In a vibrant celebration marking the beginning of Diwali, U.S. President Joe Biden expressed his strong support for Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasizing her extensive experience and character as she campaigns against former President Donald Trump. The event showcased the contributions of the South Asian American community and highlighted the significance of unity and resilience during this festival of lights. Join us as we explore Biden's remarks and the meaningful celebrations that took place at the White House.
#Diwali2023 #JoeBiden #KamalaHarris #DiwaliCelebration #SouthAsianAmerican #WhiteHouse #PoliticalCampaign #Unity #Diversity #FestivalOfLights
#Diwali2023 #JoeBiden #KamalaHarris #DiwaliCelebration #SouthAsianAmerican #WhiteHouse #PoliticalCampaign #Unity #Diversity #FestivalOfLights
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00:00I've been honored to host the biggest of all of the receptions ever at the White House.
00:04My parents came here to the U.S. from India in 2001 and moved to Maryland where my brother
00:11and I were born and raised.
00:16All right.
00:31Good afternoon and happy Diwali, everyone.
00:34My name is Shristi Amula and I'm a freshman at Georgetown University.
00:41As I look around this beautiful room, I am truly grateful to the President and the First
00:46Lady for opening up their home to us for this special celebration.
00:50And thank you to Dr. Murthy and Suni Williams for their opening remarks.
00:55Like so many of you here today, my family and I have a special story of what this country
01:01means to us.
01:02My parents came here to the U.S. from India in 2001 and moved to Maryland where my brother
01:09and I were born and raised.
01:11Growing up, Diwali was not just an occasion marked by lights and colors.
01:17It was a celebration that brought together family and community.
01:22It reinforced a deep sense of belonging and connection to our truly beautiful multicultural
01:29community.
01:31I'm so inspired to see people like me reflected in our country's leadership.
01:36From the first ever South Asian Lieutenant Governor, Aruna Millers, from my home state
01:44of Maryland who is here today, and to the first ever South Asian Vice President, Kamala
01:50Harris.
01:58And it is a real honor to be here with President Biden, who started out around the same age
02:03that I am now, inspired by what was going on in the world around him.
02:13For my generation, it's the same thing.
02:17Seeing the impacts of climate change and food insecurity in my community, it led me to founding
02:22Rise and Shine Foundation, a youth-led nonprofit aimed at reducing food waste in my community
02:28and across the state of Maryland.
02:31Six years later, we have provided over 350,000 meals, mobilized over 5,000 volunteers, and
02:45have worked with Maryland legislators to pass a bill that gives over $1 million to
02:50start compost programs across our state.
02:57Our celebration today is a chance to reflect on our personal stories and a journey of our
03:03community as a whole.
03:05No matter the challenges we face or the challenges facing our world, there is always opportunity
03:11and light.
03:12This is all that Diwali is about.
03:16And so it's inspiring to have a leader who truly sees us, believes in us, and has opened
03:21up his home to us once again.
03:24So it is with great joy and utmost respect that I ask you to join me in welcoming the
03:30President of the United States, President Joe Biden.
03:43Well, Madam President, thank you.
03:56Thank you for that introduction.
03:59You know, you just promised me when you were President one day, and they say Joe Biden
04:06in the waiting room, you won't ask Joe who.
04:09My wife, Jill, wanted to be here today, but she's traveling to Wisconsin.
04:16And Kamala couldn't be here today because she's traveling as well.
04:21They both send their love.
04:23You know, I selected Kamala to be my running mate for many reasons.
04:27She's smart.
04:29She's tough.
04:30She's trusted.
04:31A district attorney, an attorney general in California, a United States senator, now Vice
04:35President of the United States.
04:37There's more experience that she has than the whole of that other guy she's running
04:42against.
04:44But most importantly, and I mean it sincerely from the bottom of my heart, she has character.
04:49She has character.
04:51It's one of the things we bonded over was the role of each of our mothers played in
04:55our lives.
04:57They come from different places and different generations, different lives.
05:01But they shared a basic belief about belief about America.
05:04Only in America is anything possible.
