Joe Biden Speech Transcript August 6: National Association of Latino Elected Officials Conference

Arturo Vargas: (00:00) ... the issues raised in our plenary sessions yesterday. Please visit our service project site and participate in the fundraising challenge to support the Farmworkers' COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund and the Las Vegas based nonprofit food bank, Three Square. We couldn't be in Las Vegas in person this year, yet we can still support our community there. Please also consider making a direct contribution to these causes. For those of you who have shared with us the memory of loved ones who you have lost a COVID-19 on our remembrance and healing wall, we share in your grief and extend our deepest sympathy. Please visit the site on the conference experience to share your thoughts. We will get through this together. Arturo Vargas: (00:48) Now, I want to kick off this final portion of our NALEO 37th annual conference by introducing one of our presidential sponsors and hosts of today's forum, Wells Fargo, represented by Mr. William M. Daley, vice chairman of public affairs at Wells Fargo and company. Wells Fargo has been a loyal supporter of the work we do at NALEO. With Wells Fargo's support, we are able to provide our members with year-round networking opportunities, vital and cutting edge policy and discussions and other critical resources that help them in their work on the front lines of government. Wells Fargo also served as the chair of this year's Edward R. Roybal Legacy Gala on March 11th. Now, that was the last time we were able to hold an in-person event. It was then that Eric Hoplin, head of external relations, announced that Wells Fargo's ATMs would feature a message encouraging participation in the 2020 census as a result of our work together. Arturo Vargas: (01:52) Now as vice chairman of public affairs for Wells Fargo, Mr. Daley helps facilitate key relationships like ours. Prior to serving as President Obama's chief of staff from 2010 to 2012, Mr. Daley worked in the private sector, and he also served as Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton Administration. It was then when he last joined us for NALEO 15th Annual Conference in 1998, as we were preparing for the 2000 census. So please join me in welcoming back to the NALEO Annual Conference, virtually a key partner, friend to our mission, our staff and our members. Please welcome the honorable William M. Daley, vice chairman of public affairs at Wells Fargo and Company. Welcome Mr. Daley. William Daley: (02:40) Thank you very much, Arturo. We are pleased at Wells Fargo to be back at NALEO once again, and being a sponsor and host of this most important forum. It's great being back with friends and to have the opportunity to spend a minute or two to speak before we get to the really important things. I hope you and all the families of the people in on this call are staying healthy and are being careful. This is an unprecedented time in our nation and around the world. Communities, particularly diverse and underserved communities, are suffering mightily. There's a lot of uncertainty about our future, and we're not totally sure what the future holds for the pandemic. We must all work together to help the hardest hit recover. William Daley: (03:28) At Wells Fargo, we have already committed more than 175 million to address food insecurity, housing and other emergency needs during this COVID crisis. We are also donating all gross PPP fees, which are around $400 million, to help small businesses, particularly minority-owned businesses so they can survive and recover when things get better. At the same time, our country is facing a long overdue reckoning around racial equity, and the private sector must be part of this effort like no time before. Wells Fargo has made a number of important commitments on that front, including the creation of a new diversity leader whose position is about really trying to figure out what we do as a business in diverse communities and how we can provide better services, products, and be greater involved in those communities. And also, our senior leadership will have their compensation connected to the progress they meet in meeting our diversity goals. William Daley: (04:37) One of the most critical things to do, as Arturo mentioned, is to get an accurate census count. When I was Secretary of Commerce in 2000, as Arturo said, I oversaw the census, which is one of the most important traditions in our democracy. I'm proud to be involved again at Wells Fargo, for we are formerly encouraging our employees and those in our communities to do their civic duty by being counted. We're running ads on over 13,000 ATMs across the country and promoting the census through social media and other media channels. We have also been urging our employees to register and make plans to vote early if they're able to, during this most important election year. Like you, we do believe that every vote matters. Speaking of elections, I'm eager to hear from my friend, vice president, Joe Biden, so I will wrap it up by saying, we