without further ado, let me to deuce to you -- let me introduce you to her. [applause] >> good evening. , many of yourtues already know this, that i am most admire and respect his courage. ironically, it is one that we often talk about, yet see very little, especially in today's clinical leaders. in just a few moments, we will hear from a man who's personal journey is one of tragedies and triumphs, and undeniable courage. regardless of who you are or where you come from, his story is compelling. it is one that resonates in some way with each and every one of us.

we were first introduced to 1972. biden back in i wasn't. when he defeated a popular incumbent to become one of the youngest members ever elected to the united states senate at the age of 29 years old. big six weeks after his win, before he had a chance to even be sworn in, he suffered a devastating loss with his wife , andaughter were killed his two boys injured in a car accident. how he could go one was uncertain. he knew that somehow he had to. that he truly understood what his dad meant when he said the art of living is simply getting up after you have been knocked down.

, courage,he strength and faith to get up. he stayed at his boy's bedside until they had fully recovered, and was actually sworn into united states senate right there in their hospital room. he got up, and he found love again. -- are, he married distinguished second lady. they were blessed with a beautiful daughter. athough washington was backdrop to his new career, his family was always center stage. he vowed be home every evening with his family and took more than 14,000 train trips between dc and delaware during his 36 years in the senate. amazing. you would not know what it today. he stuttered like i am doing as a child. he refused to let that be a handicap.

he got up. he practices speech daily. --il he overcame the problem that is kurds. -- that is courage and fortitude. after surviving a near fatal brain aneurysm, and he derailed president shall bid in 1988, he got up again and faced tremendous personal and political challenges, with the kind of strength and courage that ignites hope and optimism in all of us. joe biden didn't stop there. while serving in the u.s. senate, he dared to venture into what had been traditionally been considered a private family matter. one is near and dear to my heart. judiciary, hee championed lammert legislation known as the violence against women act of 1994. [applause] , my postf his efforts

law school career began in 1997 as director of the south carolina attorney general program. when set was number one in the nation for women murder by abuse of harder -- abusive partners, -- joe biden became one of our nation's strongest voices, working across the aisle and across the globe to build and strengthen relationships, protect our citizens, and our fear him -- and our freedom. 's vice president, his ability to connect with and understand the needs of ordinary, everyday people is a quality that is a rare at that level of government. israel.ity

it is not the nets are made up. joe biden genuinely cares about people. he always looks for the good in others. fast-forward to unprecedented challenges, fiscal cliff's, furloughs, and sequestration. mass -- add to that shootings and washington gridlock's. one thing is obvious. joe biden's ability to get up, connect, and look for the good in others is precisely what this country needs, and is a lesson for all political leaders to follow. his passion for fighting the good fight and never giving up is one of the many reasons i respect, admire, and love him. i would like to thank -- think

that when it comes to his tenacity, the vice president and i are kindred spirits. ladies and gentlemen, let's all get up and welcome our vice president, joe biden. [applause] >> hello, follow us -- folks. how are you? it is an honor to be here. lees, sit down. thank you very much. thank you for that. thank you for that introduction.

for the job you're doing now as a state representative, and for the work you didn is that is arest d dearest to my heart, you make us all proud. it is good to be with you. i have an admission to make. we are actually friends. i hope it does not hurt his reputation. not onlybeen there for the folks here in south carolina, but for the national ticket. you been there for every democrat around the country. i do not know anyone who was more effective in helping us. jim, thank you for the invitation. he called and asked i was willing to do this. i said, jim, i love going to south carolina. as is i show up, the press will --coming down saying what

abiding get ready. -- biden is getting ready. i'm delighted to be back in. i watch a tribute to you, jim. 'll they captures i got started in 1972. when south carolina had leaders in both parties that were nationally known. they were just south carolina senators and governors. they were nationally known. set aere people who had standard for an awful lot of -- and both parties. his heart and soul is here in south carolina. everywhere i go around the country, in the last two aroundns, as i travel

the world, everybody knows it jim. i mean that sincerely. they know him, they respect him. this guy has the backbone like a ramrod. there's two things you have to know about him. [applause] there is two things you should know. one is he is smarter than you. givesher one is he never up. jim, you provide so much help for so many candidates all across the country. i do not think folks know. you are not only the number three man the congress, you are one of the leading voices in the democratic party nationwide. it is an honor. [applause] i was going to say, as i look

out into the audience, i really can't see the audience, but i tookfrom the folks i pictures with earlier, one of the great advantages of being around a while is i have been coming coming to south carolina since 1973. i have made some of the dearest and closest friends in my political career, but personally. one of the things that happens when you try to run in a national ticket is you go around the country. the countryee anyway you never would. you get to meet friends who are lifelong friends. nothing to do with politics, they would be there. they would be there. i do not want to start naming names.

there is an awful lot of you who have been so good to me my whole career. i really mean that. the manetter to me than i'm going to talk about any second. another man i got to know early on, who is again one of those and national figures everybody knew. everybody knew what he was about. you were noty, , you haveat governor a moral compass that is hard to match. want me know that you to say this. enough time has gone past by to protect us both. in theiven the authority clinton administration to call the governor and try to talk him into going on to the supreme court of the united state of america. the governor of the court would have been better off if you were

there. your decision. we miss you, old buddy. we miss you. purpose thatng never strayed. now -- no one ever wondered when the stood up and took floor, that john was saying exactly withuth, the facts were, and he was laying out straight up. that is why he was so respect on both sides of the aisle. [applause] a lot of other old friends prefigured for the great job you've done for us. my old friend in steve benjamin, thank you for the past work to get to.

thank you for introducing me to your mom. now i understand you are they man you are. -- not understand why you are the man you are. if you excuse the point of personal privilege, the man that i admire more than any other man that i have served with, and i hate to admit this, but as a historian pointed out when i was elected my seventh term and -- the senate historian came into tried to make me feel better and said thereu should know that is only 15 people in america who have ever served as long as he did. but the point i am making is, i have known a lot of. --ave known more senators

there has never been a better man. there is never been a man with more flat-out courage and tell like it is and fits holland's dan fritz hollings. my early start. there is only once reason i came to the senate. i wasn't going to be sworn in. there were three people in my life at the time. one was a guy who had more integrity in his little finger than most people have in their whole body. another one was a guy who was named fritz hollings.

they get me engaged. you forme we just need six months. you can leave after that. was part of a group of five senators that would go to dinner with their spouses. it sounds corny. they help save my life. when no man deserves one great love, let alone to, when i met , i gotnd we got married a call from fritz. he said, i want to have a little

get gather to introduce the colleagues to jill. petes own expense, he and see had every member of the supreme court had the members of the cabinet, and he put on a reception for me so everybody could meet jill. every stage of my career, both the high points and the low points, you have been them. when people say why does joe biden, why is he so blunt? i sat next to fritz 430 two years. what do you expect me to be? what do you expect? i learned from the best. meant ever doubted fritz what he said. never. you taught me a lot.

