>> I'm officially endorsing Senator Bernie
Sanders as the Democratic nominee for president.
And I want to take a moment to really make
my case for why I'm endorsing him.
I want to start off by saying that you can
really learn a lot about a person based on
who inspires them.
And when I came across this video of Bernie
Sanders reciting a speech by Eugene Debs,
from the early 1900s, it really spoke to me.
So he did a documentary on Eugene Debs in
1979.
And here he is reciting Deb's his presidential
speech.
He was running for president.
Take a look.
>> It has taught me how to serve, a lesson
to me of priceless value.
It has taught me the ecstasy in the handclasp
of a comrade.
It has enabled me to hold high communion with
you.
And made it possible for me to take my place
side by side with you in the great struggle
for the better day.
To multiply myself over and over again, to
thrill with a fresh-born manhood.
To feel like truly worthwhile, to open new
avenues of vision, to spread out glorious
vistas.
To know that I am kin to all that throbs,
to be class conscious.
And to realize that regardless of nationality,
race, creed, color or sex, every man, every
woman who toils, who renders useful service.
Every member of the working class without
exception, is my comrade, my brother and sister.
And that to serve them and their cause, is
the highest duty of my life.
>> So Bernie Sanders and his selflessness
is something that really speaks to me because
he's been principled, he's been fighting for
those who are powerless for his entire career.
That's him in 1978 reciting a speech from
Eugene Debs.
And it communicates to me that as early as
the 1970s he believed in fighting for the
powerless and that means the world to me,
right?
His record means a lot.
And so let's talk a little bit about his record.
He's always been consistent in fighting for
workers and the disenfranchised.
His record is clear, he's never deviated from
the message and I wanna provide some evidence
of that, take a look.
>> At a time when the wealthiest people of
this country have seen a tremendous increase
in their income.
While at the same time the standard of living
of working people and poor people has declined.
I would be damned if I would vote for a proposal,
which will stick it to the middle class and
the working people.
And Mr. Speaker, I've got a problem.
I've got a problem with a president that a
Congress, which allows five million children
to go hungry, two million people to sleep
out on the streets, cities that become breeding
grounds for drugs and violence.
And they say we're getting tough on crime.
If y'all want to get tough on crime, let's
deal with the causes of crime.
Let's demand that every man, woman and child
in this country have a decent opportunity
and a decent standard of living.
Let's stop keep putting poor people into jail
and disproportionately punishing blacks.
>> And while he has consistently fought for
injustices domestically, he also continues
to fight for injustices worldwide.
In fact, he has been the only candidate who
has spoken out against the imprisonment of
Lula da Silva in Brazil.
He's a political prisoner and luckily recently
he was released.
There was a crooked justice minister who imprisoned
him.
So Jair Bolsonaro, a fascist, could be elected
in Brazil and after Lula was released Bernie
Sanders did put out a statement in support
of Lula.
He said quote, as President, Lula has done
more than anyone to lower poverty in Brazil
and to stand up for workers.
I am delighted that he has been released from
jail, something that never should have happened
in the first place.
And Lula actually responded to him saying,
thank you for your solidarity.
You have always been my candidate for the
US presidency, and I hope Democrats have the
wisdom to nominate a candidate with your worldview.
I hope American workers will make you US president.
And he was also correct in speaking out against
the military coup that happened in Bolivia
recently.
He has spoken out against what has happened
to the Kashmiris and the provocations by Modi
in India as a result of what's happening to
the Kashmiris.
And then finally going back to domestic politics,
people make this ridiculous argument that
Bernie Sanders hasn't accomplished anything.
What has he accomplished?
He's accomplished a strong movement within
the Democratic party.
He has accomplished the ability to actually,
in a very legitimate way, reach across the
aisle and appeal to people who might have
a different ideology but who understand how
this economic system is rigged against them.
And I think that that is powerful.
And I wanna talk a little bit about someone
who endorsed him recently.
Representative Alexandria Cassio, Cortez who
never even considered running for congress.
Until someone like Bernie Sanders inspired
her and here's what she said recently to NPR.
In regard to her endorsement of Sanders.
One of the things that's so important about
what Senator Sanders is talking about, and
what this campaign is about, is that it's
far larger than a presidential campaign.
This is about really creating a mass movement.
A multiracial mass movement of working class
Americans to guarantee health care, housing
and education as rights for all.
To draw back our endless wars and to promote
an agenda of peace and prosperity abroad.
And to really address some of the systemic
issues that are underlying a lot of the problems
that inequalities in our economy today.
He also has fought for things when it was
unpopular to do so.
Back in the early 1990s, he fought for gay
rights when it was not a popular thing to
do, watch.
>> The same people that would vote to cut
defense 177 billion, the same ones that would
put homos in the military, the same ones that
would not fund BRAC, the same ones that would
not clear up.
No I will not sit down you socialism.
>> My ears may have been playing a trick on
me but I thought I heard the gentleman a moment
ago say something quote unquote about homos
in the military.
Was I right in hearing that expression?
>> Absolutely, putting homosexuals in the
military.
>> You said something about homos in the military.
Was the gentleman referring to the many thousands
and thousands of gay people who have put their
lives on the line in countless wars defending
this country?
Was that the group of people that the gentleman
was referring to?
>> I'm talking about the military people in
the military do not support-
>> That's not talking we were talking about,
you use the word homos in the military.
You have insulted thousands of men and women
will put their lives on the line.
>> I trust Bernie Sanders.
I believe in what he's fighting for.
And I do believe that big structural change,
systemic change is something that's possible
with his leadership.
And as a result, I am honored to endorse Senator
Bernie Sanders as our next President of the
United States.
