President Joe Biden & First Lady Jill Biden Host Cinco De Mayo Reception At The White House

4 months ago

On Monday, the White House held a Cinco de Mayo reception.

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Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to the White House.

00:10Please join me in another round of applause

00:13for our talented musicians who flew all the way here

00:17from Los Angeles this morning.

00:20Today we celebrate Cinco de Mayo and pay tribute to a long line

00:29of Mexican-Americans who have added their own threads

00:33to our rich American tapestry with bravery and vision.

00:39Writers whose poems trace the contours

00:42of our sorrows and our joys.

00:45Activists whose movements for justice achieved hard won progress.

00:52Trailblazers in every career and calling

00:55who have led us toward a more perfect union.

00:59And as we recognize Mexican-Americans who have

01:02so profoundly shaped our country and are continuing to shape it,

01:08we also remember the first step to progress is dreaming.

01:12Creating those images in our own heads even if the odds are

01:17against us.

01:19Reaching for the stars even if we may miss.

01:25Sculpting the world we see when we close our eyes and imagine.

01:30That's what your president does every single day.

01:35He's growing the middle class working

01:42to level the playing field for all families.

01:46He's fighting injustice and inequality, defending our rights

01:51and freedoms and creating a better, brighter future ahead.

01:57But he can't do this alone.

02:00He needs your help, your hopes, your dreams, and your passion

02:06and your determination to make those dreams and those images real.

02:12Thank you for all that you do to lift up our communities.

02:18Thank you for, well, thank you, Joe.

02:21Thank you for helping us celebrate our nation's Mexican-American

02:31heritage today.

02:32And happy Cinco de Mayo.

02:35And now it is my pleasure

02:44to introduce an incredible athlete, not you, Joe,

02:50who is sculpting his own path in the NBA and in his community

02:56and inspiring so many people, so many young people

02:59to reach for their own dreams.

03:02Jaime, so here you go.

03:04It's yours.

03:07Yeah, I don't know if I need that.

03:11Thank you.

03:12Appreciate it.

03:13Thank you, Dr. Biden.

03:16It's such an honor to be here today.

03:17For those of you who don't know, my name is Jaime Jaquez, Jr.

03:20I am from Camarillo, California, and I play in the National,

03:25and I play in the NBA for the Miami Heat.

03:27Go Heat, baby.

03:30I stand here before you on the shoulders of giants.

03:36There are generations of proud

03:38and incredibly accomplished Mexican-Americans

03:40that came before me.

03:42I am proud to continue their legacy and continue

03:44to push the traditions of Mexican-Americans

03:46that make the spirit of our people so great.

03:50A tradition and a spirit that is principled on hard work,

03:53a strong moral code, and the importance of family.

03:56Thank you, President Biden and the administration

03:59for celebrating our community

04:00and all our contributions here today.

04:04And now, without further ado, it is my honor

04:07to welcome the President of the United States,

04:10Mr. President Joe Biden.

04:20Happy Cinco de Mayo.

04:24Four more years.

04:29Four more years.

04:31Four more years.

04:34Thank you, thank you, thank you.

04:36I'm Joe Biden's husband, Joe.

04:40Doug, our second general, is here also.

04:42Doug, good to see you, pal.

04:46And Jaime, thanks for the introduction, pal.

04:49I've always looked up to you.

04:52Congratulations on a great rookie season in the NBA.

04:56As you said, you stand on the shoulders

04:58of those who came before you.

05:00Future generations will stand on your six-foot-six shoulders

05:04and be a hell of a lot taller, man.

05:06Thanks, Pete and Annette and all the members

05:09of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus here today.

05:11I want to publicly say we're going to meet, I promise.

05:14Okay? We got it.

05:16And when I was elected,

05:17I promised my administration would look like America.

05:20I'm proud to say it does.

05:22I want to thank my Cabinet members here today,

05:25Secretary Becerra.

05:26Where are you?

05:28Secretary Cardona, Administrator Guzman,

05:31former Cabinet members of the Obama-Biden administration,

05:35Tom Perez.

05:36Tom, where are you?

05:38Well, I'll tell you what.

05:39On Friday, I had the honor of bestowing

05:41our nation's highest civilian awards

05:43to 19 incredible people,

05:45two trailblazers of Hispanic Americans as well.

05:48Teresa Romo — Romeo, excuse me — Teresa Romeo,

05:53the first Latina to lead the National Union

05:56of American — a national union of American farmworkers.

05:59And if you look inside the door here,

06:00I got only a few busts in there.

06:03And one of them is Cesar Chavez, who started the whole deal.

