we used to come back after morning mass at st. paul's on sunday, st. clair's wasn't built until i had moved. my grandfather, who worked for the newspaper, and my uncle, would hold court around the kitchen table with a guy who was sort of the david broder of the pennsylvania press, scranton press. you think i'm kidding, i wasn't. but anyway. and he would -- they'd come and have breakfast at the table. and a kid could wander around the table where the adults were sitting but you could never sit at the table. and i would walk up and stand next to my grandpa, while he wag conversation. and they're talking about what -- they'd talk about what was going on in the neighborhood. they'd talk about what was going on in the world. they were all learned men. and i learned a lot here in scranton. i learned that money doesn't determine your worth. my tbrawfer would tell me, joey,

nobody, nobody is more worthy than you, and everyone is your equal. [applause] all anybody want sas fair shot, a fair shot at making it and they deseven a fair shot. my dad had a say, he said, a job is about a lot more than your paycheck. it's about dignity, it's about respect, it's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, it's going to be ok, and mean it. people like donald trump learn different lessons. he learned the best way to get rich is inherit it. not a bad way. he learned that paying taxes is something people who worked for a living did, not him. he learned telling people you're fired is something to laugh about. i guess that's how you look at the world if you're at park avenue, mar-a-lago. if you grew up in a place like

scranton nobody handed you anything. you paid your taxes. you made sure you knew being told you were fired wasn't entertainment, it was a nightmare people worried about. all people knew, all i knew about people like trump who looked down on us, they wouldn't welcome us in their homes or their clubs. folks, where we come from, it matters. when i look at the economy i don't see it through the eyes of mar-a-lago, i see it through the eyes of scranton. that's a fact. where faith matters. where family is everything. where we grew up, knowing wall street didn't build this country. the middle class built this country. and unions built the middle class. [cheers and applause] we know the best way to build an economy is from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top

down, because when you do that, the poor have a ladder up, the middle class does well, the wealthy still do very well. we all do well. it's a stark contrast from my opponent. he looks at the economy from mar-a-lago where he and his rich friends embrace the failed trickle down policy that was failed working families for more than 40 years. scranton values. mar-a-lago values. these are the competing visions for our economy and they raise questions of fundamental fairness at the heart of this campaign that i want to talk to you a little bit today. does anybody think that the present tax code is fair? raise your hand if you think it's fair. i'm not joking. neither do i. i'm a capitalist. if you're able to go out and make a million bucks, fine. that's ok. make sure you pay your fair share in taxes. [cheers and applause]

a fair tax code is how we invest in things that make this country strong. health care. education. defense. so much more. but here's the deal. for more than 40 years, our republican friends have promised, the best way to grow the economy is from the top down. here's what they don't tell you. it's never worked. the benefits don't trickle down. the very wealthy payless in taxes and we have to borrow more. and invest less. in things that family really need from schools, hospitals, health care, roads, bridges, and so much more. think what happens when the factory closes in scranton or anywhere around the country. when a school is underfunded. when inequity grows larger and larger. it puts the middle class further out of reach and rips the dignity and pride and hope out of communities across the country, including here in pennsylvania. folks, trickle dunn economics failed the middle class. it failed america. and the truth is, donald trump

embodies that failure. he wants to double down on trickle down. his failure starts with his $2 trillion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthiest and biggest corporations and exploded the federal debt when he was president. donald trump add more to the national debt than any president of the united states in a term in all of american history. more to the national debt. meanwhile. when the pandemic hit. trump failed the most basic duty any president owes the american people. a duty to care and a duty to respond. remember when he told us don't worry, this will all be over by easter? remember when he told us, literally, inject bleach. [laughter] bless me father. look. [cheers and applause] think about it. think about it. because he failed to care, not

only did people die but millions of americans lost their jobs, their home they livelihoods. on trump's watch, in the four years he was president, we lost nearly three million jobs. 275,000 of those jobs lost right here in pennsylvania. and the scranton area, trump lost 17,400 jobs. 180,000 manufacturing jobs lost nationwide. including 37,000 manufacturing jobs right here in pennsylvania. there are only two presidents on record, in all of american history, who left office with fewer jobs than when they entered office. herbert hoover and, yes, donald "herbert hoover" trump. [applause] look. it's the same failed trickle down policies. nothing has changed.

