a union shop, ironworkers, and he’s proud of that, that he had a small business father who ran a union shop and employed union workers, providing good products. I also believe that we have got to finally guarantee equal pay for women’s work. And that’s because I believe in fairness. I don’t want to see anybody treated unfairly and discriminated against. I don’t care who you are. If you’re willing to work and do your part, you should be able to get ahead and stay ahead. That is the basic bargain of America.

So if you look at this book, which I hope you will, it stands in stark contrast to Donald Trump. He says, ‘I alone can fix it.’ Now, the folks I have met during this campaign, and for many years before, know that we have challenges, know we’ve got to come together, and believe we have to work together to fix what our problems are. That’s my view. I want us to bring people together just the way unions do. Just the way people and communities do. And here in the Quad cities, and across the country, we can see proof every day that we have to come together to meet our challenges.

So I’m going to continue to emphasize that we want to be the uniters in this campaign. We believe that America is already great and that we can become greater if we do our part. When somebody says, ‘I alone can fix it,’ think of the people he’s leaving out. Everybody else. Leaving out our troops on the front lines, leaving out firefighters and police officers who run toward danger, leaving out teachers and educators who do their best to change children’s lives, leaving out everybody else. That is his campaign in a nutshell. And what we’ve got to do in the next 63 days is to present the vision of America we believe in.

So we’re going to continue to say, we’re stronger together, we’re going to work together, we’re going to run a campaign of issues, not insults. And we are going to be absolutely strong in our support for unions. Because we know nobody gets through life alone. Unions helped build the largest middle-class in the history of the world, in our country. They fought for fair wages, safe working conditions, they’ve helped so many people get on that rung to the middle class, and their kids, like Dick Durbin, go even higher. So I am going to say no to attacks on unions, I am going to say no to rolling back collective bargaining, I am going to say no to unfair trade deals like the TPP, I’m going to say no to pension cuts that deny you the secure retirement that you have worked for, and I’m going to say no to Right to Work. It’s not right for workers, and it’s not right for America.

But I will say yes to the American dream. And here’s what I believe. The American dream is big enough for all of us. If we build it, we will expand it and create more opportunities. And as we run this campaign on issues, our most important goal is getting the economy to work for everybody. There’s nothing more important. And how do you do that? By creating more jobs. And what are some of the areas that I think we can really emphasize? Infrastructure: our roads, our bridges, our tunnels, our ports, our airports. Also, what we can’t see – our water systems – our sewer systems. We also need a new electric grid, a modern electric grid, to be able to take and distribute clean renewable energy. I have a goal for us to install a half a billion more solar panels by the end of my first term. It takes a lot of – a lot of jobs, a lot of people working to do that. And then enough clean energy to power every home by the end of my second term.

I also want to finish the work of broadband interconnectivity. We have places in our country that still have dialup. We have places where kids can’t do the homework assignments their teachers give them because they don’t have access to the internet. That is so unfair. Think of all the jobs we’ll create when we finish that off.

And then let’s look at advanced manufacturing. I believe we can compete with anybody if we put our minds to it, and I’m going to have a manufacturing renaissance policy – that will put people to work. I am so proud that Dennis and Lonnie are here because they have been doing so much to really create the new industries in autos and what the IBW does in so many important areas of our economy. I want to be your partner.

And I think it’s especially important to recognize that when the chips were down and the auto industry was on its back, President Obama did the right thing. He saved the American auto industry. I supported him then, and I support him just as strongly now. The American auto industry just had the best year it has had in a long time, and that was because of the teamwork and the partnership that we had between the companies, between the union, and because the President of the United States knew we had to save the auto industry. Donald Trump basically said he didn’t care, didn’t matter to him; just shows you how he doesn’t understand or care about the real jobs that put bread on the table and give people a sense of purpose and dignity.

Well, you won’t have to look far to find me in the Oval Office if I’m fortunate enough to be your president to do everything I can every single day to create more jobs, to save jobs, to bring jobs back from overseas. And if you contrast that with Trump, his track record – his track record is just the opposite. He actually hired a union-busting firm for one of his hotels in Las Vegas. He built a career out of not paying workers for the work they did. We’re talking painters, plumbers, electricians, people who thought it was a big deal working for Donald Trump, one of his resorts, his casinos. He stiffed them. He stiffed small businesses.

Like I said, my Dad was a small businessman. He printed drapery fabrics. He’d get an order, he’d buy the material, he’d get the silkscreens made. I would go sometimes to help him in his print plant. He’d have these long tables. The fabric would be laid out. You would take the silkscreen, you’d put it down, you’d pour the paint in, you’d take the squeegee, you’d push it across, you’d lift the screen up, you’d go all the way down, get on the next table, all the way back. Took a lot of time. Took a lot of hard work.

When he finished, he’d load up the fabrics in his car and he’d go deliver them. I am so happy he never got a contract from Donald Trump. I don’t know what my family would have done if my Dad did business with people like Trump who has told hundreds and hundreds of small businesses – he has been sued 4,000 times for not paying the bills that he owes – if my Dad had been told, ‘Sorry. Just kidding. We’re not paying you.’ This is a man who wants to be president of the United States? This is someone who doesn’t even honor contracts?

That’s what is so dangerous about this election. When Donald Trump says what he says about the economy, you know, that he knows how to create jobs, he had six bankruptcies. In one bankruptcy alone, 1,000 people lost their jobs. The numbers add up.

He talks about wanting to protect jobs in America, but everything he makes he has made overseas. He could have made suits and ties and furniture in the United States, but, no, he made it overseas. He even hires workers from overseas, and he tells people, well, he couldn’t find Americans who wanted to work in the heat. You can’t make this stuff up, can you? It is truly unbelievable.

But what’s even worse is what he says about foreign policy. As bad as he is about our economy, he has insulted our allies, he has made common cause with dictators, he has basically endorsed Vladimir Putin and his policies. When he says, ‘I know more about ISIS than the generals,’ when he claims our armed forces are a disaster, or he insults a Gold Star family, that’s not just offensive; that’s dangerous.

And just today our intelligence professionals said there is credible evidence for them to pursue an investigation into Russia’s efforts to interfere with our election, hacking the Democratic National Committee. And when Putin was asked about it, didn’t deny it; in fact, he said it was probably a good thing it happened. And this is the person that Donald Trump praises.

We saw even more evidence last week that he is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be president. In just a few hours, he managed to turn his trip to Mexico into an embarrassing international incident. I mean, just look at what happened. He got into a Twitter war with the president of Mexico. And why? Because the president of Mexico said, ‘I told him in the meeting we weren’t paying for that wall.’

So not only did Trump mess up his first international engagement, he choked. He couldn’t even bring himself to tell the president of Mexico one of his very few policy demands. I mean, he went back to Arizona and gave another hate-filled speech about rounding up and deporting 16 million people. Even some of his own advisors are having a hard time explaining that away. So he’s going to try to distract and divide. He’s going to hope that we don’t pay attention to what he has been saying for 14, 15 months, that we just tune in now these last two months, that he is somehow softening his positions, that there is really another Donald Trump out there?

Well, you’ve got to ask yourself, if you can’t even go to a friendly foreign country without getting into a fight – can this person even claim to have the temperament to be in the Oval Office and deal with real urgent crises? As I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, a man who can be provoked by a Tweet should not be anywhere near nuclear weapons.

But we have a lot of work to do. I think every election is close and tight and tough. That’s why we have to work as hard as we can between now and when the last votes are counted, and that’s why I need your help. I want to get the economy working for everybody, not just those at the top. I want to be sure that we lead the world with strength and steadiness and that we protect America here at home and around the world. And I want to unify our country. I believe with all my heart – that every American must vote. Must vote.

I see a woman holding a sign, ‘You must vote. Please, it will make a difference.’ And then she says, ‘I am a Gold Star daughter.’ God bless you. God bless you.

I’ve spent my life fighting for kids and families. I don’t give up. I don’t quit. When we didn’t get healthcare reform, I went to work with Republicans and Democrats. We passed the Children’s Health Insurance Program that insures 8 million kids every year. As Dick said, after we were attacked on 9/11, I worked with Democrats and Republicans to make sure we could rebuild New York and the Pentagon, and make sure we were as safe as we possibly could be.

This election will determine so much about our future. And one thing I know for sure is we have to start listening to and respecting each other again. We may have differences; that’s the American way. But we are stronger together. We can do anything if we put our minds to it. I saw the picture of Mother Teresa that was being held up here, and I was fortunate enough to know Mother Teresa. I was fortunate enough to actually work with her. We didn’t agree on everything, but we found common ground.

She asked me, when I was First Lady, to get a home for babies started in Washington so mothers who couldn’t care for their babies could take their babies to a safe place and those babies could be adopted. And when Mother Teresa asked you to do something, the only answer was, ‘Yes, ma’am.’ And I started working. And she would call me. She’d call me from India. She’d call me from Vietnam. She called me from everywhere. She’d say, ‘Where’s my home?’ And I’d say, ‘Well, Mother, working with the Washington, D.C. zoning department requires divine intervention.’ And so she did, and we got it done.

Here’s what I hope you will do. I hope you will get involved in this campaign for these last two months. I hope you will go to hillaryclinton.com and see how you can work, in Illinois, in Iowa. I hope you will text ‘join,’ j-o-i-n, and go to 47246, to see what you can do. We need everybody involved. There has never been a more important, consequential election in our lifetimes. And we need to elect progressive leaders like Tammy and Sherry and Dave Loebsack and others who are on the ballot as well.

I am confident and optimistic about America’s future. When I listen to Donald Trump, when I watched his convention, I honestly did not know what country he was talking about. It was so dark, so dire, so depressing. That’s not the America I know. It’s not the America that I see. I don’t deny that we have problems. Of course we do. We’re human beings. But my goodness, would you live anywhere else? Would you give up our freedom, our values, our opportunity, for anywhere else? I traveled to 112 countries as your Secretary of State, and every I went, I was so proud to land that plane which said the United States of America on it and to come down those stairs and begin to meet on behalf of our values, our interests, and our security. And there is not a place, despite what they say, that doesn’t envy who we are and what we have. We cannot put any of that at risk, my friends.

So for these last two months, join this campaign. Help us make history. Make sure that we are continuing to be not just great but even greater, and that we’re creating opportunities for the next generation, like my grandchildren. That’s what we can do together if we remember we are stronger together. God bless you!”

Win

 

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Hillary Clinton Releases New Comprehensive Mental Health Policy Agenda

Today Hillary Clinton announced her comprehensive plan to support Americans living with mental health problems and illnesses. Recognizing that nearly a fifth of all adults in the United States — more than 40 million people — are coping with a mental health problem, Hillary’s plan will integrate our mental and physical health care systems. Her goal is that within her time in office, Americans will no longer separate mental health from physical health when it comes to access to care or quality of treatment. Hillary has been talking about mental health policy throughout her campaign, since hearing directly from American parents, students, veterans, nurses, and police officers about how these challenges keep them up at night.

Hillary will convene a White House Conference on Mental Health during her first year as President. In addition, her comprehensive agenda on mental health will:

  • Integrate our nation’s mental and physical health care systems so that health care delivery focuses on the “whole person,” and significantly enhance community-based treatment opportunities.Hillary’s plan will foster integration between the medical and behavioral health care systems (including mental health and addiction services), so that high-quality treatment for behavioral health is widely available in general health care settings. Hillary will expand reimbursement structures in Medicare and Medicaid for collaborative care by tasking the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to create and implement new such payment models.
  • Promote early diagnosis and intervention, including launching a national initiative for suicide prevention. The overall rate of suicide increased by 24 percent between 1999 and 2014, and is now at its highest level in 30 years. Hillary will direct all relevant federal agencies, including Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Education, to research and develop plans for suicide prevention in their respective settings, and create a cross-government initiative headed by the Surgeon General to coordinate these efforts. She also believes we must redouble our efforts around early screening and intervention – and that means training pediatricians, teachers, school counselors, and other service providers throughout the public health system, to identify mental health problems at an early age and recommend appropriate support.
  • Enforce mental health parity to the full extent of the law. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, which Hillary co-sponsored, requires that mental health benefits under group health plans be equal to benefits for other medical conditions, and the Affordable Care Act requires insurance plans in the individual and small group markets to offer mental health coverage as an essential health benefit. But while the right laws are on the books, they are too often ignored or not enforced. As part of her commitment to fully enforcing the mental health parity law, Hillary will launch randomized audits to detect parity violations, and increase federal enforcement. She will also enforce disclosure requirements so that insurers cannot conceal their practices for denying mental health care and strengthen federal monitoring of health insurer compliance with network adequacy requirements.
  • Improve criminal justice outcomes by training law enforcement officers in crisis intervention, and prioritizing treatment over jail for low-level offenders. As many as 1 in every 10 police encounters may be with individuals with some type of mental health problem, and our county jails today house more individuals with mental illness than our state and local psychiatric hospitals. She will dedicate new resources to help train law enforcement officers in responding to conflicts involving persons with mental illness, and increase grant funding to support law enforcement partnerships with mental health professionals. She will alsoincrease investments in local programs such as specialized courts, drug courts, and veterans’ treatment courts, which send people to treatment and rehab instead of the criminal justice system, and direct the Attorney General to issue guidance to federal prosecutors, instructing them to prioritize treatment over incarceration for low-level, non-violent offenders. Finally, she will work to strengthen mental health services for incarcerated individuals and ensure continuity of care so that they get the treatment they need, which will improve outcomes for them after they reenter society and will reduce recidivism.
  • Improve access to housing and job opportunities. As president, Hillary will expand community-based housing opportunities for individuals with mental illness and other disabilities. Hillary will launch a joint initiative between the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and HHS to create supportive housing opportunities for thousands of people with mental illnesses and disabilities, who currently reside in or are at risk of entering institutional settings. The employment rate for people with serious mental illness is below 20 percent, even though many of these adults want to work and more than half could succeed with appropriate job supports. Hillary will work with private employers and state and local mental health authorities to share best practices around hiring and retaining individuals with mental health problems, and in adopting supported employment programs. She’ll also expand HHS’s “Transforming Lives Through Supported Employment” program, which already assists states and communities in providing supported jobs to people with mental illness.
  • Invest in brain and behavioral research and developing safe and effective treatments. Hillary believes we need a pioneering, multi-sector effort to transform our knowledge of this field—from mapping the human brain to generating new insights into what drives our behavior to investing in clinical and services research to understand the interventions that work best and how to deliver them to patients. As president, Hillary willsignificantly increase research into brain and behavioral science research. She will provide new funding for the National Institutes of Health; build on cross-collaborative basic research efforts like the BRAIN initiative; scale up critical investments in clinical, behavioral, and services research; and integrate research portfolios with pioneering work on conditions like PTSD and traumatic brain injury already underway at DoD, the VA, and HHS, having a injury attorney step in. She will develop new links with the private and non-profit sectors to ensure that federal government efforts are aligned with those of other sectors to ensure that progress occurs as quickly as possible. She will also commit to brain and behavioral science research based on open data.