are extremely proud at Wells Fargo to not only be involved with NALEO, but to be involved with so many members in NALEO at the local level around the country. So again, Arturo, thank you for the opportunity to be involved, and it's back to you and the vice president. Thank you very much. Arturo Vargas: (05:58) Thank you, Bill. We really appreciate your support and the support of Wells Fargo, and we look forward to working with you in the coming years to make sure that we're able to do all that we can to fulfill our mission at the NALEO Educational Fund. Now I'm really excited to begin our presidential candidate forum. One of the main purposes of the NALEO Annual Conference is to bring together the nation's top leaders and Latino policy makers together to engage in critical conversations about the future of our country. During presidential election years, like this one, we invite candidates running for their party's nominations and those who become presumptive nominees. I am delighted to welcome back to the NALEO Annual Conference the honorable Joe Biden, the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee for President of the United States. We also extended an invitation to President Donald Trump to join us. Arturo Vargas: (06:58) Mr. Vice President, we look forward to learning about your vision for the future of the nation and of the U.S. Latino community, and most critically, how you will address the challenges that we face. The strength of our democracy is being tested by the crises of COVID-19, misinformation, interference in our elections and the barriers to voting and to a fair and accurate 2020 census. The Latino community has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, suffering higher rates of infection and tragic deaths, and have been economically devastated. We look forward to hearing how Latinos will be equitably included in COVID-19 health and economic recovery efforts, and how would your administration address existing disparities. Arturo Vargas: (07:49) We continue to look for courageous leadership to finally create a fair and humane immigration system and comprehensive reform that modernizes our obsolete approach to this issue. Latinos look to our leaders with the expectation that those at the very top of government will spearhead a voting rights agenda that protects the right to vote for all Americans. These are just some of the issues that are important to Latinos. Indeed, every American issue is a Latino issue. Many of these issues have been addressed through this virtual NALEO 37th Annual Conference, so in the spirit of continuing this conversation, I am happy to welcome the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Vice President Joe Biden. Welcome. Joe Biden: (08:43) Hello, NALEO. How are you? Good to see you again, Arturo. I want to say a special hi to my good friend, and he is my good friend, Secretary Daley. Billy, it's been a long time, pal. Glad to see you looking so well. I look forward to seeing you pretty soon. I'm honored to be with you all today, and I want to start by thanking Arturo for this opportunity to share my vision for Latinos in our country. If I have the honor of being elected president, I want to thank you for your opening remarks, and I'm going to need you if I get elected. Not just getting elected, if I get elected. Joe Biden: (09:21) Throughout our decades and your decades, I think I go way back. I may have been at that 39 years ago when you started, decades leading NALEO Education Fund. We've seen a lot of ups and downs in the Latino community, but none more stark than the last three and a half years. Donald Trump and his administration have pursued an all out assault. That's how I phrase it, assault on Latino communities, from the moment he came down that golden escalator saying he was going to go after those Mexicans rapists. Remember? That's how he started his campaign. It started the moment he announced his presidency, fanning the flames of fear and racism against Latinos. Joe Biden: (10:02) The flames of fear and racism against Latinos. It's baked into every aspect of how he's governed. And this week was an especially poignant reminder of the terrible consequence, allowing that kind of hate to grow, to grow unchecked. You know, I thought we could defeat hate, but and it only hides under the rocks. And when a president breathes oxygen in, it comes out roaring out. Joe Biden: (10:25) On Monday, we marked the one year anniversary of the tragic mass shooting in El Paso, where a gunman explicitly sought to target Latinos and 23 beautiful lives were stolen from us and their families. I know what it's like to lose a child. And I know what it was like to lose a wife. It is awful. It is starkly. I shouldn't get started. You know, the stakes of Trump's irresponsible policies of division and hate that he promotes is real. These are life and death decisions. Whether it's repeated attacks on Dreamers or his campaign of terror against immigrant communities, whether it's his neglect of the people of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, which is outrageous