in 2007.struck down we have seen a remarkable difference then, without any restriction to document the reason for the highest sentence. we have seen the impact of that decision being 6700 more beds into our system because of the length of stay extending. that length of stay is predominantly with our most or felony fours and fives in ohio. we talked about the numbers. it is pretty darn important. if we identify the five most frequent, the five most frequent , most serious offenses for which people are sent to prison in ohio, it targets either an opportunity for an issue.

i think it is both. you can see the consistency between males and females in terms of the top five. drug possession is the number one most serious offense for which people are sent to prison in ohio. 21.5% of females, women, their most serious offense for which they are sent to prison's drug possession. you can see the following numbers on the sheet. on the screen. as we take a look at this, is it a problem or is it an opportunity. the opportunity for everyone in this room, and i think our justice talked about it earlier.

everyone in this room is going to have to talk about this story , and the story of your jurisdiction. i happened to be at a church about three weeks ago on a tuesday night doing a criminal andice information piece, the church was full, which is interesting thing. the church was full. it is a lot of interest. i asked a couple of preliminary questions before i started talking. the first is how are we doing in the criminal justice business? i would suggest to you that that is a question that we all ought to ask ourselves all the time. how are we doing? we ought to be asking others. i think because there are a few members from my own church there that i got some favorable ratings because percent was like 52% that we were doing ok. i think there were some personal issues there. second question is how many people in this room, and the and we had them fill out a form. how many people in this room

believe that the course and path for proper will justice is to build more prisons. 30% of the people said we think we need to be more -- we need to be building more prisons. keep us safe. if you look at who is coming to prison, and i had not shown this yet, and in ohio the national recidivism rate is 49%. we go through that at the end of the night. at the end of the night, there was one person in the entire church who believe we ought to be building more prisons. -- iint is we all have a told the rabbi earlier, i wish the walls in this arena were knocked down so that more and more people could hear this.

that is why i have to depend on you. we are doing good things but we are locking up too many people that can be more effectively handled in a community setting. if we offer that, and i will talk about the since opportunity in just a minute. one thing about the governor's he is full of energy. he has stayed true to his word. i said i'm not going to build a new prison. our prison population probably parallels the same density that the california system did very i am not going to build another prison. we can't let people out. we have to treat people. people have addiction. increaseast budget, we $58 million to be inserted into the community correctional line. not just for residential bets, although we did increase 500 residential beds, but into

grants to give counties that have a team around the cause to come out with a plan use their commitments to prison, keep their communities safer by putting people in evidence-based programs in the community. $58 million of new money. the reason we say that as we look at the largest counties in ohio, the five largest counties cuyahoga, cleveland, cincinnati, hamilton, lucas, hamilton. i am not sure which is the fifth grade we saw a 10% -- which is the fifth. we saw a 10% reduction in the last five years because we invested in community corrections for a longer. of time. out of necessity we have done that.

the more rural counties we have not had money to do it. they do not have continuums. they have people that are addicted. they are looking for options and the options have been the default sentencing to prison. we have seen a 5% increase in those counties and i will tell you that we are committed to provide local money to those local rural counties that have the same kind of impact here. a six-month sentence is a life sentence to many, right? if you don't believe it, ask someone who is trying to get a job after they have spent any time in the prison system. i want to talk just a minute, and i know we are running short on time, but i want to talk about the sausage that comes out of criminal justice legislation. we have all heard it. you start out with a vision and

mission and clarity around something and then it changes. in 2015, despite real bipartisan support for trying to make a change and the judges i'm meeting with think tank every quarter and i tell them, i just need your help. there is a lot of movement. that, there were 91 pieces of criminal justice legislation introduced in the state of ohio general assembly in 2015. 91. they kind of fall into one of three categories, don't they? they are either a new law, they are either in the hands -- either an enhanced penalty, mandatory sentence, or all of the above. unfortunately, and it is true. we can never discount this. there is often a horrific event that has taken place that has caused this piece of legislation and there are victims across the

table from the legislators and it is extraordinarily difficult to say no. over the years, and over the time, we had a steady increase since 1975 of mandatory sentence and enhance penalties and length of stay. and of misdemeanors becoming felonies. the effort that we have undertaken, and i'm hopeful that our work is to be done by august, is a 26-person committee, eight of which are legislators. the others are a diverse group of people, including me, that is talking about what makes sense to rewrite our entire criminal code. in a setting that focuses on evidence, research, the best practices like we have seen in south carolina and georgia just a minute ago. take a look at what makes sense and change laws to ensure that

those people we afraid of because they will hurt someone or properly secured but program did not forgotten in those people that we are just mad at and don't have any other alternatives, we build alternatives in the community to deal with those folks. intervention in little. it has not been used as much, but we want to expand the opportunity. we want to give the judge an opportunity. forget about mandatory sentences. opposingnkly, we are almost all mandatory sentences. we have judges- to make decisions for let's not high their hands and say they have to send someone to prison. a person comes in and the judge says i want to be helped, or the judge convinces them and much like the drug courts we have talked about, or veterans courts or mental health courts, they

enter into a program of diversion and they talk about with the judge what they need to do and they set specific times and goals and if they do it, one of the greatest things -- judges are great positive influences on people. if they know they are going to have to see the judge every couple of weeks or every month, and either time they do something good or bad, if they know that, they are more compliant. they understand the plan. if they complete the program, their felony conviction is erased. even know we need to ban the box universally, i think, that becomes a moot issue. we are proposing an extensive expansion of that. we used results that said all jurisdictions that increased theft levels saw no increase in that behavior.

ohio as a $1000 threshold for felony theft. wink rosen increase -- we propose an increase to $2500. that is important because of this. folks, if people get into trouble and continue to need to be worked with, probation can continue, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it is a felony prison commitment. judicial discretion we talked about and priority one treatment. it is a controversial piece. we were an early adopter. was the greatest opportunity to make a positive difference. most of my years, i believe that completing a program had to be done inside a prison. i was a warden. if they did not have enough time to complete the program, you did not put them in it. our drug folks coming in after some real-time credit and a

short sentence, we had thousands and thousands of people. we release 8400 people that do less than a year. those people were not being touched. those people had the highest rate of addiction and mental health because historically we were not smart enough to understand that we have got to get these folks started. medicaid expansion. we increase the number of people in addiction treatment by 50% inside of prisons. we have spent the money to have five regional contracts to continue drug treatment in a consistent way like they have done in treatment. the linchpin is our electronic health records. they sign a waiver in that person's treatment continues immediately. we are touching people now that we had given up on before.

