was ours thank you for reminding us that we always have the power to shape our own destiny thank you very much alice thank you thank god inspired by stories like alice my administration worked closely with members of both parties to sign the first step act into law thank you thank you this legislation reformed sentence the african american community. the first

step act gives nonviolent offenders the chance to reenter society as productive law abiding citizens now states across the country are following our lead america is a nation that believes in redemption. we are also joined tonight by matthew charles from tennessee. in one thousand nine hundred ninety six at the age of thirty matthew was sentenced to thirty five years for selling drugs and related offenses over the next two decades he completed more than thirty bible studies became a lot clerk. and mentored many of his fellow inmates now matthew is the very first person to be released from prison under the first

step act thank you please thank. thanks thank you matthew. welcome home. thanks now republicans and democrats was joined forces again to confront an urgent national crisis. congress has ten days left to pass a bill that will fund our government. protect our homeland and secure our very

dangerous southern border now is the time for congress to show the world. that america is committed to ending illegal immigration and putting the ruthless coyotes cartels drug dealers and human traffickers out of business the law the while her as we speak large organized care of ends are on the march to the united states we have just heard that mexican cities in

order to remove the illegal immigrants from their communities are getting trucks and buses to bring them up to our country in areas where there is little border protection i have ordered another three thousand seven hundred fifty troops to our southern border to prepare for this tremendous onslaught. this is a moral issue the lawless state of our southern border is a threat to the safety security and financial wellbeing of all america. we have a moral duty to create an immigration system that protects the lives in jobs of our citizens this includes our obligation. to the millions of immigrants living here today who followed the rules and respected our laws. illegal

immigrants enrich our nation and strengthen our society in countless ways either i want people to come into our country. in the largest numbers ever but they have to come in illegally by the either one tonight i am asking you to defend our very dangerous southern border out of love and devotion to our fellow citizens and to our country

no issue better illustrates the divide between america's working class and america's political class then illegal immigration wealthy politicians and owners push for open borders while living their lives behind walls and gates and darts. either one meanwhile working class americans are left to pay the price for mass illegal immigration. reduced its lower wages overburdened schools hospitals that are so crowded you can't get in increased crime

and they depleted social safety net. tolerance for illegal immigration is not compassionate it is actually very cruel. ah the a one in three women is sexually assaulted on the long journey north smugglers use migrant children as human pawns to exploit our laws and gain access to our country. human traffickers and sex traffickers take advantage of the wide open areas between our ports of entry to smuggle thousands of young girls and women into the united states and to sell them into prostitution and modern

day slavery. tens of thousands of innocent americans are killed by lethal drugs that cross our border and flood into our cities including meth. heroin cocaine and fenton all. the savage gang m.-s. thirteen now operates in at least twenty different american states and they almost all come through our southern border. just yesterday in m.s. thirteen gang member was taken into custody for a fatal shooting on a subway platform in new york city. we are removing these gang members by the thousands but until we secure our border they are going to keep screaming right back in year after year countless americans are murdered

by criminal illegal aliens i've gotten to know many wonderful angel moms and dads and families. no one should ever have to suffer. the horrible heartache that they have had to endure. here tonight is deborah bissell. just three weeks ago deborah's parents gerald and cher were burglarized and shot to death in their reno nevada home. by an illegal alien they were in their eighty's and are survived by four children eleven grandchildren and twenty great grandchildren also here tonight are gerald and sharon's granddaughter have and great granddaughter madison. to deborah had there

madison please stay and few can understand your pain thank you and thank you for being here thank you very much the law and. i will never forget. and i will fight for the memory of gerald and share that it should never happen again. not one more american alive should be lost because our nation failed to control its very dangerous border. in the last two years our brave ice officers

made two hundred and sixty six thousand arrests of criminal allianz including those charged or convicted of nearly one hundred thousand assaults thirty thousand sex crimes and four thousand killings or murders we are joined tonight by one of those law enforcement heroes ice special agent elven hernandez when ellen while. one the law in elven was a boy. he and his family legally immigrated to the united states from the domenic

in republic at the age of eight elven told his dad he wanted to become a special agent. today he leads investigations into the score. of international sex trafficking. elven say is that if i can make sure these young girls get their justice i've really done my job. thanks to his work and that of his incredible colleagues more than three hundred women and girls have been rescued from the heart of this terrible situation. and more than one thousand five hundred sadistic traffickers have been put behind bars while the law of the

her the us. we will always support the brave men and women of law enforcement and i pledge to you tonight that i will never about our heroes from ice thank you the evil my administration has sent to congress a commonsense proposal to end the crisis on the southern border it includes humanitarian assistance more law enforcement drug detection at our ports

