{"id":146549,"date":"2022-08-31T07:41:22","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T14:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=146549"},"modified":"2022-08-31T07:41:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T14:41:22","slug":"president-biden-on-the-safer-america-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=146549","title":{"rendered":"President Biden on the Safer America Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Wilkes-Barre, PA&#8230;Mr. Mayor, thank you.  Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.  Before you walk down, I want the Caseys to come up with me, because where I come from, Scranton is Casey\u2019s Country.  (Applause.)  We \u2014 we got raised in the same neighborhood, in Green Ridge, not far from two of the best little candy shops in the \u2014 in this \u2014 in the whole country.  And I just wanted to let \u2014 I \u2014 they can\u2019t deny me, that\u2019s why I wanted them up here.  (Laughter.)  I want them to know.  <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/OJCyEehQIWQ\" title=\"President Biden Delivers Remarks on his Safer America Plan to Further Reduce Gun Crime &#038; Save Lives\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And by the way, this guy is \u2014 has more integrity in his little finger than most people have in their whole body.  That\u2019s why I love working with him.<\/p>\n<p> SENATOR CASEY:  Welcome home.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And \u2014 and, like me, he married way up.  (Laughter.)  Way up.  Thank you very much.  Appreciate it.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>As my mother, Jean Finnegan Biden, from Green Ridge would say, please excuse my back when I\u2019m speaking.  I apologize. <\/p>\n<p>And by the way, you know, one of the best things of all of being President of the United States is the Marine Band.  (Applause.)  They\u2019re the best in the world.  (Applause.)  Stand up, guys.  They are the very, very, very, very best.  They can not only play; they know how to fight, too.  (Laughter.)  God love you.  Thank you for being here.  Thank you for being here.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  President Biden, I love you! <\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you very much.  Thank you.  How are you, baby?  How old are you?  (Applause.)  How old are you?<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Nine!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You\u2019re almost double figures.  (Laughter.) <\/p>\n<p>Well, look, folks.  It\u2019s great to be here in Wilkes-Barre.  I mean that sincerely. <\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Hi, Mr. President! <\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Welcome home!<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  We love you!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you. <\/p>\n<p>Well, thank you so much.  Mayor Brown, thank you for that introduction and the passport into this great city.  <\/p>\n<p>And, Mayor Cognetti, it\u2019s almost \u2014 we\u2019re almost near he- \u2014 we\u2019re almost in heaven.  We\u2019re almost in Scranton.  (Laughter.)  Almost.  (Applause.)  Being raised in Scranton, they used to say, \u201cYou\u2019re going down the line?\u201d <\/p>\n<p>At any rate, you know, and what a leadership lineup you have here in Pennsylvania. <\/p>\n<p>I want to thank your outstanding governor, Tom Wolf.  Tom and I have been friends a long time.  He\u2019s truly one of the best governors in the United States of America.  (Applause.)  Not a joke.  Not a joke.  And a stand-up guy.  A stand-up guy. <\/p>\n<p>And Josh Shapiro is a champion for the rule of law as your Attorney General, and he\u2019s going to make one hell of a governor.  I really mean it.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>And by the way, he couldn\u2019t be here today \u2014 we spoke \u2014 Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman.  He\u2019s \u2014 when I say he\u2019s a powerful voice \u2014 (applause).  I used to be, in the old days, a pretty good athlete.  And if someone was really big and tough, you\u2019d say, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t screw with him if I had a sledgehammer.\u201d  (Laughter.)  Well, I tell you what, Fetterman is a hell of a guy.  A powerful voice for working people.  And he\u2019s going to make a great United States senator.  He\u2019s going to make a great United States senator.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And as I said, Bobby Casey \u2014 he\u2019s one of my closest friends, one of our great United States senators.<\/p>\n<p>And your congressman, Matt Cartwright, is the real reason I\u2019m here.  (Applause.)  I\u2019m in Cartwright Country.  He knows how to deliver for this district, which is so close to my heart.  <\/p>\n<p>Look, I especially want to thank all the members of law enforcement who are here, many of whom are behind me, for always being there for us.  (Applause.)  And we should always be there for them.  <\/p>\n<p>And by the way, also a group that you need badly \u2014 you don\u2019t really appreciate until you need them \u2014 is the firefighters.  The firefighters have been with me my whole career.  And let me tell you something, there\u2019s an old expression: God made man, then he made a few firefighters \u2014 because you got to be crazy to be a firefighter.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>And by the way, please sit down.  I\u2019m \u2014 I\u2019m sorry.  Please sit down.  I keep forgetting.  I \u2014<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you. <\/p>\n<p>But look, when I ran for President, I said I looked at the world the way I looked at it growing up in Scranton, and that wasn\u2019t hyperbole.  I meant that.  The families \u2014 what families wanted was \u2014 in Scranton, when I was growing up \u2014 and my mom and dad and my grandpop \u2014 was as basic, basic, basic as it is today: a decent job, the opportunity to be treated with dignity.  Everyone \u2014 my dad would say, \u201cEverybody \u2014 everybody is entitled to be treated with dignity \u2014 just simple dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The fact is that want \u2014 they want to be able to go to good schools, sa- \u2014 in safe neighborhoods, a decent place to live, and just a fair shot \u2014 just a fair shot for their kids.  You know, a peace of mind knowing your kids can go to school or to the playground or the movies or the high school game and come home safely and not have to think about it.<\/p>\n<p>But for too long, too many families haven\u2019t had that peace of mind.  They watch the news and they see kids being gunned down in schools and on the streets.  Almost every single night you turn the news on, that\u2019s what you see.<\/p>\n<p>They see their neighbors lose their loved ones to drugs like fentanyl, which is a flat killer.<\/p>\n<p>They see hate and anger and violence just walking the streets of America, and they just want to feel safe again.  They want to feel a sense of security.  And that\u2019s what my crime plan is all about.<\/p>\n<p>You know, I call it the Safer America Plan, and both your members of Congress voted for it.  It\u2019s based on a simple notion: When it comes to public safety in this nation, the answer is not \u201cdefund the police,\u201d it\u2019s \u201cfund the police.\u201d  (Applause.)  Fund the police.<\/p>\n<p>And give them \u2014 we expect them to do everything.  We expect them to be \u2014 to protect us, to be psychologists, and to be sociolog- \u2014 I mean, we expect you to do everything.  I\u2019m not joking.  Everything.<\/p>\n<p>You realize more police officer are killed dealing with domestic violence than anything else?  Do you realize that?<\/p>\n<p>The point is: We ask so much of you \u2014 so much of you.  <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve not met a cop who likes a bad cop.  There\u2019s bad in everything.  There is lousy senators.  There is lousy presidents.  There is lousy doctors.  There is lousy lawyers.  No, I\u2019m serious.  But I don\u2019t know any police officer that feels good about the fact that there may be a lousy cop.  And I\u2019m tired of not giving the kind of help they need.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, look, we\u2019re in a situation in this country where we have to give them additional resources they need to get their job done.<\/p>\n<p>Matt gets it \u2014 Matt Cartwright.  And I\u2019m not just \u2014 this is not hyperbole.  Matt is the chair of the powerful subcommittee that controls the funding for public safety.  He knows what it means, investing in effective and accountable community policing that builds public trust and strengthens public safety.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m old enough to remember when cops used to walk the beat in Wilmington and Scranton, because they knew everybody.  They knew the kid \u2014 they knew if something was trouble, they knew whose house to go and knock on the door and say, \u201cMom, your son just did\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m being \u2014 I\u2019m not being facetious.  They knew the neighborhoods.<\/p>\n<p>As part of the American Rescue Plan I signed into law last year, which they voted for, we set aside 350 billion \u2014 with a \u201cB\u201d \u2014 billion dollars for state and local governments all across America, and urged them to use it, like your governor did, to make communities safer.<\/p>\n<p>Here in Pennsylvania, Governor Wolf is using $250 million of that money to reduce crime and violence across the state.  And \u2014 (applause) \u2014 and Mayor Brown \u2014 and Mayor Brown just described how it\u2019s helping to fund community policing here in Wilkes-Barre.<\/p>\n<p>But guess what?  