The full comprehensive proposal is available on HillaryClinton.com here>>>>

Statements-Fact-sheets

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At the 107th Annual NAACP Convention at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati., Hillary Clinton spoke of recent shootings of civilians, assaults on police, and systemic racism.

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At NAACP Convention, Hillary Clinton Condemns Recent Shootings of Police; Reiterates Call to Work Together for Needed Reforms

At the NAACP National Convention in Cincinnati on Monday, Hillary Clinton forcefully condemned the recent police shootings, including the killing of officers Brad Garafola, Matthew Gerald, and Montrell Jackson in Baton Rouge. Clinton reiterated the pressing need to support our law enforcement officers, reform our criminal justice system, and pass common sense gun laws to keep our communities and police officers safe.  As Clinton said, “So now is the time for all good people who agree that the senseless killings must end to stand up, speak out loudly and clearly. [….] We must reform our criminal justice system because everyone is safer when there is respect for the law and when everyone is respected by the law.”

In addition, Clinton announced a nationwide voter mobilization goal to register and commit to vote more than 3 million voters to be a part of this campaign. In the kickoff week alone, Hillary for America and the state Democratic coordinated campaigns will host more than 500 registration or commit to vote events across the country.

Clinton’s remarks, as transcribed, are below:

“Hello, NAACP! It is so good to be here with all of you.

I want to start by thanking my longtime friend and colleague, my collaborator, and partner, and so many important causes; Hazel Dukes is a treasure. A treasure not only for New York, but for the NAACP and for our country. Thank you so much dear Hazel.

I want to thank your Chair, Rosyln Brock. Thank you so much Madame Chair. Your President and CEO Cornell Brooks, and everyone here today, including all the elected officials who have already appeared before you and those who will be addressing you during this convention.

And I have to start by saying we all know about that other Convention happening up in Cleveland today. Well, my opponent in this race may have a different view, but there’s nowhere I’d rather be than right here with all of you.

For more than a century, you’ve been on the frontlines, pushing America to become a better, fairer country. You and your noble predecessors have marched, sat in, stood up and spoke out – all to bring us closer to our founding ideals of equality for all.

And yes we have made progress, we see the results: in classrooms where children of all races learn side by side; in boardrooms and break rooms, where workers of all backgrounds are able to earn a living and support their families; at every level of government, where more and more the people we elect to represent America actually look like America.

And, of course, in the White House, with our wonderful President and First Lady and their daughters, Barack and Michelle Obama.

So as the President has said, and indeed, as he exemplified, we’ve come a long way.  But you know – and I know – that we have so much further to go.

We were cruelly reminded of that with the tragic deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two more black men killed by police incidents, this time in Louisiana and Minnesota. And then in Dallas, five police officers killed while serving and protecting peaceful protestors, targeted because they were police.

And we saw it again just yesterday, when three police officers were shot in an apparent ambush in Baton Rouge. This madness has to stop.

Watching the news from Baton Rouge yesterday, my heart broke not just for those officers and their grieving families, but for all of us.  Because we have difficult, painful, important work ahead of us to repair the bonds between police and communities, and between and among each other.  We need one another to do this work.  And we need leaders like the NAACP. We need police officers to help us do this work.  These murders threaten all of that.

Killing police officers is a terrible crime.  That’s why our laws treat the murders of police so seriously because they represent the rule of law itself. If you take aim at that, you take aim at all of us. Anyone who does it and anyone who helps must be held accountable.  And as president, I will bring the full weight of the law to bear in making sure that those who kill a police officer are brought to justice.  There can be no justification.  No looking the other way.  We all have to make sure and pray it ends.

The officers killed yesterday in Baton Rouge were named Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald, Brad Garafola.  When they died, they were responding to a call about a man with a gun.  How many families, how many more families, would pay the price if we didn’t have brave men and women answering those calls?  That’s why I’m haunted by the images of what the officers were doing in Dallas when they died.  Protecting a peaceful march, talking with the protestors. Where would our democracy be without courageous people willing to do that?

So we all need to be partners in making law enforcement as secure and effective as it needs to be. That means investing in our police – in training on the proper use of force, especially lethal force. How to avoid using force to resolve incidents.

Officer safety and wellness – everything they need to do their jobs right and rebuild trust with their communities.  I’ve said from the beginning of my campaign, that will be my priority as President.

Perhaps the best way to honor our police is to follow the lead of police departments across the country striving to do better.  The deaths of Alton and Philando drove home how urgently we need to make reforms to policing and criminal justice — how we cannot rest until we root out implicit bias and stop the killings of African Americans.

Because there is, as you know so well, another hard truth at the heart of this complex matter. Many African Americans fear the police. I can hear you, some of you in this room. And today there are people all across America sick over what happened in Baton Rouge and in Dallas. But also fearful that the murders of police officers mean that vital questions about police-community relations will go unanswered.

Now that is a reasonable fear isn’t it? All of this tells us very powerfully that something needs to change. Many police officers across the country agree with that. There’s a real opportunity here for cooperation.

But that can only happen if we can build trust and accountability. And let’s admit it. That gets harder every time someone else is killed.

So now is the time for all good people who agree that the senseless killings must end to stand up, speak out loudly and clearly. I know that the NAACP, and so many of you individually, will do all you can to help our nation heal and start the work together to meet these challenges.

We must reform our criminal justice system because everyone is safer when there is respect for the law and when everyone is respected by the law.

And let’s admit it, there is clear evidence that African-Americans are disproportionately killed in police incidents than any other group.  And African-American men are far more likely to be stopped and searched by police, charged with crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms than white men convicted of the same offenses.  These facts tell us something is profoundly wrong. We can’t ignore that. We can’t wish it away. We have to make it right.

That means end-to-end reform in our criminal justice system – not half-measures, but a full commitment with real follow through. That’s why the very first speech I gave in this campaign, back in April of 2015 was about criminal justice reform. And the next President should make a commitment to fight for the reforms we so desperately need. Holding police departments like Ferguson accountable. Requiring accurate data on in-custody deaths, like Sandra Bland. Creating clear, national guidelines on the use of force, especially legal force. Supporting independent investigations of fateful encounters with the police. So I pledge to you, I will start taking action on day one and every day after that until we get this done.

And you know what? When the 24-hour news cycle moves on, I won’t. This is too important. This goes to the heart of who we are. This is about our character as Americans. That’s why we also need to fix the crisis of mass incarceration. Eliminate the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder cocaine. Dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline that starts in school and diverts too many African American kids out of school and into the criminal justice system, instead of giving them the education they deserve to have. And we need to do, all of us need to do – and I look forward to working with the NAACP – we need to do a much better job of helping people who’ve paid their debt to society find jobs and support when they get out.

America is well known, and we want to be a land of second chances – but so many Americans never had a first chance to begin with.  So let’s give everyone a fair chance at rebuilding their lives.  As Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Give everyone a fair chance in the race of life.’ My plan would make significant investments in reentry programs for the formerly incarcerated.  And I will ‘Ban the box’ in the federal government. People deserve a real shot at an interview instead of being told ‘No,’ right out of the gate.

Then beyond criminal justice, we must, we must fight for commonsense reforms to stop gun violence. This is by far, gun violence, by far the leading cause of death for young African-American men, outstripping the next nine causes of death combined.  The wrong people, the wrong people keep getting their hands on guns.  And not just any guns – military weapons, like the kind the Dallas shooter had, which allowed him to outgun the police.

That’s why the Cleveland police, yesterday, demanded that the state suspend open carry of guns on the streets during the Republican National Convention.  And last week, the extraordinary and inspiring Dallas police chief, Chief Brown, told lawmakers, ‘Do your job. We’re doing ours,’ he said.  He’s right.  When he went on to say we’re putting our lives on the line. We’ve got to do better.

People who should care about protecting of police officers should be committed to getting assault weapons off the streets to start with.  And they should join us in instituting comprehensive background checks because law enforcement officers are nearly 50 percent, nearly 50 percent, less likely to be killed in states where there are checks on the purchase of handguns.

But even if we succeed in passing these laws and implementing them, we’ve got to go even further than that.

We need to do something about the racial inequities in our healthcare system.  Right now, black kids are 500 percent more likely to die from asthma than white kids – 500 percent! Right now a black baby in South Carolina is twice as likely to die before her first birthday as a white baby.  Imagine if those numbers were reversed, and it were white kids dying.  Imagine the outcry and the resources that would flood in.

And let’s do everything we can to create more jobs in places where unemployment remains stubbornly high after generations of underinvestment and neglect.  I’m a big fan of Congressman Jim Clyburn’s ‘10-20-30’ plan – steering 10 percent of federal investment to neighborhoods where 20 percent of the population has been living below the poverty line for 30 years.

That should go nationwide because the unemployment rate among young African Americans is twice as high as for young white people. And because of that, my plan also includes $20 billion aimed specifically at creating jobs for young people. If you don’t get that first job, it’s hard to get the second job, and it’s hard to build that solid financial base.

And because of the Great Recession, the median wealth for black families is now just a tiny fraction of the median wealth for white families.  That’s why my plan includes steps to help more African-American families buy a home, which has always been one of the surest ways to build wealth and security for a family.

We will do more to support black entrepreneurs get access to capital. And I want to give a shout out to black women, who represent the fastest-growing segment of women-owned businesses in America.

I want to unleash all of that energy and all of that talent. We need to view all of these issues also as part of the struggle for civil rights. Rosa Parks opened up every seat on the bus: our challenge now is to expand jobs so that everyone can afford the fare.  And let’s ensure that the bus route reaches every neighborhood, and connects every family with safe, affordable housing, good jobs, and quality schools.

Now, I know none of this will surprise those of you who know me. I’ve got a lot of plans. You can go to my website, Hillary-Clinton-dot-com and read our full agenda.

Because you see, I have this old-fashioned idea: if you’re running for President, you should say exactly what you want to do and how you will get it done.  I do sweat the specifics because I think they matter.  Whether one more kid gets health care, one more person finds a job, or one more woman entrepreneur gets access to capital to follow her dream – those just may be details in Washington, but it really matters to those people and their families.

And the truth is, we need to plan because we face a complex set of economic, social and political challenges: they’re intersectional; they’re reinforcing.  We’ve got to take them all on. We can’t wait and just do one at a time.

But the answers won’t just come from Washington.  Ending systemic racism requires contributions from all of us – especially, especially those of us who haven’t experienced it ourselves.

I’ve been saying this for a while now – and I’m going to keep saying it, because I think it’s important.  We white Americans need to do a better job of listening when African Americans talk about the seen and unseen barriers you face every day.

We need to recognize our privilege and practice humility, rather than assume that our experiences are everyone’s experiences.

We all need to try, as best we can, to walk in one another’s shoes – to imagine what it would be like to sit our son or daughter down and have ‘the talk’ about how carefully they need to act around police because the slightest wrong move could get them hurt or even killed.

Let’s also put ourselves in the shoes of police officers, kissing their kids and spouses goodbye every day and heading off to do a dangerous job that their families pray will bring them home safe at night. Empathy works both ways.  We’ve got to try to see the world through their eyes, too.

When you get right down to it, that’s what makes it possible for people from every background, every race, every religion, to come together as one nation.  It’s what makes our country endure.

And in times like these we need a President who can help pull us together, not split us apart.  I will work every single day to do just that. And what I’m about to say, I say with no satisfaction, the Republican nominee for President will do the exact opposite.

He might say otherwise if he were here.  But of course, he declined your invitation.

So all we can go on is what he has said and done in the past.

Donald Trump led the movement to de-legitimize our first black president, trumpeting the so-called ‘birther’ movement.

Donald Trump plays coy with white supremacists.  Donald insults Mexican immigrants, even an American judge born of Mexican heritage.  Donald Trump demeans women.  Donald Trump wants to ban an entire religion from entering our country.

And Donald Trump loves to talk to the press.  But let’s not forget, let us not forget: the first time Donald Trump was quoted in The New York Times was in 1973, when the Justice Department went after his company for refusing to rent apartments to African Americans.

It was one of the largest federal cases of its kind at the time. And when federal investigators spoke with Trump’s employees, they said they were instructed to mark rental applications from black people with a ‘C.’ A ‘C’ for colored.

By now, we’ve heard a lot of troubling things about Donald Trump but that one’s shocking.

This man is the nominee of the Party of Lincoln.  And we are watching it become the Party of Trump.  And that’s not just a huge loss to our democracy – it is a threat to our democracy.

And it all adds up, it all adds up to an undeniable conclusion:  I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, a Republican, an Independent — Donald Trump cannot become President of the United States.

And that’s why we’ve got to work together to get out the vote this fall.

