Hillary Rodham Clinton

With Senator Bernie Sanders in Portsmouth, New Hampshire - July 12, 2016

Hillary Rodham Clinton
July 12, 2016— Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Print friendly

Thank you! That was so great.

Hello, New Hampshire! It is so great, it is so great to be here with so many friends, old and new. to be back with so many friends old and new.

Thank you! Thank you so much. I have to say it is such a great privilege to be here with Senator Sanders. Being here with him and New Hampshire, I can't help but reflect on how much more enjoyable this election is going to be now that we're on the same side. Because you know what? We are stronger together.

And I want to give a special thanks to someone who has been with Senator Sanders every step of the way, not just throughout this campaign but over the years, his wonderful wife, Jane Sanders.

And also I've had the pleasure of meeting his son, Levi Sanders! Thank you!

I also appreciate greatly having the opportunity for all of us to hear from the speakers beforehand, Governor Maggie Hassan, the next Senator from the state of New Hampshire!

Senator Jeanne Shaheen who is doing a tremendous job for you.

And we are delighted to have heard from and to have with us Bill McKibben and Jim Dean.

Over these last few weeks, Bernie and I have worked together on plans to put college within reach for more people, and to ensure that everyone in America has access to quality, affordable health care. And now, with your help, we are joining forces to defeat Donald Trump, win in November, and yes, together build a future we can all believe in.

Just as Bernie said, over the years, I've gotten to know him as a colleague and a friend. His reputation for passionate advocacy hasn't always made him the most popular person in Washington. But you know what? That's generally a sign you're doing something right.

Throughout this campaign Senator Sanders has brought people off the sidelines and into the political process. He has energized and inspired a generation of young people who care deeply about our country, and are building a movement that is bigger than one candidate or one campaign.

So thank you, thank you Bernie—for your endorsement, but more than that, thank you for your lifetime of fighting injustice. I am proud to be fighting alongside you because my friends, this is a time for all of us to stand together. These have been difficult times for America.

This is a time for all of us to stand together—because these have been difficult days for our country.

Taking on the systemic racism that plagues our country—and rebuilding the frayed bonds of trust and respect between law enforcement and the communities they serve—will require contributions from all of us. And we have to begin by starting to listen to each other. And more than that, we then have to do something that will help us fix these problems and heal these wounds.

We have to reform our broken criminal justice system, take back our democracy from the wealthy special interests, and make our economy work for everyone, not just those at the top. And you know what? We have to do all these things at the same time.

That's why throughout this campaign, we've been calling for eliminating racial profiling and disparities in sentencing. Ending the era of mass incarceration, dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, providing more employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated people.

In addition to that, I am proposing two new steps that get law enforcement the support they need while also stopping the tragedy, the tragedy of black men and women—and black children—being killed in police incidents.

First, let's bring law enforcement and the communities they swear to protect and serve together to develop national guidelines on the use of force by police officers.

And second, let's provide better training on implicit bias, that remains a problem even in our best police departments but it also remains a problem across our society.

I'm asking for all of us to really search our hearts and minds to make sure that we don't have those implicit biases. Let's learn from police departments like Dallas that had made strong progress, and apply their lessons nationwide. Because everyone in every community benefits when there is respect for the law and when everyone is respected by the law.

Remember, when gunfire broke out in Dallas, the peaceful protestors and the crowds that had gathered to support them ran to safety, while the police officers—who just minutes before had been talking with and taking pictures with and protecting the protesters—the police officers ran the other way—they ran into the gunfire. That's the kind of courage and dedication our police and first responders show every single day.

So yes—let's take real, meaningful action to end the epidemic of gun violence in America. From Sandy Hook to Orlando to Dallas, and so many other places, these tragedies tear at our soul. And so do the incidents that don't even dominate the headlines. Just this past Sunday, a young man, Seth Rich, who worked for the Democratic National Committee to expand voting rights, was shot and killed in his neighborhood in Washington. He was just 27 years old.

Surely we can agree that weapons of war have no place on the streets of America. Our police and first responders should never have to face a madman, a racist, a person filled with hatred, with an assault weapon. We owe it to every officer who puts his or her life on the line to protect us—so let's protect them.

