which there is a great deal. so thank you to aei for it for supporting us in this at the at the end of the sex pistols last show in san francisco. this is going johnny rotten said, aha. ever get the feeling you've been cheated? well i'm a think tanker i'm supposed to stand up here and let everybody know what i've developed in my head? well, i've developed a couple of things in my head, but what you've just witnessed is me sitting up here and learning like crazy. thanks to you all. leave this here. you can finish watching it, though. if you go to our web site, c-span, north and now to the democratic national committee's holiday reception here in washington, dc, where president biden, along with vice president harris and their spouses, are making remarks. live coverage on c-span. now, folks, i know a lot of our hearts were broken, but let us not forget what president biden and vice president harris have

done. and i can tell you, being involved in politics for for 34 years that they are the most in my lifetime. what they did, president biden and kamala harris are the most consequential. the biden administration, the most consequential administer oration of my life. and we all should be proud of that, because without all of you, that would have never happened. so, again, i want to thank you all for everything you've done. i hope that we all stay together as one big family and we move forward together in the future. so it's my great pleasure to also introduce a hero of the democratic party who i've worked side by side with every day in the last five years. our chair, ben, jamie harris and

welcome. jamie harrison. thank you, mr. chairman. hello, everybody. first and foremost, happy holidays to each and every one of you in this room. blessings to you and your family. and i hope you get an opportunity to really understand and remember what this holiday season is all about. i am so fortunate, so fortunate that i have had the opportunity these last four years to get an opportunity to work with each and every one of you. and i want to say thank you. thank you for always being the corner of the democratic party. but most importantly, thank you for always being in the corner of our president and our vice president, joe biden and kamala harris. you know, chris said it all these last four years, i've had the opportunity to work with the

most consequential. but also the most legislatively success awful administration of my lifetime. and folks, this only happens in america and only happens in america that a round headed black boy from orangeburg, south carolina, born to a teen mom raised by a grandpa, aunts with a fourth grade and an eight grade education, get the opportunity to chair the oldest party on the face of this planet. that only happens in america. and partly it happened because of joe biden, our president. and so, folks, it is indeed my honor. am i pleasure to introduce to you all and i hope you will join me in thanking, first and foremost, our president, joe biden and first lady jill biden and vice president kamala harris.

and the second gentleman, doug emhoff. you gave me a chance to say. all right, thank you, jamie, not only for your stewardship, but for your time for the holidays, for such an important time. i build is also a time to express gratitude. and that's what we are here to do today. it's a fine you know, before i married kamala harris, i was a donor, just like a lot of you. so i understand the sacrifice and commitment and all the things that you do, because i used to do that, too. so thank you for your commitment to, our great nation and to a more just and free society.

your leadership and generosity were critically important this year. and even though the outcome is not what we had hoped it not mean, we give up hope for the future. we must keep fighting. we must keep fighting together to build a better america for all of us. i'm incredibly proud of what the biden-harris administration accomplished over the past four years when joe and kamala were elected. the first thing that i did was gladly step away from my career as a lawyer to help support them. and so it's been the honor of a lifetime to serve as our nation's first ever second gentleman. now, as as as the first ever second gentleman. i struggled at first to figure out what was it i should do and where would my voice be most

useful? and it was my wife, kamala harris, who urged and inspired me to use this platform to work on causes that i believed in. and i took her advice and i set out on a journey to fight for gender equity and to fight against and hate and. and president biden always had my back as well. and he encouraged me to travel abroad, learn about my ancestry and work with leaders across the globe to combat hate and our great first lady, jill biden, my friend, was always there as an ally and a supporter. i always knew i could count on her to uplift my word. and one of my proudest achievements in this role was the creation of the first ever national strategy to counter anti-semitism and then seeing it through to its implementation and your support was critical to

me being able to do this impactful work and get out on the campaign trail and to fight for a better and more decent america. and that's what we did. campaign is over and administration is coming to a close. but there is more work to be done. and i know that all of you will continue to be a part of that fight. and now i have the privilege and honor to introduce my very good friend. she is a trailblazer in her own right and encouraged me to chart my own path. a second gentleman, she also inspired me to take on a teaching role at georgetown, and that's something teachers. she's such a great example on that and it's been such a fulfilling part of my journey. i'm thankful for her kindness and mentorship, and i'm going to miss working with her by her side. but we're always going to be friends. please welcome our amazing first lady, dr. jill biden.

