1/31/2018 Full text: Joe Kennedy State of the Union rebuttal speech transcript - POLITICO

Full text: Joe Kennedy State of the Union rebuttal speech transcript

By POLITICO STAFF | 01/30/2018 11:28 PM EST

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1/31/2018 Full text: Joe Kennedy State of the Union rebuttal speech transcript - POLITICO

Rep. Joe Kennedy's (D-Mass.) prepared remarks for the Democratic response to President Donald
Trump's State of the Union Address
Good evening ladies and gentlemen. It is a privilege to join you tonight.
We are here in Fall River, Massachusetts – a proud American city, built by immigrants.
From textiles to robots, this is a place that knows how to make great things.
The students with us this evening in the autoshop at Diman Regional Technical School
carry on that rich legacy.
Like many American hometowns, Fall River has faced its share of storms. But people here
are tough. They fight for each other. They pull for their city.
It is a fitting place to gather as our nation reflects on the state of our union.
This is a difficult task. Many have spent the past year anxious, angry, afraid. We all feel the
fault lines of a fractured country. We hear the voices of Americans who feel forgotten and
forsaken.
We see an economy that makes stocks soar, investor portfolios bulge and corporate profits
climb but fails to give workers their fair share of the reward.
A government that struggles to keep itself open.
Russia knee-deep in our democracy.
An all-out war on environmental protection.
A Justice Department rolling back civil rights by the day.
Hatred and supremacy proudly marching in our streets.
Bullets tearing through our classrooms, concerts, and congregations. Targeting our safest,
sacred places.
And that nagging, sinking feeling, no matter your political beliefs: this is not right. This is
not who we are.
It would be easy to dismiss the past year as chaos. Partisanship. Politics.
But it’s far bigger than that. This administration isn’t just targeting the laws that protect us
– they are targeting the very idea that we are all worthy of protection.
For them, dignity isn’t something you’re born with but something you measure.

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1/31/2018 Full text: Joe Kennedy State of the Union rebuttal speech transcript - POLITICO

By your net worth, your celebrity, your headlines, your crowd size.
Not to mention, the gender of your spouse. The country of your birth. The color of your
skin. The God of your prayers.
Their record is a rebuke of our highest American ideal: the belief that we are all worthy, we
are all equal and we all count. In the eyes of our law and our leaders, our God and our
government.
That is the American promise.
But today that promise is being broken. By an Administration that callously appraises our
worthiness and decides who makes the cut and who can be bargained away.
They are turning American life into a zero-sum game.
Where, in order for one to win, another must lose.
Where we can guarantee America’s safety if we slash our safety net.
We can extend healthcare to Mississippi if we gut it in Massachusetts.
We can cut taxes for corporations today if we raise them for families tomorrow.
We can take care of sick kids if we sacrifice Dreamers.
We are bombarded with one false choice after another:
Coal miners or single moms. Rural communities or inner cities. The coast or the heartland.
As if the mechanic in Pittsburgh and the teacher in Tulsa and the daycare worker in
Birmingham are somehow bitter rivals, rather than mutual casualties of a system forcefully
rigged for those at the top.
As if the parent who lies awake terrified that their transgender son will be beaten and
bullied at school is any more or less legitimate than the parent whose heart is shattered by a
daughter in the grips of opioid addiction.
So here is the answer Democrats offer tonight: we choose both. We fight for both. Because
the strongest, richest, greatest nation in the world shouldn’t leave any one behind.
We choose a better deal for all who call this country home.

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1/31/2018 Full text: Joe Kennedy State of the Union rebuttal speech transcript - POLITICO

We choose the living wage, paid leave and affordable child care your family needs to
survive.
We choose pensions that are solvent, trade pacts that are fair, roads and bridges that won’t
rust away, and good education you can afford.
We choose a health care system that offers mercy, whether you suffer from cancer or
depression or addiction.
We choose an economy strong enough to boast record stock prices AND brave enough to
admit that top CEOs making 300 times the average worker is not right.
We choose Fall River.
We choose the thousands of American communities whose roads aren’t paved with power
or privilege, but with honest effort, good faith, and the resolve to build something better for
their kids.
That is our story. It began the day our Founding Fathers and Mothers set sail for a New
World, fleeing oppression and intolerance.
It continued with every word of our Independence – the audacity to declare that all men are
created equal. An imperfect promise for a nation struggling to become a more perfect
union.
It grew with every suffragette’s step, every Freedom Riders voice, every weary soul we
welcomed to our shores.
And to all the Dreamers watching tonight, let me be clear: Ustedes son parte de nuestra
historia. Vamos a luchar por ustedes y no nos vamos alejar.
You are a part of our story. We will fight for you. We will not walk away.
America, we carry that story on our shoulders.
You swarmed Washington last year to ensure no parent has to worry if they can afford to
save their child’s life.
You proudly marched together last weekend – thousands deep -- in the streets of Las Vegas
and Philadelphia and Nashville.

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1/31/2018 Full text: Joe Kennedy State of the Union rebuttal speech transcript - POLITICO

You sat high atop your mom’s shoulders and held a sign that read: “Build a wall and my
generation will tear it down.”
You bravely say, me too. You steadfastly say, black lives matter.
You wade through flood waters, battle hurricanes, and brave wildfires and mudslides to
save a stranger.
You fight your own, quiet battles every single day.
You drag your weary bodies to that extra shift so your families won’t feel the sting of
scarcity.
You leave loved ones at home to defend our country overseas, or patrol our neighborhoods
overnight.
You serve. You rescue. You help. You heal.
That – more than any law or leader, any debate or disagreement – that is what drives us
toward progress.
Bullies may land a punch. They might leave a mark. But they have never, not once, in the
history of our United States, managed to match the strength and spirit of a people united in
defense of their future.
Politicians can be cheered for the promises they make. Our country will be judged by the
promises we keep.
THAT is the measure of our character. That’s who we are.
Out of many. One.
Ladies and gentlemen, have faith: The state of our union is hopeful, resilient, enduring.
Thank you, God Bless you and your families, and God Bless the United States of America.

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