Bernie Sanders Portland Rally Transcript and Videos

Bernie Sanders Portland Rally Transcript and Videos

[Note: Herman M. Frankel, M.D. prepared this transcript of all speeches at the 82-minute Bernie Sanders presidential rally in Portland, OR on August 9, 2015 before 28,000 people. Numbers in parentheses link starting points of successive parts of the transcript to their locations in the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGSigTZkMsw. Source material and backup videos are listed at the end of this document.]

(0:00)Emcee Symone Sanders, #BlackLivesMatter activist, National Youth Chair of the Campaign for Juvenile Justice, and national press secretary for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign welcomes and prepares the audience of 28,000 people:

Wow!

My name is Symone Sanders (cheers and applause), and I have the privilege of serving as the chair of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice’s National Youth Committee, and I am also going to campaign this week as a national press secretary! (Cheers and applause) Tonight, I have the pleasure of serving as your emcee.

Now, I have, I have some good information that says there, there might be a little disruption tonight: There’s a potential for a little disruption. So, I wanna be very clear. This campaign is about bringing people together (cheers and applause). So if there happens – we hope there is not a disruption – if there happens to be a disruption tonight, I want everyone in this stadium to respond with a chant. Can you all do that for me? Can you do that for me? (Cheers) OK, let me tell you what the chant is. We gotta be on one accord. I want you to respond with a chant: “We stand together” Let’s practice. (Audience: “We stand together!”) All right. So in the event that there is disruption, that is our response. (Cheers)

(1:42)We have a couple of speakers tonight before we bring the man of the hour out. I want to remind everybody to pull out your cell phones, if you haven’t already, go ahead and follow the campaign on Twitter@Bernie Sanders. I want you to like our Facebook page (just type in “Bernie Sanders”), and you can also text 82623 to get involved in the campaign: text “Bernie” to 82623.

Y’all ready to get this thing started? (Cheers and applause) How about right here, in the back: Are you ready to get this thing started? (Cheers and applause)

(2:22)OK! The first speaker I want you all to welcome to the stage is Dina Foley. Dina is a proud union member, and active in IBEW Local 48. Give a round of applause for Dina Foley! (Cheers and applause) (Hug)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGSigTZkMsw

Dina Foley, member, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48

Hi! My name’s Dina, and I’m a proud member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 48. (Cheers) Woo! (Cheers) This is my first union job. Throughout college, I worked various jobs in the service industries, and, like many others, emerged with considerable debt, unsure if my college degree would do anything more for me than take me from being a service worker to being a service worker who was slightly better at Jeopardy. But I got lucky. I got to sign a union card. Now I have a living wage, a voice at work, and more buttons than you can shake a stick at. (Cheers and applause).

But these opportunities are dwindling, because organized labor poses a threat to unchecked economic concentration and corporate greed, and Bernie Sanders is our best hope in the political sphere for combating that greed and revitalizing the labor movement. (Cheers and applause)

I support Bernie Sanders because of his unwavering commitment to leveling the playing field for working people – union or not – by doing things like paying us a living wage (cheers), rebuilding our infrastructure (cheers), and opposing free trade agreements like NAFTA and the TPP (cheers and applause). I support Bernie Sanders because the rigged political and economic systems have a disproportionately devastating impact on people of color and women (sustained cheers and applause). And I support Bernie because I don’t think it’s idealistic to want the government to invest in our health and education (sustained cheers and applause).

More than ever, we need a leader who’s willing to fight the control that corporations have over our political system (cheers and applause); a leader who will take action on climate change, racial injustice, mass incarceration, and immigration reform (sustained cheers and applause). Bernie Sanders is that leader! His values are aligned with the values of working people. His record shows it. In Bernie, we have a champion for our collective voice; and that is why I am so proud to have joined Bernie’s political revolution. Now let’s get out there and organize, to make Bernie the next president of the United States (sustained cheers and applause)!

(5:37)Symone Sanders

Let’s keep the applause going for Dina Foley (Cheers and applause) Do we have any union members in the room tonight? Any union members in the room? (Cheers and applause) All right!

(5:50)Well, next up, I want to bring to the stage Jaime Arredondo. Jaime is the Secretary-Treasurer of PCUN, Oregon’s farm worker union. Y’all give a big round of applause to Jaime! (Cheers and applause) (Hug)


(6:10)Jaime Arredondo, Secretary-Treasurer, PCUN (Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste) (See http://www.pcun.org/author/jaime/.)