And we can't stop there. This is part of a broader challenge across our country. Inequality is too high, wages are too low, and it is just too hard to get ahead for too many Americans.

We need an economy that works for everyone, not just those at the top. Not just the millionaires and billionaires but everybody.

And to do that, we need to go big and we need to go bold. This isn't a time for half measures. So we are setting five ambitious goals.

For starters, in my first 100 days as President, we will make the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.

More jobs here in New Hampshire and across our country, especially in places that have been left out and left behind. In communities of color. In coal country. Indian Country. Everywhere where a person deserves the same shot at the American Dream as anybody else in our country.

And when I say good-paying jobs, I mean it. As Bernie said, Donald Trump thinks wages are too high. He actually stood on a debate stage and said so. He does want to get rid of the federal minimum wage altogether.

Well, both Senator Sanders and I believe anyone who is willing to work hard should be able to find a job that pays well enough to support a family. And Bernie is right—$7.25 an hour is a starvation wage. So sorry Donald, if you're watching, we're not cutting the minimum wage—we're raising the minimum wage.

We're going to create millions of good jobs by making America the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. As Bernie reminds us so powerfully, we owe it to future generations to work together to combat climate change. And we're going to do it. We've got the intelligence. We've got the innovation. We're going to roll up our sleeves and demonstrate to the world what America is made of. We're going to have that clean energy economy. We're going to make it work for everybody.

And make no mistake—we will defend American jobs and American workers by saying "no" to the assaults on the right to organize and bargain collectively. And we're going to say "no" to attacks on working families and "no" to bad trade deals and unfair trade practices, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Second, we're going to make college debt-free for all and help millions of people struggling with existing student debt save thousands of dollars.

Here in New Hampshire, students are carrying one of the highest debt loads in the country. I've heard from young people who can't start a business, move out of their parents' home, or even get married because of all the student debt holding them back.

So with your help, we're going to make it so future students won't have to borrow a dime to attend public colleges or universities. Thanks to the new proposal Senator Sanders and I worked on together, for families making less than $125,000 a year, we will eliminate tuition at those schools altogether. And we will do more to help students cover all the costs of getting an education—including books, supplies, and living expenses.

Because in the words of a student I met here in New Hampshire, "paying for college shouldn't be the hardest thing about going to college."

Third, we're going to rewrite the rules, and crack down on companies that ship jobs and profits overseas. Let's reward the companies that share profits with their employees instead.

And we will defend and strengthen the tough reforms President Obama put in place on the financial industry—not let Donald Trump tear them up. Because we do, we do need to make sure that Wall Street can never wreck Main Street again.

Number four, we're going to 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 our tax code. It is riddled with scams, loopholes, and special breaks. It is wrong that some millionaires do pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries, and we're going to stop it.

Now compare what Senator Sanders and I intend to do with Donald Trump's tax plan. His tax plan would make our current system even worse. Independent analysts say he would add $30 trillion to the national debt in order to give a massive gift to the wealthiest Americans, Wall Street money managers, and our largest corporations. But after all, what else should we expect from someone who calls himself "the King of Debt"?

Now we have been pointing out the problems with his tax plan for months. And I think Donald is starting to feel the pressure.

In fact, even as we speak, he's apparently bringing in the biggest names in trickle-down, supply-side economics to help him figure out what to do—now these are the same advisors who brought us 30 years of a disastrous Republican philosophy that gave the huge breaks to those at the top.

Now you don't have to be psychic to know what's going to happen next: they're going to come back with another plan with maybe some bells and whistles, Bernie, that tries to disguise the fact that they still are slashing taxes for the wealthy, large corporations, and Donald Trump himself. And they'll try to use voodoo economics to tell us all the ways it will actually help the economy.

But they're not fooling anybody, at least I hope they're not. Just like his current plan—which he calls "inspiring," "tremendous," and "amazing"—you know, he uses a lot of adjectives to avoid telling you any specifics. Here's what we know for sure: whatever he comes out with next is going to give huge tax cuts to the corporations and the rich at the expense of the middle class.