Every single Republican member of Congress \u2014 every single one in this state, every single one \u2014 voted against the support for law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>They talk about how much they love it; they voted against the funding.  Flat out.  Flat out.  Every Republican in the House, every Republican in the Senate, every single one.<\/p>\n<p>I know we expect so much from our law enforcement officers, so we need to support them.  That\u2019s why my crime plan to help communities recruit, hire, and train nationwide more than 100,000 additional officers \u2014 accountable officers \u2014 for community policing.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And I mean it.  Folks, when it comes to fighting crime, we know what works: officers on the street who know the neighborhood \u2014 not a joke \u2014 who know the neighborhood; who know the families they\u2019re protecting; who get the training they need to be able to do their jobs well; who work to earn the community\u2019s trust.<\/p>\n<p>And as we hire more police officers, there should be more training, more help, and more accountability.<\/p>\n<p>Without public trust, law enforcement can\u2019t do its job serving and protecting all the communities.<\/p>\n<p>If I can just interject for a moment \u2014 my deceased son, Beau, he was the Attorney General of the State of Delaware.  And what he used to do is go down, in the east side, the \u2014 called the \u201cBucket\u201d \u2014 highest crime rate in the country.  It\u2019s a place where I used to \u2014 I was the only white guy that worked as a lifeguard down in that area, on the east side.<\/p>\n<p>And you know where the \u2014 you could always tell where the best basketball in the state is or the best basketball in the city is: It\u2019s where everybody shows up.<\/p>\n<p>And he\u2019d go down and hang out and sit on a bench with my \u2014 my grandson, who\u2019s now 17 years old.  And the police used to be in the car \u2014 the local city police.  And he\u2019d walk up and bang on the window and say, \u201cGet out of the car, damn it, and meet these people.  Let them see you.  Let them know you.  Let them know who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, the truth was \u2014 remember what happened to community policing?  We went from having enough cops on the street, to cities doing well, and then deciding they don\u2019t need more police officers, so they reduced the police forces.  So you didn\u2019t have two cops in every vehicle; you had one cop in every vehicle.  And I don\u2019t blame one cop for not getting out in some certain neighborhoods \u2014 not getting out of the car.<\/p>\n<p>And what happens is \u2014 it used to be \u2014 I can remember that when my son was the Attorney General, he\u2019d go around in the tougher neighborhoods and he would ensure that every single cop gave his cellphone number to the local liquor store owner, the local church, the local grocery store, the local hamburger joint so if there was a problem, they\u2019d pick up the phone and call.  Because what do people not want to do in tough neighborhoods?  They don\u2019t want to be the one identified as turning so-and-so in.<\/p>\n<p>I remember going on the east side in Wilmington, in one of those old Victorian two \u2014 three-story apartment buildings, and going up to see a woman whose name \u2014 she\u2019s passed away, but I won\u2019t mention her name now \u2014 and standing in that rotunda that \u2014 that part that stuck out around the building. <\/p>\n<p>And she said, \u201cJoey, I know \u2014 I know what\u2019s going on.  They all plan it downstairs.  I can hear them, but I\u2019m afraid to tell anybody \u2014 afraid to tell anybody.\u201d  The gangs.  <\/p>\n<p>And so, I got her \u2014 so that \u2014 I got a phone number for the local cops.  She\u2019d call.  They promised not to identify her, because they knew there\u2019d be retribution.  And the crime rate began to drop.  For real.  Not a joke.<\/p>\n<p>You got to know people.  You got to know, and you got to be able to trust the police.  And the police had to be able to trust the community.  But we slipped away from that.  And we have a hell of a lot fewer cops today than we did when I wrote that initial crime bill.  But now we got to get back to it. <\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, I\u2019m not making the case there aren\u2019t bad cops.  There are some really lousy cops.  There are some really lousy doctors.  There are some really lousy lawyers.  I mean it. <\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s the point: As we\u2019ve seen too often, public trust is frayed and is broken, and it undermines public safety when it gets frayed.  It literally undermines safety.  Families across the country have to ask why, in this nation, for example, so many Black Americans wake up knowing they could lose their lives just by living their lives.<\/p>\n<p>If you come from neighborhoods like I come from down in Delaware, if you have a 16- or 17-year-old son and he gets a driver\u2019s license, you sit down and say, \u201cLook, if you get stopped, put your hands on the wheel.  