{"id":156810,"date":"2023-03-06T09:30:47","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T17:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=156810"},"modified":"2023-03-06T09:30:47","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T17:30:47","slug":"president-biden-commemorating-the-58th-anniversary-of-bloody-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=156810","title":{"rendered":"President Biden Commemorating the 58th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Selma, Alabama&#8230;Hello, hello, hello! Please. Oh, you see all those folks out there. Hey, everybody. How are you? (Applause.) Selma is here! Well, before I be- \u2014 please, have a seat, if you have one. I once said that, \u201cHave a seat if you have one,\u201d and the press said, \u201cThey don\u2019t have seats. He didn\u2019t even \u2014 he\u2019s so stupid, he didn\u2019t know that.\u201d Those folks might not have them back there, but you all do here.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"President Biden Delivers Remarks on Importance of Commemorating Bloody Sunday\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KXHP1eqWp-I\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Folks, look, there\u2019s a lot to say. I\u2019m going to try not to say very much in terms of length of time. But I want to say a few things.<\/p>\n<p>It was mentioned that we should be working for the people of Africa. For years, I was chairman of the African Affairs Subcommittee in the United States Senate, and we have invested \u2014 my wife just got back from Zambia and Namibia. She\u2019s there all the time. We just made sure we have billions of dollars committed to build Africa. Angola is going to have the largest solar facility in all of Africa. We\u2019re investing in Africa because Africa is important and because everything happening there will affect us. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So, folks, that\u2019s number one.<\/p>\n<p>Number two, I want to make sure that \u2014 you know, I\u2019ve told the Mayor I \u2014 I think mayor is being the toughest job in America. But one of the mayors who took some time to come and help me put together my program: Keisha Lance Bottoms. Keisha, would you stand up? (Applause.) From Atlanta.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s, understandably, going home because she\u2019s got some kids and it\u2019s about time. She promised she\u2019d stay as long as she did, and she did. But we got another mayor coming too. So, anyway, thank you very much, Keisha.<\/p>\n<p>And, folks, you know, the last time I was here \u2014 my daughter is a social worker \u2014 Ashley Biden was with me. She couldn\u2019t be with me today \u2014 she wanted to \u2014 because she\u2019s working on a project for battered women up in \u2014 up in Delaware and Philadelphia. So, she sends her best.<\/p>\n<p>On this stage, \u201cthe children of God\u201d started a journey. \u201cWalking\u2026not saying a word\u2026beaten, tear-gassed.\u201d On this bridge, blood was given to help \u201credeem the soul of America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Last time I was \u2014 he was here, I was with him. John Lewis. They were his words.<\/p>\n<p>Mayor Perkins, Congresswoman Terri Sewell, members of Congress, all of you who are here; Charles Mauldin and all the foot soldiers of Selma; distinguished guests:<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re \u2014 you are \u2014 among the final words of our dear friend John Lewis, delivered as he stood on the bridge over troubled waters three years ago. I had the privilege to stand here with him. Words that give meaning to the past and purpose to the future.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been on this bridge before as Vice President, as a candidate for President; I was even here before \u2014 before as a senator \u2014 because history matters. And now I\u2019m here as your President.<\/p>\n<p>The truth matters \u2014 notwithstanding what the other team is trying to hide. They\u2019re trying to hide the truth.<\/p>\n<p>No matter how hard some people try, we can\u2019t just choose to learn what we want to know and not what we should know.<\/p>\n<p>We should learn everything \u2014 the good, the bad, the truth \u2014 of who we are as a nation.<\/p>\n<p>And everyone should know the truth of Selma.<\/p>\n<p>Six hundred believers put faith into action to march across that bridge named after the Grand Dragon of the KKK. They were on their way to the state capitol in Montgomery to claim their fundamental right to vote laid in the bedrock of our Constitution but stolen by hate harbored in too many hearts.<\/p>\n<p>With unflinching courage, foot soldiers for marched \u2014 for justice marched through the valley of the shadow of death, and they feared no evil.<\/p>\n<p>The forces of hate conspired to demise, but they endured. They forced the country to confront the hard truths and to act to keep the promise of America alive.<\/p>\n<p>I was a student up north in the Civil Rights Movement. I remember feeling how guilty I was. I wasn\u2019t here. How could we all be up there and you going through what you went through, looking at those \u2014 I can still picture \u2014 you can still picture the troopers with their batons and wands and whips.<\/p>\n<p>A promise that declares we\u2019re all created and deserve to be treated equally.<\/p>\n<p>Two weeks later, they marched to Montgomery with Dr. King, an even bigger coalition of people from different races and faiths.