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Here is a transcript of the full remarks, as prepared for delivery:
Thank you! Oh, thank you all!
Thank you so very, very much.
It is wonderful to be here with
all of you.
To be in New York with my family,
with so many friends, including many New Yorkers who gave me the honor of
serving them in the Senate for eight years.
To be right across the water from
the headquarters of the United Nations, where I represented our country many
times.
To be here in this beautiful park
dedicated to Franklin Roosevelt’s enduring vision of America, the nation we
want to be.
And in a place… with absolutely
no ceilings.
You know, President Roosevelt’s
Four Freedoms are a testament to our nation’s unmatched aspirations and a
reminder of our unfinished work at home and abroad. His legacy lifted up a
nation and inspired presidents who followed. One is the man I served as
Secretary of State, Barack Obama, and another is my husband, Bill Clinton.
Two Democrats guided by the — Oh,
that will make him so happy. They were and are two Democrats guided by the
fundamental American belief that real and lasting prosperity must be built by
all and shared by all.
President Roosevelt called on
every American to do his or her part, and every American answered. He said
there’s no mystery about what it takes to build a strong and prosperous
America: “Equality of opportunity… Jobs for those who can work… Security for
those who need it… The ending of special privilege for the few… The
preservation of civil liberties for all… a wider and constantly rising standard
of living.”
That still sounds good to me.
It’s America’s basic bargain. If
you do your part you ought to be able to get ahead. And when everybody does
their part, America gets ahead too.
That bargain inspired generations
of families, including my own.
It’s what kept my grandfather
going to work in the same Scranton lace mill every day for 50 years.
It’s what led my father to
believe that if he scrimped and saved, his small business printing drapery
fabric in Chicago could provide us with a middle-class life. And it did.
When President Clinton honored
the bargain, we had the longest peacetime expansion in history, a balanced
budget, and the first time in decades we all grew together, with the bottom 20
percent of workers increasing their incomes by the same percentage as the top 5
percent.
When President Obama honored the
bargain, we pulled back from the brink of Depression, saved the auto industry,
provided health care to 16 million working people, and replaced the jobs we
lost faster than after a financial crash.
But, it’s not 1941, or 1993, or
even 2009. We face new challenges in our economy and our democracy.
We’re still working our way back
from a crisis that happened because time-tested values were replaced by false
promises.
Instead of an economy built by
every American, for every American, we were told that if we let those at the
top pay lower taxes and bend the rules, their success would trickle down to
everyone else.
What happened?
Well, instead of a balanced
budget with surpluses that could have eventually paid off our national debt,
the Republicans twice cut taxes for the wealthiest, borrowed money from other
countries to pay for two wars, and family incomes dropped. You know where we
ended up.
Except it wasn’t the end.
As we have since our founding,
Americans made a new beginning.
You worked extra shifts, took
second jobs, postponed home repairs… you figured out how to make it work. And
now people are beginning to think about their future again – going to college,
starting a business, buying a house, finally being able to put away something
for retirement.
So we’re standing again. But, we
all know we’re not yet running the way America should.
You see corporations making
record profits, with CEOs making record pay, but your paychecks have barely
budged.
While many of you are working
multiple jobs to make ends meet, you see the top 25 hedge fund managers making
more than all of America’s kindergarten teachers combined. And, often paying a
lower tax rate.
So, you have to wonder: “When
does my hard work pay off? When does my family get ahead?”
“When?”
I say now.
Prosperity can’t be just for CEOs
and hedge fund managers.
Democracy can’t be just for
billionaires and corporations.
Prosperity and democracy are part
of your basic bargain too.
You brought our country back.
Now it’s time — your time to
secure the gains and move ahead.
And, you know what?
America can’t succeed unless you
succeed.
That is why I am running for
President of the United States.
Here, on Roosevelt Island, I
believe we have a continuing rendezvous with destiny. Each American and the
country we cherish.
I’m running to make our economy
work for you and for every American.
For the successful and the
struggling.
For the innovators and inventors.
For those breaking barriers in
technology and discovering cures for diseases.
For the factory workers and food
servers who stand on their feet all day.
For the nurses who work the night
shift.
For the truckers who drive for
hours and the farmers who feed us.
For the veterans who served our
country.
For the small business owners who
took a risk.
For everyone who’s ever been
knocked down, but refused to be knocked out.