Don\u2019t do anything.\u201d  Just \u2014 I mean, I\u2019m \u2014 I\u2019m being serious.  I\u2019m being serious.<\/p>\n<p>But here\u2019s the point: Simply jogging, sleeping in their homes \u2014 you know, whether they made headlines or not, they have a lot of lost souls.  Increased trust makes policing more effective and it strengthens public safety. <\/p>\n<p>And the communities, by the way, that want the police more than any other community are the tough, poor communities.  Black, white, immigrants \u2014 they need the help; they want the help.  It\u2019s not that they don\u2019t want it.  They want the help.<\/p>\n<p>Without that, victims don\u2019t call for help, witnesses don\u2019t step forward, crimes go unsolved, justice isn\u2019t served.<\/p>\n<p>I took executive action, which I\u2019m allowed to do as President \u2014 I always admired governors who can take executive action \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 but all kidding aside, to make some of these reforms for federal officers.  I couldn\u2019t do it for state officers.<\/p>\n<p>One, no federal officer is allowed to use a chokehold.  No federal officer can restrict \u2014 there\u2019s restricted no-knock warrants.  We created a national database for officers who have misbehaved and been held accountable so they can\u2019t hide.  My plan will help make sure that state and local governments adopt these same reforms. <\/p>\n<p>And my plan does something else really important: It addresses the opioid epidemic.  You notice how many people are dying of opioid overdoses now?  And, by the way, laced with fentanyl. <\/p>\n<p>The Attorney General, Shapiro, can tell you more about that than you\u2019d ever want to know, for a fact.  For real.  And it\u2019s been \u2014 he\u2019s been such a strong leader on this.  <\/p>\n<p>But we\u2019re going to impose tougher penalties for deadly fentanyl trafficking that\u2019s poisoning communities across this country.  <\/p>\n<p>This is a key part of the Unity Agenda I\u2019m announcing in my State \u2014 that I announced in my State of the Union Address.<\/p>\n<p>We can do this.  We have to do this.  We\u2019ll make America safer. <\/p>\n<p>My plan also takes commonsense action to reduce gun violence and violence overall.  It builds on the progress we made this summer when I signed into law the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun safety law we passed in 30 years.  It took 30 years.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And we beat the NRA.  (Applause.)  We took them on, and we beat the NRA straight up.  (Applause.)  You have no idea how intimidating they are to elected officials.  The NRA was against it, which means the vast majority \u2014 the vast majority of Republicans in Congress couldn\u2019t even stand up and vote for it because they\u2019re afraid of the NRA.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not unusual.  Every Democrat, Republican, senators \u2014 they get afraid of certain interest groups. <\/p>\n<p>They voted against it.<\/p>\n<p>Law enforcement supported it.  Faith leaders and teachers supported it.  Victims of gun violence and their families supported it.  Young people in this country, like the students of the great \u2014 this great university, support it. <\/p>\n<p>And the NRA and the vast majority of congressional Republicans voted against it \u2014 saving lives and keeping America safe.  <\/p>\n<p>But guess what?  We took on the NRA, and we\u2019re going to take them on again.  And we won.  And we will win again.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But we\u2019re not stopping here.  I\u2019m determined to ban assault weapons in this country.  (Applause.)  Determined.  I did it once before, and I\u2019ll do it again. <\/p>\n<p>For many of you at home, I want to be clear: It\u2019s not about taking away anybody\u2019s guns.  In fact, we should be treating responsible gun owners as examples how every gunowner should behave.  <\/p>\n<p>I have two shotguns at home.  I ca- \u2014 it\u2019s a long story, but I\u2019m not opposed to guns.  But I support the Second Amendment.  And I support the Second Amendment. <\/p>\n<p>But the Second Amendment, as one of the most \u2014 one of the most conservative justices in history, Justice Scalia, once wrote, \u201cLike\u2026\u201d \u2014 quote, \u201cLike most rights, the rights granted by the Second Amendment are not unlimited.\u201d  They\u2019re not unlimited.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Right now, you can\u2019t go on and buy an automatic weapon.  You can\u2019t go out and buy a cannon. <\/p>\n<p>And for those brave, right-wing Americans who say it\u2019s all about keeping America \u2014 keeping America as independent and safe: If you want to fight against a country, you need an F-15.  You need something a little more than a gun.  (Laughter.)  No, I\u2019m not joking.  Think about this.  Think about the rationale we use \u2014 that\u2019s used to provide this.  And who are they shooting at?  They\u2019re shooting at these guys behind me.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, look, I went to every major school shooting around \u2014 in the country since I was the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee all the way through as Vice President and President.  Over 48,000 people died from gunshot wounds in 2021 in the United States of America, over 26,000 by suicide.<\/p>\n<p>When guns are the number-one killer \u2014 listen to this \u2014 the guns are the number-one killer of children in America \u2014 of children.  They\u2019re number one.  More children gui- \u2014 die from guns than active-duty police and active-duty military personnel combined.<\/p>\n<p>Hear that again: More children in America die from guns than active-duty police and active-duty military in the United States combined. <\/p>\n<p>We have to act.  We have to act for those families in Buffalo, Uvalde, Newtown, El Paso, Parkland, Charleston, Las Vegas, Orlando.  I\u2019ve been to every one of those sites, sit down with those parents.  I spent four hours last time.  I met with every single one of the parents and families who have lost someone, seen the looks in their faces.<\/p>\n<p>Think about it.  Think about the devastation that\u2019s occurred.  We have to act for all those kids gunned down on our streets every single day that never make the news.  There\u2019s a mass shooting every single day in this country in the streets of America \u2014 every single day.<\/p>\n<p>You have to ask \u2014 you have to act so our kids can learn to read in school, instead of learning to duck and cover.  (Applause.)  Literally, schools all across America, kids are showing up with psychological damage done to our kids, not just COVID.  With COVID, what its impact \u2014 and how it\u2019s impacting us.  And on top of that, a child going to school \u2014 children see this on television. <\/p>\n<p>You know, we\u2019re living in a country awash with weapons of war, weapons that weren\u2019t designed to hunt \u2014 were designed to take on an enemy.  There \u2014 that\u2019s what they\u2019re designed to do.  For God\u2019s sake, what\u2019s the rationale for these weapons outside of a warzone?  They inflict severe damage.<\/p>\n<p>When I was recently in Uvalde \u2014 I almost hesitate to say this, with some of the kids in here \u2014 you know what some of the parents had to do?  Supply DNA.  Supply DNA.  Because AR-15s just rips the body apart.  Could not identify \u2014 could not identify the body.  And a 20-year-old kid can walk in and buy one?  DNA to say, \u201cThat\u2019s my baby.\u201d  What the hell is the matter with us?<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Say it again.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, I\u2019m not joking.  Think about it.  What are we doing? <\/p>\n<p>And by the way, how many \u2014 my dad used to love to hunt in the Poconos when we lived in Scranton.  How many deer or bear are wearing Kevlar vests, huh?  (Laughter.)  Not a joke.  <\/p>\n<p>Do you realize the bullet out of an AR-15 travels five times as rapidly as a bullet shot out of any other gun, five times \u2014 is lighter \u2014 and can pierce Kevlar?<\/p>\n<p>Imagine being a parent \u2014 not just losing a child, but not being able to physically identify the child, or the adult, because they\u2019ve literally been blown apart.<\/p>\n<p>We equip \u2014 we equip our service members with the most lethal weapons on Earth to protect all of us, protect Americans.  Butwe require them to receive significant training, extensive background checks, mental health assessments.  They have to learn how to lock up and store their weapons responsibly or they get kicked out.  But we let any stranger \u2014 an 18-year-old \u2014 walk in \u2014 a 20-year-old \u2014 and buy an AR-15.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why, back in 1994, I took on the NRA and passed the assault weapons ban.  For 10 years, mass shootings were down \u2014 10 years in a row since I passed that legislation in 1994 as a chair- \u2014 as a senator.<\/p>\n<p>But in 2004, Republicans let that ban expire.  And what happened?  Mass shootings in America tripled.  Tripled.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s time to ban these.  It\u2019s time to ban these weapons.  We did it before, and we can do it again.<\/p>\n<p>Folks \u2014 (applause) \u2014 it\u2019s time to hold every elected official\u2019s feet to the fire and ask them: \u201cAre for banning assault weapons?  Yes or no.\u201d  Ask them.  If the answer is no, vote against them.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, I\u2019m prouder that, after seven years, we finally have a Senate-confirmed director of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, responsible for fighting gun crime.