Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin delivers Democratic response to Trump's address to Congress
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https://6abc.com/live-updates/trump-joint-session-of-congress-live-updates/15977198/
#trump #politics #fyp #live #news
https://6abc.com/live-updates/trump-joint-session-of-congress-live-updates/15977198/
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00:00And Senator Alyssa Slotkin will deliver the Democratic response to President Trump's address
00:04to the joint session of Congress.
00:06Senator Chuck Schumer calling her a rising star in the party at age 48.
00:10She became the youngest Democratic woman elected to the Senate.
00:13She previously served in the House.
00:15Before that, she served as a CIA analyst in Iraq.
00:18Now her task tonight, delivering a solid Democratic message, of course, setting forth the party's
00:23agenda if they hope to proclaim the House and the Senate.
00:26Let's listen.
00:27Hi, everyone.
00:28I'm Alyssa Slotkin.
00:29I'm honored to have the opportunity to speak tonight.
00:31It's late, so I promise to be a lot shorter than what you just watched.
00:35I won't take it personally if you've never heard of me.
00:38I'm the new senator from the great state of Michigan where I grew up.
00:42I've been in public service my entire life because I happened to be in New York City
00:46on 9-11 when the Twin Towers came down.
00:49Before the smoke cleared, I knew I wanted to make a life in national security.
00:54I was recruited by the CIA and did three tours in Iraq alongside the military.
00:59In between, I worked at the White House under President Bush and President Obama, two very
01:04different leaders who both believed that America is exceptional.
01:08You can find that same sense of patriotism here in Wyandotte, Michigan, where I'm speaking
01:13from tonight.
01:14It's a working-class town just south of Detroit.
01:17President Trump and I both won here in November.
01:21It might not seem like it, but plenty of places like this still exist across the United States.
01:26Places where people believe that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should do
01:30well and your kids should do better.
01:33It reminds me of how I grew up.
01:35My dad was a lifelong Republican, my mom a lifelong Democrat.
01:38But it was never a big deal, because we had shared values that were bigger than any one
01:44party.
01:46We just went through another fraught election season.
01:49Republicans made it clear that prices are too high and that the government needs to
01:53be more responsive to their needs.
01:56America wants change.
01:57But there's a responsible way to make change and a reckless way.
02:01And we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country and as a democracy.
02:07So that's what I'm going to lay out tonight.
02:10Because whether you're from Wyandotte or Wichita, most Americans share three core beliefs.
02:15That the middle class is the engine of our country.
02:18That strong national security protects us from harm.
02:22And that our democracy, no matter how messy, is unparalleled and worth fighting for.
02:28Let's start with the economy.
02:30Michigan literally invented the middle class, the revolutionary idea that you could work
02:35at an auto plant and afford the car you were building.
02:38That's the American dream.
02:40And in order to expand and protect the middle class, we have to do a few basic things.
02:45We need to bring down the price of things we spend the most money on.
02:48Groceries, housing, health care.
02:50We need to make more things in America with good-paying union jobs and bring our supply
02:55chains back home from places like China.
02:58We need to give American businesses the certainty they need to invest and create the jobs of
03:03the future.
03:04And we need a tax system that's fair for people who don't happen to make a billion dollars.
03:09Look, the president talked a big game on the economy, but it's always important to read
03:13the fine print.
03:15So do his plans actually help Americans get ahead?
03:20Not even close.
03:22President Trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends.
03:27He's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in America.
03:31And to do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life.
03:37Grocery and home prices are going up, not down, and he hasn't laid out a credible plan
03:42to deal with either of those.
03:44His tariffs on allies like Canada will raise prices on energy, lumber, and cars, and start
03:49a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers.
03:53Your premiums and prescriptions will cost more because the math on his proposals doesn't
03:58work without going after your health care.
04:01Meanwhile, for those keeping score, the national debt is going up, not down.
04:06And if he's not careful, he could walk us right into a recession.
04:11And one more thing.
04:12In order to pay for his plan, he could very well come after your retirement.
04:16The Social Security, Medicare, and VA benefits you worked your whole life to earn.
04:21The president claims he won't, but Elon Musk just called Social Security the biggest Ponzi
04:27scheme of all time.
04:29While we're on the subject of Elon Musk, is there anyone in America who is comfortable
04:33with him and his gang of 20-year-olds using their own computer servers to poke through
04:38your tax returns, your health information, and your bank accounts?
04:42No oversight.
04:43No protections against cyber attack.
04:45No guardrails on what they do with your private data.
04:50We need a more efficient government.
04:52You want to cut waste?
04:53I'll help you do it.
04:54But change doesn't need to be chaotic or make us less safe.
04:58The mindless firing of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep our planes
05:03from crashing, and conduct the research that finds the cure for cancer, only to rehire
05:08them two days later?
