Women for Hillary Clinton Launch - Sept. 16, 2015

We're riled up today! So what do you think, this is pink power! Good morning, Portsmouth, and thank you for sharing part of your Labor Day weekend with us. Before we begin, I just want to take a minute and introduce the members of my big family who are here with us today. My husband Billy, and with him is Stacy and Stephanie, who you already saw, and Molly and her new husband Hugh, and four of our grandchildren, Ellie, Caroline, Anna and Will, all visiting. Yes, we have seven actually. Hillary has a ways to go to catch us.

I'm here today to endorse my friend Hillary Clinton for President. And we are all here to kick off Women for Hillary. Women are standing with Hillary, because Hillary stands with women. On issue, after issue, from equal pay, to reproductive rights, to childcare, she's always been there and she always will be. I think that it's appropriate that we launched Women for Hillary today, on the 20th anniversary of a speech the First Lady Hillary Clinton made in Beijing. Where she declared human rights are women's rights, our women's rights are human rights, once and for all. Hillary's clarion call, two decades ago, was a Seminole moment for women and girls around the world. That speech had two great impacts. First, it put the world on notice that the United States was going to fully integrate women's rights into our foreign policy. Years later as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton again made women's rights a centerpiece of her tenure. Second, Hillary's words that day gave hope to millions of women and girls around the world, who heard the First Lady of the United States say, you matter and we will fight for you. To me that moment really captures Hillary Clinton. She is a voice for the voiceless, someone who always chooses to lift people up rather than tear people down. Hillary understands that words do matter, they matter for the First Lady and they definitely matter for the President of the United States.

The Presidency requires someone to be judicious and temperate, but sadly we're not seeing much of that in the republican presidential primary. You know, you've been watching, right? The Republican primary has turned into a round the clock spectacle, of scapegoating and name-calling. That's not the America I want for my children and grandchildren. We need a president who speaks to our highest ideals, not to our basic instincts. It's not surprising that some Republican candidates have saved their most outrageous attacks for Hillary. Here's a little secret they should know, Hillary is as tough as they come. We have seen her toughness, again and again, as First Lady, as senator, as secretary of state, and in these difficult times we need a president who was tough, not a bully with a glass jaw. So, when it comes to being attacked by the republican field, Hillary's in good company. She will proudly stand with women. She will proudly stand with Latino Americans. She will proudly stand with the LGBT community. She will proudly stand with teachers. She will proudly stand with the hard workingmen and women of labor. Now, Hillary doesn't look for a fight, but neither will she shrink from one if the cause is right.

Now, I'm a proud democrat, like so many of us here, and we have some really fine people running in the democratic primary. They have great ideas, and they have lots of passion, and they will enrich this race. But I choose Hillary, not because she's a woman candidate, although I think it will be pretty great to have the first woman president, I choose Hillary because I know her, and I trust her. I trust her to tackle the big challenges that we face in this country, from ISIS in Iran, to pay equity and the high costs of college. Whether leading foreign policy, or domestic policy, Hillary is equal to the task. No one else running for President has the depth of knowledge, and experience that she has.

I trust Hillary to fight for the middle class because it's what she's always done. Whether fighting for equal pay, affordable child-care, or paid family leave, she has always been a champion of middle-class families. Hillary has a plan to make college affordable, so that students aren't saddled with debt. She won't grandstand or fear monger on immigration, but she'll reach across the aisle and fix that broken system. Hillary believes in science and she will work to combat climate change. She will never back down on women's reproductive rights, and I guarantee you that Hillary Clinton is never going to defund Planned Parenthood. Nobody is better to represent the United States on the world's stage than Hillary Clinton. So for all of those reasons, I'm a woman for Hillary. She has tested, she is our champion, and she is our friend. So please welcome the next President of the United States, Hillary Clinton.

Speech from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4-AhrQjTwM.