Speaker 1: To have the opportunity to speak tonight. It's late, so
Speaker 1: I promised to be a lot shorter than what you
Speaker 1: just watched. I won't take it personally. If you've never
Speaker 1: heard of me. I'm the new Senator from the great
Speaker 1: state of Michigan, where I grew up. I've been in
Speaker 1: public service my entire life. Because I happened to be
Speaker 1: in New York City on nine to eleven when the
Speaker 1: Twin Towers came down. Before the smoke cleared, I knew
Speaker 1: I wanted to make a life in national security. I
Speaker 1: was recruited by the CIA and did three tours in
Speaker 1: a rock alongside the military. In between, I worked at
Speaker 1: the White House under President Bush and President Obama, two
Speaker 1: very different leaders who both believed that America is exceptional.
Speaker 1: You can find that same sense of patriotism here in
Speaker 1: why and Dot, Michigan, where I'm speaking from tonight. It's
Speaker 1: a working class town just south of Detroit. President Trump
Speaker 1: and I both won here in November. It might not
Speaker 1: seem like it, but plenty of places like this still
Speaker 1: exist across the United States, places where people believe that
Speaker 1: if you work hard and play by the rule rules,
Speaker 1: you should do well and your kids should do better.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of how I grew up. My dad
Speaker 1: was a lifelong Republican, by mom a lifelong Democrat, but
Speaker 1: it was never a big deal because we had shared
Speaker 1: values that were bigger than any one party. We just
Speaker 1: went through another fraught election season. Americans made it clear
Speaker 1: that prices are too high and that the government needs
Speaker 1: to be more responsive to their needs. America wants change,
Speaker 1: but there's a responsible way to make change in a
Speaker 1: reckless way, and we can make that change without forgetting
Speaker 1: who we are as a country and as a democracy.
Speaker 1: So that's what I'm going to lay out tonight. Because
Speaker 1: whether you're from Wyandot or Wichita, most Americans share three
Speaker 1: core beliefs. That the middle class is the engine of
Speaker 1: our country, that strong national security protects us from harm,
Speaker 1: and that our democracy, no matter how messy, is unparalleled
Speaker 1: and worth fighting for. Let's start with theomy. Michigan literally
Speaker 1: invented the middle class, the revolutionary idea that you could
Speaker 1: work at an autoplant and afford the car you were building.
Speaker 1: That's the American dream. And in order to expand and
Speaker 1: protect the middle class, we have to do a few
Speaker 1: basic things. We need to bring down the price of things.
Speaker 1: We spend the most money on groceries, housing, healthcare. We
Speaker 1: need to make more things in America with good paying
Speaker 1: union jobs and bring our supply chains back home from
Speaker 1: places like China. We need to give American businesses the
Speaker 1: certainty they need to invest and create the jobs of
Speaker 1: the future. And we need a tax system that's fair
Speaker 1: for people who don't happen to make a billion dollars. Look,
Speaker 1: the President talked a big game on the economy, but
Speaker 1: it's always important to read the fine print. So do
Speaker 1: his plans actually help Americans get ahead? Not even close.
Speaker 1: President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to
Speaker 1: his billionaire friends. He's on the hunt to find trillions
Speaker 1: of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America,
Speaker 1: and to do that, he's going to make you pay
Speaker 1: in every part of your life. Grocery and home prices
Speaker 1: are going up, not down, and he hasn't laid out
Speaker 1: a credible plan to deal with either of those. His
Speaker 1: tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber,
Speaker 1: and cars and start a trade war that will hurt
Speaker 1: manufacturing and farmers. Your premiums and prescriptions will cost more
Speaker 1: because the math on his proposals doesn't work without going
Speaker 1: after your healthcare. Meanwhile, for those keeping score, the national
Speaker 1: debt is going up, not down, and if he's not careful,
Speaker 1: he could walk us right into a recession. And one
Speaker 1: more thing in order to pay for his plan. He
Speaker 1: could very well come after your retirement the Social Security,
Speaker 1: Medicare and VA benefits you worked your whole life to earn.
Speaker 1: The President claims he won't, but Elon Musk just called
Speaker 1: social Security the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time. While
Speaker 1: we're on the subject of Elon Musk, is there anyone
Speaker 1: in America who is comfortable with him and his gang
Speaker 1: of twenty year olds using their own computer servers to
Speaker 1: poke through your tax returns, your health information, and your
Speaker 1: bank accounts. No oversight, no protections against cyber attack, no
Speaker 1: guard rails on what they do with your private data.
Speaker 1: We need a more efficient government. You want to cut waste,
Speaker 1: I'll help you do it. But change doesn't need to
Speaker 1: be chaotic or make us less safe. The mindless firing
Speaker 1: of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep
Speaker 1: our planes from crashing, and conduct the research that finds
Speaker 1: the cure for cancer, only to rehire them two days later.
Speaker 1: No CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired. Okay,
Speaker 1: so we've talked about economic security, how about national security.