or his repeated failures to make sure essential workers have the personal protective equipment they need. Donald Trump has failed the Latino community time and time again. Joe Biden: (11:25) So the question you ask Arturo, how are we going to make real a better life for Latinos? That's the key question, and the future of our country literally depends on how we answer it. That's how important it is. Because here's the God's honest truth, the future success that our country are going to depend on our ability to make sure Latinos have opportunities and the tools to succeed. Latino is among the fastest growing population in the United States. Already one quarter of our school children, one quarter of our school children are Latino. How in God's name can we have a strong and thriving Republic if we don't fully deal Latinos into every aspect of American life? These kids are not someone else's kids, they're our kids. The kite strings that lift our national ambitions aloft. Joe Biden: (12:16) That's why earlier this week I released my Latino agenda. Things I've been working on all along and you know about, but I put them all in one place. It's a comprehensive plan for not just how we're going to undo all the harms that the Trump administration has inflicted, but how we're going to really make sure Latinos are included in our plans to build back and build back better. That means investing in Latino's economics mobility, because that's the best basis of it all, economic mobility. Everything from making sure Latino small business owners can access capital to making it easy for Latino families to buy a home to build intergenerational wealth. How did every other middle class person do it when they came here? They were able to ultimately buy a home and build equity in the home and pass it on from generation to generation. Joe Biden: (13:10) One of the four planks of my Build Back Better plan is about addressing racial inequities across the entire economy. It's about breaking the cycle where in good times, Latino communities still lag behind. In bad times, they get hit first and the hardest as you referenced, Arturo. And in recovery, they take the longest to bounce back and only get back to where they were at the beginning, which wasn't a good place to begin with. We're going to use every tool at our disposal to take on these inequities. Joe Biden: (13:39) My Latino agenda also focused on any race based health disparities. Latinos were among the biggest beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act with millions gaining insurance for the first time. The uninsured rate dropped from 32% to 19%, and my plan would bring it down to zero. That's what an incredible win, it was a significant win for Latino community. But now in the midst of a pandemic, when almost 160,000 dead, those families lost part of their soul, part of their heart. Donald Trump is trying to strip people off their healthcare coverage in court in the middle of a pandemic. And Latinos are burying some of the heaviest burdens, go through the higher rates of infection and because Latinos disproportionately serve in caregiving roles on the frontline jobs and increase the risk of exposure and save other people. It's unconscionable. Joe Biden: (14:39) I'm going to protect Obamacare and build on it with a public option, so every single person can have access to high-quality, affordable healthcare. When it comes to fighting this pandemic, we have to be crystal clear. Everyone gets free access to testing and treatment. And when it's available, a vaccine, everyone gets it. We have to fight this virus without regard to immigrant status. That's the only way we're going to beat this thing. And it's only humane thing to do. Joe Biden: (15:12) We're also going to expand access to high-quality education and take on the racial inequities in our education system. That starts early. We are making sure high-quality pre-K is available to every child, three and four years old. Because the studies show that increases exponentially the prospects of success through the entire 12 years. It goes all the way through making sure post high school education is affordable for Latino students, ensuring public colleges and universities are tuition free for families making less than $125,000 a year, doubling Pell Grants, $12,000, increasing funding for Hispanic serving institutions. Joe Biden: (15:54) I started today by speaking about the tragedy in El Paso one year ago. We also know Latinos suffer every day from hate crimes and gun violence. It doesn't always make national headlines. Under the Biden administration, we're going to get weapons of war and high capacity magazines out of our communities. I'm going to take the fight directly to the NRA and hold gun manufacturers accountable for the damage they caused to Latino families. Finally, we're going to restore our values as a nation of immigrants. Joe Biden: (16:27) Trump fails to understand the basic truth of immigrants. That they're the incredible source of our nation's strength and they always have been. All the way back to the 1860s, when my Irish ancestors