i make no apologies for trying to be a little bit like you. thank you, buddy. thank you for being here tonight. it is great to be back in south carolina. i mean that seriously. as i have said, i have forged relationships. if i would do his eulogy. the place of the senate used to be a place where you could actually take a look and try to find the best in other people. eulogy.rom thurmond's you can do that, you've got to do mine. i said, i will be gone before you fritz. all kidding aside, our member the days we came to work. we worked together. no matter how deep the philosophic differences were,

it is good to be back in south carolina knowing you're about to get another democratic rational see in the first district rate audited to do was watch that debate to understand why elizabeth is going to make make such a great congresswoman. they see nothing yet. nothing yet. i want to focus on one thing for your permission. why are you most democrats? why are you democrats question mark there is one thing we all have in common with all the differences among us. at the core thing of who we are. it is our absolute. are committed to the middle class. we know this country is built on the backs, the shoulders of the middle class. we know that when the new class

does well, everyone does well. the wealthy get wealthier, the poor have a way up. when the middle-class is not ,rowing, the poor are damned and the middle-class are stuck. ladies and gentlemen, you saw what happens with the policies we have to put up with someone you watch there middle-class shrink three people having trouble they never had before. , i have a whole bunch of them. they will talk to but the middle-class in terms of the dollar number. they will say the middle-class .s $49,494 middle-class is it a number. it is a value set. it is a way of mind. it would make the people in delaware not a single bit different from the people in

south carolina. it is about being able to own your own home, not just rent it. it is about being able to send kid to a good school in a neighborhood where it is safe. --is about send hearing sending your kid to college. i have not found any distinctions anywhere in the world, anywhere in this country. it is about knowing you can do that. it is about been able to take care of your parents when they get old, and hope that you won't have to have your kid take care of you. where i come from, the strength beingaware, that is what middle-class means. it is being able to care for your family. it is being able to hold your head high. all of a sudden, all of a

sudden, since the last election, here are republicans talking about how much they value the middle-class. they do. i bet they are talking of the middle-class. i do not want to make any news tonight. , -- i'm going to be good tonight. .e knew my dad he has a picture which i now have. i still have it. it is hanging in my library. gentle, good man. my dad had an expression. youaid, "don't tell me what

value. it show me your budget, and i will tell you what you value." don't tell me how you care about the elderly. don't tell me -- show me your budget. let's take a look at the other team's budget. we will find a with a value. jim will tell you, they passed a budget in the house of representatives. the ryan budget. the republican budget. the budget they passed is absolutely no different than the one they passed last year, the one they passed the year before and the year before that. you've got to give them credit for consistency. -- they cut 21

million people out of medicaid. what they do not tell you is that it is not all poor folks have never had a job. these are the widows of middle- class backgrounds who are in nursing homes today only because of medicaid. where will they go? what will they do? who will care for them? tens of thousands of middle- class families in america, struggling with children of autism. that extra health care for medicaid. pay their taxes. they continue to pay their taxes. what are they supposed to do now? how do they make it up? medicare. republicans say they are going to say that. we're glad to say that. the the truth is, they want to get rid of it. that is not an exaggeration rate with a want to do, they come

back and say put us in charge. we were up -- we will replace that thing you work for your whole life. here the they're going to do. they will give you a voucher. they will say to your mom, here is a coupon. literally. that is what it is. you get a coupon worth x amount of dollars. when you hit that number, you are finished. the congressional budget office look at their first proposal. they said it would cost the 6005 hundredr dollars more a year to get the same health care they are getting now. where are these guys from? i'm being serious. where are they from? what don't they understand?

-- whatender stand don't they understand about those decent americans who paid their whole life, who built this country, who fought in wars. the 75 euros think is going to get another $6,500 to get the same health care they have now? we have a gentlemen, totally different view. we strengthen medicare. 20s.tend its life into the we have expanded and extended and paid for changes in medicaid. localthey did in a -- they did education. their budget that they are andting for the devil for, i bet they are making a case for this, they/elementary and secondary education.

to one or 30,000 kids will be thrown off of head start. 29,000 special education teachers for special education lose their jobs. because of jim's leadership, -- how is to 9000 that not good for america? at not good for america? as emily knows, we are big phil -- we're are big fans. we have had the honor of having emily at the house. she knows joe. my wife teaches full-time. she's the first second lady to ever have a full-time job as a teacher. she teaches 15 credits a semester.

that is why she is not here with me tonight. she will have an expression. any country that educates us double outcompete us. am can tell you both as teacher and as a nation leading democrat, all the education gap ,hey talk about, all that gap it exists before the kid steps into the first classroom. that is why the president inposes that every child america has access to regain -- pre-k. every one of the studies shows that you give a kid the front end of a solid start when they are five years old. it increases exponentially the prospect they were graduate. it increases the prospect they

will not get in trouble or be arrested. it increases exponentially the prospects of making it through. tellis why we spend grants. as we continue to call for the tax credit for middle-class families. do you know where we rank in the world? 17th, after all the nations in the world that we are competing with. we rank 17th. we used to be number one. how can we win the competition in the 21st century if we do not change that? ladies and gentlemen, republicans talk about the middle class and how they care about us.

do you hear them talking about safe neighborhoods? why do they cut the crime bill? money for cops question mark why today zero it out? because of the recession they -- we repair it did -- because of the recession we're inherited. surprise surprise, crime is up. surprised we have a problem. cuts 4800 budget prison agents, 3500 guards. that means you're going to have two early release convicted felons. they're going to make the neighborhood i grew up in safer? ladies and gentlemen, we have different ideas. we want to give the cities and counties those 15,000 support

they need. look at what is going on now. these are the same guys, the members have not been increased much. they have to deal with what? a big chunk of their time is dealing with terrorism. a whole new responsibility. these guys cut the resources? and tell you how much they care? they care? about keeping your neighborhood safe? -- it makes a difference how you your neighborhood looks like. roads, bridges, ports. republican budget called for? no money for infrastructure. tax breaks for companies that

,ontinue to shift jobs overseas which you have learned a lot about. who retrainrams people who lost those jobs for new industries and new high-tech jobs. --father, everybody wondered brock talks about me being -- they name the sound guy was a kid he climbed out of the coal mine with a lunch pocket in my hand. the truth is, my dad after the war didn't have a job to raise his family on. like a lot of your families, we moved to wilmington, delaware. i will he back a year. he came on every weekend. he found a good job. he brought us down. s andat time on, my brother useisters, my dad would

the phone expression -- a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. it is about your dignity. it is about your respect. your sense of your self-worth. i do not think those guys understand that. it is not just a paycheck. it is about who we are. it is not being able to hold your head up. you do not have to care for your family. you can't do that without being able to make a decent wage, with a decent standard of living. van slowly pushed in the beginning to bring manufacturing back home. we created 500,000 more manufacturing jobs over their injections -- objections. [applause] thousand six and a high-tech jobs in america that

remain open today. we do not have the trained personnel for them. that is why with jim's leadership, we have been out there making businesses with community colleges and they tell us what you need. there is a great big new plant alln michigan, hiring kinds of people. decent wages. ,ive siemens coming down opening of a brand is facility. why? because we have the best universities in the best community colleges in the world. we are training them. these guys voted against all that. they have tried to illuminate this program. that is why we continue to insist on investing in infrastructure. good decent paying jobs. the increased productivity. they make us more competitive. no one knows better than fritz and jim who have served.

no one knows that better than the folks in south carolina. you understand what we need to upgrade our infrastructure. why we have to invest in the port of charleston. [applause] i'm serious. here is what is happening. the panama canal has been widened. you have these massive ships a book to come through now. guess what? most of the ports and the east coast cannot accommodate them. if they can, it is real jobs and real money. it is real dignity return to people. -- jim and i have had countless conversations. we're going to get you money for the port of charleston. this guy is relentless. i mean it. at the end of the day, this is

all about the reason i love this guy. it is all about according people the dignity they deserve. that means a fighting chance. -- a decent job. i know a lot of you heard about how china is going to eat our lunch. give me a break. give me a break. , thereakes is a second is a company that point out something very basic. american workers, south carolina workers, are three times of productive as any workers in china. as a fact. that is not chauvinism. that is a fact. are moreompanies innovative.