a few months ago at a closed door event at mar-a-lago he told his millionaire and billionaire followers the following, quote, you're rich as hell, and we're going to give you a tax cut, end of quote. they all laughed. not because they thought it wouldn't happen, because they knew it would. how does that make me feel, how does it make you feel? trump wants another round of corporate giveaways. i come from the corporate state of the world. delaware. i represented it for 36 years. you're entitled to make a fair profit. that makes sense. there's more corporations incorporated in delaware than every other state in the nation combined. but this is ridiculous what's going on now. there are about 1,000 billionaire, billionaires in america. do you know what the average federal tax rate for a billionaire is today in america?

for real. 8.3%. that's how much federal -- i'm serious. not a joke. for a less than the vast majority of americans pay in federal tax. no billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a teacher or nurse or sanitation worker. i mean it. [applause] that tax break that he passed several years ago is about to expire. but trump wants to give another billion tax break. listen to what he says. trump says his maga friends want to, quote, terminate, i love his terminology, terminate the affordable care act. that would mean over 100 million americans with pre-existing conditions who now have health care because of the affordable care act would lose their coverage. 100 million. it means millions of young people would be kicked off their

parent's health care policy once they turn 26. the affordable care act is paid for by a surtax on the very wealthy investment income. trump wants to get rid of that. as a consequence would cost millions of americans who lose -- to lose coverage, an average of additional $6,000 a year to maintain health care. it would mean billionaires would get as a consequence of not having to pay the tax anymore another $3.5 million tax cut per billionaire you heard me right. billionaires would each get an additional tax cut every year of $3.5 million. that's 70 times what a typical family here in scranton makes in one year. i have a better idea. as soon as i came to office, i expanded tax credits through the affordable care act and saved millions of americans another $800 per person, per year on their health care premium.

[cheers and applause] health care should be a basic right, those tax credits expire next year though. i want to make those tax credits permanent. the first thing i'll do if'm re-elected is make them permanent. folks -- [cheers and applause] my plan calls for a minimum federal income tax of 25%, just 25% on billionaires. well below the top rate. it's fair and they can afford it. you know how much money that would raise? that would raise $500 billion over the next 0 years. $500 billion. [applause] a drop in the bucket for them. and wouldn't have to sell one single bit of our assets. imagine what we could do for america. imagine a future with affordable child care. paid leave. home care. elder care.

and more. like every major country in the world has. of all this is not only good for families, it creates jobs. it generates growth. generates income. yen rates economic vitality. guess what? when you have child care and you don't have to go out and hire somebody, you can go to work. i asked the treasury department to do a study, what's the effect of this? the effect of what i'm talking about is to increase economic growth. we had the most -- we have the most successful economy in the world today. but folks, how does trump pay for these billionaire tax cuts? well, trump recently said social security and medicare, here's his quote, there's a lot you can do in terms of cut, end of quote. right on cue the maga republicans in congress released their budget. which hasn't gotten nearly enough attention. the budget they proposed for next year. would raise the retirement age

of social security, would slash medicare. think about that for a second. maga republicans want billionaires to pay less in taxes, want seniors to work longer before they can retire on social security benefits. and they wan to cut medicare. i got a better idea. let's protect social security and medicare and make the very wealthy begin to pay their fair share. [cheers and applause] by the way. whether you're liberal, conservative, republican, democrat, whatever you are, think about it. we're not asking much. just asking for just basic fairness. you know, i've already been delivering real results in a fiscally responsible way. but i know not everyone is feeling it. just the other day, a defeated looking guy came up to me and asked if i could help. he was drowning in debt.