jumped on coffin ships in the Irish sea, not knowing where they are going, not knowing whether they're going to make it to the shore all the way to today. There's the reason we've been able to constantly renew and remake ourselves because we've been able to cherry pick the best of every culture. It takes courage to leave and come here from every continent, from every background. That's why we're who we are. Joe Biden: (17:03) If I'm elected president, we're going to immediately end Trump's assault on the dignity of immigrant communities. We're going to restore our moral standing in the world and our historic role as a safe haven for refugees and asylum seekers, and those fleeing violence and persecution. My Lord, we've never made asylum seekers stay, seek asylum outside the United States of America. We're going to stop the inhumane practice of separating children from their parents and work to reunite families. Look at all the families that are not reunited. We're going to stop detaining people and definitely invest instead on case management programs to help ensure migrants get the support they need while they're navigating the asylum process. It's going to cost a lot of money, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper than building a wall. We're going to restore a sensible enforcement priorities and stop terrorizing Latino communities. Joe Biden: (17:59) The idea is you wait outside the 10 o'clock mass to grab someone from church. The anxiety for the children, the anxiety is overwhelming. It's going to have a profound impact on a generation. We're going to protect Dreamers and their families, and every single agreement that the Trump administration signed to turn local law enforcement and immigration officials. On day one, I'm going to send Congress a bill for immigration reform. We'll focus on keeping families together. It's about families, including providing a clear roadmap to citizenship for 11 million undocumented alien and undocumented immigrants. Stop treating them the way they're being treated. We're going to live in enriching our communities every single day. Joe Biden: (18:51) I know that's a pretty big agenda, but this is a moment to get it done. The pandemic has lift the blinders off so many people in this country on who's really essential to our economic strength. It's not Wall Street bankers or CEOs. The middle class hardworking union members fighting for the rights of all workers, the folks in the Latino community who are busting their necks every day to keep the country running. And I believe, I really do believe we're ready to close the respect gap, the dignity gap, the wage gap, the opportunity gap. So many Latino workers have suffered for so long. Joe Biden: (19:34) You know my dad used to have an expression, he say, “Joey ...” When he lost the job up in Scranton and we had to move down to Delaware and my dad never went to college. He was a graceful, good man. He used to say, “Joey, a job's about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity. It's about respect. It's about honor. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, ‘Honey, it's going to be okay.’” That's what we're going to do. Dignity, honor, treating people. Joe Biden: (20:03) ... Do, dignity, honor, treating people with dignity. We can build a new administration that reflects the full diversity of our nation, and the full diversity of the Latino communities. Now, when I mean full diversity, unlike the African-American community and many other communities, you're from everywhere. They're from Europe, from the tip of South America, all the way to our border in Mexico and in the Caribbean. And different backgrounds. Different ethnicities, but all Latinos. We're going to get a chance to do that if we win in November. It means we need everyone to get out and vote. I can't do this without your help. Joe Biden: (20:49) The path to victory in November is contingent upon Latino voters, particularly in those battleground states. I'm committed to speaking directly to the concerns of the Latino community and to mobilizing Latino voters. I have a significant staff. We're trying to advertise on Latino stations, on Spanish-speaking stations. We need every single voter to sign up and get engaged in our campaign. We need you to get out and vote with your family and your friends. And make sure that people know how to register and how to vote safely during the pandemic. Joe Biden: (21:27) We need to provide voters with more options, not fewer. Need to expand the option for participation. No excuse absentee ballots, when you get an absentee ballot just because you need one and want one. Increased in-person early voting. Have enough poll workers who can sanitize the machines and make sure we can socially distance and wearing masks. A lot of taking away meaningful opportunities to go in-person on election day. Our campaign is putting together the largest voter protection effort in the United States' history because we know that we have to. We've already seen the impact that the pandemic has had on voting rights and voting during the primaries. We