I’m not running for some
Americans, but for all Americans.
Our country’s challenges didn’t begin
with the Great Recession and they won’t end with the recovery.
For decades, Americans have been
buffeted by powerful currents.
Advances in technology and the
rise of global trade have created whole new areas of economic activity and
opened new markets for our exports, but they have also displaced jobs and
undercut wages for millions of Americans.
The financial industry and many
multi-national corporations have created huge wealth for a few by focusing too
much on short-term profit and too little on long-term value… too much on
complex trading schemes and stock buybacks, too little on investments in new
businesses, jobs, and fair compensation.
Our political system is so
paralyzed by gridlock and dysfunction that most Americans have lost confidence
that anything can actually get done. And they’ve lost trust in the ability of
both government and Big Business to change course.
Now, we can blame historic forces
beyond our control for some of this, but the choices we’ve made as a nation,
leaders and citizens alike, have also played a big role.
Our next President must work with
Congress and every other willing partner across our entire country. And I will
do just that — to turn the tide so these currents start working for us more
than against us.
At our best, that’s what
Americans do. We’re problem solvers, not deniers. We don’t hide from change, we
harness it.
But we can’t do that if we go
back to the top-down economic policies that failed us before.
Americans have come too far to
see our progress ripped away.
Now, there may be some new voices
in the presidential Republican choir, but they’re all singing the same old
song…
A song called “Yesterday.”
You know the one — all our
troubles look as though they’re here to stay… and we need a place to hide away…
They believe in yesterday.
And you’re lucky I didn’t try
singing that, too, I’ll tell you!
These Republicans trip over
themselves promising lower taxes for the wealthy and fewer rules for the
biggest corporations without regard for how that will make income inequality
even worse.
We’ve heard this tune before. And
we know how it turns out.
Ask many of these candidates
about climate change, one of the defining threats of our time, and they’ll say:
“I’m not a scientist.” Well, then, why don’t they start listening to those who
are?
They pledge to wipe out tough
rules on Wall Street, rather than rein in the banks that are still too risky,
courting future failures. In a case that can only be considered mass amnesia.
They want to take away health
insurance from more than 16 million Americans without offering any credible
alternative.
They shame and blame women,
rather than respect our right to make our own reproductive health decisions.
They want to put immigrants, who
work hard and pay taxes, at risk of deportation.
And they turn their backs on gay
people who love each other.
Fundamentally, they reject what
it takes to build an inclusive economy. It takes an inclusive society. What I
once called “a village” that has a place for everyone.
Now, my values and a lifetime of
experiences have given me a different vision for America.
I believe that success isn’t
measured by how much the wealthiest Americans have, but by how many children
climb out of poverty…
How many start-ups and small
businesses open and thrive…
How many young people go to
college without drowning in debt…
How many people find a good job…
How many families get ahead and
stay ahead.
I didn’t learn this from
politics. I learned it from my own family.
My mother taught me that
everybody needs a chance and a champion. She knew what it was like not to have
either one.
Her own parents abandoned her,
and by 14 she was out on her own, working as a housemaid. Years later, when I
was old enough to understand, I asked what kept her going.
You know what her answer was? Something
very simple: Kindness from someone who believed she mattered.
The 1st grade teacher
who saw she had nothing to eat at lunch and, without embarrassing her, brought
extra food to share.
The woman whose house she cleaned
letting her go to high school so long as her work got done. That was a bargain
she leapt to accept.
And, because some people believed
in her, she believed in me.
That’s why I believe with all my
heart in America and in the potential of every American.
To meet every challenge.
To be resilient… no matter what
the world throws at you.
To solve the toughest problems.
I believe we can do all these
things because I’ve seen it happen.
As a young girl, I signed up at
my Methodist Church to babysit the children of Mexican farmworkers, while their
parents worked in the fields on the weekends. And later, as a law student, I
advocated for Congress to require better working and living conditions for farm
workers whose children deserved better opportunities.
My first job out of law school
was for the Children’s Defense Fund. I walked door-to-door to find out how many
children with disabilities couldn’t go to school, and to help build the case
for a law guaranteeing them access to education.
As a leader of the Legal Services
Corporation, I defended the right of poor people to have a lawyer. And saw
lives changed because an abusive marriage ended or an illegal eviction stopped.