including in china. how many times have you heard speeches down here of someone standing up and saying china produces six times as many engineers as we have? they do. that theye product are brought the international market? name me one innovative change they have made? why? because in order to innovate, you have to challenge your orthodoxy. you have to challenge what went before. you cannot do that in a country that does not allow you to .reathe free and speak openly dazzle makes us who we are. -- that is what makes us who we are. i do not have a doubt in my mind that we will continue to be the world's leading economy in this decade. we want the chinese economy to grow. -- threes in china,

years ago said they wanted me to get to know the vice president was now the president. i spent 10 days with him. i had to go over to china after our republican friends calls art national rating to be downgraded. i went to china and they talked about how we understand you might come back. i stood in the great all of the people with the president of china and said we appreciate your concern, but there is no need for you to come by. of ally owe one percent the financial insurance in this country. at me remind you, it is never

good bet to bet against america. never. why? we have a strongest middle class in the world. i will in this. i can go on for a long time about this. hasare public and budget more of the same breed protecting tax break for the wealthy. i felt we have been there before. we saw that before. we know how it ends. in their budget, they have called for continuing a $4.5 billion tax break for oil companies who made more than $90 billion in profits. they continue. for call for a new tax cut a two under $45,000 a year average tax cut for people making more than $1 million. dazzle is what they are calling for.

is what they are calling for. we're not going going back. that is why we insisted in this last thing, i/o is to be the -- bearer of bad news. [laughter] the last one was not a bad deal. we insisted that people at the top bracket go back to what they were paying before. .ot as a punishment and it was over 40 ceos. they all agree the numbers should go up. it raised $600 billion and cut our deficit by another 600 billion dollars. folks, look. if you're coning cut on the middle class, why do they do it?

it is hard to believe this but these guys are proposing. in order to provide for these that is thecuts, only way they can do it. other than ballooning the deficit even more than they already have. that is why they talk about it the way they do. that is why they call for these cuts to the middle class. by the way, they talk a lot about deficits. let me take what gemini congress have done. we have reduced the deficit already by $2.5 trillion. the proposal is to gain another $1.5 trillion. the difference is we do it fair. that will get us to the magic number. every economist to talk to will tell you if you get that to gdp below three percent, that is

when things take off. that is exactly what the president's raposo will do. it will get it down to 2.1%. you do not have to break the back of the middle class to have this country grow. the only way you can make it grow is to give it a chance. like you, i believe in the future of this country. some people say i'm an optimist. the white house optimist, like i'm the new play -- nook in the place. the new kid in the place. i know the journey of this country. never have the american people, never ever have the american people let us down. they are not asking for anything special. the american people are are only asking for what they paid for. just give them a fighting chance. be know, you can't

outcompeted. you can't out innovate us. you can't out produce us. no country in the world has the capacity to do that. they really don't. both are enterprises and entrepreneurs, are people, how productive they are. let me conclude by saying, one of the things that bothers me the most about the new republican party is how down on america they are. how down on our prospects they are. have a talk about how we are getting clobbered. how they talk about things that make no relationship to reality. also they can ensure the very few the top are wealthy. they are not bad guys pretty believe it. he actually believed if you free

up completely the top one percent, somehow all of this will trickle down. it never has. never will. buyer public in colleagues talk about is being in decline. let me remind them. it is never in the history of this country a good bet to bet against the american people. the middle class is coming back. the american people are coming back. the country is coming back. , am absolutely positive absolutely positive -- not because of barack obama and joe biden, but because of the nature of the american people, if we continue to give them have a chance, have a chance, we will maintain the dominant economy in the world and for us to do with the world needs done, we need to be the dominant economy. that's the only thing that

allows us to do what we do do in our foreign policy and our national security. ,olks, as my grandpa would say keep the faith. america is on his way back. god bless you, and may god bless our troops. [applause] >> so, how about that? how about that? [applause] it is easy to understand why when george bush and his cronies about cratered this country, and unemployment was

going through the roof, the banks, the financial institutions were cratering, why barack obama and joe biden could turn that catastrophe around. it wasn't easy. are very -- these guys good. very good. [applause] thank you for being here tonight. thank you for imparting this message of hope that the sky is not falling. that is appropriate. they think the sky is falling. we are here tonight to celebrate 20 years of service by jim clyburn. either member in 1992 after the inauguration wondering across the street. i ran into this kind was

looking around. he did did not know where he was supposed to be. it was jim. lost up there. he said i am supposed to be in this building. i do not know where it is. athink somebody -- you are congressman. somebody will tell you where you need to be. . am proud to know jim i am proud to have known him for 30 years. i am proud of the job he has done representing the state and his country. i want to present to jim this .lack -- this plaque more morally, i want to -- the unparalleled effort to try to make sure that this in southass, even here grows.a, somehow

let me introduce to you our congressman, my friend, jim clyburn. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. , thank youiendship so much for your stewardship of this great party that we all love so much. senator hollings, governor joaquin castro. to all of you who have meant so

ich to me for so many years, started my trek with the south carolina democratic party back in the 1960s. i came out first to the .emocratic convention here it was on the occasion that i met -- who i think is your tonight. through the young dems together. i thank him for his friendship as well. i think ernest tenenbaum for the great work she has done in

washington. i know how much she wants to be back home. i welcome her back with the rest of you. i want to take emily, who i met on march 15, 1960. i remember it so well. the uniqueness of the situation that brought us together. a jailhouse. that longr for stewardship of more than 50 years. it now goes well -- if all goes well, we will celebrate after the second wedding anniversary. wedding anniversary.

i think my children. , want to thank the youngest .ngela, her husband cecil .ennifer and her husband their daughter is here. the me, two days ago president nominated her to be .he interim chair [applause] -- i think her.

to thetly submitted of mymy rendition memoirs. "blessedentitled experiences." thateason i call the book is because when i was growing hismy father used to spend sundayys preparing for services. .e would read all day walk throughout the humming the song

"blessing assurance." thatled those memoirs because i grew up with unique and memorable experiences. know what it is like to sleep three in a bad. i know what it is like to wake up 3:00 in the morning knowing was well that warm feeling not liquid sunshine. i know what it is like to stand out in your yard and watch the insulation of indoor plumbing. -- the installation of indoor plumbing. i know what it is like to watch myeloma.r died from

knowing full well that you couldn't do anything about it. i know what it is like to watch her first grandchild, three months before he is expected. and have three operations before he is 10 pounds. to watchat it is like for a bypasst surgery. i know it is like to watch your wife take four shots a day fighting off the ravages.

i took all those experiences to washington with me, and i will tell you what, i do not care what they say, i do not care what they write, i will never forget those experiences and every time there is a decision to be made, i will keep those experiences in the forefront. [applause] sat in the, when we private dining room adjacent to the oval office, the president what heng to us one day thought we needed to do, in the

all ahead, i said to him that is fine, by have to have some help. we've got to do something about the south carolina ports authority. -- youber the president have heard all kinds of reports about how that money for the study got into the budget. your marks.f we do not get rid of presidential earmarks. [applause] i will never forget on that day, president barack obama looked

and at vice president biden said, joe, let's get it done. [applause] what you're the vice president tonight about what needs to be done down the south carolina -- and we have to do both. when you their vice president talk about that, he is not talking. .e has walked the walk i want to say to all of you tonight, no matter what they are telling you, price -- joe biden got the money for the ports study. that is how it happened. [applause]

i think him for his friendship. i want to thank him for accepting the invitation to be here tonight. i love this guy. when is not a single time i walked into his office or a single time where i have picked up the phone and called him when he did not respond positively. i have yet -- he may not respond as quickly as i like. but i have yet to see a time when he has denied me one single request i have made for this state. i think him so much for being here tonight. so much for being here tonight. [applause]

have been as years lot of fun. some trials.n there have been some tribulations. successes.been some i want to thank you for giving me the opportunity. i want each and every one of you to know that every day that i you are on my mind. [applause] every day, i think about this state. i think about these people. that i willp hoping

withup in the morning, enough energy and enough innovation to make each and every one of you proud. thank you so much. each and every one of you. [applause] , thankes and gentlemen you for coming this evening. this concludes our program. i want to thank the vice president for being here tonight. [applause] .o to the fish fry it is that by the stadium. mr. vice president, thank you for coming to south airliner. thank you for what you do. keep on doing it. [applause] >> vice president joe biden in

south carolina. they are recognizing jim clyburn. we will take you live in colombia to the state ted cruzds, with prayed we will tell you -- we will show you all of it. >> i think you misunderstood my question. i was not asking about propriety. you are the chief legal officer for the united states of america. does the just this apartment fast as the justice department have a position to use a droning killing u.s. citizens question mark -- citizens question mark -- citizens? he said it would not be appropriate. three times he went back and forth. i do not understand this constitution to which you refer. [laughter]