<\/p>\n<p>Five months later, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law five months later. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But as I come here in commemoration \u2014 not for show \u2014 Selma is a reckoning.<\/p>\n<p>The right to vote \u2014 the right to vote and to have your vote counted is the threshold of democracy and liberty.<\/p>\n<p>With it, anything is possible. Without it \u2014 without that right, nothing is possible.<\/p>\n<p>And this fundamental right remains under assault.<\/p>\n<p>The conservative Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act over the years.<\/p>\n<p>Since the 2020 election, a wave of states and dozens \u2014 dozens of anti-voting laws fueled by the Big Lie, and the election deniers now elected to office.<\/p>\n<p>The new law here in Alabama, among other things, enacted a new congressional map that discriminated against Black voters by failing to include what should\u2019ve been a new predominately Black district. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>That case, as you all know better than I, is in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. And my U.S. Department of Justice has joined many of you in arguing that the map violates the Voting Rights Act.<\/p>\n<p>All of this after a deadly insurrection on January the 6th.<\/p>\n<p>We must remain vigilant.<\/p>\n<p>In January, I signed the Electoral Count Reform Act to protect the will of the people and the people transferring the \u2014 and the peaceful transfer of power.<\/p>\n<p>But we know that we must get the votes in Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve made it clear I will not let a filibuster obstruct the sacred right to vote and the right of any other right that flow from there. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s why we followed the words that you all have, the words of Dr. King. He said, \u201cGive us the ballot, and we will place judges on the bench\u2026who will do justly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Led by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and more Black women appointed to the federal appellate court than every other President in history has done, we\u2019re about to do that. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>After Senate Republicans blocked the Geoy- \u2014 the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act last year, I did what was in my power. I signed an executive order requiring all the key elements of the bill applied to federal law enforcement I couldn\u2019t make at the states: banning chokeholds, greatly restricting no-knock warrants, establishing a database for police misconduct, advancing effective and accountable community policing that builds public trust. And we\u2019ll keep fighting to pass the reform nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Folks, well, we passed the most significant gun safety law in 30 years, but I\u2019m not ready to stop, nor is Jim Clyburn or anybody else up there ready to stop.<\/p>\n<p>I led the effort when I was a senator to pass the assault weapons ban. And we banned the assault \u2014 we\u2019re going to ban assault weapons again. (Applause.) They matter. When we had the ban, fewer people died. Fewer mass shootings.<\/p>\n<p>And together, we\u2019re saying loud and clearly that, in America, hate and extremism will not prevail \u2014 although they are rearing their ugly head with significance now.<\/p>\n<p>Silence \u2014 as the saying goes: Silence is complicity. Now, I promise you my administration will not remain silent. I promise you. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>The task before us is about justice, but it\u2019s also about jobs, financial stability, the ability to generate generational wealth. It\u2019s about hope, self-worth. It\u2019s about dignity.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s why we\u2019re building an economy \u2014 that I\u2019ve been significantly criticized for, but I make no apologies \u2014 that grows the economy from the bottom up and the middle out, not from the top down.<\/p>\n<p>We weren\u2019t poor, but we weren\u2019t wealthy. We were a typical middle-class family with a three-bedroom home and four kids and a grandpop living with us. I don\u2019t remember anything trickling down from my \u2014 on my dad\u2019s kitchen table with the trickle-down economic problems.<\/p>\n<p>Because when we do that \u2014 we build from the middle out and the bottom up \u2014 the poor have a ladder up, the middle class does very well, and the wealthy still do well. We all do well.<\/p>\n<p>But we know there\u2019s work to do, especially as you recover from this devastating tornado and the storms that hit in January.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why, working with Terri and the Mayor, I issued a Major Disaster Declaration immediately, committing the federal government to cover 100 percent of the debris removal. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>We also are paying for temporary housing and home repairs, supporting local businesses, small businesses, as well as doing in other towns devastated as you have been.<\/p>\n<p>To date, we\u2019ve provided $8 million in recovery, and we\u2019re just getting started the rebuilding effort. And we\u2019re here \u2014 we\u2019ll be here as long as it takes.<\/p>\n<p>The first major bill we passed without a single vote from the other team was the American Rescue Plan, when I was sworn in. That has provided $60 million to Selma and Dallas County directly.