Speaker 1: Let's start with the border. As someone who spent my
Speaker 1: whole career protecting our homeland, every country deserves to know
Speaker 1: who and what is coming across its border, period. Democrats
Speaker 1: and Republicans should all be for that. But securing the
Speaker 1: border without actually fixing our broken immigration system is dealing
Speaker 1: with the symptom and not the disease. America is a
Speaker 1: nation of immigrants. We need a functional system heed to
Speaker 1: the needs of our economy that allows vetted people to
Speaker 1: come and work here legally. So I look forward to
Speaker 1: the President's plan on that. Because here's the thing. Today's
Speaker 1: world is deeply interconnected migration, cyber threats, AI, environmental destruction, terrorism.
Speaker 1: One nation cannot face these issues alone. We need friends
Speaker 1: in all corners, and our safety depends on it. President
Speaker 1: Trump loves to say peace through strength. That's actually a
Speaker 1: line he stole from Ronald Reagan. But let me tell you,
Speaker 1: after the spectacle that just took place in the Oval
Speaker 1: Office last week, Reagan must be rolling in his grave.
Speaker 1: We all want an end to the war in Ukraine,
Speaker 1: but Reagan understood that true ng required America to combine
Speaker 1: our military and economic might with moral clarity. And that
Speaker 1: scene in the Oval Office wasn't just a bad episode
Speaker 1: of reality TV. It summed up Trump's whole approach to
Speaker 1: the world. He believes in coosing up to dictators like
Speaker 1: Vladimir Putin and kicking our friends like the Canadians in
Speaker 1: the teeth. He sees American leadership as merely a series
Speaker 1: of real estate transactions. As a Cold War kid, I'm
Speaker 1: thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in
Speaker 1: the nineteen eighties. Trump would have lost us the Cold War.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump's actions suggest that in his heart, he doesn't
Speaker 1: believe we're an exceptional nation. He clearly doesn't think we
Speaker 1: should lead the world. Look, America is not perfect, but
Speaker 1: I stand with the majority of Americans who believe we
Speaker 1: are still exceptional, unparalleled. And I would rather have American
Speaker 1: leadership over Chinese or Russian leadership any day of the
Speaker 1: week because for generations America has offered something better. Our
Speaker 1: security and our prosperity, yes, but our democracy, our very
Speaker 1: system of government has been the aspiration of the world,
Speaker 1: and right now it's at risk. It's at risk when
Speaker 1: the president decides you can pick and choose what rules
Speaker 1: you want to follow, when he ignores court orders and
Speaker 1: the Constitution itself, or when elected leaders stand by and
Speaker 1: just let it happen. But it's also at risk when
Speaker 1: the president pits Americans against each other, when he demonizes
Speaker 1: those who are different and tells certain people they shouldn't
Speaker 1: be included. Because America is not just a patch of
Speaker 1: land between two oceans. We are more than that. Generations
Speaker 1: have fought and died to secure the fundamental rights that
Speaker 1: define us. Those rights and the fight for them make
Speaker 1: us who we are. We're a nation of strivers, risk takers, innovators,
Speaker 1: and we are never satisfied. That is America's superpower. And
Speaker 1: look lived and worked in many countries. I've seen democracies
Speaker 1: flicker out. I've seen what life is like when a
Speaker 1: government is rigged. You can't open a business without paying
Speaker 1: off a corrupt official. You can't criticize the guys in
Speaker 1: charge without getting a knock at the door in the
Speaker 1: middle of the night. So as much as we need
Speaker 1: to make our government more responsive to our lives today.
Speaker 1: Don't for one moment fool yourself. The democracy isn't precious
Speaker 1: and worth saving. But how do we actually do that?
Speaker 1: I know a lot of you have been asking that question. First,
Speaker 1: don't tune out. It's easy to be exhausted, but American
Speaker 1: needs you now more than ever. If previous generations had
Speaker 1: not fought for this democracy, where would we be today. Second,
Speaker 1: hold your elected officials, including me, accountable, Watch how they're voting,
Speaker 1: Go to town halls and demand they take action. That's
Speaker 1: as American as apple pie. Third, organize, Pick just one
Speaker 1: issue you're passionate about and engage, and room scrolling doesn't count.
Speaker 1: Join a group that cares about your issue and act,
Speaker 1: And if you can't find one, start one. Some of
Speaker 1: the most important movements in our history have come from
Speaker 1: the bottle up. In closing, we all know that our
Speaker 1: country is going through something right now. We're not sure
Speaker 1: what the next day is going to hold, let alone
Speaker 1: the next decade. But this isn't the first time we've
Speaker 1: experienced significant and tumultuous change as a country. I'm a
Speaker 1: student of history, and we've gone through periods of political
Speaker 1: instability before and Ultimately, we've chosen to keep changing this
Speaker 1: country for the better. But every single time, we've only
Speaker 1: gotten through those moments because of two things. Engage citizens
Speaker 1: and principled leaders. Engage citizens who do a little bit
Speaker 1: more than they're used to doing to fight for the
Speaker 1: things that they care about. And principled leaders who are
Speaker 1: ready to receive the ball and do something about it.
Speaker 1: So thank you tonight for caring about you country just
Speaker 1: by watching you qualify as engaged citizens. And I promise
Speaker 1: that I and my fellow Democrats will do everything in
Speaker 1: our power to be the principal leaders that you deserve.
Speaker 1: Good Night, everyone,