IDP Hall of Fame Celebration Speeches—Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand  ... next >
Thank you iowa and congratulations to our Hall of Fame inductees.

Not very polite. That's what I was told I was by a Fox News host at the town hall I did an Iowa last week, because I spoke out about the nationwide assault on women's reproductive freedoms. Not very polite. You got that one, right. Because if Fox News takes issue with me demanding the fundamental human rights for women—50% of America—I must be doing something right,

Women. Luckily, I'm not alone. I proudly count myself among the formerly well behaved women fighting back. The women in this room, the men who love us. We are rising up and we are demanding our rights and our voices. Women are on fire in America today. We have marched. We have organized. We have run for office and we have won because of women.

We flipped the U.S. House of Representatives and sent more than a women, a hundred women to Congress. We elected Cindy Axne and Abby Finkenauer, the first two women from Iowa in the House of Representatives. These are unsung heroes. There are unsung heroes all across Iowa, whether it's the everyday acts of resilience, or the big, bold moments of resistance, women are taking a stand.

Now more than ever, our rights are under attack, whether it's Georgia or Iowa or Alabama or Missouri. In the White House, at the Supreme Court. across this country, right wing politicians and a whole lot of men are making decisions about our reproductive freedom. Now is not the time to be polite. Now is not the time for small steps. Now is the time to fight like hell.

To the pundits who say, to the pundits who still say can a woman really win? Yes, of course we can. President Trump's kryptonite is a strong woman who stands up for what she believes in. We know women leaders across the globe actually have faster growing economies, are more inclusive, tolerant and collaborative. When women lead,we get things done.

I've already taken on the powerful, the corrupt and the seemingly impossible throughout my career. I took on a 2 to 1 Republican district and won, the second time by a 24 point margin. And in my last campaign for Senate, I won back 18 counties where President Trump had won. Whether I'm standing up to the Pentagon, or Congress or Wall Street or corrupt members of Congress, I have taken on the fights that no one else will and won.

I have voted against President Trump more than any other U.S. Senator on this stage.

I will go toe to toe with anyone to do what's right.

I was the first presidential candidate to pledge that I will only nominate justices and judges who see Roe v Wade as a precedent. I am also going to codify Roe, and I will repeal Hyde so that women of color and low income women also get access to abortion services. In fact, I don't think there is room in our party for a Democratic candidate who does not support women's full reproductive freedom.

The days of dismissing maternal mortality or adoption rights or paid leave or affordable take care or universal pre K or equal pay for equal right—work is just a woman's issue, those days are long gone.

When America's families succeed, we all succeed. That is why I will pass my family bill of rights within the first hundred days of being president.

Just imagine what we could achieve with a working mother in the White House instead of a misogynist. Imagine the progress we could make with a diverse cabinet of Americans who actually reflects why we are a great country, and the agenda we could pass not only with women at the table, but with a woman at the head of the table.

Now is not the time to settle for the status quo, or to compromise or to be polite. Now is the time that we must be brave, because when hope rises, fear loses and brave wins.

God bless Iowa.


DEMOCRACY IN ACTION TRANSCRIPT 
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