13 hour filibuster that day, one senator after another and another came to the floor of the senate and plenty of house members came to the floor of the senate. thousands upon founders -- thousands upon thousands of people got online and got on twitter and stood for liberty. next day, thee obama administration was forced to do what it refused to do for three straight weeks, which is admit in writing, no, the constitution does not let us kill a u.s. citizen on u.s. soil with a drone. [applause] the 10th be defending amendment. one of the most critical elements of doing that is we should grieve feel -- we should repeal every single word of obamacare. [applause] to me take the opportunity

salute your governor, nikki haley, for having the courage to say no to expanding medicaid in obamacare. [applause] ,outh carolina has a tradition a long tradition of producing fighters. nikki haley is a rockstar. thank you, governor. [applause] as itow, with obamacare gets implemented, it is getting less and less popular. more more people are be lazing it simply is not working. a couple of weeks ago, the senior democrat who was the principal architect of obamacare said that obamacare was becoming a "train wreck." i agree with that democratic senator. of one of my heroes, a former senator from the state of texas.

[applause] was participating in a hearing on socialized medicine. andpanel was explaining talking about socialized medicine. senator graham said, you know, i feel confident that i care about our kids more than anybody else does. one of the witnesses on the panel said, with all due respect him as senator, i care about your kids as much as you do. senator graham looked at him and said, really? what are their names? [laughter] there is almost no limit for what this president and this administration think the federal government can do. we have got to get back to the u.s. constitution. we have get back to limits on federal government our and back to our freedom.

the third principle of the american spirit is growth. i think the very top priority of every elected official is restoring economic growth. you know in the last four years our economy has grown 0.9%. 0.9%. there is only one other time since world war ii where we had less than 1% growth. of the jimmy carter administration, the same failed economic policy. out-of-control spending and debt and taxes. it led to the exact same stagnation. to solvingundamental our problems. if they want to get those 23 million people back to work, we need growth. if you want to turn around our

unsustainable deficits and debt, we have got to have growth. if you want to ensure that we maintain the strongest military in the world to defend our national security, we must have growth. i think growth should be a bipartisan. there's no reason why we cannot be working side-by-side to get our economy going again and to build the keystone pipeline and push for tax reform and get small businesses moving. [applause] you know, a couple of days ago, observed the president is having a hard time shutting down guantánamo. i have got an idea. doesould do what he always

and tax it out of existence. it would be gone in weeks, days. we need growth. the fourth and final thing that we need is opportunity. growth is fundamental for so many reasons. the most important is that growth produces opportunities. i have been argan for what i call opportunity conservatism -- for a long time i have been calling opportunity conservatism. every policy we think and talk about should focus like a laser on opportunity. easing access to the economic ladder. the greatest engine of prosperity and opportunity and wealth creation is the free market system of the united states of america. [applause] we tell you something, there's no member of the u.s. senate to understand that better than

senator tim scott. [applause] i love senator tim scott. let me tell you one of the reasons. he understands in his gut that if you are struggling to climbed economic ladder, the only thing that has ever worked as a free- market system that allows small businesses to prosper and allows people to stand on their own two feet that does not breed dependency, but encourages people to work and stand on their own two feet and strive for the american dream. i love listening to senator scott talked about -- talked about when he was in high school. he says he was close to flunking out of high school. he had failed come as he put it, both english and spanish -- he had failed, as he put it, both english and spanish. english andl both

spanish, they do not say you are bilingual. [laughter] he tells a powerful story of meeting a man who he describes as his mentor. he owned a couple of chick-fil-a franchises. he brought him under his wing and he said, the path you are on will not take you to where you want to be. that is not how you get to the american dream. if you want to get to prosperity, you have to rely on hard work. discipline. apply yourself in school. create a small business. create jobs. you have to take advantage of the incredible opportunities in this country. that is tim scott's life. that is opportunity we should champion every single day. [applause] you know, the unemployment we

see in this economy does not fall uniformly over the population. it falls most severely on the most vulnerable of us. if you have got a college degree, unemployment right now is 3.8%. that isn't pretty robust labor market. if you do not have a high school degree, an appointment is over 12%. african americans 14%. , overpeople aged 16-19 25%. one third of young people are moving back in with their parents. one third. the obama economy that people are being hit the worst our moms comele, single african-americans, hispanics, those trying to climb the economic ladder. as republicans, we should be challenging the way you achieve

prosperity by having economic growth that allows many people to come with nothing and achieve anything. i have to say when i talk , it isnity, in my life not some abstract concept you read about in a book. it is a reality we all live. .y dad is from cuba he was born in cuba and grew up in cuba. as a kid, my dad fought in the cuba revolution. when he was a teenager, he was thrown in prison and tortured. he was beaten almost to death. he fled cuba in 1957. he was 18 years old. he came to texas. when he arrived, he could not speak english. he had nothing except for $100 sony into his underwear and a

hise ruler -- sewn into underwear and a slide ruler in his pocket. when i talk to young people, they have no idea what a slide ruler is. [laughter] he works seven days a week and paid his way through the university of texas. he went on to start a small business. he worked for the american dream. , my father used to say to me over and over again, when we lost our freedom i had to fled to freedom. if we lose our freedom here, where will we go? been my hero my whole life. what i find most incredible about his story is how commonplace it is. every one of us could come up here one after the other and

tell a story just like that. of thosel the children who risked everything for freedom. that is the most fundamental dna of what it means to be an american. that is why we're here tonight siding -- fighting to take our country back. i want to make two final points. happens quickly. a lot of republicans are demoralized about november 2012. i want to remind you of 2005. in 2005, george w. bush had been reelected president. republicans had control of both the house and the senate and a large majority of the governorships. democrats were going on television and publicly talked republicanrmanent majority." that was 2005.

thousand six milan congress. 2008, barack obama got elected 2006, we lost congress. 2008, barack obama got elected. change will come quickly. , am convinced with your help we will take back the u.s. senate. [applause] many of you have cell phones on you? take your cell phones off -- out. 33733.e word "growth" to "growth" to 33733. the senates to take

back in 2014. stand together. we're going to take the senate back and stand in the senate and fight together to defend our liberty. the last thing i want to say is an observation. ronald reagan famously said, freedom is not passed down in the blood. instead every generation has to stand and fight for it and preserve it. that is what we are called upon to do tonight. i will share with you the words that were written by a native south airline in -- carolinan. fellows as follows -- citizens and compatriots, i'm besieged by thousand or more. i have sustained a continual

bombardment for 24 hours and have not lost a man. the enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion. otherwise they will be put to the sword. i have answered with a cannon shot. our flag still waves proudly from the walls. i shall never surrender or retreat. that i call on you in the name of liberty, which are to them, and of everything dear to the american character to come to our aid with all dispatch. is neglected, i'm determined to sustain myself as long as possible and i like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country. victory or death.