In Arkansas, I supervised law
students who represented clients in courts and prisons, organized scholarships
for single parents going to college, led efforts for better schools and health
care, and personally knew the people whose lives were improved.
As Senator, I had the honor of
representing brave firefighters, police officers, EMTs, construction workers,
and volunteers who ran toward danger on 9/11 and stayed there, becoming sick
themselves.
It took years of effort, but
Congress finally approved the health care they needed.
There are so many faces and
stories that I carry with me of people who gave their best and then needed help
themselves.
Just weeks ago, I met another
person like that, a single mom juggling a job and classes at community college,
while raising three kids.
She doesn’t expect anything to
come easy. But she did ask me: What more can be done so it isn’t quite so hard
for families like hers?
I want to be her champion and
your champion.
If you’ll give me the chance,
I’ll wage and win Four Fights for you.
The first is to make the economy
work for everyday Americans, not just those at the top.
To make the middle class mean
something again, with rising incomes and broader horizons. And to give the poor
a chance to work their way into it.
The middle class needs more
growth and more fairness. Growth and fairness go together. For lasting
prosperity, you can’t have one without the other.
Is this possible in today’s
world?
I believe it is or I wouldn’t be
standing here.
Do I think it will be easy? Of
course not.
But, here’s the good news: There
are allies for change everywhere who know we can’t stand by while inequality
increases, wages stagnate, and the promise of America dims. We should welcome
the support of all Americans who want to go forward together with us.
There are public officials who
know Americans need a better deal.
Business leaders who want higher
pay for employees, equal pay for women and no discrimination against the LGBT
community either.
There are leaders of finance who
want less short-term trading and more long-term investing.
There are union leaders who are
investing their own pension funds in putting people to work to build tomorrow’s
economy. We need everyone to come to the table and work with us.
In the coming weeks, I’ll propose
specific policies to:
Reward businesses who invest in
long term value rather than the quick buck – because that leads to higher
growth for the economy, higher wages for workers, and yes, bigger profits,
everybody will have a better time.
I will rewrite the tax code so it
rewards hard work and investments here at home, not quick trades or stashing
profits overseas.
I will give new incentives to
companies that give their employees a fair share of the profits their hard work
earns.
We will unleash a new generation
of entrepreneurs and small business owners by providing tax relief, cutting red
tape, and making it easier to get a small business loan.
We will restore America to the
cutting edge of innovation, science, and research by increasing both public and
private investments.
And we will make America the
clean energy superpower of the 21st century.
Developing renewable power –
wind, solar, advanced biofuels…
Building cleaner power plants,
smarter electric grids, greener buildings…
Using additional fees and
royalties from fossil fuel extraction to protect the environment…
And ease the transition for
distressed communities to a more diverse and sustainable economic future from
coal country to Indian country, from small towns in the Mississippi Delta to
the Rio Grande Valley to our inner cities, we have to help our fellow
Americans.
Now, this will create millions of
jobs and countless new businesses, and enable America to lead the global fight
against climate change.
We will also connect workers to
their jobs and businesses. Customers will have a better chance to actually get
where they need and get what they desire with roads, railways, bridges,
airports, ports, and broadband brought up to global standards for the 21st
century.
We will establish an
infrastructure bank and sell bonds to pay for some of these improvements.
Now, building an economy for
tomorrow also requires investing in our most important asset, our people,
beginning with our youngest.
That’s why I will propose that we
make preschool and quality childcare available to every child in America.
And I want you to remember this,
because to me, this is absolutely the most-compelling argument why we should do
this. Research tells us how much early learning in the first five years of life
can impact lifelong success. In fact, 80 percent of the brain is developed by
age three.
One thing I’ve learned is that
talent is universal – you can find it anywhere – but opportunity is not. Too
many of our kids never have the chance to learn and thrive as they should and
as we need them to.
Our country won’t be competitive
or fair if we don’t help more families give their kids the best possible start
in life.
So let’s staff our primary and
secondary schools with teachers who are second to none in the world, and
receive the respect they deserve for sparking the love of learning in every
child.
Let’s make college affordable and
available to all …and lift the crushing burden of student debt.
Let’s provide lifelong learning
for workers to gain or improve skills the economy requires, setting up many
more Americans for success.
Now, the second fight is to
strengthen America’s families, because when our families are strong, America is
strong.
