Below is the complete transcript of Bernie Sanders's victory
speech delivered following his decisive win in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.
SPEAKER: SEN. BERNARD SANDERS, I-VT., DEMOCRATIC
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
SANDERS:
Thank you.
Thank you, New Hampshire.
(APPLAUSE)
Shortly after the polls closed, Secretary Clinton called and
was very gracious in her congratulations. I thank her for her call, and I
congratulate her and her supporters for the vigorous campaign that they ran in
New Hampshire.
And, let me take this opportunity to thank the many, many
thousands of volunteers here in the granite state who worked so tirelessly. Our
volunteers worked night and day, made phone calls, and knocked on a heck of a
lot of doors, and we won because of your energy. Thank you all so much.
I want to thank Julia Bond and our great campaign staff. We
have sent a message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington, from Maine
to California, and that is that the government of our great country belongs to
all of the people and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors, and
their Super PACs.
Nine months ago we began our campaign here in New Hampshire.
We had no campaign organization, we had no money, and we were taking on the
most powerful political organization in the United States of America. Tonight,
with what appears to be a record breaking voter turnout, because of a huge
voter turnout -- and I say huge, we won. Because we harnessed the energy, and
the excitement that the Democratic party will need to succeed in November.
What happened here in New Hampshire in terms of an
enthusiastic, and aroused electorate, people who came out in large numbers.
That is what will happen all over this country. Let us never forget, Democrats
and progressives win when voter turnout is high. Republicans win when people
are demoralized, and voter turnout is low.
Tonight, we served notice to the political and economic
establishment of this country that the American people will not continue to
accept a corrupt campaign finance system that is undermining American
democracy, and we will not accept a rigged economy in which ordinary Americans
work longer hours for lower wages, while almost all new income and wealth goes
to the top 1%.
I want to take this opportunity again to congratulate
Secretary Clinton and her organization and supporters for waging a vigorous
campaign. I hope that in the days ahead we can continue to wage a strong, issue
oriented campaign, and bring new people into the political process.
But, I also hope that we all remember -- and this is a
message not just to our opponents, but to those who support me as well. That we
will need to come together in a few months and unite this party, and this
nation because the right-wing Republicans we oppose must not be allowed to gain
the presidency.
As we all remember, the last time Republicans occupied the
White House, their trickle down economic policies drove us into the worst
economic downturn since the depression of the 1930's. No, we will not allow
huge tax breaks for billionaires, we will not allow packed -- huge cuts to
social security, veterans needs, Medicare, MedicAid, and education. No, we will
not allow back into the White House a political party which is so beholden to
the fossil fuel industry that they cannot even acknowledge the scientific
reality of climate change (INAUDIBLE).
The people of New Hampshire have sent a profound message to
the political establishment, to the economic establishment, and by the way, to
the media establishment.
What the people here have said is given the enormous crises
facing our country, it is just too late for the same old, same old
establishment politics, and establishment economics. The people want real
change. What the American people are saying -- and, by the way, I hear this not
just from progressives, but from conservatives and from moderates, is that we
can no longer continue to have a campaign finances system in which Wall Street
and the billionaire class are able to buy elections.
Americans, no matter what their political view may be,
understand that that is not what democracy is about. That is what oligarchy is
about, and we will not allow that to continue. I do not have a Super PAC, and I
do not want a Super PAC. I am overwhelmed, and I am deeply moved far more than
I can express in words by the fact that our campaigns financial support comes
from more than one million Americans who have made more than 3.7 million
individual contributions. That is more individual contributions than any
candidate in the history of the United States up until this point in an
election.
And, you know what that average contribution was? $27
dollars.
I am going to New York City tonight and tomorrow, but I'm
not going to New York City to hold a fundraiser on Wall Street. Instead, I'm
going to hold a fundraiser right here, right now, across America. My request is
please go to Berniesanders.com and contribute. Please help us raise the funds
we need, whether it's $10 bucks, $20 bucks, or $50 bucks. Help up us raise the
money we need to take the fight to Nevada, South Carolina, and the states on
Super Tuesday.
So, there it is, that's our fundraiser. Pretty quick.
Now, what the American people understand is that our great
country was based on a simple principal, and that principle is fairness. Let me
be very clear, it is not fair when we have more income and wealth inequality
today than almost any major country on Earth. And, when the top one-tenth of 1%
now owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%, that's not fair. It is not
fair when the 20 wealthiest people in this country now own more wealth than the
bottom half of the American people.
So, are you guys ready for a radical idea? Together we are
going to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%. And, when
millions of our people are working for starvation wages, yep, we're going to
raise the minimum wage to $15 bucks an hour. And, we are going to bring pay
equity for women. And, when we need the best educated workforce in the world,
yes, we are going to make public colleges and universities tuition free. And, for
the millions of Americans struggling with horrendous levels of student debt, we
are going to substantially ease that burden.