a native of south carolina and a texas hero. like every man and woman here, someone stood up and put it all on the line, fighting for liberty, fighting for this country we love. thank you and god bless you. [cheers and applause] .> senator ted cruz [cheers and applause] now you know why america is talking about him. but notnot know this, putting any pressure on you, but we have high expectations. we expect you back in the state quite a bit. thank you for the keynote. a small token of our appreciation. thank you. god bless. >> thank you. >> this is our dad.

one i talked about jobs or economic policy? this is your guy -- want to talk about jobs economic policy? this is your guy. he does exactly what he says he will do. >> ahem. >> i'm sorry. did you want to say something? >> yeah. i approve this message. from texas heard senator ted cruz. he was keynoting this republican party event called the silver elephant dinner. the fundraiser they had. they're paying tribute to a former senator. we should do ago, vice president joe biden speaking at the democrats dinner in columbia south carolina. that was a tribute and a fundraiser. here is what we're going to do.

we will open up the phone lines and get your thoughts on 2016. the numbers to use our -- you can also weigh in on twitter. #c-span. facebook.com/c-span. we will read some post and take your calls and tweets. we showed about 20 minutes worth of ted cruz's speech. that will be coming up shortly. you will be able to see the entire gop event later in our programming scheduling. you can find both of tonight events from south carolina on our video library at c-span.org.

take a look at a couple of posts on facebook. the question was, who is your choice in 2016? "will one from denise -- c-span cover all presidential hopefuls? larry johnson says -- omg! are you kidding? justbout we let our elected president be president for a full year first. let's go to alabama. democrats land. -- line.hi there. -- line. hi there. i was just listening to ted cruz and joe biden. their commentaries are like night and day. you think night and day. what a particular struck you?

what issue that are completely opposite? caller: joe biden is more about unification and ted cruz is just upset. like you want to invoke some kind of prejudice. after no. -- i don't know. host: let's hear from a republican. west virginia. caller: how are you doing? host: good. fine. ,aller: the republican party they really need to get united with one another. they keep mentioning ronald reagan. in my view, he was one of the worst presidents we ever had. .e created the dea and others

on the democrat line, all they want to do is criticize and stuff instead of working with republicans. it takes two parties to make this country strong. .e're sitting back and watching they should be working together. this is still one country, the united states of america. that is not, and. host: -- that is my comment about it. host: thank you. here is nancy pelosi. a headline in huffington post

-- nancy pelosi says hillary clinton would be best qualified to run in 2016. ,he former secretary of state hillary clinton, would be the most qualified potential nominee. run inys for her to 2016. that is from nancy pelosi. , the former a poll secretary of state hillary clinton would get 67% of the democratic voters. new jersey. who is your choice for 2016? do you have one yet? , these two know .arties are so partisan so loses? the american public.

-- who loses? the american public. host: is there an independent who can bridge the gap? caller: i hope there is one. host: that is joe biden on the screen. we will show all of that to you in a little bit on c-span as well as ted cruz's entire speech. we caught the last 20 minutes or so. texas. republican line. hi. caller: hi. around tedncern cruz. i'm a republican from texas. i'm watching this campaign in ands and his no holds bar should the cannon approach in texas. i think we need to be careful as republicans. an electionhas seen of smooth talking senators.

for theot gone well country. we would do well to make sure that that sitting people in office who have been there and done it before know-how to lead the country. i think ted cruz needs to take his time in the senate and get some legislation under his belt. host: democrats line. good evening. caller: hello. i would like to see joe biden run for president. host: joe biden the keynotes figure -- speaker. caller: yes. host: thank you. a couple of comments on twitter. span2016. here's one from patrick -- passionate speech from joe biden. likewise ted cruz.

here's another one -- despite not having any clue about anything, joe biden seems to be at least a personable dude. tag isthe twitter hash #c-span2016. here's an article from the hill. senator cruz challenges joe biden on a candidate -- crime debate. back to the phones. kentucky. independent color. -- caller. i do not care for the

right or the left. [indiscernible] the united states keeps going down. it is terrible. what do you think about your junior senator, rand paul? possible presidential aspirations? i do not like the idea [indiscernible]

he voted against it. i am a gun owner and hunter. host: north carolina. democrat. good evening. caller: good evening. for thet care that much speech. i have met joe biden many times before. i did not know who he was. i was a bartender in virginia. i waited on them. he was very nice. i wanted to have a talk with them. i was a little afraid to. i do not know him that good.

i went to high school in norfolk. --elieve he is a decent back guy. i voted for him the last time before. i really want him to win. host: you wanted him to win back in 2000 and eight -- 2008? caller: i was in the navy. i bartended. i was a kitchen manager. host: thank you for sharing your story this evening about joe biden. south carolina. republican. what do you think about the two events? i was awell, i tell you

republican with reagan. but now the republicans have changed. trying tot to stop fight obama and work for the people's. they have not to get serious and worked for the people and stop trying to make it hard for someone in the white house. we're going down a dead-end road. thank you. host: pennsylvania. independent. do you have a preference for 2016 yet? caller: i hear the term bipartisanship and people talking about one party against the other. there's a fundamental difference between these people. thatve the conservatives

are standing on the side of constitutionalism. we have conservatives in the republican party who are tired of seeing the republican party trying to gander to the latino vote and immigration reform. what we need to do is get back to the constitution. get back to the fundamentals that make america great. the republican party is not doing that. the division in this country is of thee fundamentals president who said he was going change the fundamentals. he is not presidential material. word.the "f" that is not presidential material. --t: you mean caller: benjamin -- um --

?ost: dr. benjamin caller: yes. we need someone like that. someone who can speak. somebody knows the constitution. someone who has got backbone. rand paul is another good one. fundamentalnnel -- difference in america and i understand it. host: thank you. that is video from texas senator ted cruz who just finished up his speech at the republican state party at their annual so relevant -- annual silver elephant fundraiser. joe biden spoke at the democrats jefferson jackson dinner. we will continue with your thoughts and calls for 2016. democrat line. hello. caller: i'm not sure why we are

talking about presidents and politics in 2013. i think it is kind of irrelevant. host: thank you for calling in. we cover events like this. part of our mission is to cover where politics and policy is abated and were speeches happen. kansas. john on the republican line. caller: hi. how are you doing? host: good. mute the tv. we're talking about 2016 because people are ready concerned. i'm definitely for senator ted cruz. we need some who is articulate

and have some backbone. the constitution is what makes this country great. freeman and freethinking policies -- free men and free thinking policies. host: before the speech, did you see much of ted cruz? caller: he is definitely a conservative. he also breaks a lot of the social norms of every republican. he comes from an immigrant father. here -- thesee major parties were not even formed when the constitution were written. has never back down on anything he said.

he will hopefully promote the general welfare of people. there are so many major problems with our nation that i think we .eed some extreme solutions we need solutions that are extreme as well. his every son watch out for. -- he is definitely someone to watch out for. host: thank you. checking some comments on twitter. the gopone from gary -- will not elect another moderate republican. marco rubio will have difficulty during the primaries. another says -- rand paul all the way. -- thepshire higher hampshire's next. caller: hi. how are you? host: fine. go ahead.