And today’s families face new and
unique pressures. Parents need more support and flexibility to do their job at
work and at home.
I believe you should have the
right to earn paid sick days.
I believe you should receive your
work schedule with enough notice to arrange childcare or take college courses
to get ahead.
I believe you should look forward
to retirement with confidence, not anxiety.
That you should have the peace of
mind that your health care will be there when you need it, without breaking the
bank.
I believe we should offer paid
family leave so no one has to choose between keeping a paycheck and caring for
a new baby or a sick relative.
And it is way past time to end
the outrage of so many women still earning less than men on the job — and women
of color often making even less.
This isn’t a women’s issue. It’s
a family issue. Just like raising the minimum wage is a family issue. Expanding
childcare is a family issue. Declining marriage rates is a family issue. The
unequal rates of incarceration is a family issue. Helping more people with an
addiction or a mental health problem get help is a family issue.
In America, every family should
feel like they belong.
So we should offer hard-working,
law-abiding immigrant families a path to citizenship. Not second-class status.
And, we should ban discrimination
against LGBT Americans and their families so they can live, learn, marry, and
work just like everybody else.
You know, America’s diversity,
our openness, our devotion to human rights and freedom is what’s drawn so many
to our shores. What’s inspired people all over the world. I know. I’ve seen it
with my own eyes.
And these are also qualities that
prepare us well for the demands of a world that is more interconnected than
ever before.
So we have a third fight: to
harness all of America’s power, smarts, and values to maintain our leadership
for peace, security, and prosperity.
No other country on Earth is
better positioned to thrive in the 21st century. No other country is
better equipped to meet traditional threats from countries like Russia, North
Korea, and Iran – and to deal with the rise of new powers like China.
No other country is better
prepared to meet emerging threats from cyber attacks, transnational terror
networks like ISIS, and diseases that spread across oceans and continents.
As your President, I’ll do
whatever it takes to keep Americans safe.
And if you look over my left
shoulder you can see the new World Trade Center soaring skyward.
As a Senator from New York, I
dedicated myself to getting our city and state the help we needed to recover.
And as a member of the Armed Services Committee, I worked to maintain the
best-trained, best-equipped, strongest military, ready for today’s threats and
tomorrow’s.
And when our brave men and women
come home from war or finish their service, I’ll see to it that they get not
just the thanks of a grateful nation, but the care and benefits they’ve earned.
I’ve stood up to adversaries like
Putin and reinforced allies like Israel. I was in the Situation Room on the day
we got bin Laden.
But, I know — I know we have to
be smart as well as strong.
Meeting today’s global challenges
requires every element of America’s power, including skillful diplomacy,
economic influence, and building partnerships to improve lives around the world
with people, not just their governments.
There are a lot of trouble spots
in the world, but there’s a lot of good news out there too.
I believe the future holds far
more opportunities than threats if we exercise creative and confident
leadership that enables us to shape global events rather than be shaped by
them.
And we all know that in order to
be strong in the world, though, we first have to be strong at home. That’s why
we have to win the fourth fight – reforming our government and revitalizing our
democracy so that it works for everyday Americans.
We have to stop the endless flow
of secret, unaccountable money that is distorting our elections, corrupting our
political process, and drowning out the voices of our people.
We need Justices on the Supreme
Court who will protect every citizen’s right to vote, rather than every
corporation’s right to buy elections.
If necessary, I will support a
constitutional amendment to undo the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens
United.
I want to make it easier for
every citizen to vote. That’s why I’ve proposed universal, automatic
registration and expanded early voting.
I’ll fight back against Republican
efforts to disempower and disenfranchise young people, poor people, people with
disabilities, and people of color.
What part of democracy are they
afraid of?
No matter how easy we make it to
vote, we still have to give Americans something worth voting for.
Government is never going to have
all the answers – but it has to be smarter, simpler, more efficient, and a
better partner.
That means access to advanced
technology so government agencies can more effectively serve their customers,
the American people.
We need expertise and innovation
from the private sector to help cut waste and streamline services.
There’s so much that works in
America. For every problem we face, someone somewhere in America is solving it.
Silicon Valley cracked the code on sharing and scaling a while ago. Many states
are pioneering new ways to deliver services. I want to help Washington catch
up.