our. doug, thank you. you know, joe and i are so grateful to work alongside you as part of the team and i really admire you, doug, for how you stood up for what you believed in. and you went all around the country and you just grew into the role and and i hope, you know, you've been a great partner to kamala, but you've also been a good partner to me. and i really appreciate that and we've a really good time cycling together, so i'm going to miss that. so years ago, after not long after joe and i got married, he had to work late in the senate and he wouldn't make it home to delaware in time for a political event that evening. so, joe asked me if i would give the political speech in his

place. so as a teacher, i you know, i spoke front of my classroom every every single day. but this was different. oops. and politics has always been joe's arena, not mine. and i at that time, you know, i was like, i felt sick with nerves and at the microphone i remember staring at the pages in my speech as my you know, my hands shook and when i got home, i told joe, that's the last speech i'm ever going to give. and tonight, as i stand before you, honest to god, 50 years later, i giving countless speeches for joe and the democrats. so we do a lot for the people we love, right, doug. so it's been an extra ordinary journey and an incredible four

years at the white house. and it is the honor of our lives to serve you as the first family. and we couldn't have done it without you. now, i don't remember what i said that night in delaware or to a room full of democrats like this one. and it was because it was so long ago. but i do know what i want to tell you tonight are our party chooses the leaders who have entire security like joe and kamala. people who lead with compassion and decency, people who fight so that everyone in our country gets a fair shot. we can't waiver on funding the values that set our party apart. let's always remember who are what we want in our leaders and, who we fight for.

over the last four years, as i've gotten to know kamala, this is clear she is her mother's daughter. growing up, when kamala was about her, about something apparently kamala, her mother. would turn to come and say, well, what did you do, kamala? and that was the biggest lesson that kamala's mother taught her within her was the power to create change. what did you do, kamala? you answered your mother's question. how. becoming the first woman ever to serve as vice president. being joe's true and trusted partner, strengthening our country and fighting for

freedom, opportunity and the dignity of all people? joe and are so grateful for you and doug. we love you. you know, so now i give you our vice president, kamala harris. that evening, everyone, including good evening and evening. happy holidays. and thank you all for what you are, what you have done, what you will do. dr. jill biden let me just say it been an extraordinary three, four years. as you have said, and the work that we have done together, the four of us, i wish some of you were privy to seeing just, you know, before we come on stage when, we're hanging out in the

back or just those long nights when we're talking about what we want to get done, the challenges we face. but our commitment to sing through and i'll say about jill biden something that probably most of you know, she's a tough cookie who cares so deeply, you know, jill is tough. she has a tough exterior. she has one of the biggest hearts of anybody i know. she cares about the people, the way she talks, for example, about her students, the way she talks about people who are often overlooked are just not thought of in any way that they should be. that's who jill is. and so, jill, it's been an extraordinary experience to work with you and our friendship is lifelong as you know. and i love you. thank thank you. and can we hear it again for the

first second gentleman of the united states. also known as my daddy. it is so good to be here with everyone this evening, including chair jamie harrison, finance chair chris cordes and so many others. and we are here tonight to thank you all for the work that you have done. and it has been tireless work when it mattered most through the entire campaign, including those 107 days. you all rallied, you rallied hard, you opened your home, you reached out to your friends and your family. you put your personal capital, and by that i mean your relationships are at stake to talk with people because you care so deeply and you connect it with people and took the time to remind them of what is at

stake and what was at stake. you sacrificed an extraordinary amount of time, not doing other priorities in your life to focus on this campaign and by extension, to focus on our country and its future. with your help, we brought together people from every walk of life and every background, all united by a deep love of country all motivated by enthusiasm and, joy in our fight for america's future. and as a result of your leadership and your support, the national finance committee held more than 700 events across the country and raised nearly $700 million and historic achievement, which without a doubt made our campaign strong here. so i thank you again for all you