i was walking through the reception block at our free no prison, and i love the program. there is a harmony program. we are skiving songs the hospital in africa with children that are dying and they are singing. all of this stuff is so lifting. i walk into the reception block and see female inmates that look like my granddaughter. some cases, doing two or three months because of a six months sentence of jail time in getting a life sentence, literally. historically we have done nothing with those folks. we are now. in terms of this, and the federal systems have for a long time. in july 1, the legislature said i trust your recidivism rate of 27.5%. i trust the fact that if you looked at the national average, you would be returning 4300 more

people to prison, but you want. 81 of the 88 counties have full functioning re-entry coalition. what we are going to do is this. we're going to say that there is a pocket of people, i think maybe 2100 people, that come into a highway. they are nonviolent folks. if you can get them ready for treatment, you can release them without a discussion from the judge. move them into a halfway house until they report it. we are starting what a treatment transit program. we are moving them to a different setting that is totally focused by themselves on treatment readiness, putting them through a minimum of 4-6 weeks of treatment readiness, and moving them out into the community even if they have a year sentence.

that is good and i am proud of this. haveproud of the fact that immigration units were we expect inmates to work eight or 10 hours a day. we are working in animal shelters and food pantries and busing them back. they are out in the community all the time. we are so proud of that. i am proud of the recidivism rate. we have got to stop the mass incarceration and we have to use some logic about our sentencing. likeve to look at research what was done at the washington state policy center that take an adequate -- an analytical prison programs and what they deliver. community-based program are twice as effective at one third the cost of sending someone to prison. , you know, it say

is an honor and privilege to be here, and it seems to me, and i'm not sure you would expect an old risen warden to say this, but it seems to me that judges should not be the primary referral of people to get treatment for their addiction or mental illness. when we have a rotator cuff issue, like i've got, we go to a doctor. the doctor refers us to a surgeon. the surgeon takes care of it. there is no stigma attached. think about your families. think about the people you talk about. is it clear to all of our thatnities in this country a parent knows they can take a child someplace and get treatment? and if they can, what kind of stigma is attached? we have to recognize that these darned drugs, in this current

generation, are so strong and addictive that it is a different world. the old saying is just say no, right? that was are saying for a decade or more. it is awfully tough with this strain of drugs. with creative community support, and i could not agree more, we've got to -- think about this. my mission besides hopefully turning folks around and making their life's better, i want to get rid of my budget. i want to get rid of this $1.6 billion budget. i want to invest in people earlier in their lives. there were a lot of directional directors who wanted to focus on this. don't settle for tinkering. i was pounding on the podium. i said i am sick and tired of tinkering. it takes too long. we have got evidence out there to use. let's use it. it just takes too long.

i know that my fellow correctional directors feel the same way. the unfortunate thing is i was telling the story earlier this morning. we have 20 state correctional directors that have less than 18 months in their job. it is very difficult for them to lead when they are just trying to find and figure out a way to manage that system. all of us have to be leaders and go out and tell a message that there is a better way, and we know that. we have seen that. evidence produced its. we have got enough caring people to really carry this out. let uset this gathering just feel good, like i did three weeks ago and at church. talent and insight of the people in this room, let's

carry this message outside his walls. it's not the walls down -- let us not the walls down because people do not know the truth. when people know the truth, they change their minds. thank you. [applause] are there a remaining questions? if there are, i will try to stumble through them. -- we talkeddered about the state system. did you -- [inaudible] can you just touch on how this is flowing to the federal system

, as much as you know, what is working, not working. mr. moore: i think we heard the question of the flow -- we have a great organization of the a state -- association of correctional administrators. we gather three or four times the year. we need that environment. the focus of those two or three days is to pass on best practices. i believe the issue of cityivism started in this at the end of 2011 at a asca meeting were 50 directors attended and i changed the mission to change recidivism and on those we touch. i think there is a consistent

movement. that includes the federal bureau of prisons that are at the meetings. i think we are seeing a fuller of best or picture practices as we need. i have seen it. as we look at the attorney general's comments and public statements about restrictive housing, there is a lot of things consistent with restricting housing as there is with mass incarceration and treatment. i think you are seeing that everywhere. i think there is a groundswell. i cannot think of a single director in the united states of america that is not aligned with this philosophy from walking too many people of. we will do the best we can with those we have. we are. we will do our best. we will also, once we get our feet on the ground, need to be out, telling this story to the public. american civil

liberties union in my office talking about restrictive housing and i have a great relationship with them and i said i am sick and tired of the old warden being publicized all the time about this mass incarceration thing. i need some help out there. and they certainly are willing to do that and i think we will see a ground movement. system, you going to see moving in the same direction, the same system, and do it a little different. if we do it different, we will learn even more. yes? >> i appreciated what you were saying about the six-month being more like a license for a lot of folks, but when i was prosecuting, a lot of dispositions were at the county level and they would involve detention at a county facility

and not a state one. i wonder if the statistics you have been sharing take into account things at the county level as well. rateoore: the recidivism is not, but there is a major effort in medicaid sign-ups even in county jails and judges looking for opportunities to put people in community settings. we're seeing that more for the misdemeanor settings. -- the recidivism rate is not include locals. i have to leave. thank you very much. [applause] thank you very much, director moore. i would like to introduce our next panel. isding this panel

rebecca vallas of the center of american progress and families, and she will be joined by graduates of affected communities and families to talk about their experience. just before we start, we are looking for attorney general sam owens. if he is here, please come backstage. ms. vallas: can you hear me, is my mic on? fantastic. my name is rebecca vallas. i am the managing director of the poverty to prosperity program. i'm incredibly honored to be part of this conversation. i think everyone in this audience is more familiar than they would like to be with certain statistics and figures.

the united states has 5% of the world's population, but 25% of the world's prison population. i think we are familiar with 2.3 million americans being behind bars and we are probably more increasingly familiar with fact that one in three americans now has some type of criminal record. tot of why i am so excited be part of this conversation is while those statistics are incredibly important, they only tell part of the story. for us to really get a sense of what the impact of mass incarceration and over criminalization has been in this country, we need to talk to the people who are impacted by those policies. it is not just the individuals who have been sentenced to a crime. it is also their families and their communities.

i am incredibly excited to introduce the panel that is going to be speaking today. before i do that, i wanted to note one striking, if staggering statistic that the center for american progress brought to light. in addition to the numbers i rattled off, it helps to shine a light on the impact on families and how we have reached a tipping point. that is that we are now at a point where nearly half of children in this country have a parent with a criminal record. i will let that settle in. about that as the legacy of our experiment with mass incarceration. i am pleased to introduce annemarie alward. secretary assistant of corrections at the washington department of corrections.