<\/p>\n<p>For seven years, the other team would not let us appoint anyone to that job \u2014 incredibly important job \u2014 to help local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, identify the ballistics \u2014 a whole range of things.  For seven years.<\/p>\n<p>We finally got it passed this time out, barely.<\/p>\n<p>Seven years, because didn\u2019t they didn\u2019t want anybody in that job.<\/p>\n<p>My plan gives the Bureau the funding to hire more agents, to stop gun trafficking.<\/p>\n<p>And by the way, there\u2019s a lot of states that don\u2019t allow you to purchase certain weapons in the state.  But just cross the state line and go buy it next door, bring it across the state line.  Keep guns out of \u2014<\/p>\n<p>You know what the Mexicans are \u2014 Mexico, which has real problems, causing us real problems \u2014 you know what their biggest complaint is?  Can\u2019t we stop gun \u2014 gun trafficking across the southern border into Mexico.<\/p>\n<p>There are certain gun dealers that are basically \u2014 not gun dealers, they\u2019re wholesalers, providing the weapons to anybody who will have the money.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, look, we can help local law enforcement.  We can solve more gun crimes if we have the \u2014 someone heading up, which we finally do, this organization that\u2019s designed to track this kind of behavior.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, my plan invests in crime prevention programs that help keep young people from getting in trouble in the first place.<\/p>\n<p>Under my plan, communities can, one, provide after-school and summer job programs they get paid for.  More access to mental health and drug counseling.  More social workers and housing to keep people off the streets instead of when they get out of \u2014 when they get out of jail, they get 25 cent \u2014 dollars and a bus ticket, and they end up under the same bridge that they were under before.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>This will help prevent crime and get young people to pick up paychecks instead of a pistol.  At the same time, we need to help people getting out of prison successfully reenter society so they don\u2019t get in trouble again.<\/p>\n<p>If you served your time, you shouldn\u2019t be desi- \u2014 you shouldn\u2019t be \u2014 you shouldn\u2019t be deprived of being able to \u2014 if you\u2019ve served it, you shouldn\u2019t be deprived of being able to get a Pell Grant to go to school.  You should be able to \u2014 (applause) \u2014 to get a degree. <\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s the best thing you can do?  Make them productive.  They should get access to good jobs where they can earn a decent living.<\/p>\n<p>All these steps will prevent crime, not increase it.  <\/p>\n<p>Let me close with this: A safer America requires all of us to uphold the rule of law, not the rule of any one party or any one person.  Let\u2019s be clear: You hear some of my friends in the other team talking about political violence and how it\u2019s necessary. <\/p>\n<p>Think about this now.  Did any of you think, even if you\u2019re as old as I am, you\u2019d ever been an election where we talk about it\u2019s appropriate to use force \u2014 political violence in America?  It\u2019s never appropriate.  Never.  Period.  Never, never, never.  No one should be encouraged to use political violence.  None whatsoever. <\/p>\n<p>And look, you know, if we\u2019re in a situation where \u2014 to this day, the MAGA Republicans in Congress defend the mob that stormed to Capitol on January 6th.  Defend them.  You all saw it.  I don\u2019t care how frustrated you are. <\/p>\n<p>You know, when I showed up, one of the things I learned as President, even though I had been Vice President for eight years and done a great deal on the foreign policy for the administration \u2014 I showed up at a meeting of the major democracies called the G7.  And I sat down \u2014 it was in England \u2014 and I sat down for this three-day conference.  And I said, \u201cAmerica is back.\u201d  And Macron, the President of France, turned to me and said, \u201cFor how long?\u201d  \u201cFor how long?\u201d  Then we had a discussion with Schmidt [Scholz] and all of them \u2014 everything.  It just \u2014 \u201cFor how long?\u201d  <\/p>\n<p>And one of them said to me, \u201cImagine, Joe, if you turned on the television in Washington, D.C., and saw a mob of a thousand people storming down the hallways of the parliament, breaking down the doors trying to overturn an outcome of election and killing several police officers in the meantime.  Imagine.  Imagine what you\u2019d think.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Think about what the world saw.  Not what we saw \u2014 what the world saw.  Did you ever think, in the United States, that would happen?<\/p>\n<p>What I find even more incredible is the defense of it.  