You know that better than anyone.  That’s why the theme of this conference is ‘Our Lives Matter, Our Votes Count.’

I agree with both of that. And now I think your votes count more than ever.

That’s why we’ve got to stand up against any attempt to roll back the clock on voting rights.  Encourage everyone, everyone we know to stand up and be counted in this November election.

As Dr. King said, ‘Our lives begin to end when we become silent about things that matter.’  None of us, none of us, can afford to be silent with so much at stake.

That’s why, here today, I am pleased to announce a nationwide drive to get 3 million people to register to vote and to commit to vote in this election.

We are hosting more than 500 registration events this week, across the country. We’re going to minor league baseball games, college campuses, barbershops, hair salons, street corners. And with those we cannot connect with in person, we’ve created an online, one stop shop registration tool, in English and in Spanish.

And my team in Ohio wanted me to make sure you all know that we’re hiring.  We actually have a recruiter here today – he’s got a table set up in the hall.  We’re hiring paid organizers to help us get out the vote and get our message out all across Ohio. So please spread the word – we want great people on our team.  That’s the way we’re going to be successful. We’re not the red team or the blue team, we’re the American team, and it’s time we start acting like it.

I have no doubt we can rise to meet these challenges if we stand together– no doubt at all. And if we are looking for inspiration, let’s go to one of the officers killed yesterday. 10 days ago, Montrell Jackson, a young African American police officer in Baton Rouge, posted a message on Facebook, he wrote so honestly and powerfully about the struggle of being black and wearing blue in today’s America.

‘I’m tired,’ he wrote, ‘in uniform I get nasty, hateful looks, and out of uniform, they consider me a threat.’ He went on, ‘These are trying times, please don’t let hate infect your heart. I’m working in these streets, so any protesters, officers, friends, families, or whoever, if you see me,’ Montrell said, ‘and need a hug, or want to say a prayer, I’ve got you.’

That, my friends, is the strength of America. Men like Montrell Jackson. Despite all our challenges, that spirit of love and community must guide us still. We have to heal the divides that remain, make the United States what it should be, stronger and fairer. More opportunity for every one of our people. I would not be standing here on the brink of accepting the Democratic nomination if I did not believe, if I did not in my heart believe, that America’s best years are still ahead of us. So let us go forward with faith, with confidence, with optimism. Our children and our grandchildren deserve no less.

Thank you, God bless you and God bless the United States of America.”

 

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Hillary Clinton’s Commitment: A Debt-Free Future for America’s Graduates

Education is the key to so much we want to achieve as a country:  a stronger, more equitable economy; a healthier, more vibrant democracy; a future in which we meet challenges with ingenuity and skill.  Education is also the key to our young people achieving their dreams.  It’s how we develop our talents and imagine different futures for ourselves.  So any serious plan for America’s future must include a bold plan to put quality education – including college – within everyone’s reach, no matter how much money they have.

College used to be pretty affordable.  For millions of Americans, that’s not the case anymore. Too many families in the United States are struggling with student debt, and the problem has reached crisis levels. Within the last ten years, total student debt in our economy has more than doubled and now exceeds $1.2 trillion. Nearly 7 out of every 10 new graduates of four-year colleges are in debt, and these indebted graduates carry an average balance of nearly $30,000. Student debt has surpassed credit card debt, car loan debt, and home equity lines of credit to be the second largest source of consumer debt.

And this is not just an issue for borrowers: It is holding our economy back. This debt prevents people from forming families, buying homes, and starting small businesses. If you plan on starting a new business then review Sky Blue vs Lexington law breakdown. It sends the wrong signal to future students whom we need to complete college to drive economic growth.

Meanwhile, for families sending their kids to colleges and universities, tuition has ballooned out of control and has become increasingly unaffordable even at public colleges and universities.  Tuition has risen 40% in the last ten years at four-year public colleges and universities, after inflation, while family incomes have remained basically flat.  And states have been cutting their spending on higher education – by roughly 20% per student since the recession – rather than expanding their investments.

Simply put, this situation has careened out of control.  Hillary Clinton has a plan to help millions of Americans with their debt right now, and a plan to make college debt-free for future generations.

Provide Immediate Help to Graduates Who Need Relief from Crushing Debt Hillary has made clear she will fight to ensure that all borrowers can:

  • Refinance their student loans at current rates, just as borrowers can refinance a car or home loan. Refinancing would help 25 million borrowers across the country, with the typical borrower saving $2,000 over the life of the loan.
  • Enroll in income-based repayment. Nobody should have to pay more than 10 percent of monthly income, and college debt should be forgiven after 20 years – and 10 years if a borrower works in the public interest. Hillary will simplify, expand and develop options for automatic enrollment in these programs.
  • Push employers to contribute to student debt relief. Employers must be part of the solution to the student debt crisis. Clinton will create a payroll deduction portal for employers and employees that will simplify the repayment process. She will explore further options to encourage employers to help pay down student debt.
  • Get relief from debt for starting a business or social enterprise.  Aspiring entrepreneurs will be able to defer their loans with no payments or interest for up to three years so that student debt and the lack of family wealth is not a barrier to innovation in our country. For social entrepreneurs and those starting new enterprises in distressed communities, her plan will provide up to $17,500 in loan forgiveness.
  • Reward public service.  AmeriCorps members who complete two years of national service and a year of public service can have their loans forgiven.  Teachers who teach in high-need areas or in subjects with teacher shortages – such as computer science or special education – will get enhanced loan forgiveness.
A Moratorium on Student Debt to Get Millions of Borrowers Relief from Crushing Debt: Today, Hillary Clinton is announcing that she will take immediate executive action to offer a three-month moratorium on student loan payments to all federal loan borrowers. During this time-out from paying student loans, every borrower will be given the resources and targeted help they need to save money on their loans. With dedicated assistance from the Department of Education during this moratorium, borrowers will be able to consolidate their loans, sign up quickly and easily for income-based repayment plans, and take direct advantage of opportunities to reduce monthly interest payments and fees. Borrowers who are delinquent or in default will receive additional rehabilitation options to help them get back on their feet. Clinton will also use the moratorium to crack down on for-profit colleges and loan servicers who have too often taken advantage of borrowers – and to ensure that borrowers can resolve outstanding issues in a timely and fair manner.

Debt-Free College for our Future Students

Hillary Clinton has pledged to achieve the goal of debt-free college for future graduates, so that cost is never a barrier for young people seeking to pursue their dreams of higher education (click here for more details).  It’s a simple, but bold idea:  Every student should be able to graduate from a public college or university in their state without taking on any student debt.  To reach this goal, Hillary is enhancing the New College Compact she announced last year.  Her plan will:

  • Eliminate college tuition for working families. Families with income up to $125,000 will pay no tuition at in-state public colleges and universities – covering more than 80 percent of all families. From the start of this plan, every student from a family making $85,000 a year or less will be able to go to a 4-year public college or university tuition free. This income threshold will increase by $10,000 a year every year over the next four years so that by 2021, all students with a family income of $125,000 will have the opportunity to pay no tuition. She will also continue her commitment to ensure that community colleges are tuition-free for all working families.
  • Help students deal with all of the costs of attending college.  Hillary Clinton will protect Pell Grant funding to help low- and middle-income students pay non-tuition expenses, and she will restore year-round Pell Grant funding so that students have the necessary support they need to take summer classes and meet their goal of completing college.  She will make a major investment in HBCUs, Minority-Serving Institutions and other low-cost, modest-endowment private schools so that these deserving students also benefit from the lower cost of college. She will work to expand opportunities for students to earn money for expenses through term-time work and to receive college credit for national service. She will expand support for student-parents, including a fifteen-fold increase in federal funding for on-campus child care.

The New College Compact: Hillary Clinton’s plan requires everyone to do their part.  The federal government will make a major new investment to make this possible, but states will have to step up and meet their obligations as well.

States will have to commit to a combination of reinvestment and reform over the next four years and beyond to ensure that federal support is funding students and not excessive cost growth.

  • Colleges and universities will be accountable for reining in costs to provide value to their students; improving completion rates and learning outcomes; and doing more to provide students from disadvantaged backgrounds with the tools they need to reach college and succeed once they get there.
  • Students will be expected to work 10 hours a week to help defray the full cost of attendance. Clinton will push to expand work opportunities that build career skills and introduce students of all backgrounds to public service careers.
  • As part of this New College Compact, Hillary will encourage and reward innovators who design imaginative new ways of providing valuable higher education to students while driving down costs.  And she will crack down on the abusive practices of for-profit colleges that defraud taxpayers while burdening students with debt for educational programs of no value.

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Hillary outlined her plan for the economy in Raleigh following an earlier speech by Donald Trump about her. Hillary’s team was quick to fact check his words and point out the hypocrisy.

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Too many corporations seem to have forgotten: It’s wrong to take taxpayer dollars with one hand and give out pink slips with the other.

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Every American willing to work hard should be able to find a job that pays enough to support a family.

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“The heart of my plan will be the biggest investment in American infrastructure in decades.” —Hillary

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We’re going to invest $20 billion specifically to create jobs for young people, especially in communities of color.

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We should support our teachers, not scapegoat them.

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“I will make it a national priority for more companies to share profits with employees. On top of, not instead of, good wages.” —Hillary

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We’ll make companies that ship jobs overseas give back tax breaks they received here at home.

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“Progress is possible … I know Republicans and Democrats can work together, because I’ve done it.” —Hillary

Instead of pitting people against each other, we need to enlist everyone in building our country together.

Hillary Clinton Delivers Remarks on the Economy in Raleigh

In a forward-looking policy address in Raleigh, North Carolina on Wednesday, Hillary Clinton explained how, as president, she will build an economy that works for everyone—not just those at the top. Clinton outlined five specific goals to realize this vision:

1) Pass the biggest investment in good-paying jobs since World War II in her first 100 days; 2) Make debt-free college education available to all Americans; 3) Let workers share in the profits they help create; 4) Ensure Wall Street and the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share; and 5) Put families first and match our policies to how they actually live and work in the 21st century.

Below is a transcript of Clinton’s remarks today:

“Thank you, It’s great to be back in Raleigh! Thank you so much. I have to confess I was having such a good time backstage listening to the 120 Minutes Band, listening to Mary Wingate do the national anthem and just being absolutely transported by Shay Taylor and Friends, the gospel group that got us all going today. And I cannot thank a better twosome than the people you just saw up here.

Because I honestly believe Jim Hunt is not only one of the best governors North Carolina has ever had, but one of the best governors ever in America in the last years. And what he did to really put North Carolina on a path to the future has stood the test of time. We’ve had a few glitches with others who don’t seem to understand what the ingredients are for building an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. But Jim Hunt knows that.

I look forward to continuing to work with him. And I was so delighted to have a chance, as I did, to have Alicia Wilkerson talk about her journey, how hard she has worked, raising her children, getting an education, making it possible for her to have a better future.

I so greatly appreciate her mentioning the SCHIP program which has helped 8 million kids every year get health insurance. Now because we are in North Carolina and we have a lot of friends here I want to acknowledge some of them. Your Secretary of State Elaine Marshall.

Senator Dan Blue, the Minority Leader of the North Carolina Senate. Representative Larry Hall, the Democratic leader of the North Carolina House of Representatives. Linda Coleman running for Lieutenant Governor. Judge Mike Morgan running against a Republican Supreme Court incumbent. And don’t forget than Dan Blue III is running for State Treasurer. Josh Stein, running for Attorney General. And let’s give a big round of applause to your next governor, Attorney General Roy Cooper! Your next AG commissioner Walter Smith and your next United States Senator, Debra Ross. We’re going to work hard in the this election to elect as many Democrats up and down the ticket so that North Carolina can get back on the path to the path to the future, get off this detour that you’ve been on.

I have to start by saying if you notice anything different about me today, it could be that now I have double the ‘grandmother glow.’ This past weekend, Chelsea and Marc had a little boy and we’re all totally over the moon about it.

Obviously, our family will do everything we can to make sure little Charlotte and now little Aidan grow up with every possible opportunity. I know that’s what every parent and grandparent, aunt or uncle, godmother and godfather, people who care about the children in our lives, that’s exactly how we all feel.

I believe with all my heart that you should not have to be the grandchild of a former President or Secretary of State to have every opportunity available to you in this country.

Every single child deserves the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential and that has been the cause of my life.

It’s rooted in the values I learned from my family and my faith. We’re all in this together. And we have a responsibility to lift each other up.

As we Methodists say: do all the good you can to all the people you can in all the ways you can. And that is absolutely true for our children.

That’s why I got into public service in the first place. And it’s why I’m determined that we will win this election.

I think it’s an understatement to say that Americans face a choice in November.

As I said yesterday in Ohio, Donald Trump offers no real solutions for the economic challenges we face – he just continues to spout reckless ideas that will run up our debt and cause another economic crash.

I’m here today to offer an alternative. I have a clear vision for the economy, and it’s this: We need to make sure our economy works for everyone, not just those at the top.

Not just for the rich or the well-connected, not just for people living in some parts of the country, or people from certain backgrounds and not others – I mean everyone.

I have a plan to get us there: Five steps we can take together to drive growth that’s strong, fair, and lasting. Growth that reduces inequality, increases upward mobility; that reaches into every corner of our country.

The measure of our success will be how much incomes rise for hardworking families. How many children are lifted out of poverty. How many Americans can find good jobs that support a middle class life and not only that, jobs that provide a sense of dignity and pride. That’s what it means to have an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. That’s the mission, and I’m asking all of you to join me in it.

We have to overcome some big challenges. I will admit that,

First, too many of our representatives in Washington are in the grips of a failed economic theory called trickle-down economics. I do not question their sincerity, but it has been proven wrong again and again.

But there are still people in Congress who insist on cutting taxes for the wealthy instead of investing in our future.