she has been a leader at washington states when it comes to alternative scenting. we also bring into the conversation jerry garrison. he is from washington and he was incarcerated for a nonviolent offense that took him from his family and his daughter, .ennedy, join me in thanking this fantastic panel. [applause] annemarie, i want to start with you. tell us about the work you have been leading in washington state sentencing.s to 4 washingto -- washington state is -- ms. alward: at the same time, in

2010, we had increasing populations and significant issues with money in state government. we have started looking at pathways to figure out different alternatives to lessen the prison population. we have 10% of our population in the community in lieu of carson ration -- lieu of incarceration. we looked at legislation we can use to have a judicial option, where a judge can sentence someone that meets the criteria of family to community prison,ion in the will or being able to look at folks with eligibility and release them up to a year early with supervision and with resources into the community and hopefully really try to impact those connections with family. we wanted to decrease the prison

population and increase the amount of of efficiencies that we could work with in collaboration with other state government, particularly social services, by decreasing the number of redundant seas, the number of appointments that what family members at odds with each as to the number of classes they would have to comply with. by becoming more efficient and streamlined, we were really able to increase the efficiencies and alignment of other social agencies in the department of corrections. with that, the best way to really talk about it to talk to somebody like jared and kennedy, who have lived through the experience. while we started the program in washington state for family offender sentencing alternative, we begin in 2010. we had 450 completers through the program. it is a conservative, small

program. jared is one of our happy participants in the family offender sentencing alternative. i don't know if you want to talk jared: i want to thank the aleph institute for having this special occasion today. i heard a lot of terms i was really familiar with when i was incarcerated. in the last year, i have not heard any of those terms at all. i don't have to deal with any of that no more because what i do every day is i just go to work and i'm successful. i got a house, i got my daughter living with me full-time. recidivism and all that stuff -- i'm never going to do it again. [applause] program, what i really think is key and i have talked to people about it, is the time leading up to applying if you program, you know

have any infractions, minor or major, you're eliminated from the program. if you have, say, 100 people who know about the program that want to interview for it, think of the infractions you don't have to deal with because even if only two people are finally approved at the end of it, think of all the stuff you are not going to have to deal with prison wise. the fights, the tobacco. --t leading the two years the two years leading up to it, i did everything i did. i went to school, went to college and i graduated. i worked with a group where we built offices for the state agencies. all of those tools i put in my toolbox so when i left and out on the streets, it was normal to go back to work everyday which i do everyday. i get up at 5 a.m. six days a

week. that is from all the tools i have learned from the program. >> kennedy, we would like to hear from you as well. what was it like being apart from your dad and what is it like to have him back in your life now? kennedy: it is kind of hard because not having a father figure at all. yeah. >> is it good to have him home? kennedy: education wise and reallya stable house is beneficial. it is really helpful and i think that is him getting up earlier is really helpful for that. >> we are glad to see him home with you. i'm glad to see you smiling. erad, do you want to talk a little bit how the program not just prepared you for release,

but maybe some of the things you will people in this room will take away why it was so successful for you. program, i would works is you can be released up to a year. they would release you on house arrest to a house. you are still under supervision so you have to submit a schedule of where you are going to be. it was a really good safety blanket because a lot of people do their time in prison, get out and they are right back to what they were doing or want to go celebrate the release. for me, my transition was guaranteed to be a successful transition because of the program. i still have to check in every morning on the phone and i still see some buddy once a week. body once a week. it was a good time to get my ducks in a row so when i was done with them, i could transition to a normal life right away. there was no in between time, no i have to get a job. the ball was in motion.

>> talk to us about the nuts and bolts. how does it work? >> i really want to emphasize in jerad's case, there is no community supervision for a number of nonviolent offenders. so, in the situation where a case comes through, the wonderful management and the program and the staff, when i take a look at it to look at those persons, many will have. supervision i supervision. i cannot imagine having to transition into a community without any assistance or safety net. through the family offender sentencing alternative, especially for those folks who are not going to have supervision period, they can have that safety net. i think that really did benefit the transition of jerad and

many other people. what we look for is almost any offender, although we do have some limitations with some violent offenses that are not eligible. they'reply, interviewed, there is a multidisciplinary group that goes over -- we really teamed up with early child learning. a number of stakeholders, victim advocates that are very interested in what is best for the child. it is different for the department of corrections to be interested. it was a learning time for us. you look at a number of criteria and look at how stable the residence is and the support for the person. sometimes we will offer vouchers to transition somebody into a residence, especially for the first few months or the year. we will find them out in lieu of

prison. it is home arrest. it is like a virtual work-release. >> can you talk more about some of the ways in which this program specifically supports the reunification of families? >> there is a number of ways. every family is different. some of the measures we have with the performance options for the correction officers doing the work with people like jerad and kennedy, they will have increased contacts with the family. they will do a lot of skill sets or skill teaching on parenting. there is an expectation that there be a 20 minute dinner, family dinner every night. there is an expectation that there is 20 minutes of reading everyday. when we talk to our legislative body and talk about one of the double checks correction officers will do -- i know kennedy is an avid reader --

they will talk to the children in the house and what was your favorite book this week or they will look to see are their books by the bed so you know there is collateral contex t. i struggle being a parent sometime so especially when you are reentering a family again, having some people from the department of corrections and social services available with some resources really is helpful. >> kennedy, do you have a favorite book? kennedy: no. [laughter] >> too many to choose from. we want to leave time for questions because i'm sure it you have some things you want to ask. panelists. do we have any questions from the audience? if we do, go to one of the microphone. s. >> this question is directed to you, kennedy. us one minute,

what the feeling was during the time your father was in prison. the difference in your life socially, school wise, professionally, family and friends. and how you felt yourself. kennedy: it was hard because the house i was in was not really stable. i wasount of school time, able to attend was not much. the friends i could make was really limited. was the most conversation i had was kennedy, why are you here? why are you late all the time? kennedy, why one, were you in the library during recess? >> added you feel when your dad came back into your life?

kennedy: i don't really know how i felt. i just kind of sat there. you know how you can feel so many emotions at once that you don't know what the emotion is. it is like you put too many clips together. it is a bit brown. >> she is 11. an in betweener.twee kennedy: most are not really nice. yeah. >> we have a question over here. >> thank you for sharing. in particular, i wanted to go back to something that jerad shared about the incentive structure while you were bearcerated to ultimately

able to participate in a program like this. what struck me was, i believe something you said about at the fellowry few of your community members while you were inside actually got to participate in the program. i wanted to hear a little bit more about capacity for something like this and especially expectation management for people who were hoping to have these opportunities, but will ultimately might not get to experience the reunification as quickly as you all did. jerad: if there was 100 people that applied for it -- i don't know the real statistics, but i know a lot of people when they hear about the program, they change their demeanor. like, yeah, i have to mind my p's and q's. i don't know how many people actually get approved. there is that hope, that glimmer of being home with your daughter.