05:08Only in America.
05:10We just heard a great surgeon general and Vivek's become a friend.
05:15Talk about the journey that he of that belief, a journey of hard work, education,
05:21entrepreneurship, belief in family, faith and service.
05:25Contributions that come from all walks of life.
05:28Factory workers, caregivers, business owners, drivers, teachers, police officers, firefighters,
05:34artists, entertainers and so much more, including members of Congress, three of whom are here
05:39today.
05:40Roe, where are you, Roe?
05:42There you go.
05:44Roger.
05:47And Shree.
05:50All right.
05:52By the way, are your kids there, Roe?
05:55Come on up, guys.
05:58All right.
06:17All right.
06:21You know, and the vice president.
06:22She.
06:24I don't think she can be stopping by, though, tonight.
06:28You know, we just heard how far that journey could take you.
06:32As we watch Suni Williams, we're sure you have a happy Diwali from the International Space Station.
06:39Now, we were going to do a live video, but as I pointed out already, she's traveling 17,000 miles an hour,
06:45five miles a second, and she's going to see 16 sunrises and 16 sunsets.
06:5016 sunrises and 16 sunsets, all while the very precise experiments are being done.
06:56It's incredible.
06:58We couldn't figure out when the hell she'd show up.
07:03You watch the video and you see NASA's mesmerizing images of Earth.
07:08You'll notice something simple and profound.
07:10Astronauts talk about that thin blue line that separates Earth from space, life from destruction,
07:17lightness from darkness.
07:20But we thought, we thought, what a wonderful way to celebrate the festival of life at the White House
07:26by looking up into the heavens, to keep our heads high as we seek the spirit of Diwali.
07:33Knowledge over ignorance, goodness over hate, unity over division,
07:38and to look up focused on the North Star of our nation.
07:42Unlike any other nation in the world, we're unique in the world.
07:45We're the only nation not based on race or religion or geography.
07:49America is based on an idea.
07:52Literally, the only nation in the world based on an idea.
07:55The idea is that we hold these truths to be self-evident,
07:58that all women and men are created equal, endowed by their creator, et cetera.
08:02We mean it.
08:04We haven't always, throughout our lives, we deserve to be treated equally.
08:08We've never fully lived up to that.
08:10We've never walked away from it either.
08:11That's because of you, and generations before you,
08:15bringing thousands of years of heritage, tradition,
08:18to give shape and meaning to American life.
08:21And I mean it sincerely.
08:23The first South Asians arrived in America in the late 1700s.
08:27But even, but even into the 18 and 1900s,
08:31this diverse community contributed to the growth of this nation.
08:35Even serving this nation in uniform,
08:38but were denied citizenship and equal rights.
08:41By the time I was elected United States Senator in 1972,
08:46when I was 29 years old,
08:48a new wave of South Asians were even more welcome.
08:51You all know the stories.
08:53Many of you were the first of your families to get a formal education.
08:57They scraped together their life savings for the first flight ever,
09:01which was across the world to America.
09:04Far from family, far from home,
09:07with just a single suitcase and a few dollars in their pockets.
09:10Teaching themselves English by watching television,
09:13listening to the radio.
09:15Befriending neighbors of every background
09:18who lent a hand to help.
09:20Planting seeds of a new life in big cities,
09:23small towns all across America
09:25that have grown into something remarkable.
09:28The South Asian American community
09:31enriched every part of American life, and that's the truth.
09:34And that is among the fastest growing,
09:37most engaged community in the country you are now.
09:40On this day in America,
09:42we think about that journey of light.
09:44Early in our nation's founding,
09:46generation before Dia,
09:49in the shadow of the suspicion,
09:52now in a time Diwali is celebrated openly and proudly
09:56here in the White House.
09:58And by the way, this is not my house, this is your house.
10:00No, it really is.
10:02It's the people's house.
10:04Every time they introduce me,
10:06now we're going to hear from the next president,
10:09I wonder, where the hell is he?
10:11We also know today we face an inflection point,
10:14on a serious note.