have done. and i ask that everyone here that you hold on to and know in your heart and in your spirit that everything you made a difference and mattered and has impact, that is lasting all the work you did to bring these resources together allowed us to do rallies where people from every walk of life would come and they would look around and see that we are one community of people called americans. they would look and they would see people they'd never met before and feel a sense of their own power in knowing that they are not alone and that we are all in this together. you gave people and them to have that feeling, and that can't be taken away. and as we look to the future, we

will continue then to rely on your support to make sure our party can continue to do that kind of work, which is about being on the ground being where the people are going to them to organize and mobilize and remind people of the power of their voice. so look, the holiday season is one of my favorite times of year that in my birthday. and our and our wedding anniversary, of course course, this i'm just going to keep digging this hole deeper in deeper. but it's a time of great etude and a time of celebration. and and so it's so important this holiday season to remember. we all have so much to celebrate. we have a country we love. we have ideals that we're very clear about in terms of their importance and the importance of

us fighting for those ideals. and we have each other and work is about being intentional, about building community. our work is about being intentional, about building coalitions. our work is fueled by our knowledge that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. we who understand that we are all in this together. we who, as i like to say, look in the face of a stranger and see a neighbor. that's how we do our work. and we who know that the true measure of the strength of a leader not based on who you beat down, it's based on who you lift up and. that spirit is the spirit with which we do our work. and hear me when i say this, that spirit that fuels the

countless hours and days and months of work that you have put into this, that spirit can never be defeated. our spirit is not defeated. we are not defeated. let's be clear about that. we are strong. we are clear about why we are in this. and because you're here right. now i say again, thank you. because not only are you clear about all of that, you're willing to put in the hard work and that work must continue. we cannot let any circumstance or situation or individual will ever take away our power to know why we do what we do and our ability to then get that work done, and especially because we know what we stand for and that's why we know what to fight for. we here believe in the promise

of america. we believe in the promise of freedom, of justice, of opportunity and dignity, not just for some, but for all. we know that, fighting for the promise of america takes hard work. now, you all can help me finish this. many of you heard me say it, but we like hard work. hard work is good work. hard work is joyful. work. and in the new year, we will continue our work with hope, with determination, and with joy. so i'll close by saying this holiday season, like any time of the year, let's really be conscious us of all the blessings we have let us celebrate the blessings we have let us celebrate in advance the blessings we have yet to create and let us always remember our

country is worth fighting for. and our spirit will not be defeated. and i promise you, i will be with you every step of the way. thank you. and with that, it is my great honor. to introduce and incredible leader who i have had the great blessing and honor and joy of working with for the last four years, spending time with this leader, be it in the oval office. the situation room, or just sitting around, talking about, hey, i think we can get this inflation reduction act done. i think that actually people want the chips and science act and we can get it done. i think even though there have

been, you know, about 150 years since there's been a real upgrade on america's infrastructure, i think we can get it done. i think we can get done bipartisan work around smart gun safety laws. and i'm going to tell you something about joe biden. he is relentless. he never gives up. he cares. so deeply about the american people and he spends full time in all these places that i just mentioned, including on the world stage, fighting for the american people and fighting for our strength, the respect which we are. do our honor and our ability to have vision that actually benefits people around the world. and most importantly, he is a dear friend to doug and me and our family. i bring you our president, joe biden.

oh, hello. hello. hello, dnc. oh, i want to thank jamie harrison for his leadership as chairman. there is a congresswoman down there in his state to call me one day, said, joe, you're going to have to decide on a chairman. let me tell you who it is. i said, sure, whatever you say. anyway, it turns out that, jamie, you've done a hell of a job and you know, the fact is that when we started off, as you heard me say, many times, i didn't plan on running again. and because things have changed in my life and but i got a call