that will change for a lot of people. maybe it is more people that get approved. my case, i know the last two years with everything i did worked out in the long run. everything was a full circle whether it was getting up in the morning, going to work. the positive program of doing that with the expectations of hopefully being approved. >> i will add to that because we do have the capacity -- we know the numbers for the targeted capacity so when we blend the judicial brand, we have other alternatives. we are typically a little below what are cap is for participation. that is because we are pretty conservative. we have a lot of pushback from the legislature from time to time about wanting to expand because the statistics are so good and you can see the success of the program in so many ways

that there is interest in expanding it. i think we have been pretty stringent and conservative in wanting to maintain the integrity of the program and really selecting families where it is in the best interest of the children and we can have those wraparound services. it is much sought after, but much more conservatively given out as an option. >> we have time for one more question. we have one over here. >> my question is for resources and actual implementation. you said the individuals selected for the program are not necessarily eligible for term of supervision. who provides that service when you talked about it checking in on a weekly basis? are you checking in with the probation office? it,d: when i think about

the numbers of the people who get it -- there are only so many assigned probation officers that are limited to how many people they can supervise. a community placement officer would only have four or five people on their load of people because they have spent so much time with each person to make sure they are successful. >> he is absolutely right. one of the things we did in the alternative for the prison portion is by decreasing confinement, we were able to shift the funds into the community to paper supervision. and then work with our partners and others to contribute training and resources. there was no actual funding that had to come for the alternatives, it was just reinvestment. >> please join me in thanking our panel this morning. [applause]

announcer: the head of tuesday's michigan primary, we have democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton campaigning in detroit. that is followed by senator bernie sanders campaigning. after that, federal judges, advocates and state attorney general on sentencing policies. >> on the next washington journal, the president of the feminist majority foundation on campaign 2016 and feminism. ght onrystal wrifg race, politics and the campaign. washington journal is lot every morning at 7 a.m. eastern and you can join the conversation with your calls, comments on facebook and twitter. ministeran prime justin trudeau makes his first official state visit to the united states on thursday.

tuesday, political hosts an event on u.s.-canada relations, looking at trade, refugees, environmental issues and border security. see it live at 5:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> join us this thursday for live coverage of the white house state dinner for canadian prime minister justin trudeau beginning at 6:15 p.m. eastern on c-span. as campaign 2016 continues, three primaries and one caucus is taking place in several states tomorrow. the special focus on michigan and mississippi. for us at 8 p.m. eastern live coverage of the election results, candidate speeches and viewer reaction. taking you on the road to the white house on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org.. >> next, democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton held a

campaign rally at the museum of african american history in detroit. this event is 20 minutes. [applause] ♪ mrs. clinton: hello. thank you. here andso happy to be to have this chance to really think each and every one of you. there are a few folks that i want to acknowledge starting with your mayor.

mayor duggins. thank you for your leadership of this great city. congressman john connors, thank you. congresswoman debbie shingle, thank you. congresswoman brenda lawrence, thank you. brenda jones, thank you. i want to thank the charles wright museum and the staff for enabling us to be in this glorious space. thank you all! >> hillary, we love you. mrs. clinton: i want to thank you for opening up your hearts

to bill and chelsea and me. we are so grateful. that is with your help. we sure can't do it without you. i have got to tell you, both bill and chelsea have had the best time traveling across the whole state meeting wonderful people. it is especially exciting to be here in detroit, a city on the way back up. last night, we had the debate in flint. i was really gratified that the answer was yes to having it there. i want to shine a bright spotlight to what happened in flint, michigan. [applause]

i've told leaders of flint that we are going to stick with them. there is a lot of work to be done. the pipes have to be taken out and new pipes put it back in deliver clean, safe water to the families of flint. thank you. i see some laborers here that were part of doing that work. i love seeing, i see some plumbers here. they have already been helping the people of flint! i thank you for that because we have to pull together to support the families and in particular, the children. i will stick with them until they do not need help anymore.

whether or not i am in public life. we have made a commitment to help flint recover and make it possible for them to be even better after they do so. let's stick with them! i am running for president to knock down all the barriers that stand in the way of america reaching its potential and of americans reaching ours. we need to get more good jobs, more rising incomes. we need to put people to work. we need more manufacturers like the factory that i visited the other day. i saw people working around the

clock all week and i talked with them and they said they loved their jobs cut is they were not only making things but because they were being treated with respect. i want to go everywhere and being told exactly the same thing. we are going to have a renaissance in manufacturing. i am very proud that i voted to rescue the auto industry when i was in the senate. [applause] we are creating more good jobs with clean, renewable energy. we have to take climate change seriously. we are going to help small businesses.

the fastest-growing segment of small business are minority owned and women owned small businesses. i want to be a small business president. we are also going to fight to lift the minimum wage. and finally we are going to get equal pay for women's work. everything i have just said, the republicans disagree with. we have our work cut out for us. that is why it is so important to turn out tomorrow. the sooner i can become your nominee, the more i can begin to turn our attention to the republicans.

we also have to build on the affordable care act. let's get to universal coverage. let's tackle our prescription drug costs and let's make sure that every child in every zip code get a first-class education in america. [applause] i don't need to tell you that the detroit public schools under an emergency manager is in worse shape than before. you have precious children and classrooms filled with moles and rodents. the governor should turn back the control of the school to the people of detroit.

we should also have early childhood education so more kids can succeed in schools. we need to make college affordable for everyone again. i have a plan to do that which i have laid out on my website. i hope you will take a look at it. we also need to get debts down. we need to refinance the debt that students currently have. let's remember that among the barriers we have to tackle our barriers of bigotry and prejudice. let's be honest about that. we have systemic racism. we have systemic prejudice. we have a lot of people who are

held back, who are cut out of employment opportunities, where educational opportunities are not available, where the criminal justice system does not work for everyone, where the rate of incarceration is much too high among african-americans. because of the kind of campaign that republicans are running, we have a lot of people who have been attacked. right? you have to say this about him. he is an equal opportunity attacker. he has attacked mexicans, people with disabilities, women, he has attacked muslims. he has gone after everyone.