They careen from one self-inflicted crisis to another – shutting down the government, threatening to default on our national debt, refusing to make the common-sense investments that used to have broad bipartisan support, like rebuilding our roads and our bridges, our tunnels, our highways and airports, or investing in better education from zero through high school and college.

I like to look at evidence: I plead to that. I think evidence is important when making decisions that affect other people’s lives. If the evidence were there to support this ideology, I would have to acknowledge that, but we have seen the results. Twice now in the past 30 years a Republican president has caused an economic mess and a Democratic president has had to come in and clean it up.

And yes, too many special interests and too many lobbyists have stood in the way of progress while protecting the perks of the privileged few.

It’s not just Washington.

Too many corporations have embraced policies that favor hedge funds and other big shareholders and top management at the expense of their workers, communities, and even their long-term value.

They’re driven by Wall Street’s obsession with short-term share prices and quarterly earnings.

A recent survey of corporate executives found that more than half when asked would hold off on making a successful long-term investment — maybe in their workers, or plant equipment, or research — if it meant missing a target in the next earnings report.

So corporations stash cash overseas or they send it to top shareholders in the form of stock buybacks or dividends, instead of raising wages or investing in research and development.

This pressure, this short term pressure, leads to perverse incentives and outrageous behavior.

It is wrong to take taxpayer dollars with one hand and give out pink slips with the other hand. And no company should be moving their headquarters overseas, just to avoid paying their taxes here at home.

In addition, there have been big changes in how American families live, learn, and work, but our policies haven’t kept up.

There are so many examples of this.

Over the past several decades, women have entered the workforce and boosted our economy, yet we are the only, the only developed country that doesn’t provide paid family leave of any kind.

We’re asking families to rely on an old system of supports in a new economic reality. No wonder so many are struggling.

The bottom line is that too many leaders in business and government have lost sight of our shared responsibility to each other and to our nation.

They let Wall Street take big risks with unregulated financial activities, they skew our tax code toward the wealthy, they failed to enforce our trade rules, they undermined workers’ rights.

They have forgotten that we are all in this together and we are at our best when we recognize that. Excessive inequality such as we have today reduces economic growth. Markets work best when all the stakeholders share in the benefits.

The challenges we face are significant.

It is not easy to change Washington, or how corporations behave. It takes more than stern words or a flashy slogan – it takes a plan.

It takes experience and the ability to work with both parties to get results.

That means we need a President who knows what we’re up against, has no illusions about what we need to do to move ahead, but can actually get it done. And that is what I am offering.

Because there is good news. The good news is that everywhere I go, smart, determined men and women are working hard to reverse these trends.

Mayors are pioneering innovative ways to work with the private sector to invest in their cities.

Entrepreneurs and small businesses are building and hiring in places that bigger companies have abandoned.

Unions are providing training programs that add value to the companies that employ their members.

Union pension funds are already investing in infrastructure projects that have supported more than 100,000 jobs here in our country.

So do not grow weary, there are great ideas out there. And we are going to be partners in a big, bold effort to increase economic growth and distribute it more fairly.

To build an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. I believe the federal government should adopt five ambitious goals:

First, let’s break through the dysfunction in Washington to make the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.

Second, let’s make college debt-free for all. And transform the way we prepare Americans for the jobs of the future.

Third, let’s rewrite the rules so more companies share profits with their

employees, and fewer ship profits and jobs overseas.

Finally, let’s make sure that Wall Street, corporations, and the super-rich pay their fair share of taxes. And all of this depends upon putting our families first and matching our policies to how you actually live and work in the 21st century.

Briefly about these four points: Let’s start with jobs.

Every American willing to work hard should be able to find a job that pays enough to support a family. And I know we can do this because I’ve seen it in the past.

You know, I remember when I was growing up and America had come out from the upheaval of depression and world war. Our leaders worked together to invest in a new foundation for American power and prosperity.

Highways to connect up our entire nation. College and housing for returning veterans and their families. Unprecedented scientific research. And it worked – we built the greatest middle class the world has ever known.

Now, we have to get as ambitious again. There is nothing we can’t do. Let’s be just as ambitious to build our 21st century American economy to produce the same results for hard working Americans.

In my first 100 days as President, I will work with both parties to pass a comprehensive plan to create the next generation of good jobs. Now the heart of my plan will be the biggest investment in American infrastructure in decades, including establishing an infrastructure bank that will bring private sector dollars off the sidelines and put them to work here.

And I’ve talked with local leaders around America and I’ve seen the dire need for investment. In Tampa, for example, I saw how a smart, targeted highway investment near a major port can create thousands of good-paying jobs, support the local economy and unlock national commerce.

We can create millions of good-paying jobs while preparing America to compete and win in the global economy.

So let’s set these big national goals. And I know how important it is to rebuild our roads, our bridges and our airports, but we have more work to do. Let’s build better. And let’s connect every household to broadband by the year 2020.

Let’s build a cleaner, more resilient power grid with enough renewable energy to power every home in the country. Let’s fix failing water systems like the one that poisoned children in Flint, Michigan. Let’s renovate our public schools so every child in every community has access to safe, high-tech classrooms, laboratories, and libraries.

Our 100 Days jobs package will also include transformational investments in key drivers of growth:

Advance manufacturing, so we can ‘make it in America’ and compete and win in the global economy.

Making America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century, which will create millions of jobs and help protect our planet.

Recommitting to scientific research, which can create new whole industries, just like we did in the 90’s when we started mapping the human genome.

And small businesses, which should be the engine for creating new jobs across America, they need to be free of red tape and they need to have access to credit. We need to slash unnecessary regulations making it easier to get startup capital from community banks and credit unions. If you have an idea for a small business, we want you to get started.

Let’s free entrepreneurs to do what they do best – innovate and grow and hire and make sure that the new service and caregiving jobs being created today are jobs that pay well, too. And that does mean raising the national minimum wage.

So many of these are so personal to us that they need to be respected and lifted up. And I know too that we’ve got work to do to stand with those who are fighting for raising the minimum wage. It’s not always how we think about this, but I can tell you another engine for growth and job creation would be comprehensive immigration reform.

It will bring millions of workers into the formal economy so you don’t have an unlevel playing field, so that workers who are competing for those jobs don’t get undercut because employers go out and find undocumented workers to do those jobs for a lower wage. I really believe it’s not just the right thing to do, but it will be great.

It will be smart for our economy. I want people to be able to compete. I don’t want to have that disadvantage that exists in too many places, where people are being are being priced out of the jobs they’ve always done.

So we can work toward a full employment and full potential economy. That does mean we can’t ignore people that are still stuck on the sidelines, or working part-time when what they really want is a full-time job. Or those trapped in long-term joblessness, whether they’re veterans, workers with disabilities, people coming home from prison, or young people who tried to start their careers in the midst of the Great Recession. I particularly want young people to feel that they are going to get good jobs that will give them that ladder of opportunity that they deserve to have in America.

That’s why I want to expand incentives like the New Markets Tax Credit, Empowerment Zones, and other ideas that bring business, government, and communities together to create good jobs in poor or remote areas. Places that have lost a factory or a mine where generations of families used to work. Anyone willing to work should get the help they need to qualify for and find that good job.

That means breaking down the barriers of systemic racism and discrimination that hold back – those barriers, they hold back African Americans, Latinos, Asian and Native Americans, and women from fully participating in our economy.

We need to reverse the long-term neglect that has dried up jobs and opportunity in communities of color, in poor communities. It’s not by accident that the unemployment rate now among black Americans is twice as high as among whites. Back in the 90’s, we were closing that gap, incomes were going up for everybody.

I think we’re going to have to invest money to create jobs for young people because right now I’m worried that if young people don’t get that first job when they are young, learn about work, understand the obligations as well as the promise of work, it will be even more difficult to get them into the workforce later on.

It is way past time for us to guarantee equal pay for women, which is still not the reality.

So, you see it is not enough to have an affirmative agenda, we have to knock down those barriers.

And by the way, as you’ve seen here in North Carolina discriminating against LGBT Americans is bad for business.

And make no mistake, we will defend American jobs and American workers by saying ‘no’ to bad trade deals and unfair trade practices, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which does not meet my high bar for creating good-paying jobs. ‘No’ to assaults on the right to organize and bargain collectively.

‘No’ to every attack on the dignity of working families.

We’re going to make this economy work for everyone, and it’s time we start building this from the ground up. For every home and every community all the way to Washington. Now, I know very well that if you don’t have the skills for the jobs oftomorrow, it’s going to be difficult. Education is still the pathway for greater opportunities for many Americans.

Let’s start at the beginning with making quality, affordable childcare and pre-school available in every community in the next 10 years, so we get our littlest Americans off to the best start.

Jim Hunt was a pioneer in this. Why did he care so much about children zero to five, besides the fact that he cared about them? Because he knew there was a direct line to how the youngest children were treated, educated, and prepared for school, and what kind of jobs and economic competitiveness North Carolina would have. So we’re going to start by having families be their child’s first teachers, and we’re going to give them the support they need to do that. And when it comes to primary and secondary education I pledged to you we’re going to make sure all our kids have good teachers and good schools, no matter what zip code you live in.

You know, for many years, thanks to people and leaders like Jim Hunt, North Carolina was a leading state when it came to education. Now, unfortunately, thanks to your Governor McCrory and the legislature, the average teacher salary can barely support a family. It should not be a surprise that thousands have quit in recent years.

We should support our teachers, not scapegoat them.

And then let’s make sure every student has options after high school. Whether it’s a four-year degree, free community college, an apprenticeship, or other forms of higher education We need to provide the skills and credentials that match the job openings of today and tomorrow.

That’s why I’m proposing new tax credits to encourage more companies to offer paid apprenticeships that lets you earn while you learn. And I will to support the union apprenticeships and training programs already out there. Not every good job requires a four-year college degree. We need to dignify skills training. So many young people have the talent and the will to succeed – they just need a helping hand.

That’s why I want us to come together to help our young people break free from the burden of student debt. I’m sure we all have stories. I’ve met so many who told me they can’t start a business. They can’t even move out of their parent’s basement because of all the student debt holding them back.

Let’s set the goal to make debt-free college available to everyone. So future students won’t have to borrow a dime to pay for tuition at public college or university.

And let’s liberate the millions of Americans who already have student debt by making it easier to refinance, just like a mortgage. Let’s make it easier to have debt forgiven by doing national service, let’s make it easier to repay what you owe as a portion of your income so you never have to pay more than you can afford.

I’ve set out a way to do this, and we’ll be talking more about it as we go forward in this campaign.

My third goal is to rewrite the rules so more companies share profits with employees, and fewer ship profits and jobs overseas.

I know there are a lot of businesses thriving here in North Carolina and across our country who see employees as assets to invest in, not costs to cut. They’re building companies, not stripping them. They’re creating good jobs, not eliminating them.

But too many, too many businesses take the opposite view. I’m not asking corporations to be more charitable, although I think that is important. I’m asking corporations to realize that when more Americans prosper, they prosper too, right? When your paycheck grows, America grows.

We are a 70 percent consumption economy. If we want higher growth, we have to raise incomes. So people have more disposable dollars to be able to spend, instead of holding back out of fear of what will happen.

So let’s bring a long-term view back to board rooms and executive suites. Let’s restore the link between productivity growth and wage growth.

As President, I will make it a national priority for more companies to share profits with employees. On top of, not instead of, good wages. Let’s recognize the people doing the work, putting in the hours, they’re the ones who should be sharing the rewards.

We should continue to crack down on wage theft and make overtime count, so companies that pay well can’t be undercut by competitors paying poverty wages.

I believe we should strengthen unions, which have formed the bedrock of a strong middle class. It should be easier to bargain collectively. That’s not only fair, it makes workers more productive, it strengthens our economy.

And let’s close the loopholes that help companies ship jobs and profits overseas. Let’s make companies that outsource jobs to other countries pay back the tax breaks they received while they were here in America. And if corporations try to move their headquarters to a foreign country to skip out on their tax bills – let’s slap a new exit tax on them and then put that money to work in the communities left behind.

And we should extend the rules that were passed in Dodd-Frank on Wall Street after the crisis and strengthen them — both for the big banks and the shadow banking system. And I will veto any reforms to repeal those rules and vigorously enforce the law, with accountability, so Wall Street can never wreck Main Street again.

Fourth, let’s make sure Wall Street, corporations, and the super-rich pay their fair share of taxes.

When people say the game is rigged, the best evidence is the tax code. It’s riddled with scams, loopholes, and special breaks, like the carried interest loophole that lets some hedge fund managers pay a lower tax rate than a teacher or a nurse. That’s not only unfair, it’s bad economics, and we’re going to stop it.

I have been saying that for years. As President, if Congress won’t act, I will ask the Treasury Department to use its authority to close that loophole.

And here’s another idea that I will be pushing: Let’s pass the so-called Buffett Rule so top executives can’t pay a lower rate than their secretaries.

And let’s ask the wealthiest Americans to pay more – including a new tax on multimillionaires. That’s not only the right thing to do, it’s smart for our economy.

Because these steps will help pay for the investments we need in jobs and education without increasing our national debt. In fact, every program I have proposed in this campaign, I tell you how I will pay for it. Donald Trump and I disagree on a lot of things, and one of them is simple math.

Finally, here’s our fifth goal: Let’s put families first and make sure our policies match how you actually work and live in the 21st century.

Families look a lot different today than they did 30 years ago, and so do our jobs.

The movement of women into the workforce has produced enormous economic growth over the past few decades. But with women now the sole or primary breadwinner in a growing number of families – there’s more urgency than ever to make it easier for Americans to be good workers, good parents, and good caregivers, all at the same time.

The old model of work where you could expect to hold a steady job with good benefits for an entire career, is long gone. People in their 20s and 30s have come of age in an economy that’s totally different. And a lot of young parents are discovering just how tough that is on families. Many people now have wildly unpredictable schedules, or they cobble together part time work, or they’ve tried to go independent.