i said i'm sorry, donald, but i can't help you. [laughter] [cheers and applause] look. on a serious note, since i came to office -- i've already cut the federal deficit. all the stuff they talk about we've done. i'm going to be self-serving a little bit. every other -- every objective alternative points out we've had the most successful economy of any major economy in the world so far. a lot more to do. but guess what. during the whole time i've been able to cut the federal deficit at the same exact time over $1 trillion. $trillion. [applause] and i signed a bipartisan deal to cut another trillion dollars

over the next decade as well. and i know what to cut. [applause] i want to cut the federal deaf set by making big corporations and the wealthy begin to finally pay their fair share. we're not asking anything unusual. under my plan, nobody earning less than $400,000 will pay an additional penny. i hope you're all able to make $400,000. i never did. but they're not going to pay an extra penny in federal taxes. that's a promise. nobody. not one penny. you know, i have to say if trump's stock in the truth social, his company, drops any lower, he might do better under my tax plan than his. [applause] folks, look. i want to cut taxes on hardworking folks here in scranton and across the country,

in clay mont where i moved to from scranton, and delaware. and all across the country. the child tax credit i extended during the pandemic put up $300 per child in the pocks of around 40 million working families. it literally cut child poverty in half. and we still reduced the deficit. [applause] we still reduced the deficit. that included helping $1.4 million families, nearly 2.4 million children, right here in pennsylvania. republicans refused to extend it. which raised taxes on working families. i want to restore it. restore the expanded child care tax credit. no child should live in poverty in this country. no child. [applause]

got a lot more work to do i know. the cost of housing is so important. i want to provide families like amy's the $0,000 tax credit to help them buy their first home or trade up for a little more space. it's important. and by the way, it'll grow the economy. when trump was president in 2020, 55 of the largest corporations in america, the fortune 500, made $40 billion in profit and paid zero, zero in federal income taxes. guess what. i came along and took care of it. not anymore. thanks to a law i wrote, signed. big corporations now have to pay a minimum, they should be paid more -- paying more, but a minimum of 15% tax.

it's a start but not enough. they pay for every program people are now benefiting from and still cut the deficit by $70 billion. [applause] by the way, that 15% is still less than working people pay in federal taxes. it's time to raise the corporate tax, minimum tax to at least 21% so every big corporation has to pay their fair share. you know, trump and his maga friends want to get rid of the corporate minimum tax. the same law i gave medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drugs. which is why those of you who have diabetes, need insulin, instead of paying $400 a month you're now paying $35 a month. [applause]

i've bhn working on taking on big pharma my whole career. guess what. if i put you on air force one and we flew out of here, you took a prescription you had from a drug company in america, i will take you any city you name where there's -- whether it's berlin, whether it's in canada, whether it's in hungary, wherever it is, and you'll pay 40% to 60% less for the same exact prescription. not a joke. and by the way. when we in fact reduce -- there's much more to come in that health care proposal. medicare proposal. for example, seniors beginning in 2024, no matter how much their prescription drug costs are, they'll never have to pay more than $2,000 a year. no matter what. [applause] and by the way.

companies will still make money. they'll still make a significant profit. still make a significant profit. helps reduce. and by the way, when we do this, it has the benefit, that's already part of the law i passed, but guess what. not only does it reduce the federal deficit and help the prescription holder. it reduces the federal debt. you know what the first trawnch of this has done? it's reduced the federal debt by $160 billion. why? because social security and medicare does not have to pay out $400 a month. they're paying out $35 a month. [applause] but trump is committed if he's re-elected, if he gets elected again, he wants to get rid of the law and give big pharma the power to charge again whatever you want, which will also increase the deficit.

folks, are we going to let that happen? we can't. and that same law empowers the i.r.s. to go after the super wealthy. and you ever -- it's amazing how the -- we had passed legislation increasing the number of auditors. guess who wanted them all cut? not joking. republicans. why? because it takes an awful lot of sophistication to be able to go through the tax returns of these billionaires to know what's going on. but while you work hard and pay your taxes, trump wants to give his billionaire friends the power to avoid paying even what they already owe, not what they should be paying. if you didn't know better you'd think i was making this up. but you can check it all out. folks, he's coming for your money, your health care, and your social security. and we're not going to let it happen.