we will not lead a person like that ever become president of the united states. [applause] we have got to work together. we need to unify our country, not divide it. the republicans are against nearly every right we have ever achieved. i want you to know where i stand. i am for a woman's right to make her own health care decision, i will defend planned parenthood. i will defend marriage equality and try to end discrimination against the lgbt community. i will fight for voting rights which are under attack across

our country. i will appoint supreme court justices who reverse citizens united. speaking of the supreme court, i am 100% supportive of president obama's right to nominate a justice. we will receive that nominee. we are also going to fight hard to make sure that we get comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. we will change what doesn't work in the v.a. because our veterans deserve nothing less than

world-class health care. we will not let the republicans privatize the v.a. and we will not let them privatize social security. i want the young people here to believe and know that the social security trust fund will be there for you when you get to the age where you can draw from it. i will keep working for sensible gun safety measures. i am absolutely amazed at the refusal of the gun lobby to work to try to protect lives. you can do that in a constitutional manner, make no mistake about it. our country did it for about 200 years.

we have to get back to doing it together. let me say a quick word about foreign relations and national security. you are also voting for a commander in chief. i want to make a serious point about defeating terrorism, particularly at terrorist network like isis. we have to lead an air campaign, we have to support fighters on the ground were willing to go after isis but we will not send american combat troops to syria or iraq. i do not believe that is the right approach. i want to say a particular word to all of the muslims that are

here. wherever they live. i will do everything i can to keep america safe and i know that among the most important people to help us do that are muslim american friends and neighbors. [applause] when you hear the kind of bigotry and bluster coming from the republican side, not only making very intimidating marks about american muslims, but also preventing them from coming into our country. insulting one of the great religions in the world, this is not only offensive and shameful, that is dangerous.

and it's also counterproductive because i know how hard it is to put coalitions together. i put a coalition together that imposed sanctions on iran, that led to negotiations. if we are going to go after terrorists networks like isis, we need to build a coalition with muslim nations. imagine someone running for president of the united states saying what we are hearing coming from that site. you think that's going to make it easy to put together coalitions? it matters what you say if you are saying when you are running for president of the united states of america! we have work to do. i am excited about doing it with

all of you. because i believe that america's best days can be ahead of us if we do what we must do to build to knock down barriers. i can't do that unless you bring out everyone you know to vote for me tomorrow. i will tell you this. if you come out and vote for me tomorrow, i will work for you and fight for you through this campaign and into the white house. thank you so much, michigan! god bless you. [applause]

♪ i am the champion, you're going to hear me more roar ? louder than the lion, because i am the champion you're going to hear me roar ? you're going to hear me roar ? i got the eye of the tiger, the fire dancing through the fire, because i am the champion you're going to hear me roar ? ♪ i got the eye of the tiger, the fire dancing through the fire you're going to hear me roar oh, oh, oh, oh, oh you're going to hear me roar

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look at me. look yoat you we are not so diifferent look around ♪ campaign 2016 continues, three primaries and one caucus takes place tomorrow with a special focus on michigan and mississippi. join us beginning at 8 a.m. eastern -- 8 p.m. eastern for live results, and viewer reaction. taking you on the road to the white house on c-span, c-span radio and c-span.org. >> on the next washington journal, the president of the feminist majority foundation on campaign 2016 and feminism. then, crystal wright, editor and publisher of conservativeblackchick.com on

race, politics and the campaign. washington journal is live every morning at 7 a.m. eastern and you can join the conversation with your calls and comments on facebook and twitter. teacher so the most important thing to me is education. i'm looking for the candidates and the programs in education. i'm not happy the last 15 years or so with the common core that has been happening. i would like to see that changed. i will vote for either bernie sanders or hillary clinton. i'm interested in seeing what their education plans will turn out to be. >> i've decided that i'm voting for ted cruz for the candidacy because it is a scholar, eloquent and is principled consistently out of all the candidates so far.

>> for months, bernie sanders campaigned in dearborn, michigan ahead of tuesday's primary. he won the nebraska, maine contest this weekend. the first muslim ever elected to congress introduced senator sanders. this is one hour and 10 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen -- [applause] >> let me hear you. my man bernie sanders is ready to talk to you guys. are you guys ready?

michigan is still in the barnyard. igan is still in the barnyard. that is right. coming up, just in a few hours from now, we need everybody here to show up, to bring your friends, to bring your relatives, to show the country, to show this whole nation that we are ready for real inclusion, economic justice for all, right here. let's start it right here. [applause] i want to tell you i am so proud to be born right here in the state of michigan. i lived here for the first 22 years of my life and then they dragged me to minnesota.

you guys here got an extra congressman in me. as i served in the u.s. congress with my good friend bernie sanders, he has been there for the american worker, he has been there for the american family, he has never stopped fighting for us, which is why i'm so proud to support bernie sanders, everybody. [applause] i just want to let you know that everybody in this whole country is a part of this thing. when the anti-muslim hate was raging real ugly back in december -- you remember when trump was talking all that stuff? we had to explain to our kids that no, your neighbors don't hate you. your neighbors actually do like you, it's just that one weird guy over there. let me tell you what bernie sanders did. he said let's go to a mosque and sit down in the mosque in washington, d.c. and we will have a christian priest, a jewish rabbi and we will all sit down there and talk about how we are

all part of this american family. let's do that. and you know what? that is exactly what we did. we denounced hate and talked about how this country is for all americans, no matter what your religion is, we are not going to let nobody divide us because you know what i mean? we need everybody. we are going to need everybody, everybody to restore real economic justice for all in america. the fact of the matter is the money has gone to the very tip top of this economy and a lot of super wealthy people have been struggling and the only way to overcome that is to get vast numbers of people just like here in good old dearborn to come together, to say we are not going to be divided, we are going to fight for prosperity for everyone in this country.

it doesn't matter if you are mexican or muslim or jewish or christian or catholic or if you don't practice any religion, or maybe you are hindu or whatever you are, we are welcome. we say welcome to you. we see peace be unto you because we believe this is what we believe this nation is all about. bernie sanders, whether it is domestic policy or foreign policy, bernie is always for the people. i was so proud when bernie said we don't need to invade iraq. he voted no on invading iraq. he was smart enough he was not the secretary of state or nothing, but he is still smart

enough, he was smart enough to know a country that had been under a no-fly zone for 12 years and for two thirds of its landmass was not about to attack the united states. when george bush said let's attack iraq, he's that i'm not going to do that. he said no on that and we need that kind of judgment in the white house. what do you think? bernie sanders, when they said, when obama said we are going to try to work out a deal with the iranians to make sure we don't have any wars or spread nuclear weapons. bernie said i'm for that and i backed that 100%. you remember that? his instincts are for peace in this world and dignity for all human beings, no matter where they live. domestically, right here in the good old united states, right here in flint, bernie has been against these bad trade deals that hit michigan so hard.