caller: he mentioned travis at the end of his speech. i'm no expert, but it seems someone who left his kids to go to texas. kind of a gambler. an opportunist. i'm not sure 100% right. if that is true, that is a -- and-- not a very good was talking about the letter from alamo. host: he read at the end of his speech. caller: that was a very good example for him to use. -- i thinkeaking to he underestimated the

intelligence of his audience basically. i see republicans do this a lot. areink the american people smarter than this. they have done their homework. do not get the republicans. every time i turn on the tv, which i do not do that often, i feel like they are lying at me. host: thank you for tuning in this evening. this is video from senator ted cruz. he spoke today at the annual -- nra.g of the and ra we will show some of the speeches tomorrow. when lapierre and the chief lobbyist -- wayne lapierre and the chief lobbyist will be speaking. we will be airing that tomorrow at 8:35 p.m. eastern on c-span.

democrat line. caller: hil. -- hi. i'm a proud democrat. i'm not religious. i'm atheist. i'm very much scared of people like ted cruz and the far right wing republicans, especially the tea party. the republican party is far to the right. then the democratic party is to the left. the democratic party is moderate-liberal. their publican party over the last 10 years has been far to the republican party over the last 10 years has been far to the right. do in seemsedoms to be the second amendment, the right to bear arms. but what about abortion rights and pro-choice, interrogated senator dianne feinstein in a

formal way. verbally abused her in that hearing regarding background checks. people do not necessarily need -- he is like joe mccarthy in the 21st century. ast: you said you were liberal and an atheist. from your point of view, who would you select in 2016? who would you like to see? and what type of candidate? caller: the part of a nonreligious leads to the separation of state and church. are great on the separation of state and church issues. like president obama.

he is starting his second term. i like joe biden. i like even more hillary clinton. i hope she is the nominee. i hope she will win in 2016. she is great on church and state separation, as is president obama and joe biden. andrepublicans in general rand paul is not a libertarian. i will give you a quick example. it doesn't say establishment of any religion or of any religion. an establishment of religion. meaning that government must remain neutral with respect to government and religion. they can't be for --

be for a religion -. as well as they cannot wish it -- as well it is him as they cannot bush atheism -- push atheism. host: thank you. we will take a couple more calls. republican line. caller: hello. host: go ahead. saysr: when someone government, it does not them or us. it is we, the people. people forget that. people forget it. it is us. host: thank you for your call. a couple of tweets. span2016. i love clybourn.

that he tells it like it is. we need more like him. and jaclyn says -- expecting marco rubio to lead republicans. california. caller: hi. host: go ahead. caller: ok. , that has and state been overreached by the government, i think. i think we need to clean house. i do not want another benghazi. i do not like american dying -- americans dying for no reason. i do not care who runs the country as long as they do it for this country and not to the country.

we are americans. we should stick together. women's rights and all. we have more rights than any other women in the world. , i do not like what is happening to our country. i live these liberals and -- it is just the opposite. that is all i've got to say. thank you for all the calls. tomorrow on "washington journal" all of your calls, and tweets, and e-mails. we will be showing some the key speeches from annual gathering of the nra. you will hear from the executive vice president and the chief lobbyist tomorrow night at 8:35 p.m. eastern on c-span.

you a going to show speech from vice president biden at the south carolina jefferson jackson dinner. as promised, here is ted cruz and his speech from a short -- toago the republicans the republicans. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very, very much. thank you. chad, i asked you not to mention that it went to harvard. -- i went to harvard. anytime they found i went to harvard, i nearly had apologized for it. have and south carolina long connection. a connection that goes back centuries. there are two native south airline a -- you south carolina

residents -- south carolinans. .exas fought for his freedom one was sent out to get reinforcement. he fought his way back into the attacking army to come back to the alamo where he gave his life for freedom. that is the tradition. that is a history of south carolina and texas. it is a tremendous link. thank you for the support, south carolina. we fight side-by-side for freedom. [applause] vice president joe biden is in town. you know the great thing is that you do not even need a punchline. [laughter] you did say that and people laugh.

he has some great advice for us. you told everyone if anyone is attacking your home, is attacking your family, go outside with a barrel shotgun and fired both barrels into the air. that is great advice if it happens you are being attacked by a flock of geese. the last person to follow that advice was vice president dick cheney. [laughter] he have that tragic hunting accident in texas were a terrific lawyer from boston was shot. in the two weeks after vice president cheney's accident, there were more than 200 phone calls. asking, how much for a license to shoot a republican lawyer? [laughter]

also today, as it obama is down mexico. that mexican said gun violence is due to u.s. guns. you know i would suggest a place he could started was not to have his department of justice selling guns to mexican drug cartels. [applause] what i would like to talk to you about today's american spirit. something that brings all of us together. i want to talk to about four principles of the american spirit. courage, freedom thomas growth, an opportunity. , andurage, freedom, growth

opportunity. [applause] jim has many characteristics, but being utterly fearless is perhaps his most unusual one. i would know in that regard him reminds me of a texan, chuck norris. [laughter] some people wear superman pajamas. superman wears chuck norris pajamas. cap norse wears -- cap norse -- pajamas.ris wears jim but jim also reminds me of another person.

his perseverance helped us defeat the mightiest army the world has ever seen. when he was in the senate, he found himself over and over again a voice in the wilderness. he did something starting in 2009 that was really quite extraordinary. he said the senate will not change unless we change the people who are in the senate. he began getting involved in the republican primaries. it is worth underscoring how incredibly unusual that was. and yet het done began going all around the country saying, i want to find strong visible leaders who are willing to stand up. for every maned and woman here today that our freedom is in jeopardy. canada like mike

lee and rand paul marco rubio and ron johnson, everyone of beards decided so now should win. yet jim stuck his neck on the line and said we'd east ron kirk, conservative leaders. stronger, conservative leaders. everyone of them won with grassroots. [applause] in 2012, 3 new republicans got elected. to all threeical of us to one. i would not be in the u.s. senate without jim. [applause] has already

transformed the u.s. senate. , whoany issue, any fight are the people who are charging into battle and leading the fight? they are the rand paul's in the mike lee's in the marco rubio's. the leaders who are there a cousin of -- because of jim's support. that aside to the country around. -- that is how you turn the country around. .he second principle is freedom it is the foundational value of our country. -- that that we craft our founders crafted was the constitution. thomas jefferson described the constitution has changed to bind the mistress of government -- as mischief ofnd the

government. we should stand for the constitution and every part of the constitution. [applause] we should stand for the first amendment. all of us is shocked and horrified to read newspaper headlines this weekend that this administration is threatening to court-martial members of military if they share their faith with others. there comes a point where you cannot make this stuff up. the first amendment protects our free exercise of religion. let me be clear -- the u.s. government has no authority to tell any american in the military or not that he or she cannot share his or her faith of someone else. [applause]

the second amendment, president obama has been pushing an agenda aggressively to come after our constitutional right to keep and bear arms. wasalia celica weeks ago i proud to stand with my friend, senator rand paul, sending a very short letter to hillary that said, we will filibuster any legislation that undermines filibusterd we would any legislation that undermines the right to bear arms. [applause] what we saw happen in the next few weeks was incredible. the american people got engaged. then and women in this room began speaking up. men andan calling -- women in this room began speaking up. ,hey began calling and saying

go after the violent criminals and come down on them like a ton of bricks, but protect the constitutional rights of law- abiding americans. [applause] during the fight to protect our second amendment, there was no than yourrked harder senior senator, lindsey graham. [applause] as a result of the leadership of lindsey graham and tim scott and countless others at a result of each of you speaking out and american people being heard, two weeks ago, when president obama 's gun control agenda got voted every proposal was voted down in the u.s. senate. [cheers and applause]

we should be defending the fourth and fifth amendment against an administration that recognizes no limits on its powers. i was also proud to stand side- by-side with rand paul and a 13 hour filibuster against this administration and grown policy. [cheers and applause] -- and drone policy. began with eric holder testifying before the judiciary. i took the opportunity to ask the attorney general and gentle question. i asked him, does the constitution allowed the u.s. government to use a drone to kill a u.s. citizen on u.s. solo -- soil if they pose a threat? his response was, well, that would not be appropriate.