Flexibility can be good, but you shouldn’t have to worry that your family could lose your health care or retirement savings just because you change jobs or start a small business.

Why do you think every other–I have to ask–why do you think every other advanced country has paid family leave? Do you think they are just unrealistic, or do you think that they have figured out they can have a stabler economy, they can support families? And that’s what I want us to do. Working families need predictable scheduling, earned sick days and vacation days, quality affordable childcare and healthcare. These are not luxuries. They’re economic necessities.

In today’s economy, benefits should be flexible, portable, and comprehensive for everyone.

That means it’s time to expand Social Security as well. Especially, especially for older women who are widowed, or have taken time out of the workforce to care for a loved one, and who are suffering financially because of that. We need to look to a secure retirement for everyone, and to provide families relief from crushing costs and health care, housing, and prescription drugs. I looked at the numbers and in some states, two parents earning the minimum wage have to spend up to 35 percent of their income on childcare.

For a single parent, it could be 70 percent. So I will set a goal: families shouldn’t have to pay more than 10 percent of their income for childcare. And I will repeat today what I have said throughout this campaign: I will not raise taxes on the middle class I will give you tax relief to raise these burdens.

Now, you know whenever I talk about these family issues, Donald Trump says I’m playing the ‘woman’ card. Right? Well you know what I say, if fighting for childcare and paid leave and equal pay is playing the woman card, then deal me in.

Here’s what I want you to understand. It may be difficult to imagine all this getting done and Washington is so broken, I get that – but I really think that progress is possible or I would not be standing up here running to be President of the United States.

I know Republicans and Democrats can work together, because I’ve done it. As you heard Alicia say, I helped create the Children’s Health Insurance Program when I was First Lady. That happened with support with both parties. And it now it covers 8 million kids and when you go to get health care for your child, nobody says, ‘Are you a Republican or Democrat?’ They say, ‘What does your child need?’

I worked with Republicans many times when I was a Senator from New York and as Secretary of State, so I know we can get results that will make real differences in people’s lives.

I know however it’s rare. There’s no question that we need to make Washington work much better than it does today. And that means in particular: getting unaccountable money out of our politics.

One of the reasons this election is so important is because the Supreme Court stands in the balance. We need to overturn that terrible Supreme Court decision, Citizens United, and then go a lot further to reform our whole campaign finance system.

This is about our democracy – but it’s also about our economy. Campaign finance reform and reducing the power of special interests is directly relevant to getting Washington working for the people again – making the right investments, putting your jobs and your economic security first.

That’s why I’m so passionate about this issue, and I’m will fight hard to end the stranglehold that the wealthy and special interests have on so much of our government.

So, let’s do this together. A historic investment in jobs. Debt-free college. Profit sharing. Making those at the top pay their fair share. Putting families first in our modern economy. And a democracy where working people’s voices are actually heard. That is what we are fighting for in this election.

As I said during the primary I am a progressive who likes to get things done and we can do this.

Just for a minute, compare what I am proposing to what we hear from Donald Trump. The self-proclaimed ‘King of Debt’ has no real ideas for making college more affordable or addressing the student debt crisis.  He has no credible plan for rebuilding our infrastructure, apart from his wall. He has no real strategy for creating jobs, just a string of empty promises. Maybe we shouldn’t expect better from someone whose most famous words are, ‘You’re fired.’

Well, here’s what I want you to know: I do have a jobs program. And as President, I’m going to make sure you hear, ‘You’re hired.’

Here’s the bottom line: Economists left, right, and center all agree Donald Trump will drive America back into recession. Just this week, one of Senator John McCain’s former economic advisors said Trump’s policies would wipe out, wipe out three-and-a-half million jobs. His tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy would add more than $30 trillion to our national debt over the next 20 years.

That is just astonishing and it’s no wonder that the Economist Intelligence Unit, one of the leading firms that analyzes the top threats to the global economy, now ranks a Trump Presidency #3, right behind problems in China and volatility in the commodities markets.

Look, I know Donald Trump hates it when anyone points out how hollow his sales pitch really is. I guess my speech yesterday must have gotten under his skin because right away he lashed out on Twitter with outlandish lies and conspiracy theories, and he did the same in his speech today.

Now think about it. He’s going after me personally because he has no answers on the substance. In fact, he doubled down on being the King of Debt.

So all he can do is try to distract us. That’s even why he’s attacking my faith, sigh. And of course attacking a philanthropic foundation that saves and improves lives around the world.

It’s no surprise he doesn’t understand these things. The Clinton Foundation helps poor people around the world get access to life-saving AIDS medicine.

Donald Trump uses poor people around the world to produce his line of suits and ties.  Here in North Carolina, you know as well as anyone that our economy is already too unpredictable for working families. We can’t let Donald Trump bankrupt America the way he bankrupted his casinos. We need to write a new chapter in the American Dream – and it can’t be Chapter 11.

Please, join me in this campaign, I’m offering a very different vision. We’re stronger together. We’re stronger when we grow together. We’re stronger when our economy works for everyone, not just those at the top. I am convinced that if we work hard if we go into November with the confidence and optimism that should be the American birthright, we will not only win an election, we will chart the course to the future that we want and deserve.

Thank you and God bless you.”

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When Hillary sat down with Huffington Post‘s Sam Stein, she turned the tables and started by asking him a question.  He concluded by thanking her for not blacklisting HuffPo.

POLITICS

Transcript: Hillary Clinton’s Interview With The Huffington Post

The presumptive Democratic nominee addressed a number of foreign and domestic topics.

06/15/2016

Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, spoke with The Huffington Post by phone for roughly 10 minutes on Wednesday, discussing everything from gun control and drone policy to campus rape and women in the military. 

Below is the full transcript from the interview. It has been edited for clarity.

*     *     *     *     *

Hillary Clinton: Great to talk to you, Sam. Aren’t you from one of the [Trump-]banned publications?

The Huffington Post: Yes, and our group is growing bigger. We have a real crew now.

I think there should be some kind of badge of honor that you all put on.

Read more >>>>

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Speaking on safety and security at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton today, Hillary once again blasted Donald Trump’s lies, rants, implications, and outrageous policy plans.  She said a ban on people by religion or region would not have prevented the Orlando massacre since the shooter was born in Queens, NY not far from where Donald Trump was born – also of an immigrant mother. Of his planned wall, she wondered how you build a wall against the internet. (Firewalls notwithstanding, Chinese people get around the Great Firewall regularly to come right here to this blog from their universities and technical institutes, and American students know how to circumvent firewalls at their schools.  They do it all the time.)

First on CNN: New Clinton video blasts Trump’s response to Orlando massacre

“He wants to ban all Muslims from entering our country, and now he wants to go even further,” Clinton says in the video. “Just one day after the massacre, he went on TV and suggested that President Obama is on the side of the terrorists.”

Read more and see short video of her address >>>>

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It is Flag Day as well as a rare day for the voters of the District of Columbia who get to vote in the last primary of this season.  Sadly, they will not have that chance in November. Hillary Clinton began her day in Pittsburgh at a Democratic Party rally and will return to D.C. later in the day.

Yesterday, in the aftermath of yet another gun massacre in this country, this one with the highest number of casualties ever, both Hillary and Donald (as she prefers to refer to him) delivered speeches on how to prevent such attacks, although they were not really speaking on the same topic.

Donald’s speech was limited to one variety of attack – the kind that are inspired by or dedicated to jihadist organizations.  For Donald, the attacks on a prayer group in Charleston and first graders and their teachers in Sandy Hook were not part of the equation. The shooters came from good American, gun-toting homes after all.

It was hard to discern a proposed solution to the jihad-inspired attacks that were Donald’s chosen topic, however.  He echoed Hillary’s name over and over as if it had magical powers. Apparently keeping certain outsiders out will solve the problem despite the fact that the perpetrators of the Orlando,  San Bernardino, and Fort Hood attacks were Americans.

Hillary, in her speech, never mentioned his name and did specifically speak of radical jihadist  terrorism.  She removed an arrow from Donald’s quiver by calling it “radical Islam” – a term he repeatedly has attacked her for avoiding.  She proposed a multifaceted approach to combating the threat, but for her, what looms large is the availability of assault weapons.  She attacked the gun laws and the dysfunction within government that prevents dots from being connected. She did not directly attack Donald.

Today, on the other hand, she took him on with a right hook and a left upper cut.  She called him unqualified and called upon the GOP to get him under control. She assailed his casual relationship with fact and his obsession with words. She wondered,  “Is he suggesting that there are magic words that once uttered will stop terrorists from coming after us.”

Trump’s statements are lies—but he tells them because he has to distract from the fact that he has nothing substantive to say for himself.

“It matters what we do, not just what we say. It didn’t matter what we called bin Laden—it mattered that we got bin Laden.” —Hillary

In a similar speech the hour before, President Obama also commented on Donald’s insistence that something is wrong with the lexical selections of Democrats and changing the verbiage would turn the war. In Pittsburgh, Hillary took issue with notion that there are magic words that will dispel threats. Could not agree more!

Hillary has a pretty name. Repeating it over and over will not put the genie back in the lamp, though.  She did not cause the terrorism, has worked hard to fight it with sanctions and terrorist designations as secretary of state,  and, like President Obama, is on the same anti-terror team, although Donald seems to imply differently.  Today, Hillary did not refrain from calling out Donald – in very specific and substantive ways – not as a magic word.

Hillary Clinton in Pittsburgh: ‘What Donald Trump Is Saying Is Shameful’

Today in Pittsburgh, Hillary Clinton delivered remarks criticizing Donald Trump for his response to Sunday’s tragic terrorist attack in Orlando and urging national unity to protect our security and uphold our guiding values. Clinton specifically called out Trump’s suggestion that President Obama is siding with terrorists and asked Republicans to rebuke this dangerous rhetoric, saying, “History will remember what we do in this moment… Americans don’t need conspiracy theories and pathological self-congratulations. We need leadership, common sense and concrete plans.”

Clinton again affirmed her plans to defeat ISIS, to combat homegrown terrorism, to keep weapons of war off our streets and enact commonsense gun safety measures, and to keep our country safe while advancing the values of tolerance and unity.

A full transcript of Clinton’s remarks in Pittsburgh is below:

“Hello! Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you all.

It is so great to be back in Pittsburgh. And it is especially great to be here with the men and women of the IBEW.

I want to thank Mike Dunleavy and IBEW Local 5 for welcoming us to your house. We are happy to be here. And, I want to thank my longtime friend, colleague, advocate, Leo Gerard, who has been a champion, not just for steelworkers, but for working people – fairness, the kind of economy that lifts everybody up, for as long as I’ve known him. I am so grateful to have the support of the steelworkers and IBEW. It means a lot to me because we want to put you all to work. We’re going to have a lot of work to do in our country and nobody can do it better.

I want to recognize your County Executive, Rich Fitzgerald, and thank him for being such a great supporter, but, more than that, leading this county along with Mayor Bill Peduto, who has done such a great job to continue the renaissance of Pittsburgh. I want to join Leo in acknowledging your great Congressman Mike Doyle and your great Senator Bob Casey. There’s another mayor here, Mayor John Fetterman. John is here. John is hard to miss, so he’s here somewhere! I saw him somewhere earlier. I want to thank also City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak, and I want to thank Josh Shapiro, your candidate for Attorney General, and a Montgomery County Commissioner, Reverend James Edward Brown, and, all of you for being with us today.

I always love coming to Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania, and it’s especially great to be here after the Penguins clinched the Stanley Cup again! It’s great, quite a record now. They’ve got some ways to go before they match the Steelers in terms of winning it all but they’re on their way. The County Executive and I were talking, and he said something that really struck me. The Penguins did this the old fashion way: teamwork, hard work, and resilience. And that’s what we’re going to do in this election. That’s what we’re going to do in our country.

When I planned this trip, I intended to give a different talk today. About how we make our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top, how do we reduce the economic inequality that’s threatening not just our economy, but our democracy. How we rebuild our infrastructure, stand with our steelworkers against illegal dumping by China. And I wanted to talk too about how unions like yours, IBEW, and the steelworkers, and so many others, helped build the greatest middle class in the world. If anybody has a chair you can use it because don’t worry, the folks behind you have sat down and everybody is seated. That’s great.

You see, I draw from our history that labor is central to whatever we want to achieve. I’m going to be a strong partner and advocate for the American labor movement, for working people, for your rights and your opportunities to make the very best possible living in the greatest country on earth. These are the issues that are in my heart. I will be talking about them in the weeks ahead. They’re really at the center of my campaign.

But today, there are different things on my mind – and probably on yours, too, as Leo said.

We are all still reeling from what happened on Sunday in Orlando. Another terrorist attack – not overseas, but here at home. So many Americans killed and wounded. A hate crime at an LGBT nightclub, right in the middle of Pride Month. The deadliest mass shooting in the history of the United States.

The losses stretch all the way to Pennsylvania. Two of the victims were from this state. Akyra Murray, a high school basketball star from Philadelphia, was killed; she was just 18 years old. And her friend Patience Carter, also from Philadelphia, was shot. It’s a poignant reminder that even in a country as big as ours, we are all connected. And our hearts are with Patience and Akyra’s families, and all the families who are grieving now.

Since Sunday, we’ve been trying to make sense of what happened, and what we can do together to prevent future attacks.

Yesterday in Cleveland, I once again laid out my plan for defeating ISIS and the broader radical jihadist movement, around the world and online and for combating radicalization here at home, including a special focus on detecting and preventing so-called ‘lone wolf’ attacks like we saw in Orlando and San Bernardino. These attacks are carried out by individuals who may or may not have any direct contact with an organization like ISIS, but are inspired, primarily over the internet, by its twisted ideology.