closing loopholes that enable child smuggling and plans for a new physical barrier or wall to secure the vast areas between our ports of entry in the past most of the people in this room voted for a wall but the proper wall never got built i will get it built the e.u. law or one this is a smart. strategic see through steel barrier not just a simple concrete wall it will be deployed in the areas identified. by the border agents as having the greatest need and these agents will tell you

where walls go up illegal crossings go away way down the law san diego used to have the most illegal border crossings in our country. in response a strong security wall was put in place this powerful barrier almost completely ended illegal crossings. the border city of el paso texas used to have extremely high rates of violent crime one of the highest in the entire country and considered one of our nation's

most dangerous cities. now immediately upon its building. with a powerful barrier in place. el paso is one of the safest cities in our country. simply put walls work and walls save lives while . so let's work together compromise and reach a deal that will truly make america safe but as we work to defend our people safety we must also ensure our economic resurgence continues at a rapid pace no one has benefited more from

a thriving economy than women who have filled fifty eight percent of the newly created jobs last year. i'd . say you weren't supposed to do that while thank you very much. thank you very much . all americans can be proud. that we have more women in the workforce then ever before.

i'd . the e . don't sit yet you know like this i was going and exactly one century after congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote we also have more women serving in congress then at any time before the were while the e.u.

was you are you are were you were you are were were you were you were you were you thank you when a goal that's great for you very great and congratulations that's great as part of our commitment to improving opportunity for women everywhere this thursday we're launching the first ever government wide and initiative focused on economic empowerment for women in developing countries to

build on thalberg to build on our incredible economic success. one priority is paramount reversing decades of calamitous trade policies so bad we are now make it it clear to china. that after years of targeting our industries and stealing our intellectual property the theft of american jobs and wealth has come to an end to a i therefore we recently impose tariffs on two hundred fifty billion dollars of chinese goods and now our treasury is receiving billions and billions of dollars.

but i don't blame china for taking advantage of us i blame our leaders. and representatives for allowing this travesty to happen. i have great respect for president xi and we are now working on a new trade deal with china. but it must include real structural change to end unfair trade practices reduce our chronic trade deficit and protect american jobs the economy . another historic trade blunder was the catastrophe known as nafta. i have met the men and women of michigan ohio pennsylvania indiana

new hampshire and many other states whose dreams were shattered by the signing of nafta. for years politicians promised them they would renegotiate for a better deal. but no one ever tried until now. our new us mexico canada agreement the u.s. m.c.a. will replace nafta and deliver for american workers like they haven't had delivered to for a long time. i hope you can pass the us m.c.a. into law so that we can bring back our manufacturing jobs and even greater numbers expand american agriculture protect intellectual property and ensure that more cars are proudly stamped with our four beautiful

or it's made in the usa to eat tonight i am also asking you to pass the united states we simple trade act so that if another country places an unfair tariff on an american product. we can charge them the exact same tariff on the exact same product that they sell to us the law of both parties should be able to unite for a great rebuilding of america's crumbling infrastructure ah

ha you know that congress is eager to pass an infrastructure bill. and i am eager to work with you on legislation to deliver new and important infrastructure investment including investments in the cutting edge industries of the future. this is not an option this is a necessity the next major priority for me and for all of us should be to lower the cost of health care and prescription drugs and to protect patients with preexisting conditions thanks

. already as a result of my administration's efforts in two thousand and eighteen drug prices experienced their single largest decline in forty six years thanks i. but we must do more it's unacceptable that americans pay vastly more than people in other countries for the exact same drugs often made in the exact same place this is wrong this is unfair and together we will stop it and will stop it famous thank

you i am asking congress to pass legislation. that finally takes on the problem of global free loading and delivers fairness and price transparency for american patients finally thank you we should also require drug companies insurance companies and hospitals to disclose real prices to force or competition and bring costs way down. was . no force in history has done more to advance the human

condition than american freedom. in recent years by the was. i. in recent years we have made remarkable progress in the fight against hiv and aids. scientific breakthroughs have brought a once distant dream within reach my budget will ask democrats and republicans to make the needed commitment to eliminate the epidemic. in the united states within ten years we have made incredible strides incredible

thank you together we will defeat aids in america and beyond. was tonight i am also asking you to join me in another fight that all americans can get behind the fight against childhood cancer i thank you. joining me. in the gallery this evening is a very brave ten year old girl grace. every

birthday i'd thank . high grades. every birthday since she was four grace asked her friends to donate to st jude's children's hospital. she did not know that one day she might be a patient herself that's what happened last year grace was diagnosed with brain cancer immediately she began radiation treatment. at the same time she rallied her community and raised more than forty thousand dollars for the fight against

cancer thanks when grace completed treatment last fall her doctors and nurses cheered they loved her they still love her with tears in their eyes as she hung up a poster that read last day of chemo i thank you.