America, our great country, the first great modern democracy, has been persisting since

1776, first by gaining independence and then through the creation of the Constitution. Seeing
how citizens had opportunities to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, this idea of the
American Dream spread far and fast, attracting people from all over the world. With them they
brought their culture, their skills and resources, their determination, which allowed America to
become a global superpower. Suddenly we not only had the power to provide opportunity and
democracy at home, we were able to spread modern democracy around the globe. Unfortunately
in recent decades we have not handled the responsibility well. I promise not to take the burden
of being a global superpower lightly.

That is why I plan to once again involve the United States in international agreements
and organizations, starting with the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Human
Rights Council.

President Macron and I recently discussed the possibility of negotiating and reentering
the Paris Climate Agreement that President Trump withdrew from in 2017, and all parties
involved are excited by the prospect and optimistic about the outcome. I promise to address the
pressing issue of climate change to ensure that our planet remains healthy, as there are no
second chances, and for future generations it is literally a life or death situation.

The end of the second world war ushered in one of the greatest international bodies to
date: the United Nations, which shows us how strong we are together. Recently, however,
we’ve begun to lose that strength. In withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights
Council, we’ve signaled to the world that we want to take a more passive role in the defense of
our ideals abroad. Any organization that fights for people's rights around the world, and
encourages the spread of democracy and freedom is an organization worth fighting for.

And while I will be entering numerous organizations and agreements, I will also
withdraw from others, most significantly President Trump’s NAFTA 2.0, which has alienated
the middle class and benefitted the corporations and elites, while putting the working people
behind. These people should be who trade deals work on benefitting, not the other way around.
There is no way a trade agreement that disadvantages the majority of Americans is effective or
beneficial to anyone other than the rich and powerful.

I will also be taking a comprehensive look at our involvement in the Middle East, and the
overall use of our military. For decades, American troops have been needlessly deployed in
Middle Eastern countries, stressing diplomatic ties all over the world and creating a bloated
military budget that takes away from other government programs such as welfare, social
security, and infrastructure. Our military should be used primarily as a mechanism to deter
attacks rather than an offensive force, unless it is truly needed. That being said, once we have
troops in another country, we need to see whatever is happening through. For example, the
troop withdrawal in Syria left our allies stranded and many areas retaken from terrorist
organizations open and undefended. The United States will always advocate for freedom and
democracy everywhere, but that does not necessarily mean military involvement.

Despite these missteps taken by previous administrations, the American dream continues
to inspire and attract people across the globe to come and share our ideals and opportunities. I
believe that in a country founded upon freedom, no person, no matter who they are, should be
oppressed, discriminated against, marginalized, or denied their basic liberties because of who
they are. No matter religion, nationality, race, gender, location, income, or sexuality, I believe
that everyone should be allowed basic human rights. That is why I want to create a
comprehensive, bipartisan approach to immigration, so that we can simultaneously prevent
illegal immigration and create a clear path towards citizenship, so that that we can invest in as
many people as possible through the American Dream, allowing them the same opportunities
that are presented to others, and give everyone an equal chance to succeed.

But we can’t just focus on issues overseas. There are still problems within our own
country we need to address to make progress and move towards equality. As John F. Kennedy
once said, “a nation can be no stronger abroad than she is at home.”

As I stand in front of you today, around 7% of the entire US population is incarcerated,

with millions more on parole. The American criminal justice system is one of the most pressing
issues facing the nation today, and to address criminal justice reform, we must recognize two
important factors: wealth disparity and racism.

In America, there’s one justice system for the rich and powerful, and another one for
everybody else. It’s not equal justice when a kid gets thrown in jail for stealing a car, while a
CEO gets a huge raise when his company steals billions. It’s certainly not equal justice when a
man spends life in prison for participating in the sale of $10 worth of marijuana but bank
executives get off scot-free for laundering nearly a billion dollars of drug cartel money. No
longer can someone in the 1% pay a fine or serve a few months in a high end prison for gross
negligence and other corporate offenses. It’s time to ease the severity of sentences for
nonviolent crimes. I don’t know about you, but I’ve sure had enough of seeing young lives
ruined by mistakes.

Secondly, we must also discuss race in the criminal justice system. African Americans
make up 13% of the total population, yet they account for nearly 65% of incarcerated
individuals. We cannot begin to fix our criminal justice system without recognizing how race
plays a factor in arrests and sentencing. It’s a clear fact: Our criminal justice system is broken,
and right at the heart of that problem is race, and we have to address this head-on.

As the richest 0.1% of Americans have seen its wealth triple in the past 40 years, the
bottom 90% has seen its wealth fall 10%. Let’s put it this way: the richest 130,000 families
have as much wealth as the bottom 117 million families combined.

It’s time to give the middle class the support it deserves. That means giving workers a say
in who determines their wages. It means creating strong antitrust enforcement to ensure that
corporations don’t leave their workers without the wages they deserve.

It means taxing the rich, which is why I’m proposing an ultra-millionaires’ tax. This tax
is imposed on the wealthiest Americans, targeting only families with a combined net worth of
$50 million or more. These households would pay an annual 2% tax on every dollar of net
worth above $50 million and a 3% tax on every dollar of net worth above $1 billion. In a 10-
year period, this tax will bring in $2.75 trillion in revenue that we can put towards helping other
Americans. It’s time that we recognize the dangerous and damaging effects of wealth disparity
in America, and it’s time we address the problem at its root.

That’s why I’m calling for something truly transformational — the cancellation of up to

$50,000 in student loan debt for 42 million Americans. My plan for student debt cancellation
would cancel debt for more than 95% of Americans with student debt while increasing wealth
for minority families and provide an enormous middle class stimulus that will boost economic
growth, increase home purchases and fuel a new wave of small business formation.

But we cannot implement these changes if students aren’t safe in their schools. Gun
violence is one of the most prevalent threats to date, and we must address this problem with
comprehensive, common-sense gun legislation.

These goals are not easy. It will be long and difficult, like change often is. It will take
time and patience and above all, it will take persistence. I will persist in the fight to protect the
rights of people everywhere, and spread freedom and equality across our country and the world,
creating a better future and an America for everyone.

Thank you