Date: 2025-07-02 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00026111
US POLITICS
BERNIE SANDERS ... DURING 2023
TYT Investigates: Sanders GRILLS CEOs And Shuts Down Right-Wingers, Best Of 2023
BERNIE SANDERS ... DURING 2023
TYT Investigates: Sanders GRILLS CEOs And Shuts Down Right-Wingers, Best Of 2023
Original article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quonplJsYnU
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
Peter Burgess
TYT Investigates
299K subscribers
Dec 31, 2023
Senator Bernie Sanders grills and shuts down former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel, right-winger Markwayne Mullin, big pharma CEOs, Silicon Valley Bank executives, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and more in epic fashion. He bashes them for being greedy for profits, caring too little about the American people and so much more.
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231228 IV02 BERNIE SANDERS 2023 COMP THEM
Transcript sick days to all of your workers that's not a radical demand it really is not Senator I share your focus on our 0:42 employees I will commit to continuing to discuss with them important quality of 0:48 life issues with our local craft colleagues and all due respect you sound like a 0:54 politician here Mr Shaw Senator we're going to do what's right for the citizens of a what's right is to cover 1:00 their Healthcare needs will you do that everything is on the table sir incredibly last year drug companies 1:08 hired over 1,700 lobbyists there are 535 members of 1:15 Congress he got 1,700 lobbyists from the pharmaceutical IND industry three 1:22 lobbyists for every member of Congress meanwhile As Americans 1:27 die because they cannot afford the medications they need the pharmaceutical 1:33 industry makes higher profits every year we have very increased complexity yeah 1:39 you have complexity but you have money for stock BuyBacks by the billions and you guys became billionaires that 1:45 doesn't seem too complex to me Mr bansel literally became a billionaire overnight 1:52 and is now worth over four billion dollar he was also able to secure a golden parachute for himself worth 1:58 another 900 26 million after he leaves the company should people in our country 2:04 and around the world get sicker and sometimes die 2:10 because they cannot afford the outrageous prices that the drug companies are charging is it morally 2:17 acceptable to say I have a drug here that can cure you save your life and I'm 2:22 sorry you can't afford the $5,000 that it cost is that the moral values of the 2:28 United States of America year after year with very little debate we pour hundreds 2:34 of billions of dollars into the military industrial complex this year it's about 2:40 900 billion while defense contractors make huge profits while the Pentagon 2:45 remains unaudited with massive waste and fraud we now spend more than the next 10 2:51 Nations combined enough is enough it's time to change our national priorities 2:56 and cutting military spending by 10% is a good way to begin over 1,400 children 3:03 women and men they were brutally murdered 31 Americans were killed and 3:08 dozens remain missing or held hostage in the wake of such a Despicable 3:14 series of attacks we must ensure that our taxpayers here that our taxpayers are not being their dollars are not 3:21 being sent to Aid these terrorist Killers two years ago one of our own 3:27 State Department officials in the Biden Administration he acknowledged that the possibility that Aid to the Palestinians 3:36 could find its way into Hamas hands that's 3:41 unacceptable and that's why Senator Rick Scott's stop taxpayer funding of Hamas 3:46 Act is so critical right now it simply states that no US taxpayer dollars would 3:53 be authorized to Gaza until the president certifies to us to Congress 3:59 that that there are measures in place to prevent any taxpayer dollars from 4:04 benefiting terrorist organizations the United States of America all of us 4:10 condemn this act and in my view the state of Israel 4:16 has the absolute right to defend itself against Hamas and terrorism in 4:25 general no debate on that but what I ask my colleagues to 4:31 also consider is that why we fully 4:36 appreciate the horrific attack by hamus against innocent people of Israel I ask 4:42 you also to understand that right now there are hundreds and hundreds of 4:50 thousands of innocent men women and children in 4:55 Gaza who have lost their homes they've been thrown out of their homes they have no food they have no water 5:03 they have no fuel and I remind my colleagues that half of those people are 5:12 children half of the people in Gaza are children so yes we are united in doing 5:20 