got a tell you him my response to him was, it seems that you misunderstood my question. does the department of justice have a position on whether the constitution allows the u.s. government to use a drone to kill a u.s. citizen? he said it would not be appropriate. you times you went back and forth. went back and we forth. at that he was going to say, i do not understand this constitution you are referring to. one senator after another came to the senate floor. upon thousands of men

and women all across this country got involved and got online and got on twitter. they stood for liberty. as a result, the next day the obama administration was forced to do what it refused to do for three straight weeks, which is admit in writing, no, the constitution does not let us kill a u.s. citizen on u.s. soil with a drone. [applause] we should be defending the 10th .mendment one of the most critical elements is we should repeal every single word of obamacare. [applause] let me take the opportunity to submit your governor, nikki haley, for having the courage to say no to expanding medicaid and obamacare. [applause] south carolina has a tradition,

a long tradition of producing fighters. nikki haley is a rock star. thank you, governor. [applause] , as it getsre implemented, it is getting less and less popular. more more people are realizing it is not working. a couple of weeks ago, the senior democrat was the principal architect of obamacare said obamacare was becoming a "train wreck your ."--- "train wreck i agree. i'm reminded of one of my heroes. senator graham was participating in a hearing on socialized medicine. the panel is explaining and talking about socialized medicine.

senator graham said, you know, i feel confident that i care about my kid were than anybody else does. one of the witnesses on the panel said, with all due respect, senator, i care about your kids as much as you do. senator graham looked at him and said, really? what are their names? [laughter] there is almost no limit to what this president and this administration thinks the federal government can do. we have got to get back to the u.s. constitution. we have got to get back to limits on federal government powers. that is how we turn the country around. third principle of the american spirit is growth. i think the very top priority of every elected official is restoring economic growth.

in the last four years, our economy has grown 0.9%. 0.9%. there is only one other time since world war ii 04 consecutive years of less than 1% growth. consecutive years of less than 1% growth. we need growth. if they want to turn around our deficit, we need to have growth. if you want to ensure that we maintain the strongest military in the world to defend our national security, we must have growth.

i think growth should be a bipartisan. there's no reason why democrats and republicans cannot be working side-by-side to get our economy going again and build the keystone pipeline and push for tax reform. get small businesses moving. you know a couple of days ago the eno observed, so president is having a hard time shutting down guantanamo. he should declare it a small business and do what he always does is tax it out of business. it would be gone in days, weeks, gone. we need growth. and the fourth and final thing that we need is opportunity. growth is fundamental for so

many reasons but the most important is the growth produces opportunity. for a long time, i've been arguing for what i call squertism. every principle we talk a should focus on opportunity, easing the success of the economic ladder. the greatest engine of prosperity and the wealth the world has ever seen is the free market system in the united states of america. [applause] let me tell you something, there is no member of the u.s. senate that understands better than senator tim scott. [applause] i love senator tim scott. let me tell you one of the reasons he understands in his gut that if you're struggling to

climb the economic ladder the only thing that has worked is a free market system that allows small businesses to prosper, allows people to stand on their own feet, that does not create dependency but encourages people to work and stand on their own feet and strive towards the american dream. to know, i love listening senator scott he failed both english and spanish. senator scott observes when you fail english and spanish they don't say you're bilingual. the they say you're biignorant. he tells a powerful story of meeting a man who he describes as his mentor, who owns a couple

of chick fill a franchise. he says the path you're on is not going to take you where you want to be. that is not how you get to the american dream. if you want to get to prosperity you have to rely on hard work. you have to rely on discipline, you have to apply yourself at school, you have to go and create jobs. you have to take advantage of the incredible opportunity in this country. that is tim scott's life and that is what we as republicans should champion every single day. you know, the unemployment we see in this economy doesn't fall uniformly over the population. it falls most severely on the most vulnerable of others. if you have a college degree, unemployment right now is 3.8%. if. a robust labor market

if you don't have a high school degree unemployment is over 12%. hispanics is nearly 10%. age people from 16-19 it's over 25%. 25-29 oung people ages are moving back in with their parents. 1/3. the obama economy, the people who are getting hit the worst are young people, are single mom, african americans, or hispanic, are those struggling to climb the economic ladder and as republicans we need to be challenging every day the way you achieve prosperity as you have economic growth that allows there has no nation on eartha has allowed so many millions of people to come with nothing and achieve anything.

i have to say when i talk of portunity, in my life as all of yours, it is not some abstract concept you read in a book, it is a reality we all lived. my dad is from cuba. he was born in cuba and group in cuba. the id, he fought in revolution. when he was a teenager he was thrown in prison and almost beaten to death. he was 18 years old, he came to texas. when he arrived he could not speak english, he had nothing but $100 sewn into his underwear. when i talk to young people they have no idea what a slide rule is. [laughter] he got a job washing dishes making .50 an hour.

he worked seven days a week, he paid his way at the university of texas and he started a small siness, working toward the american dream. my dad used to say over and over, when we lost our freedom in cuba, i had place to flee to. here, se our freedom where do we go? my dad has been my hero my whole life but what i found incredible about his story is how common place it is. every one of us could come up here and tell a story just like that. we're the children of those who risked everything for freedom. i think that is the most fundamental d.n.a. of what means to be an american. that is why we're here tonight

fighting to take our country back. i want to make two final points in conclusion. the first is change happens quickly. a lot of republicans are demoralized about november 2012. i want to remember mind you of 2005. in 2005 george w. bush was re-elected as president. republicans had control of the house and the senator and a large percentage of the governships. democrats were going on television talking about a "permanent republican majority." that was 2005. 2006, we lost congress, 2008, barack obama got elected. 2009 obamacare passes and here we are today. things can change quickly. because of the legacy and the

leaders in the senate and the house who are fighting i believe change will come quickly, in particular, i'm convinced with your help we're going to take back the u.s. senate in 2014. [applause] how many of you have cell phones on you? can i ask you to take your cell phones out and text the word growth to 33733. growth to 33733. help join us to take the senate back in 2014. stand together because we're going to take the senate back in 2014 and we're going to stand in the senate and fight together to defend our liberty.

the last thing i want to say is an observation. ronald reagan famously said freedom is not passed down in the bloodstream. instead every generation has to stand and fight for it to preserve it. that's what we're called on to do tonight. i want to share with you the word that were written by a south carolinaian. his last letter from the alloy mow. fellow citizens, i'm besieged by ,000 or moore. the enemy has demanded a surrender otherwise we'll be put to the sword. i have answered the demand with

a cannon shot. our flags still waves proudly from the walls. i shall never surrender or retreat. then i call on you in the name of liberty, of patriotism of everything dear to the american character to come to our aid with all dispatch. if this call is negligented i am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forget what is due to his own honor and that of this country. victory or death. lumbar rest travis, a knave tive o south carolina, a -- theyive -- native to south carolina. he died fighting for this

country that we love so much. thank you and god bless you. [applause] >> senator ted cruz. now you know why america is talk about him, right? senator you may not know this but our first keynote celebration was by a guy named ronald reagan. we have high expectations. thank you for keynoting tonight. thank you very much and god bless you. >> thank you. [applause] >> south carolina democrats also hosted an event tonight with keynote speaker vice president joe biden. south carolina is expected to host the first southern state residential primary in 2016.