<\/p>\n<p>One of the things, having been a county official for two years, I learned a long time ago: I didn\u2019t like anything that went through the state legislature. (Laughter.) Oh, I\u2019m not joking. They\u2019re good people, but they all want a piece of it. If it was supposed to come to my county, it better damn well come to my county directly. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So this is going directly to your county, directly to your city, to keep teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters on the job.<\/p>\n<p>Selma is also benefitting from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is a multi-, multibillion-dollar commitment to rebuild this country. How can we be the leading economy in the world if we don\u2019t have the best roads, ports, and so on? How can we be that?<\/p>\n<p>Well, guess what? It\u2019s the largest investment in infrastructure since Eisenhower\u2019s Interstate Highway System.<\/p>\n<p>Here in Selma, we\u2019re funding major water projects, removing over 800 poisonous lead-pipe service lines that are over 100 years old, because every child should be able to turn on a faucet and drink clean water without fear of getting sick. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s also going to deliver affordable high-speed Internet to every single home in this county and this city. And no parent \u2014 so no parent, God forbid another pandemic, is going to have to sit in the McDonald\u2019s parking lot to use their Internet to be able to get no \u2014 have their kid\u2019s homework be done.<\/p>\n<p>Look, and in the process, these kinds of investments are going to create good-paying jobs. Most of these jobs don\u2019t require college degrees. They\u2019ll be able to hire here, hire in your community.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, the unemployment rate for African Americans under my administration is the second lowest it\u2019s ever been in all of American history, and we\u2019re going to continue to make sure that happens. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, I \u2014 I\u2019m the only President, I\u2019ve learned, that had permanent offices in the White House for the Divine Nine and the HBCUs. (Applause.) I figured it out, man. I figured it out.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I know that the Vice President thinks that Howard is the best. Delaware State University, where I come from.<\/p>\n<p>But all kidding aside, we\u2019ve contributed billions of dollars to put HBCUs in a position, because they don\u2019t have \u2014 (applause) \u2014 I mean it seriously, billions of dollars \u2014 because they don\u2019t have the kind of trust funds that the major schools have.<\/p>\n<p>So, guess what? It leaves out an awful lot of qualified African Americans at HBCUs from learning how to deal with cybersecurity, learning how to deal with all the stuff in the future. Guess what? Right now \u2014 now they have that. And I\u2019m able, as the President of the United States, to award these contracts directly there, because they have \u2014 they have the \u2014 they have a lab. I\u2019m serious. It\u2019s a big deal.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a lot more we\u2019re doing for Selma and cities like it all across America.<\/p>\n<p>When I passed the Inflation Reduction Act \u2014 which, again, the other team didn\u2019t participate at all \u2014 which allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the first time.<\/p>\n<p>Do you realize, in America, we pay more for prescription drugs than any nation in the world? You hear me? More. And I\u2019ve been fighting this for the last 25 years. But guess what? We finally beat Big Pharma. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So, now \u2014 oh, man, I \u2014 you have no idea how good I felt about that one. Because what\u2019s happened? What happened is, now Medicare can say, \u201cWe are not going to pay you more than $35,\u201d instead of $400, \u201cfor that insulin that you need.\u201d And guess what that means? Not only \u2014 not only it reduced prices for people who need help, but it reduces the federal budget by $158 billion. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>You know, we can walk and chew gum at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to that, when we reduced the cost of insulin for seniors on Medicare, we got a commitment. Initially, I proposed that we reduce it for anybody needing that insulin.<\/p>\n<p>Well, guess what? The other team voted that down too. But along came \u2014 along came the largest maker of insulin in the country. They, as they said, \u201cseen the Lord.\u201d (Laughter.) They saw a light.<\/p>\n<p>And here\u2019s the deal \u2014 I\u2019m not kidding: Eli Lilly, one of the biggest drug makers of insulin, they just announced they\u2019re going to cap the cost of all their insulin at $35. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And guess what that means. No other company is going to be able to charge more than that because no one is going to buy it. For everyone else with diabetes, that\u2019s going to help 500,000 folks in Alabama today \u2014 (applause) \u2014 that are on this. And it\u2019s going to reduce the price from somewhere between 4- and 600 bucks a month to $35 a month.<\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s finish the job. Lower the price for everyone, including the 200,000 children with Type 1 diabetes across this country.<\/p>\n<p>But there\u2019s more work to do. We\u2019ll protect Social Security and Medicare, and we\u2019ll protect \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Did you \u2014 by the way, did you see that State of the Union address?