05:10No CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired.
05:14Okay, so we've talked about economic security.
05:18How about national security?
05:20Let's start with the border.
05:22As someone who spent my whole career protecting our homeland, every country deserves to know
05:26who and what is coming across its border.
05:29Period.
05:30Democrats and Republicans should all be for that.
05:33But securing the border without actually fixing our broken immigration system is dealing with
05:38the symptom and not the disease.
05:41America is a nation of immigrants.
05:43We need a functional system, key to the needs of our economy, that allows vetted people
05:48to come and work here legally.
05:50So I look forward to the President's plan on that.
05:53Because here's the thing.
05:55This world is deeply interconnected.
05:57Migration, cyber threats, AI, environmental destruction, terrorism.
06:03One nation cannot face these issues alone.
06:05We need friends in all corners.
06:07And our safety depends on it.
06:11President Trump loves to say, peace through strength.
06:13That's actually a line he stole from Ronald Reagan.
06:16But let me tell you, after the spectacle that just took place in the Oval Office last week,
06:21Reagan must be rolling in his grave.
06:24We all want an end to the war in Ukraine.
06:27But Reagan understood that true strength required America to combine our military and economic
06:32might with moral clarity.
06:35And that scene in the Oval Office wasn't just a bad episode of reality TV.
06:40It summed up Trump's whole approach to the world.
06:43He believes in cozying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin and kicking our friends like
06:48the Canadians in the teeth.
06:50He sees American leadership as merely a series of real estate transactions.
06:55As a Cold War kid, I'm thankful it was Reagan and not Trump in office in the 1980s.
07:01Trump would have lost us the Cold War.
07:04Donald Trump's actions suggest that in his heart, he doesn't believe we're an exceptional
07:09nation.
07:10He clearly doesn't think we should lead the world.
07:13Look, America is not perfect.
07:15But I stand with the majority of Americans who believe we are still exceptional, unparalleled.
07:20And I would rather have American leadership over Chinese or Russian leadership any day
07:25of the week.
07:27Because for generations, America has offered something better.
07:31Our security and our prosperity, yes, but our democracy, our very system of government,
07:36has been the aspiration of the world.
07:38And right now, it's at risk.
07:41It's at risk when the President decides you can pick and choose what rules you want to
07:44follow, when he ignores court orders and the Constitution itself, or when elected leaders
07:50stand by and just let it happen.
07:54But it's also at risk when the President pits Americans against each other, when he demonizes
07:59those who are different and tells certain people they shouldn't be included.
08:04Because America is not just a patch of land between two oceans.
08:08We are more than that.
08:11Americans have fought and died to secure the fundamental rights that define us.
08:15Those rights and the fight for them make us who we are.
08:19We're a nation of strivers, risk-takers, innovators, and we are never satisfied.
08:25That is America's superpower.
08:28And look, I've lived and worked in many countries.
08:31I've seen democracies flicker out.
08:33I've seen what life is like when a government is rigged.
08:37You can't open a business without paying off a corrupt official.
08:39You can't criticize the guys in charge without getting a knock at the door in the middle
08:44of the night.
08:45So as much as we need to make our government more responsive to our lives today, don't
08:50for one moment fool yourself that democracy isn't precious and worth saving.
08:56But how do we actually do that?
08:57I know a lot of you have been asking that question.
09:00First, don't tune out.
09:03It's easy to be exhausted, but America needs you now more than ever.
09:08If previous generations had not fought for this democracy, where would we be today?
09:12Second, hold your elected officials, including me, accountable.
09:17Watch how they're voting.
09:18Go to town halls and demand they take action.
09:21That's as American as apple pie.
09:23Third, organize.
09:25Pick just one issue you're passionate about and engage.
09:29And doom-scrolling doesn't count.
09:32Join a group that cares about your issue and act.
09:34And if you can't find one, start one.
09:37Some of the most important movements in our history have come from the bottle up.
09:41In closing, we all know that our country is going through something right now.
09:47We're not sure what the next day is going to hold, let alone the next decade.
09:51But this isn't the first time we've experienced significant and tumultuous change as a country.
09:57I'm a student of history, and we've gone through periods of political instability before.
10:03And ultimately, we've chosen to keep changing this country for the better.
10:07But every single time, we've only gotten through those moments because of two things.
10:13Engaged citizens and principled leaders.
10:16Engaged citizens who do a little bit more than they're used to doing to fight for the
10:19things that they care about.
10:21And principled leaders who are ready to receive the ball and do something about it.
10:27So thank you tonight for caring about your country, just by watching you qualify as engaged
10:32citizens.
10:33And I promise that I, and my fellow Democrats, will do everything in our power to be the
10:38principled leaders that you deserve.
10:39Good night, everyone.