I reemphasized the importance of working with Muslim communities here at home, who are often the most likely to recognize radicalization before it’s too late. After the attacks in Paris, Brussels and San Bernardino, I met with homeland security officials and Muslim community leaders in Minneapolis and Los Angeles, to hear their ideas for building stronger partnerships. We need to lift up voices of moderation and tolerance.

I also said something I’ve been saying from the very beginning of this campaign: I believe we Americans are capable of both protecting our Second Amendment rights while making sure guns don’t fall into the wrong hands. The terrorist in Orlando was the definition of ‘the wrong hands.’ And weapons of war have no place in our streets.

So the questions being debated this week about how we deal with the threat of terrorism are some of the most charged and important issues we face. And there are bound to be differences of opinion. In a country as diverse and complex as ours, I think that’s a given.

But I believe that despite those differences, on a deeper level, we are all on the same team. We may not see eye to eye on everything, but we are all Americans. And there is so much more that unites us than divides us. I have said many times, I think it’s appropriate for us, not to consider ourselves on the Republican team or the Democratic team, on the red team or the blue team, but to be on the American team. And after a terrible event, like Orlando, that’s clearer than ever.

That’s what we’re seeing in Orlando and across America – people of different faiths, backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities coming together to say with one voice, we won’t let hate defeat us.

If we can count on that kind of unity and solidarity from each other – if even the families of the Orlando victims are speaking out right now against hate and division – we should certainly expect that from our leaders.

And I am sorry to say that is not what we are hearing from Donald Trump.

Donald Trump wants to be our next Commander in Chief. I think we all know that is a job that demands a calm, collected, and dignified response to these kinds of events. Instead, yesterday morning, just one day after the massacre, he went on TV and suggested that President Obama is on the side of the terrorists.

Just think about that for a second.

Even in a time of divided politics, this is beyond anything that should be said by someone running for President of the United States. And I have to ask – will responsible Republican leaders stand up to their presumptive nominee? Or will they stand by his accusation about our President?

I am sure they would rather avoid that question altogether. But history will remember what we do in this moment.

What Donald Trump is saying is shameful. It is disrespectful to the people who were killed and wounded, and their families. And it is yet more evidence that he is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be Commander in Chief.

Of course, he is a leader of the birther movement, which spread the lie that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States. I guess he had to be reminded Hawaii is part of the United States. This is the man who claimed a distinguished federal judge born and raised in Indiana can’t do his job because of his – quote –‘Mexican heritage.’ I guess he has to be reminded Indiana is in the United States.

So maybe we shouldn’t be surprised. But it was one thing when he was a reality TV personality. You know, raising his arms and yelling, you’re fired. It is another thing altogether when he’s the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee for president.

Americans don’t need conspiracy theories and pathological self-congratulations. We need leadership, common sense and concrete plans.

Because we are facing a brutal enemy. In the Middle East, ISIS is attempting a genocide of religious and ethnic minorities. They’re slaughtering Muslims who refuse to accept their medieval ways. They are beheading civilians, including executing LGBT people; murdering Americans and Europeans; enslaving, torturing, and raping women and girls.

The barbarity we face from radical jihadists is profound. So I would like to have a worthy debate on the best way to keep our country safe. That’s what Americans deserve.

I read every word of Donald Trump’s speech yesterday. And I sifted through all the bizarre rants and the outright lies.

What I found, once you cut through the nonsense, is that his plan comes down to two things.

First, he is fixated on the words ‘radical Islam.’ I must say, I find this strange. Is Donald Trump suggesting that there are magic words that, once uttered, will stop terrorists from coming after us? Trump, as usual, is obsessed with name-calling. From my perspective, it matters what we do, not just what we say. In the end, it didn’t matter what we called bin Laden – it mattered that we got bin Laden.

I have clearly said that we face terrorist enemies who use a perverted version of Islam to justify slaughtering innocent people. We have to stop them, and we will. So if Donald suggests I won’t call this threat what it is, he hasn’t been listening.

But I will not demonize and declare war on an entire religion.

Now that we’re past the semantic debate, Donald is going to have to come up with something better.

He’s got one other idea. He wants to ban all Muslims from entering our country. And now he wants to go even further, and suspend all immigration from large parts of the world.

I’ve talked before about how this approach is un-American. It goes against everything we stand for as a country founded on religious freedom. But it is also dangerous. First, we rely on partners in Muslim countries to fight terrorists; this would make it harder. Second, we need to build trust in Muslim communities here at home to counter radicalization; and this would make it harder. Third, Trump’s words will be, in fact they already are, a recruiting tool for ISIS to help increase its ranks of people willing to do what we saw in Orlando. And fourth, he’s turning Americans against Americans, which is exactly what ISIS wants.

Leaders who’ve actually fought terrorists know this. General Petraeus said recently that ‘demonizing a religious faith and its adherents’ will come at a great cost, not just to our values but to our men and women in uniform and our national security.

Commissioner Bill Bratton of the New York Police Department said this kind of talk makes his job harder. He has Muslims in his police force, he has Muslims in the community, he needs everybody working together against any potential threat.

But Donald won’t listen to any of this. Not experts like General Petraeus or Commissioner Bratton, because he says he knows more about ISIS than the generals do. It’s almost hard to think of what to say about that claim.

But in this instance, Donald’s words are especially nonsensical. Because the terrorist who carried out this attack wasn’t born in Afghanistan, as Donald Trump said yesterday. He was born in Queens – just like Donald was himself. So Muslim bans and immigration reforms would not have stopped him. They would not have saved a single life in Orlando.

Those are the only two ideas Donald Trump put forward yesterday for how to fight ISIS.

Beyond that, he said a lot of false things, including about me. He said I’ll abolish the Second Amendment. Well, that’s wrong. He said I’ll let a flood of refugees into our country without any screening. That’s also wrong.

These are demonstrably lies. But he feels compelled to tell them – because he has to distract us from the fact that he has nothing substantive to say for himself.

Much of the rest of his speech was spent denigrating not just the President, but the efforts of all the brave American service members, law enforcement agents, intelligence officers, diplomats and others who have worked so hard to keep our country safe. Donald says our military is a disaster and the world is laughing at us. Wrong again.

Since 9/11, America has done a great deal at home and abroad to stop terrorists. Thousands of Americans have fought and died. We have worked intensively with our allies, engaged in fierce and vital debates here at home about how far our government should go in monitoring threats. We have vastly increased security measures at airports, train stations, power plants and many other places. And the American people, we have all become more vigilant, even while we have carried on living our lives as normally as possible.

It has been a long and difficult effort. We’ve had successes, and we’ve also had failures. But one thing’s for sure: the fight against terrorism has never been simple.

We need a Commander-in-Chief who is up to these challenges – who can grapple with them in all their complexity – someone with real plans and real solutions that actually address the problems we face. And we need someone with the temperament and experience to make those hard choices in the Situation Room – not a loose cannon who could easily lead us into war.

One more thing. Donald Trump has been very clear about what he won’t do. He won’t stand up to the gun lobby.

The terrorist who killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in Orlando did it with two guns: a handgun and a Sig Sauer MCX rifle. If you don’t know what that is, I urge you to Google it. See it for yourself.

This man had been investigated by the FBI for months. But we couldn’t stop him from buying a powerful weapon that he used to slaughter Americans in large numbers.

Let’s get this straight. We have reached the point where people can’t board planes with full bottles of shampoo – but people being watched by the FBI for suspected terrorist links can buy a gun with no questions asked. That is absurd.

It just seems like western Pennsylvania common sense, if you’re too dangerous to get on a plane, you’re too dangerous to buy a gun.

Enough is enough. Now is time for seriousness and resolve.

We need to go after ISIS overseas, we need to protect Americans here at home, counter their poisonous ideologies, support our first responders, take a hard look at our gun laws and we need to stand with the LGBT community and peaceful Muslim Americans, today and always.

In the days and weeks ahead, I will have more to say about how we will work together to keep our country and our citizens safe and take the fight to the terrorists. None of this will be easy. And none of it will be helped by anything that Donald Trump has to offer.

This is a time to set aside fear and division, and reach for unity. America is strongest when we all feel like we have a stake in our country. When we all have real chance to live up to our God-given potential, and we want others here to have that chance, too.

We’ve always been a country of ‘we,’ not ‘me.’ And we’ve always been stronger together.

We are stronger when people can participate in our democracy, share in the rewards of our economy, and contribute to our communities.

When we bridge our divides and lift each other up, instead of tearing each other down.

Here in Pennsylvania, and across America, I have listened to so many people tell me about the problems that keep you and your families up at night. Despite all the progress we’ve made, there’s not yet enough growth, which creates good jobs and raises incomes. There’s not yet enough economic fairness, so that everyone who works hard can share in the rewards. We need both – a ‘growth and fairness’ economy. Where profits and paychecks rise together.

So many people have talked to me about how the bonds that hold us together as one national community are strained – by too much inequality, too little upward mobility, social and political divisions that have diminished our trust in each other and our confidence in our shared future.

As your president, I will work every day to break down all the barriers holding you back and keeping us apart. And I will be on your side.

I’ll have the back of every steelworker getting knocked around by unfair competition. Of every working mom trying to raise her kids on minimum wage or unequal pay. Of every union member struggling to keep going in the face of concerted attacks on workers’ rights – because ‘right to work’ is wrong for workers, and we need to stand strong with unions.

Together, I want us to forge a new sense of connection and a shared responsibility to each other and our nation.

I know that’s possible, because I have seen it throughout our history – including just this week.

Some of you may have noticed a letter that went viral on the internet over the past few days. The letter is from George H.W. Bush’s presidential library. I hadn’t read it in a long time – until yesterday. And it moved me to tears, just like it did all those years ago.

It’s the letter that President Bush left in the Oval Office for my husband, back in January of 1993. They had just fought a fierce campaign. Bill won, President Bush lost. In a democracy, that’s how it goes.

But when Bill walked into that office for the very first time as President, that note was waiting for him. It had some good advice about staying focused on what mattered, despite the critics. It wished him happiness. And it concluded with these words:

‘You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success is now our country’s success. And I am rooting hard for you. George.’

That’s the America we love. That is what we cherish and expect.

So let us come together, we can disagree without being disagreeable, we can root for each other’s success. Where our President is everyone’s President, and our future belongs to us all.

Let’s make this once again the big-hearted, fair-minded country we all know and love. Thank you all very much.”

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At the Cleveland Industrial Innovation Center today, Sherrod Brown introduced Hillary as the best candidate in his lifetime.

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Hillary Clinton: A Moment When We All Need to Stand Together

Hillary Clinton addressed the tragic terrorist attack at an Orlando LGBT nightclub during her remarks today in Cleveland, Ohio. She discussed her plan to respond to terrorist attacks like what happened in Orlando, stating that “we must attack it with clear eyes, steady hands, unwavering determination and pride in our country and our values.”

Clinton has already laid out a plan to defeat ISIS and other radical jihadist groups in the region and beyond, and her remarks laid out three areas that demand urgent attention: working hand-in-hand with allies to dismantle the networks that move money, arms, propaganda and fighters around the world; hardening defenses at home and defending against lone wolves; and preventing radicalization and counter efforts by ISIS and other international terrorist networks to recruit in the United States and Europe.

 

Clinton said, that ”this is a moment when we all need to stand together” and pledged that “we will overcome the threats of terror and radicalization.”  She reiterated that we are stronger together; told the LGBT community she will always have their back, and condemned Islamophobic rhetoric that is counter to our values and makes us less safe.

The full transcript of her remarks in Cleveland are as follows:

“I am absolutely delighted to be back in Cleveland and to be here at the Industrial Innovation Center. I’ve had a chance to learn about the great work you’re doing.

I especially want to applaud ‘Team Wendy’ for everything you do to protect our troops, first responders, and others from Traumatic Brain Injury. It is so important that we continue to support those who protect us.

Thank you. Thank you all. It’s good to be back in Cleveland, I can tell you that.

I want to thank your extraordinary Senator, Sherrod Brown, for his leadership and for that very kind and generous introduction. You are very fortunate to have him representing you. I want to thank your Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who is both indomitable and indefatigable. She is such a tenacious advocate for the people she represents. I want to acknowledge the mayor, Mayor Jackson, who is here, County Executive Budish, and I particularly want to recognize the passing of George Voinovich.

He devoted his life to serving the people of Ohio as Mayor of Cleveland, as Governor and Senator. And we send our prayers and sympathy to his family.

I also want to thank Dan Moore, the owner and founder of this company and Team Wendy, for his belief in Cleveland, for his commitment to create jobs. I can’t wait to work with him, to do more of what he has accomplished too.

You know, originally I had intended to come to Cleveland under very different circumstances. We are heading into a general election that could be the most consequential of our lifetimes.

But today is not a day for politics.

On Sunday, Americans woke up to a nightmare that’s become mind-numbingly familiar: Another act of terrorism in a place no one expected. A madman filled with hate, with guns in his hands and just a horrible sense of vengeance and vindictiveness in his heart, apparently consumed by rage against LGBT Americans – and by extension, the openness and diversity that defines our American way of life.

We will learn more about the killer in the days to come. We know that he pledged allegiance to ISIS, that they are now taking credit, and that part of their strategy is to radicalize individuals and encourage attacks against the United States, even if they are not coordinated with ISIS leadership.

But there’s a lot we still don’t know, including what other mix of motives drove him to kill. The more we learn about what happened, the better we’ll be able to protect our people.

In the days ahead, we will also learn more about the many lives he viciously cut short – many of them young people just starting out in their lives.

They were travel agents and pharmacy techs, college students and amusement park workers – sons and daughters, brothers and sisters – and they had one thing in common:  they all had a lot more to give.

We should all take a moment today, amid our busy lives, to think about them, to pray for everyone who was killed, for the wounded, those who are fighting to regain their lives and futures. For our First Responders who walked into danger one more time.