from chris gorge and others saying, you know, we got to do this. there's a lot at stake. i spent my i know you heard me say that. i know i look like i'm 40, but but i've been around a long time. and there's one advantage of having been the oldest president in american history. i've gotten to know virtually every world leader in the last 50 years. i know them pretty well. and what i realize and more than ever did before, that we are the central country. it's not hyperbole. it's not about what we want to be. ask yourself the question if we don't lead the world, who does not a joke? who does? who leads if we don't? and when i decided to run, so we i thought we could win. i determine that i was going to

have a a an administration that looked america represented every aspect of america. we kept that commitment. i don't think anybody's going to be able to turn that around. and thanks to all of you for your support to the dnc, jill and i come on down. could never have gotten to the white house without you. and that's not again not hyperbole. we never could have gotten as much done as we did without you. you not only contributing to campaign, but you were you you did something. i think even more important, willing to lend your names, your reputation, your character to the effort. you shine that check. you knew what you were doing. you're putting yourself on the line. and we're forever grateful for your character. the one thing i've always believed about public service, and especially about the presidency, is the importance of asking yourself, have we left the country? better to shape than we found it today? i can say without ever fiber of my being with all my heart is

that question is a resounding yes. yes. it because of all of you assembled here, you mean proud? we're leaving america in a better place today than we came here four years ago. this country has led me through the worst pandemic the country had seen in 100 years. our economy was in a tailspin. millions of people were out of work. businesses were being shuttered, schools were closed. there was no plan for going forward. just two weeks before being sworn in, we just witnessed something we thought would never happen in america. a violent insurrection encouraged by the man sitting in the white house on january 6th is so much more. we've come a long way since then. your plastic store historic legislation, laws that literally are literally building the strongest economy in the world. we're not a world leader. you can name for me who died and

told me these g7, these 20 i mean, all these meetings i meet with them, they wouldn't trade places with us in a heartbeat. laws that would fully implement it are going to change america for decades to come. but we did know many of the laws we passed were so consequential they wouldn't be implemented right away. it takes time to build those fabs and factories for chips. it takes time to get this construction going. over $1.4 trillion in infrastructure, $1 trillion so far in private sector investments in america. the biggest investment ever in climate in the history of, the world. and fundamentally transforming our economy to grow from the middle out in the bottom up, not just the top down. i fully believe that america is better positioned because of all of you to lead the world today than at any point in the last 50 years in my career. that's because of you. again, not hyperbole. you lend your reputations, your names to this effort. it's not just the contributions you made. it's your stepping up. put yourself on the line.

you should be so -- proud of the work we've done together. you should never forget all you've done for the country. i'm also proud we can say we've done all of this with a deep belief in the core values of america. those values are. we're all created. as you heard me say 100 times, you know, we're most unique nation in the world. every other nation was based on geography, religion, ethnicity, some common factor. but in america, we were built on an idea. an idea, an idea. the only country in the world we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal. everyone should have a fair shot. they should never have a safe harbor in america. that's what we're about. we've never fully lived up all that, but we've never wished we stuck with our principles and set high standards of character integrity in public life. let me say it's been the honor of my life to serve your president. but the title i'm most proud of being husband.

and you know, as we all know by now, had asked her five times, thank god she said yes. the fifth time i well, i think she's been one of our greatest first ladies. i mean, this is her her. she wasn't kidding. the first that she made. she was scared to death about those speeches. look at her and how, you know, i'm in trouble and, well, look, it's also an incredible honor to serve with someone of immense character, as she demonstrated through entire career. kamala harris. i knew what i was doing, asked her to be my vice president. i knew her. i knew of her. i knew about her. i knew her record. i trusted her. she always served this country with purpose and integrity and she always will. and you're going anywhere, kid, because we're not going to go.

we're going. to, you know, just our great first second gentleman. i love that first, second gentleman. this guy's one of the best lawyers in america. this guy up, this guy's incredible guy. and one thing we have in common, i used to practice law for about ten days, but i used to practice. and i think doug and i have in common both married way above our station. thank you, governor connelly. and i love your service, but jill and i are grateful to call dear friends. look, let me with this all our time in office is coming to an end. the america of our dreams is calling us to stay engaged. we are. joe and i. i don't think i'm on and i'm not going anywhere. we look to the future. it's more important than ever to keep organizing, to keep talking to folks.