everything we can to destroy kabas and their terrorism but I implore 5:26 you do not take hamas's inh humanity and 5:32 brutality and terrorism against children who are three 5:38 or 5 years old I ask you to think for a moment think about it I have a state represent a state of ront 5:45 63,000 people a million people most of them are poor they got nothing to begin 5:51 with before this whole business Gaza was one of the most desperately poor places in the world 5:59 youth unemployment 75% many of their people depended on the 6:04 UN for basic survival so what I'm asking people to 6:12 take a look at is to understand what our country is 6:19 about and what our country must not be involved 6:25 in is making the horrific and miserable situation in Gaza even worse have you 6:34 ever threatened coerced or intimidated a worker for supporting a 6:39 union I've had conversations that could have been interpreted in a different way than I 6:45 intended you're a billionaire and they are your employees the imbalance of 6:50 power is Extreme and that is why people want to come together to form a union this this monarch of billionaire let's 6:57 just get get at that okay I grew up in federally subsidized let me finish I 7:02 grew up in federally subsidized housing my parents never owned a home I came 7:09 from nothing yes I have billions of dollars I earned it no one gave it to me 7:15 and I've shared it constant with the people of Starbucks and so anyone who keeps labeling this billionaire thing 7:22 it's I don't mean to cut you off we have time limits here and you have had the opportunity I I'm not cutting you off 7:28 it's your it's your moniker constantly is unfair no it is not you have had more time I've been generous with the time 7:34 I'm sorry what was going on in Israel before kamasa terrorist attack 7:40 what was going on there that country had the most right-wing government in its 7:47 history a cabinet that included outright racist ministers who consistently 7:54 dehumanized the Palestinian population Benjamin 8:00 Netanyahu the Prime Minister was under indictment for a Litany of corruption 8:06 charges and many believe that Israel's intelligence or lack of intelligence on 8:12 October 7th had everything to do with his government's preoccupation with his 8:18 political problems before the war this right-wing 8:24 Israeli government has systematically undermined the prospects of 8:30 Peace Netanyahu and his extreme Partners in the cabinet had worked to marginalize 8:36 Palestinian voices committed to peace pursued settlement policies designed to 8:43 foreclose the possibility of a two-state solution styed economic development in 8:50 Palestinian areas and pass laws that entrenched systemic inequality between 8:57 Jewish and pales inian citizens of Israel Mr Shaw you indicated in response 9:03 to a question from the chairman that you quote I'm committed to doing what's right end quote well I think all of us 9:10 are committed to doing what's right but the devil is in the 9:16 details uh Mr Shaw Wall Street uh about a decade ago in order to increase the 9:23 profits they were earning in the rail industry uh implemented a program called 9:29 Precision scheduled railroading uh the result of that is 9:34 that Norfolk Southern reduced its Workforce by almost 40% over six 9:41 years uh meanwhile in fact wall Street's goal was achieved uh profits so for uh 9:48 norol Southern you made over 3 billion dollar in profits uh last year uh I have 9:55 been told by workers in who work for your company uh and other rail companies that they 10:02 are now being asked to do more work with fewer workers and that includes safety 10:09 inspections so well before this disaster uh in East Palestine uh we have 10:16 been told about the potential safety hazards will you make a commitment right 10:21 now to the American people that you will lead the industry in ending this 10:27 disastrous Precision schedule ual railroading which has slashed your Workforce and made railroading much less 10:34 safe yes or no will you make that commitment Senator I understand your concern and I share that concern if 10:41 you'll permit I I have a couple points on that I became CEO in May of last year 10:47 ever since that point Senator we've been on a hiring spree you will not deny what 10:53 you're trying to do is rebuild from the massive layoffs that took place my 10:58 question back to you again Wall Street not the industry imposed this on the industry Wall Street said we're not 11:05 making enough money cut workers cut workers cut workers even if it endangers safety my question to you very simply 11:12 sir will you lead the industry in doing away with Precision scheduled 11:17 railroading senator in December of last