know. We know that voter suppression was alive and well in America before the public health crisis. Joe Biden: (22:18) And make no mistake about it, as you pointed out, the Census is part of this, too. Everyone needs to be counted. Four former Census Bureau directors who have worked under nine presidents, both Democrats and Republicans, have called on the Senate and the administration to work to extend the deadline so we'd get an accurate count. Arturo, you mentioned the Voting Rights Act at the beginning. Well, today happens to be the 55th anniversary of its enactment. I worked like hell to strengthen and extend that Voting Act when I was chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Throughout my career, going back to 1975, back then, in 2013 though the Supreme Court came along and stripped the teeth out of the Voting Rights Act. It's of the preclearance provision, they said was no longer necessary. I'm going to make sure it's reinserted if the Congress doesn't get it done in the remaining months of this Congress. Joe Biden: (23:18) Just last year, 29 states, 29 states introduced or carried over bills that tried to make it harder for people to vote. This blatantly Unamerican. Our democracy, one person, one vote. That's the very heart of who we are. And if the Senate, Republican Senate, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump, don't take up the bill, newly renamed in honor of my friend John Lewis to restore the Voting Rights Act to its full power, I will make it a priority on day one that we do that if I'm elected president. Joe Biden: (23:59) So, I guess what I really want to say is just thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. And thank you again, Arturo, and everyone at NALEO for the work you've been doing. You make the country stronger. You make us all better. That's not hyperbole. You make us all better, and the country is better, stronger, more prosperous, more decent, more honorable if we, in fact, reach out and embrace the largest population of immigrants in the United States and include them across the board. It's a source of amazing strength for us. What I said, "I think because this COVID crisis and unemployment crisis" I think the American people are seeing that now. Least I hope that's the case. I'm going to need your help if I'm elected to get all this done. Joe Biden: (24:57) May God bless you all, and may God protect our troops. Thank you. Arturo Vargas: (25:05) Thank you, Mr. Vice President for your remarks and thank you for joining us at this virtual NALEO annual conference. We wish we could have met in person, but I hope that should you be successful in your quest for election that you will join us next year in person at the NALEO 38th annual conference. More than anything else, we look forward to both political parties, both campaigns, and both candidates to engage Latino voters across all 50 states, so that Latino voters understand what's at stake in this election and they can make an informed ballot. We need both candidates to fight for the Latino vote. Arturo Vargas: (25:52) So, now we are at the final part of our time together in this virtual NALEO 37th annual conference, the conference wrap-up. Thank you all for joining us and for being a part of the NALEO familia during these extraordinary times. If this was your first time attending an NALEO event, I hope it was worthwhile, and that you'll consider becoming an NALEO lifetime member. Arturo Vargas: (26:18) I would like to thank another of our presidential sponsors, and the host of today's conference wrap-up, Edison International. Their support has been invaluable in our ability to reach and serve our community and to reach our nation's Latino elected and appointed officials. Edison's track record of community engagement and giving back to build a better tomorrow is a part of their commitment to service, a promise that has realized their support of organizations like ours. So, please welcome Pedro Pizarro, president and chief executive officer of Edison International. Pedro Pizarro: (26:56) Hi, Pedro Pizarro here again from Edison International. Thank you for attending the conference. We look forward to welcoming you in Hollywood, California next year. Arturo Vargas: (27:10) Thank you, Pedro, and Edison International for all you do in support of our organization. You know, we have reiterated how Latino elected and appointed officials need on the front lines of government as our nation continues to endure this crisis. But just because we are dealing with the pandemic does not mean that all other issues important to our communities disappear. This is why good leadership requires new, innovative strategies and collaboration for tackling the public policy issues our communities face. Arturo Vargas: (27:44) Our next guest is one of those Latino leaders. Serving as the mayor of one of the largest cities in the United States, please welcome my own mayor and member of the NALEO board of directors, Los Angeles mayor, Eric Garcetti. Eric Garcetti: (28:01) Thank you, Arturo. It is always a pleasure to be with my NALEO family, and it's