Wow! Buenas tardes. Good afternoon. Well, I’m a proud member of the farm workers union, PCUN. I’m more, even, a proud member of immigrant and farm worker parents, one of which right now is now working the belt line of a processing plant, my mother Gracias, Mama (cheers and applause)! As you can tell, I don’t look like Bernie in many ways. But I stand with Bernie Sanders as our nation’s next president because of the values we share to give every family a fair shot – including our immigrant families! (Sustained cheers and applause)

For over a decade, organizations that represent low-wage immigrant workers – like PCUN, Causa – have called for immigration reform that provides a pathway to citizenship for our eleven million undocumented brothers and sisters contributing to our communities every day (cheers and applause)! They are out there! They are out there – harvesting and processing our food, building our homes, cooking our meals, and doing everything and anything they can to improve their children’s lives. They can’t wait any more! They can’t wait any more! We need immigration reform now (cheers and applause)! Senator Sanders supports immigration reform with a pathway towards citizenship.

Now let me be clear. Latino voters are listening closely to what presidential candidates have to say about the Obama administration’s deferred action program that provides temporary relief from deportation, and work authorization to undocumented youth. And I’m proud to say, I’m proud to say that Senator Sanders strongly supports Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, and the expansion of this program for the parents, immigrant parents (cheers and applause)!

Senator Sanders, thank you for your stance on immigration reform. Thank you for your support for the rights of farm workers to unionize (cheers and applause)! I’m grateful we have a candidate like you, that can cut through the hateful rhetoric of the Republican Party, and instead offer a compassionate, rational stance to achieve justice and equality for all families! Sí, se puede! Yes, we can! Sí, se puede! (Cheers and applause)

(8:55)Symone Sanders

Thank you, Jaime! If you all like what Jaime had to say, I encourage you: Pull out those phones, let Twitter know, let Facebook know! Did y’all like what Jaime had to say? (Cheers and applause) All right!

(9:11)Next: I want to bring to the stage Mia Reback! Mia is a climate justice activist. Please give her a warm welcome! (Cheers and applause) (Hug)


http://www.pcun.org/author/jaime/

(9:27)Mia Reback, Community Organizer, 350pdx.org

Hello, Portland! Thank you all for coming out this evening. What an amazing turnout!

My name is Mia Reback, and I am here tonight because as an activist, defending our communities and the environment from corporate interests is my number one priority (cheers and applause). Like Bernie, I believe that the degradation of our planet is one of the most important challenges of our times (cheers and applause). Bernie has been a long-time ally of the environmental movement and an outspoken critic of corporate exploiters and polluters (cheers and applause).

And I am also proud to be here today because of the broader political revolution activating our country. One out of every [1:18] one that values all forms of life, and focuses America’s energies on building our common wealth (cheers and applause). Just last week in Portland, grassroots groups took on the second largest corporation in the world: Shell Oil! (Sustained cheers and applause) That’s right! Woo! Volunteers in groups like 350pdx, Portland Rising Tide, the Climate Action Coalition, and thirteen brave Greenpeace climbers (sustained cheers and applause) – these activists drew worldwide attention to the growing problem of climate change as we blockaded Shell’s’ icebreaker for forty hours (sustained cheers and applause) in what has been deemed – in a historic moment in the climate movement.

As we fight in the streets, Bernie is bringing our fight to the halls of US Congress. He has been voting to defend the Arctic since the 90s, and recently signed on to legislation introduced by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley to ban Arctic drilling (sustained cheers and applause). Bernie has fought hard to cut greenhouse gas emissions. He’s introduced laws to repeal loopholes and subsidies that unfairly benefit the coal, oil, and gas industry (cheers and applause). And he’s been way out in the front in the fight against Keystone XL Pipeline (cheers and applause).

Another reason I am proud to introduce Bernie Sanders is because he has a fifty-year history of standing up for minority and civil rights (sustained cheers and applause). But we must do more than work within our two-party system for justice. Everyone, and especially white progressives, must take an active role to combat racism, and ensure that black lives matter (sustained cheers and applause). Just this afternoon in Portland, #BlackLivesMatter organizer Teressa Raiford was arrested during a peaceful rally for racial justice. On the anniversary of Mike Brown’s murder, we must honor the intersections of our struggles. I look forward to a growing climate justice movement that works for racial, economic, and global justice (cheers and applause).

As our president, Bernie Sanders can bring our fight to the highest levels of government. Please join me in a warm welcome for the next president of the United States, Bernie Sanders! (Sustained cheers and applause)


(14:35) Emcee Symone Sanders, #BlackLivesMatter activist, National Youth Chair of the Campaign for Juvenile Justice, and national press secretary for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, introduces Bernie Sanders to the audience of 28,000 people:

Bernie’s not comin’ out just yet. Bernie’s not comin’ out just yet. Are you guys ready to hear Bernie Sanders, all? (Cheers and applause) Wow!