year I charted a new course in the industry and I said we're going to move 11:24 away from a near-term focus solely on profits and then we're going to take a longer term view that's founded on our 11:32 engagement with our craft employees who are so critical to Our Success when you 11:38 talk about your employees the entire country I think was shocked to learn a number of months ago 11:46 that your employees rail workers who work in dangerous a dangerous job in all 11:52 kinds of weather had zero uh paid sick days now I know that is beginning to 11:58 change but but I would ask you given the fact that Norfolk Southern provided $10 12:06 billion in stock BuyBacks recently can you tell the American 12:12 people and your employees right now that in order to improve morale in your Workforce that you will guarantee at 12:18 least seven paid sick days to the 15,000 workers you employ I do know you've made 12:25 some progress you increase paid sick days for some of your workers will you 12:30 do what most Americans think is pretty obvious that when you get sick you get guaranteed pay sick days will you make 12:35 that commitment right now Senator with our L latest agreement with our employees which included a historic 24% 12:43 wage increase and access to premium Healthcare benefits we immediately 12:49 pivoted to talking to each of our local I I do want I've been deeply involved I 12:54 introduced the amendment on the floor I know the issue but when I'm asking right now you 12:59 provided paid sick days to some of your employees I got it thank you will you 13:04 now do it what most the America what we get here in Congress I am not hearing you make that commitment to guarantee 13:10 that to all of your workers clearly we should have that for every worker in America I'm not hearing that commitment 13:17 will you make that commitment sir Senator I'm committed to continuing 13:23 to speak to our employees about quality of life issues that are important to them all right well I'm chairman of the 13:28 health education labor committee we look forward to having that discussion you talked about covering the needs of 13:33 the people of East Palestine does that include paying for their health care 13:40 needs all of their healthare needs Senator we're going to do what's 13:46 right for the citizens of what's right is to cover their Healthcare needs will you do that everything is on the table 13:52 sir and you've been in office for 28 years and you and your wife has have have immersed a wealth of over $8 13:58 million and and in fact your quote on on on being on being wealthy and being a 14:04 millionaire was well if you write a best seller you can be a millionaire too if you can be a millionaire why can't Mr 14:10 Schultz and other CEOs be millionaires and be honest too I if that's the case then why is it that Mr Schultz who 14:16 actually creates jobs and a bestseller of a book isn't creating any jobs why is it that he's corrupt and you're not why 14:24 is it that all CEOs are corrupt because they're wealthy and yet our chairman who is wealthy and I'm glad you are you're 14:31 not but when you lean towards socialism what you think is government is the answer and unions are the choice 14:40 what is wrong with a CEO defending his company and openly saying that he is 14:46 providing good benefits and paying higher than everybody else but yet if you not part of a union you're also 14:53 paying starvation wages what hypocrisy what 15:00 bias chairman you are chair of the health education labor and pension 15:07 committee we shouldn't have a bias approach we should have what's best for America Excuse me yes sir if I'm worth 8 15:14 million dollar that's good news to me I'm not aware of it that's a lie all 15:20 right number two part of public records that's you're probably looking at some phony right-wing internet stuff it ain't 15:28 true all right you should read beyond that it is not true it's public records it no it 15:34 is not public record okay well you made 1.7 million on your book public record you made on your book excuse me I've got 15:40 the mic now number two want to I've got it that statement you had your time okay 15:48 all right you're not telling the truth second of all you got no evidence that I have ever said that all CEOs are corrupt 15:56 I have never ever said that probably not all but every 16:01 time say it further all what this hearing is about is whether or not you 16:08 talk about being pro-union really what this hearing is about is whether workers 16:13 have the constitutional right to form a union the evidence is overwhelming not 16:19 from me but from the National Labor Relations Board is the Time After Time 16:24 After Time despite what Mr Schultz is saying