10:16One of those rare moments
10:18that will only come once every several generations,
10:22where the decisions we make today
10:24will determine the future to come for decades, literally.
10:27Every generation has been called to move us forward,
10:30to be the nation we say we are.
10:32But only once in every few generations
10:35are we reminded not to take the idea of America for granted,
10:39because it's never guaranteed.
10:41That moment is now.
10:43American democracy has never been easy.
10:46In a country as diverse as ours,
10:49we debate, we dissent.
10:51As we forge a path forward
10:53through compromise and consensus,
10:54as we forge a path forward
10:56through compromise and consensus.
10:58But the key is,
11:00we never lose sight of how we got here and why.
11:04For me, 50 years of public service comes,
11:07with that comes the clarity of confidence in America.
11:11We're a nation with a heart,
11:13a soul that draws from old and new.
11:16In America, everything runs deep,
11:19especially the courage to serve and protect,
11:22to heal and to bear witness
11:24to immigrate, to dare to dream.
11:27With my presidency,
11:29I've tried to channel that American spirit
11:31by bringing to bear all my experiences
11:33and wisdom gained from it
11:35to get us through one of the most difficult periods
11:37in our nation's recent history
11:39and to be a bridge between generations,
11:43like in memory and imagination.
11:46And joined by our histories
11:48and with faith in our futures,
11:50a future with a new voices.
11:52Now it's your turn to use your voice,
11:56to talk with family and friends,
11:58to talk to the people you work with,
12:00you pray with, you go to school with.
12:02Remind them we're all part of something bigger.
12:06And I mean this from the bottom of my heart,
12:08something special.
12:10In fact, the story goes
12:12that when President Kennedy set the bold goal
12:14to send an American into space,
12:16that inspired patriots like Sonny Williams
12:18to become an astronaut.
12:20President Kennedy went to NASA headquarters
12:22and he asked a maintenance worker
12:24what his job was.
12:26And here's the janitor who responded,
12:28he said, I'm helping send America to the moon.
12:32I'm helping send America to the moon.
12:34Folks, no matter who you are,
12:38what you do or where you come from,
12:40we all have a role to play
12:42to keep the American experiment going.
12:44America of your dreams
12:46needs you now, quite frankly, more than ever.
12:49Let me close with this.
12:50In late November, 2016,
12:53a dark cloud formed from hate and hostility
12:56toward immigrants,
12:58including South Asian Americans,
13:00that we hear once again in 2024.
13:03It was then that Jill and I
13:05hosted the first Diwali reception
13:07and it was at the vice president's residence.
13:10An Irish Catholic president,
13:12vice president at the time,
13:14opened our home for holiday celebration
13:17by Hindus, Buddhists,
13:20Jainists, Sikhs, and more.
13:23How America, how America
13:25to remind us all of our power
13:28to be the light, all of us.
13:31Now as president, I've been honored
13:33to host the biggest Diwali receptions ever
13:35at the White House.
13:37To me, it means a great deal.
13:43As senator, vice president,
13:45president of South Asian Americans
13:47have been key members of my staff.
13:48From Kamala to Dr. Murthy,
13:50there's so many of you here today.
13:52I'm proud that I kept my commitment
13:54to have an administration
13:56that looks like America, looks like America.
13:59Taps into the full talents of our nation,
14:01including the record number
14:03of South Asian Americans at every level
14:05across our entire government.
14:07I was honored to have just lit the year
14:11with several of them,
14:13as Jill and I have done each year in office.
14:15You'll see it shortly in the blue room.
14:18It was a chance to wish my staff happy Diwali,
14:21but it was also a chance to thank them
14:24for their service to our country.
14:26Just to offer my thanks and gratitude
14:28to all of you that are here tonight.
14:30Together, we may show the power
14:33in the gathering of light,
14:35the light of knowledge,
14:37the light of unity and truth,
14:40the light of freedom for democracy,
14:42for America, America we share and cherish.
14:45Only in America is everything possible.
14:49So ladies and gentlemen,
14:51thank you for being here.
14:53Welcome to your home.
14:55Happy Diwali, America.
14:57God bless you all.