06:07And Dr. Elaine Ochoa,

06:14the first Latina to travel to space.

06:16I'm glad she decided to come home.

06:20In the land of possibilities,

06:23that represents something essential about America.

06:25We are a nation of immigrants, and we shouldn't forget it.

06:29No, we're not — it's why we're so good,

06:31why we're so strong, why we have such potential.

06:34We're a nation of dreamers.

06:36As Cinco de Mayo represents, we're a nation of freedom.

06:39That's America, the America we share,

06:41the America we're fighting for together.

06:43And the plan's working.

06:45You know, we've created 15 million jobs

06:47since we took office.

06:49Record low unemployment among Latinos.

06:51The fastest small business creation in more than a decade

06:54as we double loan to Latino-owned businesses.

06:58We've invested a record $15 billion

07:01in Hispanic-serving colleges and universities.

07:04And we've — we've relieved student debt for $4.6 million.

07:09A burden disproportionately falling on Latino borrowers.

07:16And you're the future of our nation.

07:17You know, everybody says, Why am I so —

07:19I've always been so fundamentally focused on Latinos.

07:22Simple proposition.

07:24You make up 28 percent of the students in America.

07:27Think — think about it.

07:31Twenty-eight percent of all the students in high school

07:34and grade school in America are Latino.

07:37And I want to tell you, the idea we're not going to pay attention

07:40is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

07:42Look, we have your backs and you've had ours.

07:45In March, in Nevada, I invited the most ambitious housing plan

07:49for decades to come into being.

07:51For example, it boosts construction and rental units

07:54and lowers rent.

07:55Crack down on discrimination by home appraisers

07:58so Latino homes are finally valued as fairly as they were —

08:02when built by wealthy families.

08:04Folks, look, we're in a situation

08:06where the lower cost across the board,

08:09we finally beat Big Pharma — Big Pharma —

08:12and gave Medicare the power to negotiate

08:15lower prescription drug prices.

08:16And, by the way, for example,

08:20we capped insulin at $35 a month,

08:23down from $400 a month for seniors on Medicare,

08:26including 5 million Latinos.

08:29And guess what? It saved not only those lives,

08:33but taxpayers. It saved them $160 billion

08:38in Medicare costs over the next 10 years.

08:41They're not going to have to pay.

08:42So it's a big deal across the board.

08:44We also expanded health coverage through the Affordable Care Act,

08:48doubling the number of Latinos enrolled since 2020.

08:51And I'm proud, last Friday, my administration

08:54finally announced a rule that for the first time

08:56and finally — finally —

08:58I'm able to provide health insurance

09:00through the Affordable Care Act for DACA recipients.

09:03The first bill I introduced was about DACA —

09:09to make sure that they have a path —

09:11direct path to citizenship.

09:13And the President and I — we created that program

09:1512 years ago.

09:17It's given 800,000 DREAMers a chance to go to work

09:20and school and contribute to their immense talents in America.

09:23But more than a third of DREAMers couldn't get health insurance.

09:26It's wrong. And this rule changes all that.

09:30DREAMers can now get health insurance, as they deserve.

09:33My first day in office, I said I sent a comprehensive

09:35immigration reform bill to Congress.

09:37It expands legal pathways for entries for families

09:40and employers.

09:41It includes pathways to citizenship for DREAMers

09:43in the only country that they ever called home.

09:46I love it when people say, Why DREAMers?

09:48Can you imagine a kid two years old saying,

09:51Mom, don't take me for granted. It's against the law.

09:54Give me a break. These have been model citizens.

09:57Congress has to act.

09:59And the right thing to do is to keep pushing forward

10:01until we get it done.

10:03Get it done.

10:04On this day, two years ago,

10:07we were honored to host the First Lady of Mexico

10:10to celebrate the unbreakable bonds between our nations.

10:13Bonds rooted in history, heritage,

10:16boosted by record trade,

10:18embodied in nearly 40 million Mexican-Americans that are here.

10:22I want to thank President López Obrador for his partnership.

10:27We've become friends. I've talked to him all.

10:29He's helped on immigration.

10:30We have a significant economic security,

10:33as well as security overall.

10:36Folks, we're doing all this while cutting the federal deficit

10:39and fighting to make the wealthy and the big corporations

10:42finally begin to pay their fair share.

10:47Under my plan, no one earned less than $400,000 a year

10:50to pay one extra penny in federal taxes.

10:53Not a single penny.

10:55Did you know that there are 1,000 billionaires in America?

10:58Well, guess what? That's good. I'm a capitalist.

11:00You make a billion bucks, go get it.

11:03But guess what? Begin to pay your fair share.