my great honor to follow Vice President Biden, a dear friend who asked me to be one of his national co-chairs and find a running mate. Somebody who's been committed to our communities for his entire public life. I also want to acknowledge Edison International for helping to make this conference possible. And my fellow NALEO board members who are a source of strength and light every day for me and for this country. I look forward to this conference every year because it's an opportunity to see friends, familiar faces, and to plan our future. To feel the power and potential of our extraordinary coalition. And though we can't be together physically this year, our connections are unwavering. Our coalition is as strong as ever, and our vision is clear, for a more just America, a place where everyone belongs and a nation that lives up to it's promise. Just as it did for my family and for many of yours. Eric Garcetti: (29:02) The barriers to those goals are always tough to scale, and in this moment of crisis, they seem nearly insurmountable. As we face a virus that's struck every community but hit us, Latino families and people of color, with a devastating force. A recession that's shaken every sector, but delivered too many knockout punches to too many of our workers struggling to pay rent, and immigrants cut off from federal relief. A Census count that's been politically compromised and cut short for every community, but leaves so much hanging in the balance for cities and states with large Latinx populations. Eric Garcetti: (29:37) COVID-19 has affected all of us, but has not affected all of us equally. In my City of Angels, we saw these challenges early and rose to meet them, bringing testing to all residents, regardless of immigration status. Quadrupling test sites in areas with Black and Latinx residents. And establishing the largest emergency rental program in the nation. We deployed unprecedented Census resources to reach neighborhoods usually- Eric Garcetti: (30:03) ... precedented census resources to reach neighborhoods usually undercounted. And we provided critical cash assistance to more than 100,000 of our neighbors on the brink of financial ruin, nearly 44% of whom were Latino and Latina. We did all of this work because it was right and it was smart and it was just. But let's not mince words. There are clear reasons why Latinos have fewer resources to weather this storm, why we're dying more, why we're losing our jobs more than any other group, and it didn't need to be this way. This is what happens when the administration rolls back worker protections. This is what happens when a government launches a full scale years long assault on immigrants and their families. Takes parents away from children, forces dreamers and their loved ones back into the shadows. This is what happens when leaders create a climate of fear and tell people to go back to places they've never lived. Eric Garcetti: (30:59) When they seek to strip America of the very communities, culture, the legacy, the histories that have made us who we are. Well, our community knows what it's like to struggle and to defy the odds. We've been here before and we know how to move forward. To write a new Capito, a chapter of ours, because our heritage is of ordinary people who have built coalition stronger than any unjust policy. Who've made changes that endured long after the abuses faded away. A spirit that lifted up farm workers who rose up alongside Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, who marched and organized and fought until the rights achieved in the fields of Delano rang out across this nation. That mission that motivated leaders throughout California to stand up against Prop 187 and that awakened a new coalition that permanently changed the face of politics in my state and that is changing in all of yours as well. Eric Garcetti: (31:54) That tradition is what America's first Chicano poet laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera, meant when he wrote [foreign language 00:02:02], freedom comes from deep inside. And that history and deep well of experiences endured, obstacles overcomed, that is our strength. What gives us confidence that even in this difficult hour, we will summon persistence and perseverance and passion to keep pushing forward. I wish that we were all gathered in one place to do that hard work face-to-face. And I think in a year's time, I'm hopeful that we will be again. And I'm thrilled to announce that the NALEO Conference will be here in the City of Angeles in 2021. Eric Garcetti: (32:40) But whether we're socially distanced or physically together, we can and we will unlock the power of our partnership. And by this time next year, I know we will look back and say, this was the year our communities took to the polls in record numbers to send an unmistakable message to Washington. That this was the year our voices carried from city halls and state capitals to the chambers of Congress and the corridors of Le Casablanca. And this was the year we didn't just respond to an unprecedented crisis, but we reimagined what this