when i was working for a city councilman in the city of detroit and every day we would see 100 laid-off year, 100 laid off there, all these companies laying off workers here in opening plants all over the world as american's right here in michigan were losing their jobs, bernie has been against nafta, he was against the peruvian trade agreement because he knows we need fair trade, not just free trade, everybody. [applause] he knows if you tell a big company, you could reduce sure labor costs by supporting someone abroad. we have to set the rules up to put american workers in a position where they can make a good, honest living. we don't open the doors for the lowest wage in this world. i think bernie is someone we can

trust in this area. i want you to know i'm the chair of something called the progressive caucus in the u.s. congress. let me tell you about the progressive caucus. the progressive caucus was started by bernie sanders. long before i ever became chair, bernie sanders was there organizing people, bringing us together. it doesn't just mean standing for the right thing because bernie stands for the right thing but it means getting the win together in the right way, involving the grass roots movement, that masses of americans, young people, old people, people in the sandwich generation, masses

of americans coming out and that is how bernie does business. there was a contractor doing business with the federal government, they were doing food service and janitorial service and different kinds of services like that. they said we can't survive on $7.25 an hour no more. so what they did was they came out and demanded to be paid more money. we stood with those workers hand to hand, shoulder to shoulder. the lead person out there was bernie sanders. [applause] the person standing with the workers, standing with the cooks, standing with janitors, standing with security guards that was bernie sanders. bernie was the one who was not afraid to come out of that ivory tower, that capitol building and stand with the people who were struggling hard to make ends meet. bernie not only stands for people fighting for a better

wage but for the young people of the united states. for sure, bernie believes in debt free college, but it shocks me when bernie says he wants tuition free college, they say it is not possible. just like they've got in france, germany, denmark -- who believes that we can get that if we fight for it? we can win it if we fight for it. it's going to require all of us in this room to stand up and fight and stand with bernie sanders as he makes his demand. you tell them we don't ever give up on our dreams. we don't give up on our dreams. in this country of ours some of

-- there was a time in our nation's history when it if somebody was black to sit on the front of the bus -- some of you may have just read about it, some people said it was unrealistic but there were dreamers out there who believe in the best of america but stood for it and fought for it. there was a time in this nation's history when for a woman to cast a vote was considered ridiculous and unrealistic. it had to be people like susan b anthony and others that demanded if women are equal in god's eyes, they've got to be equal at the ballot box and guess what, they won it because they fought for it. what i am saying to you is don't let anybody tell you we cannot have free tuition and our nations universities, that we cannot have that free college.

we cannot have peaceful foreign policy in our nation. it is in the grasp of all of us if we only stand together and believe in it and we need a candidate who's going to be the standardbearer demanding we when these things. do you think that is my man bernie sanders? [applause] that is bernie sanders. you know you can trust bernie sanders because in the 1960's in this country, bernie sanders can be found fighting for his country, even get arrested doing it. most politicians don't put that on their resume. he was a man to risk arrest because he believed in what they were fighting for. he knew it wasn't the reality of 1961 but it could be the reality of 2016. if there were some proud people

who weren't going to tell people just be realistic. this is a patriotic campaign. we if we -- if we fight for what is right, we blew them out in maine. did you see what happened there. we blew them out in kansas as well. i'll bring you good news from minnesota where we beat them something. we blew them out. that same victory is right in our grasp. right here in michigan. [applause] that same win is in our hands if we only reach for it and grab it. when you campaign with bernie, you see the people, the energy and the fire is on his side. you can see it, you can feel it.

but there's a whole lot of other folks who got other plans and maybe they are not at rallies. what does that mean? that means you and i have to go out and get our friends, get our neighbors, we got 24 hours to do it. we've got 24 hours to grab your neighbors, your coworkers -- you've got 24 hours and there's a whole lot of people here in the state of michigan who won't make a decision until they get to the ballot box. did you know bernie stood for $15 an hour minimum wage. if you tell him, bernie actually believes we can fight climate change and win and has been standing against keystone since before other people got around to it.

you know what i'm saying? if you will get in there here if you will knock on those doors, we can win this thing. the real thing is will, will to win. who has the will to win? [applause] because i'm telling you now, i got on the flight early this morning to come back to my hometown because i was sure the people of dearborn, the people of flint, the people of detroit, all over the great state of michigan are ready for some real change and we are not going to lower our sights. we know it has already begun and that is why i am so proud to introduce to you my friend and yours, bernie sanders. come on out. [applause]

♪ sen. sanders: let me begin by thanking mr. gilroy for his remarks but this is what i want to say about the guy. this guy is one of the great members of the united states congress. [applause] he has spent his political life taking on special interests, fighting for a peaceful world, fighting for economic justice, racial justice, environmental justice. thank you so much for what you are doing. [applause] i want to tell you something

else, about keith and how the real political world works. throughout this campaign, we have taken on the financial establishment and all of the big money and all of the big-money interests, we have taken on the political establishment. in minnesota, they didn't mention this but we took on the two united states senators who supported secretary clinton. we took on the governor who supported secretary clinton and we took on almost everybody in the legislature who supported secretary clinton. we had keith ellison on our side and we won by a landslide. [applause] keith basically told you everything i was going to tell you so i am going home. [laughter] nah, here is the point.

keith made the most important point that i commit to you. it's that real change never takes place from the top on down. it always takes place from the bottom on up. [applause] and if you think back historically at the struggle for workers rights, you remember that workers came together, some of them were beaten, some are jailed, some were killed but they said workers are entitled to collective bargaining and entitled to negotiate a contract. we will form a union. it took place from the bottom right on up. [applause] as keith indicated, you remember, we often forget that

in 1924, in 1924 is when women got the right to vote. it's less than 100 years ago. how did that happen? did it happen because some president signed something? it happened because women and their male allies struggled for decade after decade, some died, somewhat to jail, some went on hunger strikes and they said, in america, women will not be treated as second-class citizens. [applause] civil rights movement -- it has been going on for hundreds of years. african americans before slavery and their white allies said in the united states of america, racism and bigotry and segregation are not acceptable. and hundreds of thousands and millions of people stood up and

fought back. we still have a long way to go but that's how change takes place. [applause] when people tell you we can't do this or that, all they are saying is that they don't have the guts to take on the powerful special interests who are preventing that change from occurring. we do have the courage. [applause] before i go any further, i just had the honor of meeting with a number of arab-american leaders here in dearborn. what i want to say is that if there is anything we are going to accomplish together, we are going to end bigotry in this

country once and for all. [applause] the donald trumps and his friends are not going to prevail in scapegoating minorities in this country. [applause] they are not going to be successful in attacking and denigrating our muslim friends and neighbors. [applause] or our mexican friends and neighbors. [applause] they are not going to divide us

what we all know and i speak as somebody who has personal experience in this -- my dad was an immigrant. my dad came to this country without a penny in his pocket and could not speak english from poland at the age of 17. he never made much money. but he loved this country because of the opportunities it gave him and the ability to raise two of his kids, the first in his family to go to college. that's what america is about. we will not let trump divide us up, we will come together and create the america that we know we can do. [applause] what this campaign is about is about doing something very, very

radical in american politics. it is called telling the truth. [applause] and the truth is not always pleasant. i wish i could tell you wonderful things but it is important to understand reality because if we do not understand that reality, it is in fact impossible for us to go forward. [applause] let me tell you about reality. reality number 1 -- no president of the united states, not bernie sanders or anybody else can do what has to be done to deal with enormous problems facing the middle class and working families of this country. no president can do it alone. [applause] that is not just rhetoric. that is not just words. that is reality.