>> hello, folks. how are you? thank you so much. it is an honor to be here. thank you so much. thank you for that -- thank you. and thank you for the work that jornle'sn the attorney office. mr. chairman, it's good to be

ere. i have an admission to make. you've been there for not only the folks here in south carolina but for the national ticket. you've been there for every democrat in the country. i don't know anybody who is more effective in helping us. [applause] jim, thank you for asking me to do this. he asked me to come down to south carolina and every time i come to south carolina the washington press is here. i'm delighted to be here in south carolina. i watch the tribute to you and there is only one thing, i mean this sin saysly i don't think

they captured with jim. i got started in 1972, when south carolina had leaders and they ly in both parties you were nationally known. they had people that set a standard for other folks to prepare for both parties. the thing i want you understand about jim, his heart and soul is here in south carolina. but everywhere i go around the country and the last two presidential campaigns as i travel over almost 700,000 miles since vice president around the world, everybody knows jim. i mean that. they know him, they respect him. he has a backbone like a rod. there's two things you have to

know about him. [applause] there's two things you should know. one he's smarter than you. the other one is he never, never, never gives up. jim, you provided so much help for so many candidates all across the country that i don't think folks back home know, your one of ow but in congress and it is an honorer to work with you. i would say as i look at the audience but i can't see the audience. know the folks i had pictures taken with earlier one of the great advantages of being around a while is i've been coming to south carolina since 1973.

i made some of the dearest and closest friends, not only in my political career but personally. personally. one of the things that happens when you try to run a national ticket is you go around the country and you get to see the country in the way you never would and you get to make friends with people who you are life-long friends. you pick up. phone and say i need your help. if i call this guy. would be itic, they there. no one better than me than the man i'm going to talk about in a second but another man i got to know early on who is again, one of those national figures. everyone knew what he stood for.

everyone knew what he was about. governor riley. [applause] you have a moral compass that is hard to match. i guess enough time has passed by, the statute of limitations protects us both. i was given the authority in the clinton administration to call the governor and try to talk him to go on the supreme court of the united states of america. governor, the court would be better off for you being there.

to my old friend and thamps to the passport to get into columbia and thanks for introducing me to your mom. now i understand why you're the man that you are. we used to have a saving as jim knows if you excuse the point of personal privilege, the man that i admire more than any man that

i have served with an i hate to admit this but a historian point out and chose between being the same time as being vice president. the historian came in to make me feel better and now as senator biden is leaving to be sworn in as vice president, you should know that only 15 people in america only srved as long as he did. the point i'm making is, i've known a lot of senators, i've known more senators than 15 minute in american history. there's never been a better man, never been a better friend, there's never been a guy with more stand upflat out courage than him. [applause] 'm not joking.

i don't can to take too much time but i want to tell you one thing. i did not plan on saying this only talk a -- there's one reason i came to the senate. i planned to talk to the governor of my state after that accident and said i was not going to come. i was not going to be sworn in. there's three people that life like a storm at the time. one was the majority leader. another one was it fromz. he not only embraced me, but he did something else. he gets me engaged. he came come for six months, we need you. you can leave after that. we had 58 democratic senators,

they did not need me. when you're part of a group of five senators, once a month they go to dinner with their spouses and he dragged me into that. this 31-year-old bachelor -- it sounds corny but it helped save my life. when i -- five years later when no man deserves one great love let alone two. when i met jill and i got a call -- excuse me i have a cold. he said i want to have a little getting together to introduce, as you know he talks, the colleagues to jill. out of his own education spence t of his pocket he had every member of the supreme court had the members of the cabinet, had

all the senate and he put on a reception for me so everybody could meet jill in the senate caucus room. every stage of my rear, both the high points and the low points you've been there. so when people say, why does joe biden, why is he so blupt? i sat next to him for 32 years. what in the hell do you expect from me? i learned from the best. i learned from the best. no one ever doubted he meant what he said. never. you taught me a lot and i make no apologies to be a little bit like you. thank you, buddy and thank you for being here tonight [applause] folks, they i -- i say it is great to be in south carolina

and i mean that. i was asked on his death bed, his wife called and asked if i would do his you loling. the senate used to be a place where you can take a look and find the best in people. eulogy. after that he said if you can do that, you can do mine. i will be gone before you. i remember the days when we worked together, man. we worked together. no matter how deep the differences were. when it is particularly good to be back in south carolina knowing that you're about to get another democratic congressional seat in the first district. all you had to do is watch that debate to understand why

elizabeth will be such a great congresswoman. they have not seen nothing yet. folks, there's so much i could talk a tonight but i want to focus on one thing, with your permission. that is why am i democrat? why are you democrats? there's one thing we have in common. we -- there's one thing who that is the core of who we are. absolute commitment to the middle class. we know this country is built on the backs and the shoulders of the middle class. we know that when the middle class does well everyone does well. the wealthier get wealthier and the poor have a way out. the middle class is not growing. the poor are damned and the middle class are stuck. ladies and gentlemen, you saw

what happened to the policies we had to put up with before. you watched the middle class shrink. people having trouble, trouble they never had before. economists and i have a bunch of them they will talk to middle class in terms of numbers. they will say there's 52,600. middle class suspect a number. it's a -- isn't a number. it is a value set. it would make the people in delaware not a single bit different that the people in south carolina. it is about being able to own your own home not rent it. it is about being able to send your kid to a good school or neighborhood where they are safe. it is being able to send them to college. do you know anybody rich or poor

does not have the dream that their child can go do college? i have not found any distinction. it is about knowing that you can do that. it is about being able to take care of your parents when they get old and hope that you put away enough money that your children does not have to take care of you. where i come from in delaware but it is no different here. that is what being middle class means. it is being able to care for your family. it is being able to hold your head high then all of a sudden, since the last election your republican friends are talking about how much they value the middle class. no, you do, you hear it now. it bet it is going on over the silver elephant thing.

i bet they are talking about the middle class. anyway, i don't want to make any news tonight. [laughter] he will walk on the floor well, joe what are you going to do today? i'm going to be good tonight. he knew hi dad, my dad had a picture, which i now have of my dad's mom when he came up to delaware and campaigned for me. i still have it. it is hanging in my library. my dad was a gentlemen gentle good man. he had a good expossession. his name is joe, joe let me tell you which i value. he could say don't tell me what you value, show me your budget and i will tell you what you

value. don't tell me how you care about the elderly, show me your budget. let's take a look at the other team's budget. we'll fooped out what they value -- find out what they value. we pass the budget again in the house of representatives. the ryan budget, the republican budget. the budget they passed is no different than the one they passed last year that we debated at election. the one they passed the year before and the year before that. you have to give them credit for consistency. medicaid, they cut 21 million people out of medicaid. but they don't tell you it is poor folks that never had jobs, these are the widows of middle class backgrounds. they are in nursing homes today only because of medicaid. where will they go?

what will they do? who will care for them? tens of thousands of middle class families in america struggling with children with autism or chronic disease. they get that extra health care from medicaid. they pay their taxes. they continue to pay their taxes, what are they supposed to do now if this budget were to pass? how do they make it up? medicare. medicare, republicans say we're going to save it. they are going to save it. the truth is they want to get rid of it and that is not exaggerated. they come back and say put us in charge and we'll replace that guaranteed benefit that you pay for that you work for your whole life. [applause] they will give you a voucher. they will say to your mom, hey

mom, here's a coupon. that's what it is. you can get a coupon. it is worth x amount of dollars and no matter how sick you get, when you hit that number you're finished. the congressional budget office a year and half a go looked a that the proposal and they said $6,500d cost the average more a year to get the same health care they are getting now. where are they from? i'm being serious. where are they from? what don't they understand about this country? what don't they understand about all those deseptember americans who paid their whole life, who built this country, who fought in w