Before I bring out the man of the hour, I want to talk to you for a second and reflect for a moment. Is that OK? (Cheers) Thank you.

A year ago today, Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown and left his body lying in the street for four and a half hours. Following Michael Brown’s death, protesters and activists took to the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, and they stayed in the streets for three hundred and sixty-five days (cheers and applause), galvanizing young people to do the same in Portland, Oregon, Washington DC, Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles, California, Dallas, Texas, Atlanta, Georgia, and numerous other cities across this country. A year ago today, young people in America were galvanized in their determination that these killings must end. And they stood up to exclaim that “Enough is Enough!” and “Black! Lives! Matter!” (Sustained cheers and applause.)

Now, I think we can all agree we have come a long way as a country. But tragedies like Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Sam DuBois, Sandra Bland, Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Walter Scott, and John Crawford are just constant reminders that we still have work to do.

And we need people we trust leading this country to get the work done (cheers and applause). We need new voices that are not afraid to speak truth about the injustices that are plaguing people of color, and everyday hard-workin’ Americans. It’s important, it is important that we say Black Lives Matter (cheers), but it’s also important, it’s also important that we have people in political office who will turn those words into action.

People who not only understand, but are ready to do something about the communities across America that are still disenfranchised, and suffer from institutional and social racism (cheers and applause). People who understand economic inequality and racial inequality are parallel issues that must be addressed simultaneously! (Sustained cheers and applause). People who are committed to preserving and protecting the right to vote, reforming the juvenile justice and criminal justice systems so we are not locking up a whole generation of people but we are instead ending, ending the disgrace that is the mass incarceration of African-Americans in this country (cheers and applause). We need people who realize that Dr. King’s dream was more than just being able to sit at the lunch counter, but it also encompassed the possibility of owning the establishment (cheers).

When you look into your hearts, deep into your hearts, you know which candidate for president will shut down the private prison industry (cheers). You know which candidate


will have the courage to fight to end unjust mandatory minimum (prison sentences) (cheers and applause), and the death penalty (cheers and applause); which candidate will move swiftly to implement alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders (cheers and applause); and which candidate will really use his Justice Department to protect black lives (cheers and applause)!

So today, I encourage you to reflect on the lives of all those who have tragically and unjustly lost their lives, especially those whose names we do not know. As we reflect, we must commit ourselves to a multiracial political revolution that fights for racial justice, social justice, and economic justice (cheers and applause).

(19:54)Now, I don’t know if you’all heard, but I know a guy who is just the kind of person we’re describing, and he happens to be running for president of the United States of America! (Sustained cheers and applause)

(1:24:50) (20:45)Bernie Sanders and Jane Sanders arrive at the podium, and hug Symone Sanders.

(Sustained cheers and applause continue.)

(21:35)Bernie Sanders begins his one-hour talk:

Thank you! (Cheers and applause) Thank you! (Cheers and applause) Thank you! (Cheers and applause)

Woaw! Unbelievable!

This is an unbelievable turnout. Let me say, Dina, and Jaime, and Mia, and Symone, for those wonderful introductions (cheers and applause). And that is what this campaign is about: It’s bringing people together! (Cheers and applause) We began this campaign all of three and a half months ago and the momentum, as you can see tonight, has been nothing less than extraordinary! Thank you for being here! (Cheers and applause)

We have had great crowds in my home town of Burlington, Vermont (cheers and applause), in Minneapolis, in Denver, in Madison, in Dallas, in Houston, in Portland, in New Orleans. Last night, we had 15,000 people our in Seattle (cheers and applause). Portland, you have done it better than anyone else! (Sustained cheers and applause) This is, by far, the largest crowd – twenty thousand people! Thank you! (Sustained cheers and applause)

(23:50)Institutional racism, the criminal justice system, jobs, and educationAnd let me begin by reiterating a point that Symone and others have made; and let me


make it very clear, simple, and straightforward. There is no president who will fight harder to end institutional racism in this country (sustained cheers and applause), and to reform our broken criminal justice system (sustained cheers and applause). Today, in America, we have the unfortunate distinction of having more people in jail than any other country on earth (boos). I want to see this country not have more people in jail, but have jobs and education rather than incarceration (sustained cheers and applause).

Brothers and sisters, this country today faces more crises than in any time since the Great Depression of the 1930s. And what we are going to do, and what we understand, is that when problems are caused by dumb public policy, good public policy will resolve it; and today, we’re comin’ together to develop good public policy! (Sustained cheers and applause).