you know why that is true? no other candidate for president will tell you this -- the people who have the power in this country, the billionaire class, wall street, corporate america, the corporate media who determine what we see and what we hear, the large campaign contributors who have so much influence over the political process -- no one can defeat this group of people because they have so much power alone. no president can do it. the only way we defeat them and create an america that works for us all rather than the few is when millions of people stand up, fight back, and demand to have

a government which represents all of us, not just the 1%. [applause] i will tell you a story which is very gratifying. this is what i've been trying to do from day one in this campaign is to bring working people, young people, bring people who have given up on the political process back into that process so they can stand up and fight for their kids and their own lives. yesterday, i saw something that was enormously touching to me. it was a caucus in maine. there were photographs on the internet of a line half a mile long. half mile long of people waiting hours to get into cast their vote. we won maine with 64% of the vote. [applause]

in the largest voter turnout in the history of maine caucuses -- we had similar results in kansas. in other words, this is what is happening -- if we allow the same old same old to continue, you will get the same old, same old result. those same old, same old results will be the rich get richer, the middle class continues to disappear, and too many of our people live in poverty. if we want to change that same old, same old, we have to understand that politics is not a football game. football is a spectator sport.

we watch great athletes do their thing. politics and democracy means that every single one of us has to be actively involved in determining the future of america. [applause] tomorrow is a very important day here in michigan. it is your primary. if there is a large voter turnout, we will win. [applause] as keith said, bring your family members, bring your coworkers, bring your neighbors. let's show the establishment that we are not satisfied with the status quo, we want real change. [applause] obviously, my opponent on the ballot will be secretary clinton.

let me just speak for a moment about some of the differences that exist between secretary clinton and myself. number one, in this country today, we have a corrupt campaign finance system. [applause] as a result of citizens united, what we have seen is the emergence of a whole lot of super pacs into which billionaires, the wall street corporate america are putting huge amounts of money. secretary clinton has several super pacs. the largest recently reported that in the last filing period, she raised $25 million including $15 million from wall street. [boos] secretary clinton has also gone behind closed doors with some of

the major wall street financial institutions. she gets paid $225,000 per speech. not bad for a days work. i kind of figure that if you're going to get paid $225,000 to give a speech, it must be a brilliant speech. if it is such a brilliant speech, surely, you want to share that brilliant speech with the people of america. [applause] we have chosen -- secretary clinton also said she would release the transcripts. here it is, i'm ready to release my transcripts, are you ready? here it is, you got it. nothing there. no speeches to wall street. [applause]

we, on the other hand, have taken a different approach in how we raise funds. and how we do it is to go to working families and middle-class people. what has happened over the last 10 months has been absolutely amazing and mind blowing. we now have received 5 million individual campaign contributions. [applause] that is more individual campaign contributions than any candidate in the history of the united states of america. [applause] anybody here know what the average campaign contribution is? i love that. i love that.

$27. to quote abraham lincoln at gettysburg, this is a campaign of the people, by the people, and for the people. [applause] now, there is another issue that separates secretary clinton from myself. that is all of you are aware that in america today, our middle class is shrinking. almost all new income and wealth go to the top 1%. you are aware that many of the new jobs being created pay wages that are just too low. there are a lot of factors for that but one of the major reasons is that, for the last 30 years, we have had a series of disastrous trade policies written by corporate america.

these trade policies whether it's nafta or cafta or trade relations with china or others, the basic principle was the following: corporate america helped write these trade agreements and they say why should i pay a worker in michigan or vermont a decent wage with decent benefits, negotiate with the union, and have to obey environmental legislation when i could go to mexico or china and pay people pennies an hour? that is what they wanted. that is what they have accomplished because of these disastrous trade agreements. in this country, in the last 15 years, we have seen the loss of 60,000 factories in america. 60,000 factories and millions of

decent paying jobs. while not all of that is attributable to trade, a lot of it is. all of you know factories and communities all over this country shut down, workers were thrown out on the street, factory went to mexico or to china or some other low-wage country. hillary clinton has supported virtually every one of these disastrous trade policies. [boos] i have opposed every one of these disastrous policies. [applause] last night, there was a debate and in order to kind of hide her positions on trade, secretary clinton announced that i was an

opponent of the bailout of the automobile industry which is so important here in michigan and many other states. that is absolutely untrue. there was one vote in terms of whether or not we bailed out the automobile industry in the senate. it was december 11, 2008. i voted for that bailout in support of the workers in the automobile industry. [applause] to say otherwise is to not say the truth. there is another area of huge consequence between difference of opinion between secretary clinton and myself and that has to do with foreign policy. in 2002, the congress debated

the most important foreign policy issue in the modern history of this country. i listened very carefully to president bush and vice president cheney had to say. about going to war in iraq. i not only voted against that war, i helped lead the opposition to going to war in iraq. [applause] it gives me no pleasure to tell you that much of what i feared would happen is exactly what did happen in terms of the chaos and instability in that region which has led us to where we are today. secretary clinton heard the same evidence that i heard. she voted for that disastrous war. [boos]

you know, it is very easy when you were a politician to point out what is true. is there a lot of terrible day dictators and demagogues all over this world? qaddafi of libya is certainly one of them. it's not enough to say he is a tyrant and dictator. before you overthrow him, you have to think about what happens the day after he is gone. regime change does not always work out quite as smoothly as some people think it does. [applause] a series of articles in the new york times recently made a point that the president was not sure what to do about libya. secretary clinton was one of the more aggressive people to say

we've got to go in and overthrow qaddafi. there is massive instability in libya and isis has a foothold in that country today. the point being that regime change is more complicated and often has unintended consequences. we've got to be careful about that. [applause] on foreign policy, there is another issue and i wish i could come before you and tell you that i have a magical solution, i don't. that is for decades now, there has been hatred and warfare in the middle east. everybody knows we have had some presidents like carter and clinton and others who have tried to do their best to resolve it. all i can tell you is i will make every single effort to bring rational people on both