[cheers and applause] can't let it happen. look. let me close this with. -- let me close with this. as you observed, i can't hide it, scranton fills me with enormous pride my mom lived in scranton permanently since 1954. -- didn't live in scranton permanently since 1954. whenever anybody asked her where she was from, where she lived, she said scranton. what i saw here, what i saw in clay mont, delaware, where we moved, used to be a big steel town, all gone now, though we're back with other growth.

clay mont, delaware, and i see so many towns around america, a deep pride. a deep, deep pride in your work. a deep pride in your family. deep pride in wrur community. in your country. i've always thought the world war ii monument downtown by city hall says so much about scranton. uncle ambrose finnegan from north washington, he served and died in world war ii. right after d-day on sunday. all four of my mother's brothers signed up to go fight in the military. in those days you could do it, brothers could go off to war together. fathers and brothers could do the same. and that war, everybody called him bothy. he was a hell of an athlete.

he joined the army air corps before there was an air force. his name is etched on the monument by city hall. here in scranton. i grew up understanding, we have many obligations as a country. but we only have, and i got in trouble for saying this from the time i was a young senator. we have many only gaights bus we have one sacred obligation. that's to equip those we send to war and take care of them and their families when they come home, or if they don't come home. [cheers and applause] i don't want to lose my temper but i think about the statue in town, now that i'm commander in chief. i had had to double check that his name was etched on that statue. i have to say, there are a lot of things that donald trump has said and done that i find

extremely offensive. one that offends me the most is when he refuses to visit an american cemetery outside of paris when he was president. why? he said that those soldiers who gave their lives were, quote, this is his quote, suckers and losers. suckers and losers, he said it. who the hell does he think he is? who do you think -- these are heroes. [cheers and applause] these soldiers were heroes. just as every american who served this nation. believing otherwise alone is disqualifying for someone seeking this office. thank god i wasn't standing next to him. [applause] i said, donald trump looks at the world differently than you and me. he wakes up in the morning in

mar-a-lago thinking about himself. how he can help his billionaire friends gain power and control. and force their extreme ageneral ka on the rest of us. listen to what he says. he says, quote, i'll be dictator on day one. quote, i am your retribution. he promises, quote, a bloodbath if he loses. this guy denied january 6. listen. listen to what he says. because you know he means it. i wake every morning thinking about how to make life better, like you do, for working and middle class families here in scranton and across the country. where the freedom and power rests with you and we the people. maybe that's why millions of everyday folks are powering our campaign. so far, 1. million people have contributed to our chain. 550,000 brand new this time

around. new contributors. guess what. 97% of these contributions are under $200. it matters. you matter. my grandfather would tell me when i worked out the door in north washington avenue, scranton, he'd yell, joey, keep the faith, when i was a kid my grandmother would yell, no, joey, spread it. spread it. let's keep the faith. let's spread it. let's remember who we are. we are the united states of america. [cheers and applause] there's nothing, nothing beyond our capacity. when we act together. god bless you all. may god protect our troops. thank you, thank you, thank you. thank you. thank you, folks.

thank you. [crowd chanting "four more years"] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> more than 3,200 students from across the country participated in the 20-year anniversary of c-span's studentcam documentary competition. this area we asked students, in the next 20 years what's the most important change you'd like to see in america? or over the last 20 years what's been the most important change in america? all this month we're featuring

our top 21 winning entries. this year's second prize high school west winners are 11th graders from n barer innovation academy many mansfield, texas, where c-span is available through spectrum. their winning documentary which talks about u.s.-china relations over the last 20 years is entitled "the greatest competitor." >> 20 years another bytedance was established. then it developed tiktok, which has more than 11 million american monthly users. >> politicians have begun to worry about the reach of tiktok. the anxiety of the chinese-made app is a reflection of the larger struggle between the u.s. and china, a country which in the last 20 years the united states has begun to see as its greatest competitor. >> the balance of power has shifted. it is china that now holds a