(25:50)Income and wealth inequalityAnd today we say, loudly and clearly, that this great nation belongs to all of us, not just a handful of billionaires! (Sustained cheers and applause). Today, we live in the wealthiest nation in the history of the world; but few people understand that or feel that because almost all of the wealth is controlled by a handful of people; and together we are going to change that (sustained cheers and applause). Our, our country today has more income and wealth inequality than any other major country on earth, and the gap between the very rich and everyone else is worse today than at any time since 1928 (boos). In my view, the issue of wealth and income inequality is the great moral issue of our time (cheers and applause), and we are going to inject the issue of morality into politics today (sustained cheers and applause). There is something profoundly wrong when the top one-tenth of one percent owns almost as much wealth as the bottom ninety percent (boos). There is something profoundly wrong when over fifty percent of new income generated today goes to the top one percent (boos). There is something profoundly wrong when in recent years we have seen a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires, yet the average American is working longer hours for lower wages and we have, shamefully, the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth. That has got to change. That will change! (Sustained cheers and applause) This campaign is sending a message to the billionaire class: Yes, we have the guts to take you on! (Sustained cheers and applause)

(29:45)An economy that works for working people, not just billionairesOur message, our message is, to the billionaire class: You are not gonna continue to get huge tax breaks when children in America go hungry! (Sustained cheers and applause) You are not going to continue shutting down factories in America and sending out jobs abroad when millions of Americans are in desperate need of good-paying jobs! (Sustained cheers and applause) You are not going to continue to hide your billions in profits in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda when we have enormous unmet needs here! (Sustained cheers and applause) The greed of the billionaire class in corporate America is destroying this country. Enough is enough! It’s going to end! (Sustained cheers and applause)


But when we talk about the economy, it is not just the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality. It is the tragic reality that in this great country, the middle class, once the envy of the entire world, has been disappearing for the last forty years (boos). Despite exploding technology and increased worker productivity, median family income today is almost five thousand dollars less than in 1999 (boos). In my state of Vermont and here in Oregon, it is not unusual to see people, not just workin’ one job, workin’ two jobs, working three jobs, trying to cobble together some income and some health care. That is not what the American economy should be! (Sustained cheers and applause) We need an economy that works for working people, not just billionaires! (Sustained cheers and applause)

(32:35)Unemployment, jails, jobs, and educationLemme tell you something that is often not discussed. Every month government comes out with a statistic on unemployment. Last statistic said that official unemployment was 5.3 percent. But what they forget to tell you is that statistic did not include those people who have given up lookin’ for work, those people who’re workin’ part time, and added all together, real unemployment is over ten percent (boos)! And lemme tell you something almost nobody talks about. And that is we have a huge and tragic situation regarding youth unemployment in America (cheers and applause). Last month, I asked the Economic Policy Institute to do a study to find out what real youth unemployment and underemployment was in America. And this is what they came up with. For kids who are high school graduates between 17 and 20, if you’re white, real unemployment: 33 percent. If you are Hispanic, real unemployment: 36 percent. If you are African-American, real unemployment for those kids: 51 percent (boos). We cannot turn our backs on an entire generation of young people! (Sustained cheers and applause) And if anybody thinks that those outrageously high unemployment numbers for our young people are not connected with the fact that we have more people in jail than any other country, you would be sorely mistaken. So my view, my view, is that instead of investing in jails and incarceration, what about jobs and education for the young people! (Sustained cheers and applause)

I do not want the United States to continue to have the distinction of having more people in jail – more lives ruined – than any other country. I want our country to have the distinction of having the best-educated population on earth! (Sustained cheers and applause)

(35:47)Decent and fair wages, fifteen-dollar minimum, and pay equity for women workersAnd when we talk about the economy, let us be very clear. Millions of our fellow Americans are working at wages that are much, much too low (cheers and applause). People should not, in this country, have to work fifty or sixty hours a week in order to survive. (Sustained cheers and applause) The federal minimum wage of seven and a quarter is a starvation wage. It has got to be raised to a living wage! (Sustained cheers and applause) I applaud those cities – Seattle, Los Angeles, and others – who have raised the minimum wage to fifteen bucks an hour (sustained cheers and applause), and that is


exactly what we will do at the federal level: fifteen bucks for all Americans! (Sustained cheers and applause)

Brothers and sisters, it is not a radical idea to say that in this country, if somebody works forty hours a week, that person should not be living in poverty! (Sustained cheers and applause) And when we talk about decent and fair wages, there is another injustice that we must address in men – talkin’ to the guys now – stand with the women and demand pay equity for women workers! (Sustained cheers and applause)