Cops attacked and assault \u2014 assaulted; speared with flagpole \u2014 with flagpoles; sprayed with mace; stomped on, dragged, brutalized.  Police lost their lives as a result of that day.  Police lost their lives. <\/p>\n<p>One of the officers said it was worse than anything he had experienced in war in Iraq. <\/p>\n<p>So let me say this to my MAGA Republican friends in Congress: Don\u2019t tell me you support law enforcement if you won\u2019t condemn what happened on the 6th.  (Applause.)  Don\u2019t tell me.  Can\u2019t do it.  <\/p>\n<p>For God\u2019s sake, whose side are you on?  Whose side are you on?  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>Look, you\u2019re either on the side of a mob or the side of the police.  You can\u2019t be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection.  (Applause.)  You can\u2019t be a party of law and order and call the people who attacked the police on January 6th \u201cpatriots.\u201d  You can\u2019t do it.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>What are we teaching our children?  It\u2019s just that simple. <\/p>\n<p>But now it\u2019s sickening to see the new attacks on the FBI, threatening the life of law enforcement agents and their families for simply carrying out the law and doing their job.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, I want to say this as clear as I can: There is no place in this country \u2014 no place for endangering the lives of law enforcement.  No place.  (Applause.)  None.  Never.  Period.  <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m opposed to defunding the police.  I\u2019m also opposed to defunding the FBI.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, there\u2019s no greater responsibility for government than ensuring the safety of our people.  Every parent should be able to know when they \u2014 the kid leaves home to go to school or just walk the street they\u2019re going to come home safely. <\/p>\n<p>We can do this.  We have to do this.  We just need to remember who we are.  We are the United States of America.  (Applause.) <\/p>\n<p>And when we are united, there is not a single thing we cannot do \u2014 not a single thing.  (Applause.)  I mean it.<\/p>\n<p>So, folks, let\u2019s remember who in God\u2019s name we are \u2014 I really mean it \u2014 what our values are, what we believe. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe the People\u201d \u2014 that how our Constitution starts \u2014 or the Declaration.  \u201cWe the People.\u201d  It\u2019s who we are.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, no one expects politics to be a pattycake.  It sometimes gets mean as hell.  But the idea you turn on a television and see senior senators and congressmen saying, \u201cIf such and such happens, there\u2019ll be blood in the street.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where the hell are we?<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Bring back common sense!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, that\u2019s all I\u2019m looking for.<\/p>\n<p>And folks, do me a favor.  (Laughs.)  Presumptuous of me to say that.  But think about doing me a favor.  Please, please elect the Attorney General to the Senate[Governor}.  (Applause.)  Elect that big ol\u2019 boy to be governor[Senator].  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, there are a lot of really \u2014 and I mean this, I\u2019m not being solicitous \u2014 remember what used to be the criticism of Biden when I was running?  \u201cBiden is too bipartisan.  Biden has too many Republican friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a lot of Republicans I\u2019ve worked with for all the years in the Senate.  I got a lot done.  We respected each other.  When we disagreed, we disagreed on principle, but we then went and had lunch together.  Not a joke.<\/p>\n<p>What in God\u2019s name has happened to that in the United States of America?  (Applause.)  So, folks, let\u2019s bring it back.  We can do this.<\/p>\n<p>God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wilkes-Barre, PA&#8230;Mr. Mayor, thank you. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Before you walk down, I want the Caseys to come up with me, because where I come from, Scranton is Casey\u2019s Country. (Applause.) We \u2014 we got raised in the same neighborhood, in Green Ridge, not far from two of the best little [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Fullscreen-capture-8312022-73721-AM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=146549"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146551,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146549\/revisions\/146551"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/146550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=146549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=146549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=146549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}