<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT: I said, \u201cThat means all you guys are against cutting Medicare and Social Security?\u201d \u201cOh, yeah!\u201d Well, in my religion, we go, \u201cBless me, Father. That\u2019s a wonderful thing.\u201d (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Look, Medicaid is critically important to people that are having trouble making it.<\/p>\n<p>And the Affordable Care Act \u2014 we increased the available money by 800 bucks for those folks. We\u2019re going to make sure we protect those two to make sure they get the care they need.<\/p>\n<p>Look, we need to reward work, not just wealth, because no \u2014 the idea \u2014 you know, we used to have about 670 billionaires in America. Now we have about a thousand. Do you realize they pay a lower tax rate than your police officers or the people driving that ambulance? They pay a lower tax rate than hardworking folks. I think you should be able to make a trillion dollars. Just pay your fair share, Jack. (Applause.) No, I mean it.<\/p>\n<p>And there\u2019s no \u2014 and, by the way, we\u2019ll also cut the deficit if we have them begin to pay their fair share.<\/p>\n<p>Look, with Terri\u2019s leadership, let\u2019s make sure working parents in Selma and across the country have a living wage. (Applause.) There should be sick days available, paid family and medical leave. We\u2019re the only country in the nation \u2014 in the world that doesn\u2019t have it. Affordable childcare and eldercare, it saves money. Let\u2019s restore the full Child Tax Credit. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, that cut \u2014 that cut Black child poverty in half and gave tens of millions of parents some breathing room, including almost a million folks in Alabama.<\/p>\n<p>I was telling the Mayor on the way over: My dad was a hardworking guy, a real gentleman, a decent man. He never got a college degree. He never got to go to college. It was the great regret he had. But know what he used to say, for real? I\u2019m sorry I always quote my dad, but he \u2014 it\u2019s worth saying. He\u2019d say, \u201cJoey, remember, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It\u2019s about your decency. It\u2019s about respect. It\u2019s about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, \u2018Honey, it\u2019s going to be okay.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s so easy to make that happen without any fundamental changes. But they\u2019re not letting us up to now.<\/p>\n<p>With HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge \u2014 Marcia, you\u2019re here, aren\u2019t you? There you are. (Applause.) She\u2019s my Secretary of Housing and Urban Affairs. Look, she\u2019s leading the way on housing discrimination and affordable, quality housing.<\/p>\n<p>My message to you is this: We see you. We\u2019re fighting to make sure no one is left behind. This is a time of choosing, and we need everybody engaged.<\/p>\n<p>We know history does not look kindly on those who deny the march across the bridge to redeem the soul of America.<\/p>\n<p>Let me close with this. In many of your faith traditions, Sunday is the Sabbath, a day of rest. But on that Sunday morning, on March 7th, 1965, Amelia Boynton Robinson and 600 of her fellow children of God chose different pews.<\/p>\n<p>On this bridge of her beloved Selma, they were called to the altar of democracy, unsure of their fate but certain that the cause was righteous. So she would go on to say, quote, \u201cYou can never know where you\u2019re going unless you know where you\u2019ve been.\u201d We know where we have been. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And, my fellow Americans, on this Sunday of our time, we know where we\u2019ve been and we know, more importantly, where we have to go: forward together.<\/p>\n<p>So let\u2019s pray, but let\u2019s not rest.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s keep marching. Let\u2019s keep the faith.<\/p>\n<p>But most of all, let\u2019s remember who we are. We\u2019re the United States of America, and there\u2019s nothing \u2014 nothing beyond our capacity when we act together. So, let\u2019s go and finish the job.<\/p>\n<p>God bless you all. And may God bless our troops. (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Selma, Alabama&#8230;Hello, hello, hello! Please. Oh, you see all those folks out there. Hey, everybody. How are you? (Applause.) Selma is here! Well, before I be- \u2014 please, have a seat, if you have one. I once said that, \u201cHave a seat if you have one,\u201d and the press said, \u201cThey don\u2019t have seats. He [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156850,"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-156810","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\/2023\/03\/94-President-Biden-Delivers-Remarks-on-Importance-of-Commemorating-Bloody-Sunday-YouTube-Google-Chrome-362023-92416-AM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156810","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=156810"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":156851,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156810\/revisions\/156851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/156850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=156810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=156810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=156810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}