There is no defensible reason why women are making seventy-eight cents on the dollar compared to men. That has gotta change! (Sustained cheers and applause)

(38:37)Family valuesNow, I know that many of you have herd my Republican colleagues talk about (gesturing quotation marks) “family values.” They just lo-o-ove families. But you and I know what they mean by “family values.” What they mean is that women in this country should not be able to control their own bodies; and I disagree! (Sustained cheers and applause)What they mean is that women are not smart enough to be able to purchase the contraceptives they need. I disagree! (Sustained cheers and applause) And what they also mean when they talk about their family values is that our gay brothers and sisters should not be able to marry and enjoy all of the benefits of citizenship. I disagree! (Sustained cheers and applause) I have four kids and seven beautiful grandchildren. My wife, Jane, and I have been married for twenty-seven years. We believe in family (cheers and applause). But our view of family values is just a little bit different than the Republican view. In my view, when we talk about family values, we must end the international embarrassment of the United States of America being the only major country on earth that does not guarantee workers paid medical and family leave! (Sustained cheers and applause)

So let me tell you what that family value really means. Today, here in Oregon, or Vermont, a woman is having a baby. That is an enormous day for that woman, for the dad, pretty big day for the baby as well. But here’s the story, and I want you to think about this. This really gets to the heart of what family values are about. If that woman, and that family, have sufficient income, she will be able to stay home for weeks, and months to love that new baby, to bond with that baby, and that is maybe the most important thing that a human being can do. (Sustained cheers and applause) But – and here’s the but. If that woman, in Vermont, in Oregon, does not have sufficient income, that woman will be forced to separate herself from her newborn baby and go back to work in five days, eight days, two weeks (boos). That is not a family value! (Boos) And that is why I will fight for twelve weeks of paid family and medical leave! (Sustained cheers and applause) Allowing a mom, and a dad, to know their newborn baby is a family value if that expression means anything. (Sustained cheers and applause)

As a result of the collapse of the American middle class – some of you know, some of you don’t. But in America today, our people work longer hours than do the people of any


other major country: eighty-five percent of men workin’ more than forty hours, sixty-five percent of women working more than forty hours. And yet, there are new jobs being offered every day that have zero paid vacation. We need every worker in America to have two weeks paid vacation! (Sustained cheers and applause) And we need paid sick leave for every American worker as well! (Sustained cheers and applause)

(44:30)Creating decent-paying jobs and leading the effort against the disastrous Trans- Pacific PartnershipWhen pollsters ask the American people what is on their mind, the answer always is jobs. People are worried about the fragility of the economy. If they’re fifty-five they’re worried they’ll be fired tomorrow, replaced by somebody half their age, and half their wage. If they are young, high school graduate, college graduate, very difficult to find the kinds of work that pays them the wages they need. In my view, we need a major federal job program (cheers and applause), a program which rebuilds our crumbling roads and bridges and water systems and wastewater plants! (Sustained cheers and applause) In America, our infrastructure should not be collapsing. We have introduced legislation – one trillion dollars over five years – creating up to thirteen million decent-paying jobs (sustained cheers and applause). And when we talk about jobs, it’s not only the need to create jobs, it’s the need not to lose jobs (cheers). You are looking at a senator and a former congressman who voted against NAFTA, CAFTA (sustained cheers and applause, drowning out next few words); and I will help lead the effort against the disastrous Trans- Pacific Partnership! (Sustained cheers and applause)

(46:43)Financial systemCorporate, corporate America has got to understand that the time is now to invest in the United States of America, and not countries all over the world. (Sustained cheers and applause). And, brothers and sisters, when we talk about greed, when we talk about arrogance, when we talk about thievery, these are just some of the words to describe what goes on in Wall Street (cheers and applause). The greed, relentlessness, and illegal behavior of Wall Street rolled this country into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression (cheers and applause). And today, I find it interesting, by the way, that we see kids getting criminal records for having marijuana, but the CEOs of these large institutions get away with – nothin’! (Sustained cheers and applause)’

How does it happen, how does it happen, that when the CEOs and the big-time executives on Wall Street destroy the economy, resulting in millions of Americans losing their jobs, their homes, their life savings, nothin’ happens to them except they end up makin’ more money now than they did before? That is gonna change! (Boos)

The truth is today that most of the major financial institutions are bigger now than they were when we bailed them out because they were too big to fail (boos). In my view, number one, we have got to reestablish Glass-Steagall (sustained applause and cheering), but most importantly, we have got to break these financial institutions up (sustained


applause and cheering). If a bank is too big to fail, that bank is too big to exist. Break it up (sustained applause and cheering).