To do that, we need a political
system that produces results by solving problems that hold us back, not one
overwhelmed by extreme partisanship and inflexibility.
Now, I’ll always seek common
ground with friend and opponent alike. But I’ll also stand my ground when I
must.
That’s something I did as Senator
and Secretary of State — whether it was working with Republicans to expand
health care for children and for our National Guard, or improve our foster care
and adoption system, or pass a treaty to reduce the number of Russian nuclear
warheads that could threaten our cities — and it’s something I will always do
as your President.
We Americans may differ, bicker,
stumble, and fall; but we are at our best when we pick each other up, when we
have each other’s back.
Like any family, our American
family is strongest when we cherish what we have in common, and fight back
against those who would drive us apart.
People all over the world have
asked me: “How could you and President Obama work together after you fought so
hard against each other in that long campaign?”
Now, that is an understandable
question considering that in many places, if you lose an election you could get
imprisoned or exiled – even killed – not hired as Secretary of State.
But President Obama asked me to
serve, and I accepted because we both love our country. That’s how we do it in
America.
With that same spirit, together,
we can win these four fights.
We can build an economy where
hard work is rewarded.
We can strengthen our families.
We can defend our country and
increase our opportunities all over the world.
And we can renew the promise of
our democracy.
If we all do our part. In our
families, in our businesses, unions, houses of worship, schools, and, yes, in
the voting booth.
I want you to join me in this
effort. Help me build this campaign and make it your own.
Talk to your friends, your
family, your neighbors.
Text “JOIN” J-O-I-N to 4-7-2-4-6.
Go to hillaryclinton.com
and sign up to make calls and knock on doors.
It’s no secret that we’re going
up against some pretty powerful forces that will do and spend whatever it takes
to advance a very different vision for America. But I’ve spent my life fighting
for children, families, and our country. And I’m not stopping now.
You know, I know how hard this
job is. I’ve seen it up close and personal.
All our Presidents come into
office looking so vigorous. And then we watch their hair grow grayer and
grayer.
Well, I may not be the youngest
candidate in this race. But I will be the youngest woman President in the
history of the United States!
And the first grandmother as
well.
And one additional advantage:
You’re won’t see my hair turn white in the White House. I’ve been coloring it
for years!
So I’m looking forward to a great
debate among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. I’m not running to be a
President only for those Americans who already agree with me. I want to be a
President for all Americans.
And along the way, I’ll just let
you in on this little secret. I won’t get everything right. Lord knows I’ve
made my share of mistakes. Well, there’s no shortage of people pointing them
out!
And I certainly haven’t won every
battle I’ve fought. But leadership means perseverance and hard choices. You
have to push through the setbacks and disappointments and keep at it.
I think you know by now that I’ve
been called many things by many people — “quitter” is not one of them.
Like so much else in my life, I
got this from my mother.
When I was a girl, she never let
me back down from any bully or barrier. In her later years, Mom lived with us,
and she was still teaching me the same lessons. I’d come home from a hard day
at the Senate or the State Department, sit down with her at the small table in
our breakfast nook, and just let everything pour out. And she would remind me
why we keep fighting, even when the odds are long and the opposition is fierce.
I can still hear her saying:
“Life’s not about what happens to you, it’s about what you do with what happens
to you – so get back out there.”
She lived to be 92 years old, and
I often think about all the battles she witnessed over the course of the last
century — all the progress that was won because Americans refused to give up or
back down.
She was born on June 4, 1919 —
before women in America had the right to vote. But on that very day, after
years of struggle, Congress passed the Constitutional Amendment that would
change that forever.
The story of America is a story
of hard-fought, hard-won progress. And it continues today. New chapters are
being written by men and women who believe that all of us – not just some, but
all – should have the chance to live up to our God-given potential.
Not only because we’re a tolerant
country, or a generous country, or a compassionate country, but because we’re a
better, stronger, more prosperous country when we harness the talent, hard
work, and ingenuity of every single American.
I wish my mother could have been
with us longer. I wish she could have seen Chelsea become a mother herself. I
wish she could have met Charlotte.
I wish she could have seen the
America we’re going to build together.
An America, where if you do your
part, you reap the rewards.
Where we don’t leave anyone out,
or anyone behind.
An America where a father can
tell his daughter: yes, you can be anything you want to be. Even President of
the United States.
Thank you all. God bless you. And
may God bless America.