11:07You know what the average tax rate

11:08for a billionaire is in America?

11:118.2 percent in federal taxes.

11:14Anybody want to trade with them?

11:16Well, that's less than the vast majority of Americans.

11:19But no billionaire should pay a lower tax rate

11:22than a teacher, a nurse, a firefighter, a cop.

11:24That's why I propose a minimum tax of 25 percent for billionaires.

11:30You know what that will do? That will raise $500 billion

11:34over the next 10 years.

11:35Imagine what we could do to affordable care for children,

11:38paid leave, lower the federal deficit,

11:40generate significant economic growth.

11:42See, he's cheered.

11:43That's a kid who knows what he's about, man.

11:48But as you know, there are those of a different view.

11:51When my predecessor was in office,

11:53he enacted a $2 trillion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited

11:56the super wealthy and the biggest corporations

11:58and exploded the federal debt more than any other President

12:01has in his four-year term.

12:03He added more. He wants to do it again.

12:06He also wants to terminate the Affordable Care Act,

12:09denying healthcare to millions of Latinos.

12:11Millions. He wants to go to —

12:14he wants to bring back the big pharma

12:16to be able to charge $400 a month

12:18so they don't eliminate that legislation,

12:21instead of $35 a month.

12:23He wants to cut Social Security and Medicare.

12:25He says there's a lot we can do in terms of cutting.

12:28I got one really serious idea how to cut.

12:30A candidate. Anyway.

12:34He brags about getting Roe v. Wade overturned.

12:39He just did an interview with Time magazine and said,

12:41states should monitor women's pregnancy.

12:45Monitor — monitor pregnancies?

12:50He also said we should prosecute those who violate abortion bans.

12:54Kamala, I never let that happen.

12:56We're going to keep fighting to restore Roe v. Wade

12:58as the law of the land.

13:00In the same interview, my predecessor vowed

13:03to use the U.S. military

13:04to deport 11 million people here in America.

13:09He says shouldn't be here.

13:10Going to use the military to deport 11 million people

13:14in America.

13:15He calls immigrants rapists and murderers.

13:18He said they are not people.

13:19He said the immigrants are poisoning

13:22the blood of our country.

13:23He wants to bring back cruel and inhumane family

13:27separation policies that rip children

13:29from their parents at the border.

13:31Folks, that's not who we are.

13:33That's not America.

13:34My administration is reuniting 700 of those families

13:37and still looking.

13:39Families belong together, folks, not separated.

13:44Let me close with this.

13:47We're here in the Rose Garden.

13:49Through that window, the Oval Office will see

13:51I have a bust of Cesar Chavez.

13:53There's only five busts I have in that office.

13:56And in the back corner of the garden here,

13:58the rosebush that's planted in his honor.

14:01He once said, quote,

14:03our ambitions must be broad enough

14:05to include the aspirations and needs of others

14:08for their sake and for our own.

14:11Folks, the reason why we're the fastest

14:13growing country in the world,

14:15why we're the best economy is because of immigration.

14:18That's why we're here.

14:20That's not hyperbole. That's a fact.

14:24What I see in the Latino communities, doctors,

14:26teachers, athletes, artists, communities,

14:28construction workers, first responders

14:31who put themselves on the line to keep the rest of us safe.

14:34You are dreamers and doers.

14:37You're cutting cancer. You're commanding the military.

14:41You're taking deep steps into space.

14:44And it matters. You matter. You really do.

14:47You matter more than we can express.

14:49As I said earlier, you know, when you have 28 percent

14:53of all the students in our schools,

14:55up to high school, 28 percent speaking Spanish,

14:59how, in God's name, can we not pay attention?

15:03Those always have been compelling value

15:05sets to visions of America.

15:07One of those value sets is revenge and retribution.

15:11The other is hope and opportunity that we share.

15:14Honesty, decency, faith, fairness.

15:16That's the future we're building together.

15:18In America, we defend democracy. We don't diminish it.

15:22We protect freedoms. Don't take them away.

15:24In America, where the economy grows in the middle out

15:26and the bottom up, the wealthy pay their fair share.

15:29Working people have a fair shot. That's what we're about.

15:32America, where no one is left behind.

15:34I know we can do this because of you.

15:36I've never been more optimistic about the future.

15:39You just remember who we are.

15:40We're the United States of America,

15:43a nation of immigrants.

15:45And there's nothing, nothing beyond our capacity

15:47when we do it together.

15:49God bless you all. May God bless our troops.

15:52Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

President Joe Biden & First Lady Jill Biden Host Cinco De Mayo Reception At The White House

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