we all get knocked down. my dad was saying, when you get knocked down, you've got to get up, get up. the measure of a person or a party is fast. they get back up and to know what we believe in is really worth fighting for. that's the road ahead to never give up, to keep the faith, to know, to know that what we're doing matters. i know, i know. i'm to stay engaged, you know? come on. june duggar well as well. and i know you will. we need better. the country needs you badly. you just have to remember it heard me say it a thousand times. remember who we are with united states of america, for god's sake. how many of you students of history? no other nation in the world has come through every crisis stronger than they went into the crisis. and i accept the united states. and folks, look all the things we passed. we know people going to see it. how long would it take to build a fab? that's going to have higher thousands of people, billions of

dollars being invested. it just takes time to get it built, takes time to get it going. it's not going to happen for another five, six months in many places. just get started. the united states of, america is nothing beyond our capacity. we do it together. but we knew a lot of this was going to take time. but look what's out there. everything from anyway i won't get. i get going. but you really did a hell of a job. i really mean. and the thing i'm most admired about working with, all of you have great integrity. great integrity. you've stuck with the deal. you've been honest, human, decent. we've run a run, a campaign of basically scandal free. it's hard to do in american politics these days anyway. that's i thank you very much for in my heart, the bad news, y'all, is i ain't going nowhere. well, we're going to stay engaged.

in having been listed the poorest man in congress for 36 years. thank you. i may be able to actually contribute now. we're all in this. i thank you very, very much. here. there's really no this way you. do. some new york city real estate developer larry silverstein

acquired a 99 year lease on the world trade center just weeks before the september 11th terrorist attacks. tonight on c-span's q&a, mr. silverstein, author of the rising share stories about the rebuilding of world trade center complex following the attacks and discusses thbusiness political engineering challenges he faced during his 20 year rebuilding effort. i said it's got to be replaced of course, you don't lower going to become a ghost town. people kind of leave it. they'll never come back. i said. secondly, if we don't rebuild, it will give the terrorists exactly what want. i said this an attack not on the twin towers, nothing like that. much more serious. it's an attack on america and everything we for. so we have an obligation to rebuild it, larry, with his book the rising tonight at eight eastern on c-span's q&a.

you can listen to q&a in all of our podcasts on our free c-span now app. c-span's washington journal, our live forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics and public policy. from washington and across the country. coming up monday morning, notice politics reporter gorman discusses the latest developments, the trump transition and previews the week ahead in congress. then brad and dallas woodhouse brothers and on opposite sides of the political divide talk about efforts to bridge differences this holiday season. c-span's washington journal join in the conversation live at seven eastern monday morning on c-span, on c-span now or online at c-span dot org.

on monday, world war two veterans and representatives from allied nations will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the battle of the bulge at the national world war two memorial. watch live starting at 11 a.m. eastern on c-span. c-span now are free mobile video app or online at c-span dot org. for over 45 years. c-span has been your window into the workings of our democracy, offering live coverage of congress, open forum, calling programs and unfiltered access to the decision makers who shape our nation. and we've done it all without a cent of government funding. c-span exists for you viewers who value transparent. no spend, political coverage and your support helps keep our mission alive. and as we close out the year, we're asking you to stand with us. your gift. no matter the size, goes 100% towards supporting c-span. vital work, helping ensure that long form in-depth and independent coverage continues to thrive in an era where it's needed more than ever. visit c-span dawgs donate or scan the colon on your screen to

make your tax deductible contribution. and today, together, we can ensure c-span remains a trusted resource for you and for future generations. on capitol hill, democratic senators elect andy kim of new and adam schiff of california we srn in as senators following their resignations fromhe house. they' serve out the remaining terms of their predecessors until the end of the year, before starting a full six year term in january. nebraska senator pete ricketts was also sworn in after winning a special election in november to finish the remaining term of foer senator ben sasse, which expires in 2027. the chair lays before the senate communications regarding resignations from the senate of senator butler and senator helmi. without objection the communications will be printed in the record. the chair lays before the