We need a financial system in which banks invest in small and medium size businesses, helping people buy their homes, not an island unto themselves (applause and cheering). (50:00)Citizens UnitedMy friends, let me be as blunt as I can, and tell you something that I think most of you already know: And that is, as a result of the disastrous Supreme Court decision on Citizens United (sustained boos), as a result of that decision, the American political system has been totally corrupted, and the foundations of American democracy are being undermined (applause and cheering). What the Supreme Court said to the wealthiest people in America, they said, “Guys, you already own much of the economy, you’re already fantastically wealthy, but now we’re going to give you the opportunity to buy the United States government (boos).” And that is exactly what they are about to do if we do not stop them! (Sustained cheers and applause). If you can believe it, one family, the Koch brothers, an extreme right-wing family (sustained boos) – this is a family, the second-wealthiest in America – that wants to end, wipe out, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the EPA, the postal system (boos). They think a seven twenty-five minimum wage is too high. They want to abolish the concept of the minimum wage (boos). This one family in this election cycle is spending more money than either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. When you have, when you have a multbillionaire family spending more money than either of the two major political parties that is not democracy, that is oligarchy, and that has gotta end! (Sustained cheers and applause)

What we are fighting for – and let me be straightforward in telling you this – we are fighting to maintain our democracy, and prevent our government from being owned by a handful of billionaires and the politicians they employ! (Sustained cheers and applause)

I have made very few campaign promises during this campaign, but I want to repeat one promise to you that I have made: and that is, my nominees to the US Supreme Court will, in fact, have a litmus test. And that test will be that they will have to tell the American people that their first order of business on the Supreme Court will be to overturn Citizens United (sustained cheers and applause).

(54:16) Public funding of electionsBut brothers and sisters, not only do we have to overturn Citizens United if we believe – as I do and I know most of you do – that America must be vibrant democracy, a democracy which has one of the highest voting turnouts in the world, not one of the lowest (cheers and applause), a democracy in which any person in this arena tonight regardless of his or her political views – a progressive, a conservative, no matter what you are – I want you to be able to run for office without begging billionaires for campaign contributions (sustained cheers and applause). And that is why, that is why we must move to public funding of elections (sustained cheers and applause).


(55:25) Universal right to voteAnd when we talk about democracy, I want to touch briefly on another issue. A few days ago I was at an event with Martin Luther King III and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, one of the important civil rights groups in America. And what we talked about were two things. Number one, we celebrated the victory, fifty years ago, of the Voting Rights Act (sustained cheers and applause). And what the Voting Rights Act did is it said that every American, regardless of the color of your skin will have the right to vote (sustained cheers and applause). But as many of you know, two years ago the Supreme Court gutted a very important provision of the Voting Rights Act and immediately afterwards, states all over the country began to make harder for people to vote, moved toward voter suppression (boos). Now my view: Voter fraud is a very serious crime, and people who commit it should be punished; but, the good news is, there is almost no voter fraud in America (sustained cheers and applause). But what these Republican governors and legislatures did is come up with all kinds of road barriers to make it harder for people of color, poor people, old people to vote. Suddenly, you had to have all kinds of voter identification. Voting lists were purged if you didn’t vote in the last few elections. And their goal was very clear: Their goal was to make it harder for people who would vote against them to participate in the political process. That was their goal (boos). You know, I am a politician, and I’ve run in a lot of elections. I’ve won many and I’ve lost some. But it has never occurred to me that the way to win an election is to deny people who disagree with me the right to vote (sustained cheers and applause). And let me be as clear as I can be. Those people who don’t have the guts to run on their ideas, who think the only way they win an election is by denying people who disagree with them the right to vote, are cowards (sustained cheers and applause). If you run for office, have the guts to stand behind your ideas; don’t be afraid of people comin’ out and voting against you! (Sustained cheers and applause)

And as president, one of my highest priorities will be to end all of this voter suppression. We’ll pass universal, universal voting rights so that everybody, when they are eighteen, will be able to vote (sustained cheers and applause).