As a mother, I can’t imagine what those families are going through.

Let’s also remember the other scenes we saw on Sunday:

We saw the faces of those first responders who rushed into danger to save as many people as they could.

We saw survivors like Chris Hansen who risked their lives to help others.

People gathering outside hospitals to comfort anxious family members waiting for news of their loved ones, and waiting too, to learn more about what they could do to make sure this never happened again.

Religious leaders condemning hate and appealing for peace. People lining up to donate blood. Americans refusing to be intimidated or divided.

Yesterday, I called Mayor Dyer of Orlando and offered my support and my appreciation for the leadership that he and the other officials have shown.

This is a moment when all Americans need to stand together.

No matter how many times we endure attacks like this, the horror never fades.

The murder of innocent people breaks our hearts, tears at our sense of security, and makes us furious.

Now we have to steel our resolve and respond. That’s what I want to talk to you about: how we respond.

The Orlando terrorist may be dead, but the virus that poisoned his mind remains very much alive. We must attack it with clear eyes, steady hands, unwavering determination and pride in our country and our values.

I have no doubt we can meet this challenge – if we meet it together.

Whatever we learn about this killer, his motives in the days ahead, we know already the barbarity we face from radical jihadists is profound.

In the Middle East, ISIS is attempting a genocide of religious and ethnic minorities, they are slaughtering Muslims who refuse to accept their medieval ways, they are beheading civilians, including executing LGBT people, they are murdering Americans and Europeans, enslaving, torturing, and raping women and girls.

In speeches like this one after Paris, Brussels, and San Bernardino, I have laid out a plan to defeat ISIS and the other radical jihadist groups in the region and beyond.

The attack in Orlando makes it even more clear: we cannot contain this threat – we must defeat it.

The good news is that the coalition effort in Syria and Iraq has made real gains in recent months.

So we should keep the pressure on ramping up the air campaign, accelerating support for our friends fighting to take and hold ground, and pushing our partners in the region to do even more.

We also need continued American leadership to help resolve the political conflicts that fuel ISIS recruitment efforts.

But as ISIS loses actual ground in Iraq and Syria, it will seek to stage more attacks and gain stronger footholds wherever it can, from Afghanistan to Libya to Europe.

The threat is metastasizing. We saw this in Paris and we saw it in Brussels.

We face a twisted ideology and poisoned psychology that inspires the so-called ‘lone wolves’ – radicalized individuals who may or may not have contact and direction from any formal organization.

So yes, efforts to defeat ISIS on the battlefield must succeed. But it will take more than that. We have to be just as adaptable and versatile as our enemies.

As President, I will make identifying and stopping lone wolves a top priority.  I will put a team together from across the entire government, as well as the private sector, and our communities to get on top of this urgent challenge. And I’ll make sure our law enforcement and intelligence professionals have the resources they need to get the job done.

As we do this, there are three areas that demand attention. First, we and our allies must work hand-in-hand to dismantle the networks that move money, and propaganda and arms and fighters around the world.

We have to flow – we have to stem the flow of jihadists from Europe and America to Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan – and then back again. The only way to do this is by working closely with our partners.  Strengthening our alliances, not weakening them or walking away from them.

Second, here at home, we must harden our own defenses.

We have to do more to support our first responders, law enforcement, and intelligence officers who do incredible work every day – at great personal risk – to keep our country safe. I have seen first-hand how hard their job is and how well they do it.

In Orlando, at least one police officer was shot in the head. Thankfully, his life was saved by a Kevlar helmet – something folks here at Team Wendy know a lot about.

It’s often been said that our law enforcement, our intelligence agencies, and our first responders have to be right 100 percent of the time. A terrorist only has to be right once. What a heavy responsibility.

These men and women deserve both our respect and gratitude, and the right tools, resources, and training. Too often, state and local officials can’t get access to intelligence from the federal government that would help them do their jobs.

We need to change that.

We also need to work with local law enforcement and business owners on ways to protect vulnerable, so called ‘soft targets’ like nightclubs and shopping malls and hotels and movie theaters and schools and houses of worship.

Now, I know a lot of Americans are asking how it was possible that someone already on the FBI’s radar could have still been able to commit an attack like the one in Orlando – and what more we can do to stop this kind of thing from happening again.

Well, we have to see what the investigation uncovers. If there are things that can and should be done to improve our ability to prevent, we must do them.

We already know we need more resources for this fight. The professionals who keep us safe would be the first to say we need better intelligence to discover and disrupt terrorist plots before they can be carried out. That’s why I’ve proposed an ‘intelligence surge’ to bolster our capabilities across the board, with appropriate safeguards here at home.

Even as we make sure our security officials get the tools they need to prevent attacks, it’s essential that we stop terrorists from getting the tools they need to carry out the attacks – and that is especially true when it comes to assault weapons like those used in Orlando and San Bernardino. I believe weapons of war have no place on our streets.

We may have our disagreements on gun safety regulations, but we should all be able to agree on a few things.

If the FBI is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn’t be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked. You shouldn’t be able to exploit loopholes and evade criminal background checks by buying online or at a gun show.

And yes, if you’re too dangerous to get on a plane, you are too dangerous to buy a gun in America.

I know some will say that assault weapons and background checks are totally separate issues having nothing to do with terrorism.

Well, in Orlando and San Bernardino, terrorists used assault weapons, the AR-15, and they used it to kill Americans. That was the same assault weapon used to kill those little children in Sandy Hook. We have to make it harder for people who should not have those weapons of war.

That might not stop every shooting or terrorist attack. But it will stop some and it will save lives and it will protect our first responders. And I want you to know I’m not going to stop fighting for these kinds of provisions.

The third area that demands attention is preventing radicalization, and countering efforts by ISIS and other international terrorist networks to recruit in the United States and Europe.

For starters, it is long past time for the Saudis, the Qataris, the Kuwaitis and others to stop their citizens from funding extremist organizations. And they should stop supporting radical schools and mosques around the world that have set too many young people on a path toward extremism.

We also have to use all our capabilities to counter jihadist propaganda online. This is something I spent a lot of time on at the State Department. As President, I will work with our great tech companies from Silicon Valley to Boston to step up our game.

We have to do a better job intercepting ISIS’s communications, tracking and analyzing social media posts, and mapping jihadist networks, as well as promoting credible voices who can provide alternatives to radicalization.

And there is more work to do offline as well.

Since 9/11, law enforcement agencies have worked hard to build relationships with Muslim-American communities. Millions of peace-loving Muslims live, work, and raise their families across America.  They are the most likely to recognize the insidious effects of radicalization before it’s too late, and the best positioned to help us block it. We should be intensifying contacts in those communities, not scapegoating or isolating them.

Last year, I visited a pilot program in Minneapolis that helps parents, teachers, imams, mental health professionals, and others recognize signs of radicalization in young people and work with law enforcement to intervene before it’s too late.

I’ve also met with local leaders pursuing innovative approaches in Los Angeles and other places. We need more efforts like that, in more cities across America. And, as the Director of the FBI has pointed out, we should avoid eroding trust in the community, which will only make law enforcement’s job more difficult.

Inflammatory, anti-Muslim rhetoric – and threatening to ban the families and friends of Muslim Americans, as well as millions of Muslim business people and tourists from entering our country – hurts the vast majority of Muslims who love freedom and hate terror. So does saying that we have to start special surveillance on our fellow Americans because of their religion.

It’s no coincidence that hate crimes against American Muslims and mosques have tripled after Paris and San Bernardino.

That’s wrong and it’s also dangerous.  It plays right into the terrorists’ hands.

Still, as I have said before, none of us can close our eyes to the fact that we do face enemies who use their distorted version of Islam to justify slaughtering innocent people. They’d take us all back to the Stone Age if they could, just as they have in parts of Iraq and Syria.

The terrorist in Orlando targeted LGBT Americans out of hatred and bigotry. And an attack on any American is an attack on all Americans.

I want to say this to all the LGBT people grieving today in Florida and across our country: you have millions of allies who will always have your back. And I am one of them.

From Stonewall to Laramie and now Orlando, we’ve seen too many examples of how the struggle to live freely, openly and without fear has been met by violence. We have to stand together. Be proud together. There is no better rebuke to the terrorists and all those who hate.

Our open, diverse society is an asset in the struggle against terrorism, not a liability. It makes us stronger and more resistant to radicalization. This raises a larger point about the future of our country.

America is strongest when we all believe they have a stake in our country and our future. This vision has sustained us from the beginning – the belief that yes, we are all created equal and the journey we have made to turn that into reality over our history. That we are not a land of winners and losers. That we all should have the opportunity to live up to our God-given potential, and we have a responsibility to help others to do so as well.

As I look at American history, I see this has always been a country of ‘we’ not ‘me.’ We stand together because we are stronger together.

E pluribus unum – out of many, one – has seen us through the darkest chapters of our history. Even since 13 squabbling colonies put aside their disagreements and united, because they realized they were going to rise together or fall separately.

Generation after generation has fought and marched and organized to widen the circle of dignity and opportunity – ending slavery, securing and expanding the right to vote, throwing open the doors of education, building the greatest middle class the world has ever seen.

We are stronger when more people can participate in our democracy. And we are stronger when everyone can share in the rewards of our economy, and contribute to our communities.

When we bridge our divides and lift each other up, instead of tearing each other down.

We have overcome a lot together, and we will overcome the threats of terror and radicalization and our other challenges.

Here in Ohio, and all across America, I’ve listened to people talk about the problems that keep them up at night.

The bonds that hold us together as communities – as one national community – are strained by an economy with too much inequality and too little upward mobility, by social and political divisions that have diminished our trust in each other and our confidence in our shared future.

I have heard that, and I want you to know as your President I will work every day to break down the barriers holding you back and keeping us apart. We are going to get an economy to work for everyone, not just those at the top. We are going to forge a new sense of connection and shared responsibility to each other and our nation.

Finally, let us remind us all, I remember how it felt on the day after 9/11. I’ll bet you do as well.

Americans from every walk of life rallied together with a sense of common purpose on September the 12th. And in the days and weeks and months that followed we had each other’s backs.

I was a Senator from New York. There was a Republican president, a Republican governor, and a Republican mayor. We did not attack each other – we worked with each other to protect our country and to rebuild our city.

President Bush went to a Muslim community center just six days after the attacks to send a message of unity and solidarity. To anyone who wanted to take out their anger on our Muslim neighbors and fellow citizens, he said, ‘That should not and that will not stand in America.’

It is time to get back to the spirit of those days. The Spirit of 9/12.  Let’s make sure we keep looking to the best of country, to the best within each of us.

Democratic and Republican Presidents have risen to the occasion in the face of tragedy. That is what we are called to do my friends, and I am so confident and optimistic that is exactly what we will do. Thank you all so much.”

 

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For months after 9/11, the Sunday New York Times published profiles of those who perished that day.  I read every one of the nearly 3,000.  In support of what Hillary said today, I offer these profiles of those who were lost in the senseless attack in Orlando.  Reading about them is, I think, part of the healing process.  Well it is part of some process.  Here is who they were.

I heard Donald Trump speak after Hillary did.  She never mentioned his name in her speech.  He repeated hers over and over in sentence after sentence and sometimes twice in the same sentence blaming her for terrorist attacks. He said she is no friend to “the LBGT community” (sic).  Yeah. It rolled right off his tongue – wrong. This, in a speech where he again bragged that he is never PC. He can use the lingo when he thinks it will get him votes, though. I’m sure that will win over the Gay vote.  Here are some pics from the Pride event in L.A.

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Hillary, however, mentioned Chris Hansen (a witness who was at the club and spoke to the media) by name and referred specifically to some of the victims by occupation. She did not waste time with a useless moment of silence.  She filled the air with her plans to battle the scourge of hate and guns.

Here is an email Hillary sent out this afternoon.

On Sunday, Americans woke up to a nightmare: Another act of terrorism in a place no one expected it, a man with a gun in his hands and hate in his heart, apparently consumed by rage against LGBT Americans — and, by extension, against the openness and diversity that define our way of life.

No matter how many times we endure attacks like this, the horror never fades. The murder of innocent people always breaks our hearts, tears at our sense of security, and makes us furious.

So many of us are praying for everyone who was killed, for the wounded and those still missing, and for all the loved ones grieving today. As a mother, I can’t imagine what those families are going through.

But we owe their memories and their families more than prayer. We must also take decisive action to strengthen our international alliances and combat acts of terror, to keep weapons of war off our streets, and to affirm the rights of LGBT Americans — and all Americans — to feel welcome and safe in our country.

Here’s what we absolutely cannot do: We cannot demonize Muslim people.

Inflammatory anti-Muslim rhetoric hurts the vast majority of Muslims who love freedom and hate terror. It’s no coincidence that hate crimes against American Muslims and mosques tripled after Paris and San Bernardino. Islamophobia goes against everything we stand for as a nation founded on freedom of religion, and it plays right into the terrorists’ hands.

We’re a big-hearted, fair-minded country. We teach our children that this is one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all — not just for people who look a certain way, or love a certain way, or worship a certain way.

I want to say this to all the LGBT people grieving today in Florida and across our country: You have millions of allies who will always have your back. I am one of them. From Stonewall to Laramie and now Orlando, we’ve seen too many examples of how the struggle to live freely, openly, and without fear has been marked by violence. We have to stand together. Be proud together. There is no better rebuke to the terrorists and all those who hate.

This fundamentally American idea — that we’re stronger together — is why I’m so confident that we can overcome the threats we face, solve our challenges at home, and build a future where no one’s left out or left behind. We can do it, if we do it together.

Thank you for standing together in love, kindness, and the best of what it means to be American.