much more dominant, much more powerful position. >> the whole idea in the early 2000's was the united states would help guide china in growing their economy and becoming part of the intergovernmental systems that the united states had helped guide after world war ii. >> 20 years ago, china -- the yates had a policy of encouraging the development of china and cultivating its economic relationship. >> as the u.s. hoped, china grew its economic power and became involved in the w.t.o., international monetary fund and became a donor to the world bank. >> china started moving toward more democratic concepts but then they began to shift back and centralized more of the government structures there. >> there were other consequences which the yates did not anticipate, particularly after the election of president xi in 2013. >> he wants to abandon the idea

of responsible power. >> we made two trips over there, 2004, and 2005. in those early days it was obvious that the chinese people really had a great deal of respect and love for americans. thing have really changed a lot. feels like there's an all-out p.r. campaign by the government in trying to discredit americans. >> today, china has become a force to be reckoned with and the u.s. public perception of china has changed. >> over the last to years relations with china have become a primary focus of the united states foreign policy and with excellent reason. >> the published military strategy of the united states defines china as our number one competitor in the world. >> the c.i.a. director bill burns stated that china presents the greatest challenge to u.s. interests and to international order. >> a lot of us have been tracking for a while this battle

over what to think about china. >> the u.s. and china combined to make up 43% of the world g.d.p. and are two of the three strongest militaries in the entire world. >> any u.s.-china conflict, hot or cold, would send shock waves through the rest of the world. >> some people are calling ate new cold war. others say no, it's not. >> as the chinese agenda has become apparent, the u.s. has started to respond. >> chinese communist party cannot be trusted. the world has seen chinese -- china's brutality. >> students coming from china who are visiting scholars if they are here to do research or study in the sciences or engineering they're not being given visas. >> china has been able to gain serious and key technologies. so what it has done for the industry is, it's put all of us on notice and increased the pressure to make sure that we don't allow es pee nawnl to take place. and we don't allow sensitive information, intellectual

property or technology leave the united states. >> clearly the united states is trying to forge a path to where the united states and china can be, if not allied on some things, at least neutral toward each other. >> in the face of chinese espionage, there's tension to cut ties with china but there would be unforeseen consequences. >> there aren't helicopter emergency services that exist in a large portion of china. we perform workshops there. that are often accommodation of some of the early helicopter operators that are there. the regulatory environments, government officials. educating them on what we did. >> even while collaborating with china is becoming riskier. they're continuing to develop life-saving systems in china. if conditions deteriorate that would go away leaving 1.3 billion chinese people in

danger. >> chinese students used to be welcomed but are being turned away. >> the u.s. responds after natural disaster and promotes justice around the world. >> the united states policy toward china 20 years ago promoted the economic growth that brought hundreds of millions. now u.s. officials are far more wary about the chinese government. >> when the u.s. makes a foreign policy decision, it can affect hundreds of millions, if not billion, around the world. so how we move forward with china has become one of the most critical decisions u.s. politicians face today. >> there's no simple answer. >> as we look forward while considering the past, we can see the evolution of u.s. chinese relations jeopardize these emergency helicopter service, doctormatically restrict the exchange of college students and risk the peace and prosperity of not just america, but the whole world. whether american-chinese diplomatic relations, i they will affect everyday citizens. whether it's economics, what you

can and can't buy and the cost of it. or whether you young men are suiting up and fighting somewhere. >> the seismic shift in the u.s.-china relations is the greatest change that americans have experienced in the last 20 years. >> to watch this and all winning entries, visit our website at studen.o. >> coming up, members of congress participate in press conference about the impact of bullying and anti-lgbtq legislation on youth. while speaking with reporters lawmakers also give remarks on congressional efforts to create more inclusive learning environments. the press conference was held to commemorate the day of no silence annual events in which students take a vow of silence to symbolize the impact homophobea has on lgbtq youth.