sides together so that hopefully, we can have, through a level playing field, the united states treating everybody in that region equally, hopefully. [applause] i know that there are people of goodwill in israel and the arab communities, this is not an easy task. but it is a task that we must pursue. we cannot continue to have, for another 60 years, the kind of hatred and conflict that exist in the middle east. [applause] this campaign is doing as well as it is winning caucus after caucus because we are listening

to the american people rather than just wealthy campaign contributors. we are listening to workers who tell us they cannot make it on $9-$10 per hour. that's not enough money for one person let alone to raise a family. that is why, when we think big and when we determine that in america, no worker working 40 hours per week should live in poverty, we know that we have to raise the minimum wage to a living wage, $15 per hour. [applause] this campaign is listening to senior citizens and disabled veterans. a great nation is judged not

by how many millionaires and billionaires it has but i how it treats the weakest and most vulnerable amongst us. that's what are great nation is about. [applause] there are millions of seniors and disabled veterans in this country who are trying to get by on $12,000 per year social security. you know what? nobody can get by on $12,000 per year on social security. unbelievably, there are republicans out there who actually want to cut social security. i've got some very bad news for them. not only are we not going to cut social security, we are going to expand social security benefits. [applause]

this campaign is listening to young people and what young people are telling me is how does it happen that i end up 50, 60, $80,000 in debt because i simply wanted to get the best education that i could. [applause] again, this is what keith ellison was saying. we've got to think out side of the status quo. we all take it for granted. millions of people in this country are deeply in debt for the crime of getting a higher education. you know what? that's pretty crazy. that is not right. what we want to do is to encourage every american to be able to get all of the education that they need, not punish people for getting an education. [applause]

that is why we will do three things. again, this may seem radical but women's rights were considered radical. gay rights were considered radical. [applause] workers rights were considered radical. 40-50 years ago, you could graduate high school and get a pretty good job. aday, in many respects college degree is equivalent to what a high school degree was many years ago. [applause] it seems to me, we have got to

do three things. one, in the year 2016, we have got to make public colleges and universities tuition for a. -- tuition free. [applause] is this a radical idea? it is absolutely common sense. the world has changed, new type of education is needed to deal with the new technologies that are complicated. people need different types and more education. haved of all, you countries like germany and scandinavia, that's what they are doing. the third thing and this will shock some of you, 50, 60 years ago, guess what? public colleges and universities in the united states of america were virtually tuition free. this is not a radical idea. it's exactly what we should do.

the second thing we should do is that people are carrying have a --heavy student debt, we got to lower that debt i allowing them to refinance their loans. [applause] as you know, 2008, after wall street's reckless and illegal behavior drove this economy into the worst economic downturn since the great depression, the congress bailed out wall street. they bailed out the wealthiest and most powerful institution in america. i think that now, what we need to do, is impose a tax on wall street speculation [applause] which will raise the money we

need to lower student debt and make colleges and universities tuition free. [applause] you helped bailout wall street. now it is wall street's turn to help the middle class. [applause] this campaign is listening to women. what women are saying is how does it happen that they sit in an office or factory and they end up making $.79 on the dollar compared to the guy in the other room? [applause] i know that every man in this room will stand with women in the fight for pay equity for women workers. [applause]

this campaign is listening to our brothers and sisters in the african-american community. what they are telling us is that we have a broken criminal justice system. [applause] which ends up having more people in jail than any other country on earth. shamefully, absurdly, we are spending $80 billion per year to lock up 2.2 million americans disproportionately african americans, latino, and native americans. one of the reasons for that is that youth unemployment in this country is outrageously high. for young whites, 33% are high school graduates, latinos 36%,

african-americans, 51%. you want to hear a radical idea? here's the radical idea. we will invest in education and jobs for our young people, not jails and incarceration. [applause] this campaign is listening to our latino brothers and sisters. what they are telling us is that they are tired of living in fear, living in the shadows and i agree with them when they say we need comprehensive immigration reform and a path to citizenship. [applause]

this campaign is listening to native americans. these are people who have been treated shamefully for hundreds of years. [applause] we owe the first americans so much and it's time we started paying back that debt. [applause] there is a lot of anger out there today in the united states and i will tell you one of the reasons why there is so much anger. in my state and in michigan, throughout this country, you've got millions of people working longer hours for lower wages. you will have families where mom is working long hours and dad is working long hours and kids are

working long hours. marriages are being stressed and destroyed because parents don't have quality time to spend together. kids are not getting the attention they deserve because everybody is working. [applause] meanwhile, despite the fact that we work so hard and here in america, not a lot of people know this, we work the longest hours of any people in the industrialized world. the japanese are hard workers, we work longer hours than they do. and yet, despite all of that, 58% of all new income created today goes to the top 1%. [boos] today in america, we have a worse level and more grotesque level of wealth inequality than any other major country on

earth, worse than since 1928. in america today, the top 1/10 of 1% owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. the wealthiest 20 people own more wealth in the bottom half of america, 150 million people. what our job is and what we can do together is to create an economy that works for all of us, not just wealthy campaign contributors. [applause] real unemployment in this country is not 4.9%. real unemployment is double that. youth unemployment is off the charts.

i was in flint, michigan a couple of weeks ago talking to people who have been impacted by poison water. we had a town meeting there as well. the conclusion that i reached is that it was, in talking and listening to these people and their pain i don't want to speak out out what i heard because it is so painful about children being poisoned and the implications of that and what it means for kids lives -- that was happening in the united states of america in the year 2016 was literally hard to believe it it was like a was talking to people in the third or fourth world country, not the richest country in the history of the world. in the richest country in the history of the world, our infrastructure, our water system, our wastewater plants, roads and bridges and rail system and levees and dams should not be crumbling.

that is why we have got to rebuild our water systems in flint and all over this country, rebuild our infrastructure and when we do that, we can create 13 million decent paying jobs. [applause] republicans go around the country and they talk a lot about family values. i want you all to know what they mean by that. what they mean is that no woman in this room, in this state, in this country should have the right to control her own body. i disagree. [applause]

what they mean is that our gay brothers and sisters should not have the right to be married. i disagree. [applause] but when i talk about family values, it is a little bit different than republican family values. this is what i talk about -- i talk about ending the international embarrassment of the united states being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee paid family and medical leave. [applause] there is a woman today in michigan or vermont, throughout this country, who is having some beautiful baby today and that is a great day. but if that woman is working