(59:18)Public funding of higher educationBrothers and sisters, all of you are aware that we live in a highly competitive global economy, and if this country is gonna survive economically we need the best-educated workforce in the world! (Sustained cheers and applause). And today, what is going on with regard to higher education is a national disgrace. We have, in America today, hundreds of thousands of bright young people, people who have studied hard, people who are qualified to go to college. But they cannot go to college for one reason: their families lack the money! And that is wrong! (Cheers and applause) It is not only unfair to those young people who want the opportunity to become doctors and engineers and teachers, but it is dumb if we are concerned about the future of our economy. (Sustained cheers and applause)


And that is why I have introduced legislation which does two things. First, it says that every public college and university in America will be tuition-free (sustained cheers and applause). That not only makes life easier for people who were thinking of going to college, but I’ll tell you what else it does in a very profound way. There are kids today in Portland, there are kids in Burlington, Vermont who, in the third or fourth grade, they know that they’re never going to make it to the middle class. Their parents have never gone to college, they don’t know anybody who has gone to college, and they’re sitting around saying, “Why should I study hard? What difference does it make? Who cares if I drop out of school, or not?” When we tell every kid in America that if you study hard, you take school seriously, you will be able to go to college, that will revolutionize education in America! (Sustained cheers and applause).

And the other part of that legislation deals with another hugely consequential issue. There are millions of American today who are suffering under the burden of outrageous student debt (cheers and applause). And some of them are here tonight (cheers and applause). A couple of years ago I had a meeting in Vermont, (and) met with a number of young people. And there was a woman who had committed the great crime of wanting to become a doctor, go to medical school, and practice primary care for low-income people: exactly the kind of doctors we need. She came out of medical school three hundred thousand dollars in debt (boos). I was in Iowa a few months ago, met a woman who just graduated dental school – we have a dental crisis in America, we need more dentists – she left school four hundred thousand dollars in debt (boos). And all over this country, people graduate school forty, fifty, sixty thousand dollars in debt, and they are paying interest rates of seven, eight, ten percent (boos). Now, I don’t understand how someone can refinance their home today at two or three percent, and someone’s paying ten percent interest rates on student debt! (Sustained cheers and applause)!

So this legislation deals with that issue in two ways. First, we are goin’ to allow people with student debts to refinance at lower interest rates (sustained cheers and applause). Second of all we’re gonna get the government out of profiteering on student loans (sustained cheers and applause). It makes no sense to me that we have millions of people who are paying twenty, twenty-five percent of their limited income on student loans. That is going to change (Sustained cheers and applause).

(1:05:08)Our moral responsibility to move our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energyWhen we talk about our responsibilities as human beings, as people who inhabit this planet, as caretakers to the earth, we must understand that we have a moral responsibility to leave this planet habitable for our kids and our grandchildren (sustained cheers and applause).

The scientific community – and I’m on both the energy committee and the environmental committee and we talk to these guys all the time – they are virtually unanimous in telling us climate change is real. It is caused by human activity; it is already causing devastating problems; and we have a small window of opportunity to transform our energy situation


and our energy system before the situation becomes much worse (cheers and applause). And what they tell us is if we do not act boldly in the next few years, this planet of ours – our only planet – will be between five to ten degrees Fahrenheit warmer than it is today by the end of the century (boos). And what that means – picture what it means: more drought, more floods, more extreme weather disturbances, more rising sea levels, more acidification of the ocean, more international conflict as people fight for limited resources of water and land. Our moral responsibility is to leave the world – work with China, work with Russia, work with India (sustained cheers and applause) – to move our energy system away from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy (sustained cheers and applause).

(1:07:47)A Medicare for All single payer programAnd when we talk about issues facing our country, please understand that we remain the only major country on earth that does not guarantee health care as a right to all people. The Affordable Care Act has made some progress. But, but 35 million still have no health insurance, and more are underinsured with high deductibles and high copayments. It is my view that health care is a right for all people (cheers and applause), and that is why I believe we must move toward a Medicare for All single payer program! (Sustained cheers and applause).

(1:09:04)Health care benefits, Pell grants, nutrition programs, Social Security, and benefits for veteransI am the ranking member of the Budget Committee, which means I lead the Democrats in opposition. And let me tell you a word – it’s important that you know – what the priorities are of the Republican Party. During the budget process, what they passed was a budget which recommends to the Appropriations Committee to throw 27 million people off of health insurance (boos). And when you ask them what happens to those people who no longer can get the Affordable Care Act or Medicaid – how many will die, how many will suffer, how many will end up in the hospital when they should not have to be there – their answer, basically is, “We don’t care.” (Boos) At a time when families cannot afford to send their kids to college, they cut Pell grants by 90 billion over a ten-year period. At a time when families are struggling to put food on the table, (and) half the kids in public schools are on free or reduced lunch programs, they made billions of dollars in cuts in nutrition programs. We have got to tell the Republicans, and their corporate sponsors, that those are not the priorities of the American people! (Sustained cheers and applause).