Hillary

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When I receive email polls asking me the “most important issue” for me in this election, I have to wonder whether the organizations sending them have listened at all to what Hillary Clinton has been saying.  Once again today, in her first public speech since clinching the nomination, Hillary explained patiently, that the many issues she has been addressing intersect and should be viewed as a cloth.  The issues are not patches to be sewn together.  The very threads are interwoven as a fabric within the society.  This is why she will not attack one single signature issue when she walks into the Oval Office. She does not see the issues as isolated from each other but rather as essentially interrelated.

There were those who criticized her when she went to the State Department.  She made the issues of women and girls her signature struggle.  Later that expanded and extended to gender issues.  Some said it was a “soft” issue and questioned why not a major initiative like Middle East peace. As it turned out, it was not a soft issue. Nor, as she explained so often, were the related issues confined to women but rather affected whole families including husbands, brothers, fathers, and sons.  It was a wise and flexible choice in a diverse world.

In the same way, her view of the issues we face today and her solutions to the problems are a multifaceted approach.

Hillary Clinton Delivers Remarks at Planned Parenthood Action Fund

Today, Hillary Clinton gave her first speech since clinching the nomination at Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Clinton’s remarks highlighted the progressive issues of women’s health and reproductive justice that have been important to her throughout her career, and throughout the primary. Clinton thanked the Planned Parenthood family for everything they do, and have been doing for decades, to make sure all women have access to quality affordable healthcare and to a public STD testing center. Clinton recognized how far we have come in advancing women’s rights but also pointed out the very real threat Donald Trump poses to this progress. As Clinton said, “We’re in the middle of a concerted, persistent assault on women’s health across our country. And we have to ask ourselves and ask everyone we come in contact with: Do we want to put our health, our lives, our futures in Donald Trump’s hands?”

The transcript of Clinton’s remarks, as delivered, is below:

“Thank you. Hello. Thank you, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you all. I have to say, pink never looked so good.

I want to thank my friend, and your courageous leader, Cecile Richards. Cecile really is the definition of grace under pressure. She has proven that time and time again over the course of her career, particularly over the last few years. She really is like another great American, her mother, Ann Richards, who was a friend of mine, and I just wish Ann were here to see this election. She’d have Donald Trump tweeting double time.

We reached a milestone together this week.  Thanks to you, and people all over our country, for the first time, a woman will be a major party’s nominee for President of the United States.

And yesterday, I had the great honor of being endorsed by President Obama and Vice President Biden.  And by Senator Elizabeth Warren.

So it’s been a big week.  And there’s nowhere I’d rather end it than right here, with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

I’m grateful to the entire Planned Parenthood family.  You made this campaign your own.  Whether you knocked on doors in Iowa or rallied in California, this victory belongs to all of you.

It belongs to the one thousand young activists who came together in Pittsburgh last month to get organized.

It belongs to the staff, the donors, and to the providers. Providers like Dr. Amna Dermish in Texas, who called out Donald Trump when he said women should be punished for having abortions.  And the open letter she wrote defending her patients’ right to make their own health decisions should be required reading for every politician in America.

I am deeply conscious of the reality that this victory belongs to generations of brave women and men who fought for the radical idea that women should determine our own lives and futures.

And it belongs to the women and men who continue to fight for that idea today, even in the face of threats and violence.

When a man who never should have had a gun killed three people at Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs, leaders in this room voted unanimously to keep health centers across America open the next day.

The CEO, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains made a promise to patients in Colorado and beyond when she said: ‘Our doors – and our hearts – stay open.’

That is really what Planned Parenthood is all about.

So today, I want to say something you don’t hear often enough: thank you.

Thank you for being there for women, no matter their race, sexual orientation, or immigration status.

Thank you for being there for Natarsha McQueen in Brooklyn, who told me how Planned Parenthood caught her breast cancer when she was just 33 years old, and saved her life.

Thank you for being there for college students getting STD testing.  The young people who have the tough questions that they’re afraid to ask their parents.  The sexual assault survivors who turn to Planned Parenthood for compassionate care.  The transgender teens who come for an appointment and find the first place where they can truly be themselves.

Thank you for being there for your communities – whether that means taking on hostile politicians in Louisiana or handing out clean drinking water in Flint, Michigan.

And thank you for being there for every woman in every state who has to miss work; drive hundreds of miles sometimes; endure cruel, medically unnecessary waiting periods; walk past angry protesters to exercise her constitutional right to safe and legal abortion.

I’ve been proud to stand with Planned Parenthood for a long time.  And as president, I will always have your back.

Because I know for a century, Planned Parenthood has worked to make sure that the women, men, young people who count on you can lead their best lives – healthy, safe and free to follow their dreams.

Just think when Planned Parenthood was founded, women couldn’t vote or serve on juries in most states.  It was illegal even to provide information about birth control, let alone prescribe it.

But people marched and organized.  They protested unjust laws and, in some cases, even went to prison.  And slowly but surely, America changed for the better. 51 years ago this week, thanks to a Planned Parenthood employee named Estelle Griswold, the Supreme Court legalized birth control for married couples across America. When I used to teach law, and I would point to this case, a look of total bewilderment would come across my students’ faces. And not long after that, Roe v. Wade guaranteed the right to safe, legal abortion.

So young women were no longer dying in emergency rooms and back alleys from botched, illegal abortions.  And this is a fact that is not often heard, but I hope you will repeat it: America’s maternal mortality rate dropped dramatically.

And it turns out, being able to plan their families not only saved women’s lives, it also transformed them – because it meant that women were able to get educations, build careers, enter new fields, and rise as far as their talent and hard work would take them – all the opportunities that follow when women are able to stay healthy and choose whether and when to become mothers.

And you know so well, today, the percentage of women who finish college is six times what it was before birth control was legal.  Women represent half of all college graduates in America and nearly half our labor force.

And our whole economy, then, is better off.  The movement of women into the workforce, the paid workforce, over the past 40 years was responsible for more than three and a half trillion dollars in growth in our economy.

And here’s another fact that doesn’t get much attention: unintended pregnancy, teen pregnancy, and abortion rates are at all time record lows.  That reality and studies confirm what Planned Parenthood knew all along: Accurate sex education and effective, affordable contraception work.

And, it wasn’t so long ago, Republicans and Democrats could actually stand together on these issues.  Back in the ‘90s, when I helped create the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, I worked with Republicans to get it done.

Now things feel quite a bit different now, don’t they?

Instead of working to continue the progress we’ve made, Republicans, led now by Donald Trump, are working to reverse it.

When Donald Trump says, ‘Let’s make America great again,’ that is code for ‘let’s take America backward.’  Back to a time when opportunity and dignity were reserved for some, not all.  Back to the days when abortion was illegal, women had far fewer options, and life for too many women and girls was limited.

Well, Donald, those days are over.

We are not going to let Donald Trump or anyone else turn back the clock.

And that means we’ve got to get to work.  Because as you know better than anyone, right now, across the country, rights that women should be able to take for granted are under attack.

Any day now, the Supreme Court will rule on the Texas law that imposes burdensome and medically unnecessary requirements on abortion providers.  If these restrictions are allowed to stand, 5.4 million women of reproductive age will be left with about 10 health centers that provide abortion – in a state the size of France.  It is the biggest challenge to Roe v. Wade in a generation.

It’s also yet another reminder of what’s at stake on the Supreme Court.  President Obama has done his job, and nominated Merrick Garland to be the ninth justice.  It’s time for Senate Republicans to do their job. The Senate should give Judge Garland the hearing he deserves.

Now, meanwhile, in just the first three months of 2016, states across the country introduced more than 400 restrictions on abortion. 11 states have defunded Planned Parenthood in the last year, cutting some women off from their only health care provider.  And of course, on a national level, Republicans in Congress have been willing to shut down the entire federal government over Planned Parenthood funding.

Have you ever noticed that the same politicians who are against sex education, birth control, and safe and legal abortion, are also against policies that would make it easier to raise a child – like paid family leave?

They are for limited government everywhere except when it comes to interfering with women’s choices and rights.

Well I’m here today to tell you we need to be just as determined as they are.

We need to defend Planned Parenthood against partisan attacks.  If right-wing politicians actually cared as much about protecting women’s health as they say they do, they’d join me in calling for more federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

We also need to fight back against the erosion of reproductive rights at the federal, state, and local levels, and ensure that patients and staff can safely walk into health centers without harassment or violence.

We need to, we need to stand up for access to affordable contraception, without interference from politicians or employers.  And let’s invest in long-acting reversible contraceptives, so every woman can choose the method that is best for her.  Let’s strengthen and improve the Affordable Care Act, which covers 20 million Americans and saves women millions of dollars through no-copay preventive care.

Let’s take action to stop the spread of the Zika virus, which threatens the health of children and pregnant women.

Let’s repeal laws like the Hyde Amendment that make it nearly impossible, make it nearly impossible for low-income women, disproportionately women of color, to exercise their full reproductive rights.

And, it is worth saying again: defending women’s health means defending access to abortion – not just in theory, but in reality.  We know that restricting access doesn’t make women less likely to end a pregnancy.  It just makes abortion less safe.  And that then threatens women’s lives.

For too long, issues like these have been dismissed by many as ‘women’s issues’ – as though that somehow makes them less worthy, secondary.

Well, yes, these are women’s issues.  They’re also family issues.  They’re economic issues.  They’re justice issues. They’re fundamental to our country and our future.

Beyond these specific issues, we need to keep working to support women and families in other ways – by getting incomes rising, including the minimum wage, which disproportionately affects women; we need to finally guarantee equal pay for women’s work; we need to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship that keeps families together; and we need to break down all the barriers of discrimination and systemic racism that hold too many Americans back. We need to come together to stop the epidemic of gun violence that is stalking our country.  No parent should live in fear that their child will be hurt or killed by gun violence.  33,000 Americans are killed every year. I’ve met so many mothers on this campaign who have lost their own children.  We owe it to them to protect our kids no matter what ZIP code they live in. And that is going to require standing up to the gun lobby and making this a voting issue.

All the issues we’re talking about today are connected.  They intersect.  And that’s why I’m grateful to the reproductive justice leaders in this room and across America.  Because you know that all those issues go straight to that fundamental question: whether we believe women and families of all races and backgrounds and income levels deserve an equal shot in life.

Now that’s what I believe and you won’t be surprised to hear – Donald Trump believes something very different.

He actually thinks guaranteeing paid family leave would leave America less competitive.  He says if women want equal pay, we should just – and this is a quote – ‘do as good a job’ as men – as if we weren’t already.

He wants to appoint justices who want to overturn Roe V. Wade. He of course wants to defund Planned Parenthood. And he wants to go after so many of the fundamental rights we have, including safe and legal abortions. And he actually said, ‘women should be punished for having abortions.’ Now, once he said that there was an outcry, as there should have been, and he tried to walk back his comments. He’s doing that a lot lately.

But anyone who would so casually agree to the idea of punishing women – like it was nothing to him, the most obvious thing in the world – that is someone who doesn’t hold women in high regard.  Because if he did, he’d trust women to make the right decisions for ourselves.

But don’t worry.  Donald assures us that, as President, he’ll be – and I quote again – ‘the best for women.’

Anyone who wants to defund Planned Parenthood, and wipe out safe, legal abortion has no idea what’s best for women.

And after all this is a man who has called women ‘pigs,’ ‘dogs,’ and ‘disgusting animals.’  Kind of hard to imagine counting on him to respect our fundamental rights?

When he says pregnant women are an ‘inconvenience’ to their employer, what does that say about how he values women – our work, our contributions?

We’re in the middle of a concerted, persistent assault on women’s health across our country. And we have to ask ourselves and ask everyone we come in contact with: Do we want to put our health, our lives, our futures in Donald Trump’s hands?

Now, these questions aren’t hypothetical.  Every woman – and everyone who cares about women – will answer them when they vote in November.

When I talk like this, Donald Trump likes to say I’m playing the ‘woman card.’  And I like to say, if fighting for equal pay, Planned Parenthood, and the ability to make our own health decisions is playing the woman card, then deal me in.

Now my friends, I come to this issue, of course as a woman, a mother, and a grandmother now.  But I also come to it as a former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State.  And in those roles, in those roles, I traveled to parts of the world where girls are married off as soon as they are old enough to bear children.  Places where the denial of family planning consigns women to lives of hardship.

I visited countries where governments have strictly regulated women’s reproduction – either forcing women to have abortions or forcing women to get pregnant and give birth.

Everything I have seen has convinced me that life is freer, fairer, healthier, safer, and far more humane when women are empowered to make their own reproductive health decisions.

And everything I’ve heard from Donald Trump, often seems to echo other leaders who have a very different view of women.

The late, great Maya Angelou said: ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.’

Donald Trump has shown us who he is.  And we sure should believe him.

It’s not just on reproductive rights.  Donald Trump would take us in the wrong direction on so many issues we care about – economic justice, workers’ rights, civil rights, human rights, the environment—all of that is on the line in this election.

When Donald Trump says a distinguished judge born in Indiana can’t do his job because of his Mexican heritage, or mocks a reporter with disabilities, or denigrates Muslims and immigrants, it goes against everything we stand for.  He does not see all Americans as Americans.

So this election isn’t about the same old fights between Democrats and Republicans.  They’ll be there, don’t worry. But this election is profoundly different.  It’s about who we are as a nation.  It’s about millions of Americans coming together to say: We are better than this.

So here’s my promise to you today: I will be your partner in this election and over the long haul.

Together, we are taking on the attacks and together we’ll come out stronger – just like Planned Parenthood has, time and again.

And together we’re going to unify our country, stop Donald Trump, and fight for an America where we lift each other up, instead of tearing each other down.

We’re not just going to break that highest and hardest glass ceiling.  We’re going to break down all the barriers that hold women and families back.

We’re stronger when every family in every community knows they’re not on their own.  We are stronger together and we are going to make history again in November.

Thank you all so, so much.”

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