Democracy in Action photos-June 9, 2019 Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Celebration Speeches: Mayor Bill de Blasio

IDP Hall of Fame Celebration Speeches—Mayor Bill de Blasio ... next >

Everybody, let me tell you something, I think is a great time to be alive. I think it's a great time to be in Iowa. I think Democrats in Iowa are on the march. Do you agree with me? Thank you for all you did in 2018, for all your victories in this state. And let's thank Troy Price for all he's doing to get you ready for more victories in 2020.

I, I am so excited to be here. And I also have to share something personal with you. A few weeks ago, I had the joy of celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary. And 25 years of marriage, anyone who has been married a while you know, takes love, it takes commitment, it takes a lot of patience, and it takes really being there for the person you love. Now the person I love I'm going to introduce to you, and she has a lot of patients except when it comes to the issue she works on in New York and all over America, which is mental health and she is impatient to see change, to make sure folks who have mental health conditions get the help they need in Iowa and all over America. Because your Republican governors have slashed mental health services, and it's been unfair to the people of Iowa and we need change this country. My wife Chirlane has fought to end the stigma and make sure that mental health services are available to all. Let me introduce to you and let's thank her, the First Lady of New York City, Chirlane McRae.

We are partners in everything we do. And I have to tell you, when we first were married, and we had kids, we had two wonderful kids. But we started to struggle like so many American families do. Both our moms got sick when our kids were still young. And I've talked to Iowans about this; I've talked to people all over the country,about how hard it is for so many people to keep it together, to support their families, to make a living and try to meet all their obligations. And Iowans as I've talked to them, I see a lot of people nod in every group I'm in. Because they know that feeling.

Iowans and Americans are working harder than ever. They're working longer hours. A lot of people two jobs. A lot of folks struggle to make ends meet, working class people, middle class people. A lot of people feel there's more stress in our lives. And this election is about all of you, and it's about all of them. The way people are living today in Iowa and in America, what they need.

Now, these challenges, these problems that people are facing, I wish I could tell you it happened by accident, but brothers and sisters, this was not an accident. It was a Republican agenda that made it harder and harder for working people to get their fair share, and made it easier and easier for the rich to get richer. Our federal government has been on the side of the wealthy and the corporations for many, many years. And it's not been on the side of working people.

Don't you think we should put working people first in America?

It doesn't have to be this way. But we see it with our eyes from Ronald Reagan all the way to those tax cuts that Donald Trump did, the giveaway to the corporations and the wealthy right before our eyes. We've seen this country go in the wrong direction.

When I talk to working people and not just Democrats, independents and Republicans too, they want change. They want us to invest in working people and their communities—affordable housing and education, infrastructure, things that will help people. Well, you know, anytime I talk about it, anytime we talked about investing in people, you know, what you hear? There's always those pundits and those critics who say there's not enough money. We can't afford to invest in people. Well, here's what I say to them every time. There's plenty of money in this world, and there's plenty of money in this country. It's just in the wrong hands.

And we need to put money back in the hands of working people, and I'm here to tell you it can be done because we've been doing it New York. I run the biggest, toughest, most diverse city in the world, I have 8.6 million highly opinionated constituents, All of them have an opinion. But one thing we agree on is putting working people first. And so we gave pre K to all our children for free, a universal right.

Don't you think you should have that in Iowa?

We gave paid sick days to working people so they didn't have to choose between a day's pay and staying healthy and taking care of their family.

Don't you think you should have that in Iowa and all over the country?

We got sick of waiting on Washington. So guess what we're doing? We are guaranteeing health care for all New Yorkers. Anyone doesn't have insurance [music starts] is guaranteed health care. We're doing these things because we need to put working people first in America. We can do it brothers and sisters. Thank you.

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