country can be and reaffirmed our promise to all of our people. Eric Garcetti: (33:19) My friends, [foreign language 00:03:20]. Let's get to work now. And with that, it is my deepest honor to introduce a dear friend and colleague, the leader of my city's city council, the first Latina City Council president in the history of our city, [foreign language 00:03:36] Nury Martinez. Nury Martinez: (33:42) Hello everyone, I'm LA Council President, Nury Martinez. The City of Los Angeles cannot wait to see you at the NALEO Conference in Los Angeles in 2021. As we wrap up this year's virtual conference, I want to offer a few words of hope, optimism, and a little reminder about who we are as Latinos in what are clearly dark times. Our Latinx community is under attacked on all fronts, from a president who has attacked us from day one and who continues to attack us. And COVID-19 is attacking our community, killing Latinos at a higher rate than any other community, because so many of our people do not have the luxury to work from home. Nury Martinez: (34:22) So what are we to do about this? We fight. That's what Cesar Chavez taught us and that's what John Lewis taught us and that's what Dolores Huerta teaches us, fight and make good trouble. We need to fight to elect a president who supports our community and our fundamental rights as Latinos to live, grow, and prosper in this country. As a daughter of the working poor, Mexican immigrant from the city Zacatecas, growing up, little girls who look like me and talk like me were not supposed to end up in positions like this. And while I am honored to be the first Latina City Council president in 170 years in the city's history, I must not be the last. There is no governmental body that women should not have a chance to lead anywhere in the United States, especially women of color. So I call on all of you, especially Latino men, to empower and uplift strong Latinas to run for office and to the positions of power that we so richly deserve. So let's continue to make good trouble my friends. Arturo Vargas: (35:32) Thank you, Mayor Garcetti and Council President, Martinez. And I can't tell you how much I wish that we will be able to gather everyone in-person next year here in the City of Angeles. So now our last guest is part of a very important relationship to our organization. The ability to collaborate, disseminate, and educate the public alongside trusted media partners is a critical part of the work that we do. Our relationship with Comcast NBCUniversal Telemundo has been a part of the foundation with which our organization has been able to reach our community and to do the work we set out to accomplish. Arturo Vargas: (36:12) That is why we would like to thank Comcast NBCUniversal Telemundo for their support as our national media sponsor for this year's Virtual NALEO 37th Annual Conference. Your support for our organization has proven to be instrumental in accomplishing our mission. Our partnership with Telemundo has created a driving force of trustworthy and useful information, thoughtfully disseminated to consumers, the Spanish language media. From citizenship days to national census days to the various campaign efforts in which we have joined together, Telemundo has been an integral part of what has become an essential lasting partnership. That is why we see Comcast NBCUniversal Telemundo as an unparalleled partner and an ally to our organization. Please welcome Christina Kolbjornsen, Telemundo Senior Vice President of Corporate and External Affairs. Christina Kolbjornsen: (37:13) Thank you Arturo. Once again, we are so proud to be your partner doing NALEO's first virtual conference. The conference focused on many of the same important issues that NBCUniversal Telemundo continues to report on such as the COVID-19 pandemic, census, and of course, the 2020 elections. I am very proud to announce that Telemundo will join NALEO Education Fund on Wednesday, August 19th, for NALEO's Convention Briefing series. It will be the first time ever in the organization's history that they will hold both an English and all Spanish discussion with renowned political experts and strategists during the two political conventions. Christina Kolbjornsen: (37:58) With more than 14. 6 million Latino voters expected to cast ballots this November, that Latino community is poised to play a decisive role in the outcome of the 2020 presidential election and other key races throughout the nation. The convention briefings will focus on the growth of the Latino electorate nationwide and in key battleground states, the success of Latino candidates and the various issues that are likely to affect Latino turnout this year. We are grateful for our shared mission and look forward to being back together in Los Angeles next year. Arturo Vargas: (38:45) Thanks Christina. And once again, thank you Telemundo for your support. And we look forward to the partnership with our Convention Briefings. Now, that is another NALEO tradition that we began in the 2000 presidentials cycle. Every four years, we bring to the national conventions, a conversation-