We are not gonna cut Social Security. We are going to expand Social Security (sustained cheers and applause). We are not gonna cut benefits for veterans. We are going to make sure that every veteran gets the health care benefits that they’re entitled to (Sustained cheers and applause).

(1:11:28)Bringing people together for a political revolution


What this campaign is about is bringing people together for a political revolution (cheers and applause). It means that while we may have differences of opinion on this or that issue, it is imperative that all of us stand together for our kids and our parents, and create a nation in which everybody, everybody, everybody lives in dignity (sustained cheers and applause).

(1:12:15)Comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship And when we, when we talk about everybody, that must include 11 million undocumented people in this country (sustained cheers and applause). These people can no longer live in the shadows, can no longer be exploited, can no longer have their families divided (sustained cheers and applause). We need comprehensive immigration reform and a path toward citizenship (sustained cheers and applause).

(1:13:07)War as a last resort, not a first resortAll of you know that this world is a crazy and dangerous world. We see horror after horror. We see what ISIS does, we see the barbarities, we see people getting blown up all over the world. And nobody, I can assure you, has a magical answer to solving these issues. The other day, I talked to the president about his proposal to bring forth a process for Iran not to be able to get a nuclear weapon – but to do it without going to war (sustained cheers and applause).

I am the former chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Committee, and I learned a lot. I learned a lot about the costs of war. I learned that recently, just recently, in Afghanistan and Iraq we lost 6700 brave men and women. I learned, and met with men and women who came home without limbs, without arms, without eyesight, without hearing. I spoke to some of the 500,000 people who came home with PTSD, (or) with traumatic brain injury. The cost of war is real; it is terrible. I believe, I believe, that war should be the last resort, not the first resort (sustained cheers and applause).

I cannot tell you, as somebody who voted against the war in Iraq (cheers and applause), I can’t tell you, I can’t promise you that the agreement negotiated by the president and Secretary of State Kerry will work. I can’t promise you that. It was a complicated agreement involving China, and Russia, and Germany, UK, and France, and Iran. But I think we have got to give that process a chance! (Cheers and applause) Before we go to war! (Sustained cheers and applause)

(1:16:05)Summary and conclusion(Cheers and applause after each sentence) Let me close by begging you to think big, not small. I want you to think of what this great country can be. We can be – and this is not utopian wishes, this is reality – can be a nation which joins other nations around the world in guaranteeing health care to all people, as a right. We can be a nation in which (when) working parents go to work they know that their babies and their kids are in quality, affordable child care. We can be a


nation in which every American, regardless of his or her income, can get a college education. We can be a nation -- not where seniors today who are living on twelve, thirteen thousand dollars a year cannot afford their medicines or to heat their homes – we can be a nation in which every senior lives out their lives in dignity and security. We can be a nation where everyone – regardless (of) their race, their religion, their disability, or their sexual orientation – realizes the full promise of equality that is our birthright as Americans!! (Sustained cheers and applause)

(Cheers and applause after each sentence)Brothers and sisters, this is the nation we can create when we stand together and not let people divide us. We cannot be divided by black and white, by native-born and by immigrants, by gay or straight, by male or female.

They have unlimited sums of money. They own much of this country. They control much of the media. They are very powerful; but we have something that they do not have. We have a united people! (Sustained cheers and applause) And when we stand together, (and) not let little things divide us up – when we stand together, when we say, “Enough is enough! This country belongs to all of us!” – when we do that, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Thank you all very much! (Sustained cheers and applause).

(1:20:15)Bernie Sanders and Jane Sanders wave, turn to all parts of the audience, applaud, and leave the podium.(Sustained cheers and applause continue.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Source material and backup videos

Video of rally from start to end:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGSigTZkMsw (1:21:53)Backup video of rally from start to end (from 1:18:56 to 1:24:52 of a 2:55:16 video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUBO5_QAd-c

Backup video for Dina Foley’s presentation:http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/presidential_candidate_bernie.html

Backup video for Jaime Arredondo’s presentation:http://www.pcun.org/author/jaime/

Backup video for Mia Reback’s presentation:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjM4paD9VLA

Backup video for Bernie Sanders’s presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2lgcQ1ZSu8 (1:02:28)Backup video segments for Bernie Sanders’s presentation:http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/presidential_candidate_bernie.html

<Bernie Sanders Portland Rally Transcript and Videos.docx> 08/23/15


http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/presidential_candidate_bernie.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2lgcQ1ZSu8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjM4paD9VLA

http://www.pcun.org/author/jaime/

http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/08/presidential_candidate_bernie.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUBO5_QAd-c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGSigTZkMsw

Documents

Bernie Sanders Portland Rally Transcript and Videos