In America people should be financially distressed for
decades for the crime, the crime of trying to get a higher education, that's
absurd.
Well, my critics say, you know, Bernie, that's a great idea,
you're into all this free stuff. How are you going to pay for it? I will tell
you how we're going to pay for it. We're going to impose a tax on Wall Street
speculation. The greed, the recklessness, and the illegal behavior drove our
economy to its knees. The American people bailed out Wall Street, now it's Wall
Street's time to help the middle class.
And, when we talk about transforming America, it means
ending the disgrace of this country having more people in jail than any other
country in the world, disproportionately African-American, and Latino. Not only
are we going to fight to end institutional racism, and a broken criminal
justice system, we are going to provide jobs and education for our young
people, not jails and incarceration.
And, Let me say that as a member of the energy committee in
the Senate, and the environmental committee, the debate is over. Climate change
is real. It is caused by human activity, and it is already causing devastating
problems in this country and around the world. We have a moral responsibility
to work with countries throughout the world to transform our energy system away
from fossil fuel to energy efficiency and sustainable energy.
Now, I have been criticized during this campaign for many,
many things. Every single day, that's OK, that's alright. They're throwing
everything at me except the kitchen sink, and I have the feeling that kitchen
sink is coming pretty soon as well. But, what our campaign is about is thinking
big, not small. It's about having the courage to reject the status quo. It's
about saying that in a time when every major country on Earth guarantees
healthcare to all of their people, we should be doing the same in our great
country.
In my view, under President Obama's leadership, the
Affordable Care Act has been an important step forward, no question about it.
But, we can, and must, do better. Twenty-nine million Americans should not
remain uninsured, an even greater number should remain under- insured with
large deductibles and co-payments. We should not be paying by far the highest
prices in the world for prescription drugs at a time -- listen to this, when
the top three drug companies in this country made $45 billion dollars in profit
last year. That is an obscenity, and let me tell you something. When we make it
to the White House, the pharmaceutical industry will not continue to rip-off
the American people.
Further, it makes no sense that as a nation we continue to
spend far, far more per capita than do the people of any other nation, all of
whom guarantee healthcare to all of their people. That is why I believe in a
Medicare for all, single-payer program which will not only guarantee healthcare
for all, but will save the average middle class family thousands of dollars a
year in health care costs.
My friends, we all know that we live in a dangerous and
complex world. As president I will defend this nation, but I will do it
responsibly. I voted against the war in Iraq, and that was the right vote.
While we must be relentless in combating terrorist who would do us harm, we
cannot, and should not be the policeman of the world. Nor should we bear the
burden of fighting terrorism alone.
In the Middle East, the United States must remain part of an
international coalition sustained by nations in the region that have the means
to protect themselves. Together we must, and will, destroy ISIS, but we should
do it in a way that does not put our young men and women in the military into
perpetual warfare in the quagmire of the Middle East.
My friends, we must fix our broken immigration system that
divides families, and create a path towards citizenship for hardworking people
who are living in the shadows.
We must strengthen and expand Social Security, and increase
the benefits that seniors, and disabled vets receive so that people can live in
dignity in their retirement. We must rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, and
when we do that, we create millions of decent paying jobs.
We must pursue the fight for women's rights, for gay rights,
for disability rights. We must against stronger, and stronger, opposition
protect the right of a woman to control her own body.
We must protect the men and women who serve our nation in
uniform, and protect our veterans who put their lives on the line to defend us.
My friends, we must tell the billionaire class and the 1%
that they cannot have it all at a time of massive wealth and income inequality,
the wealthiest people and largest corporations in this country will start their
paying their fair share of taxes.
My friends, I am the son of a Polish immigrant who came to
this country speaking no English, and having no money. My father worked
everyday of his life, and he never made a whole lot. My Mom and Dad, and
brother and I grew up in a small three and a half room, rent controlled
apartment in Brooklyn, New York. My Mother, who died at a young age, always
dreamed of moving out of that apartment, getting a home of her own, but she
never realized that dream.
The truth is that neither one of my parents could ever have
dreamed that I would be here tonight standing before you as a candidate for
President of the United States.
This is the promise of America, and this is the promise we
must keep alive for future generations. What began last week in Iowa, what
voters here in New Hampshire confirm tonight, is nothing short of the beginning
of a political revolution.
It is a political revolution that will bring tens of
millions of our people together. It will bring together working people who have
given up on the political process. It will bring together young people who have
never participated in the political process. It will bring together blacks, and
whites, latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, straight and gay, male and
female. People who were born in America, and people who immigrated here.
We will all come together to say loudly, and clearly that
the government of our great nation belongs to all of us, not just a few wealthy
campaign contributors. That is what this campaign is about, that is what the
political revolution is about. So, New Hampshire, thank you again. And, now
it's time.
Thank you, New Hampshire. And, now it's on to Nevada, South
Carolina, and beyond.
END
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