Now there's that old saying, you've heard it, I used to hear it a lot in Arkansas, you can put lipstick on a pig—but it's still a pig.

And I've got to tell you, the first time that the Republicans pulled the voodoo economics, you know, they fooled us. Shame on them. But if they come back with the same argument and people fall for it, shame on us. But I will promise you this, Senator Sanders and I will spare no effort to make sure the people of America know that once again Trump and his cronies are trying to pull the wool over our eyes and come back with the same failed policies that hurt us before.

We're not going to let them get away with it again.

And finally, our fifth goal is we're going to step up and respond to the way American families actually live and work in the 21st century. Our families and our workplaces have changed, so isn't it time for our policies to change too?

Let's expand Social Security to match today's realities, not cut or privatize it.

Let's join the rest of the developed world and offer paid family leave.

And finally, let's guarantee equal pay for women once and for all.

I can just envision the tweets Donald is putting together. And Donald Trump can accuse me of playing "the woman card" all he wants. If fighting for equal pay and paid family leave is playing the woman card, then deal me in.

And I'll tell you, these aren't just my fights. These are Bernie's fights. These are America's fights. And I feel with all my being, these are fights we have to wage and win together.

As Bernie and his supporters have argued so eloquently, we won't get anywhere unless we overhaul our campaign finance system.

It is past time to end the stranglehold of wealthy special interests in Washington, and get back to government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

That's why as president from my very first days, I'll make campaign finance reform a top priority. We will do everything we can to overturn Citizens United. And we will require everybody—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, whoever—to disclose all of their donors.

And while we're at it, we are going to create a small-donor matching system to make it easy for more Americans to be elected at every level of government. Because just like Bernie, I've met so many impressive people here in New Hampshire with great ideas for our country. I want to see you run for office and win.

And here's another radical idea: Let's make it easier to vote, not harder. Let's fight back against attacks on voting rights across the country—attacks that disproportionately affect low-income voters, people of color, students, the elderly, and women.

That means we need to restore the Voting Rights Act and then keep going. All Americans should be automatically registered to vote on their 18th birthday. Every state should have at least 20 days of in-person voting. And no one in America should ever have to wait more than 30 minutes to cast their ballot.

So Senator Sanders and I will be working to get unaccountable money out of politics and the voices of everyday Americans back in.

Because as Bernie has said: This isn't a progressive issue. It's not a conservative issue. It's an American issue.

And let me close with this: To everyone here and everyone across the country who poured your heart and soul into Senator Sanders' campaign, thank you. Thank you. I was proud of the campaign we ran, it was a campaign about issues not insults. And our country desperately needs your voices and involvement and so does this campaign and so does the Democratic Party. Because you know what? We need to take back the Senate and take back the House and make sure we have Democratic governors and Democratic state legislators. Let's open the doors to everyone who shares our progressive values.

This is one of the most important elections in our lifetimes. So I'm asking you to stand with us. And then, I'm asking you to keep working with me in the weeks, months, and, yes, years ahead. You will always have a seat at the table when I'm in the White House.

As Bernie will tell you, talk is cheap. We need to keep fighting to make sure everything we've stood for is real in the lives of people across America.

This amazing country of ours is worthy of our best efforts. This election, let's send a clear message: In America, we don't tear each other down—we lift each other up. We build bridges, not walls. We put common interest ahead of self-interest. We stand together because we're stronger together.

So I need your help. Please join this campaign. Make it your own. You can take out your phone right now and text JOIN, J-O-I-N, to 47246. Or go to hillaryclinton.com. We accept $27 donations, too, you know.

I can't tell you how grateful I am to be standing here with Senator Sanders. Because I think both of us realize that each of our campaigns together represent the best of who we are. And now it is time for us to take that message to the rest of the country. I am fully aware that the other side will do everything possible to distort, to misinform, and we can't let that happen. We have to be standing up and fighting for the America that we know we can create together. I am confident and optimistic about our future, particularly when it comes to young people. I think America's best years are still ahead of us. So join with us. Let's make this happen together and win the election!

Thank you very much!