Starbucks has broken the law and 16:29 has prevented workers from joining unions to collectively bargain for 16:34 decent wages and benefits today in America we have more income and wealth inequality than we have ever had with a 16:42 top 1% now owning more wealth in the bottom 90% with CEOs now making 400 16:52 times what their workers are making and with three people at the top owning more 16:59 wealth than the bottom half of American society over the past 18 months starbu 17:06 has waged the most aggressive and illegal union busting campaign in the 17:13 modern history of our country that union busting campaign has 17:18 been led by Howard Schultz the multi-billionaire founder and director of Starbucks who is with us this morning 17:27 only under the threat of subpoena let us be clear about the 17:33 nature of Starbucks vicious anti-union efforts the National Labor Relations 17:39 Board nlrb has filed over 80 complaints 17:44 against Starbucks for violating federal labor law there have been over 500 17:50 unfair Labor practice practice charges lodged against the company and judges 17:56 have found that Starbucks broke the law 130 times across Six States since 18:05 workers began organizing in the fall of 2021 we've always believed that if we 18:11 exceed the expectations of our people they in turn will exceed the expectations of our customers we are 18:18 100% committed to fulfilling our obligations as an employer under the National Labor Relations Act and are 18:24 committed to good faith negotiations on first contracts for each unionized store 18:29 do you understand that in Amica America workers have a fundamental right to join 18:36 a union and collectively bargain to improve wages benefits and working 18:41 conditions do you understand that I understand and we respect the right of every partner who wears a green apron 18:47 whether they choose to join a union or not are you aware that nlrb judges have 18:52 ruled that Starbucks violated federal labor law over 100 times during the the 18:58 past 18 months far more than any other Corporation in America sir Starbucks 19:04 Coffee Company unequivocally and let me set to tone for this very early on has not broken the law 19:12 okay are you aware that on March 1st 2023 an administrative law judge found 19:20 Starbucks guilty of quote egregious and widespread misconduct end quote 19:27 widespread coer Ive behavior and showed quote a general disregard for the 19:32 employees fundamental rights end quote in a union organizing campaign that 19:38 started in Buffalo New York in 2021 are you aware of that I'm aware that those 19:43 are allegations and Congress has created a process that we are following and 19:48 we're confident that those allegations will be proven false all right Mr Schulz before answering the following questions 19:56 let me remind you that federal law at 18 us code section 101 prohibits 20:03 knowingly and willfully making any fraudulent statement I understand that were you ever informed of or involved in 20:11 a decision to fire a worker who was part of a union organizing Drive I was 20:19 not were you ever informed of or involved in a decision to discipline a 20:25 worker in any way who is part of a Union organizing tribe I was not were you 20:31 informed of or involved in the decision to withhold benefits from Starbucks 20:38 workers in unionized stores including higher pay and faster sick time acral my 20:45 understanding when we created the benefits in May one month after I returned as CEO my understanding was 20:52 under the law we did not have the unilateral right to provide those benefits to to employees who were 21:00 interested in joining a union am I hearing you say that you were involved in the decision to hold 21:06 benefits from Starbucks workers in unionized stores is that what I'm hearing it was my understanding that we 21:12 could not provide those benefits under the law Mr Sil have you ever asked the 21:18 Starbucks worker quote if you hate Starbucks so much why don't you go work somewhere else I'm glad you asked that 21:25 question because I've read in the Press uh that quote and that's not exactly 21:30 what I said can I tell the story do you mind I have some other questions I'm 21:36 sorry a lot of people I think it's important to hear the facts you'll have your chance will you commit to 21:43 testifying in any trial where you personally are accused of breaking Federal label law something 21:50 that you have been accused of doing nearly 100 times since 2021 Mr chairman let me say under oath 21:59 these are allegations and Starbucks has not broken the law Mr Schultz were you informed of or 22:07 involved in this in the decision to close all Buffalo area stores in 22:12 November 2021 just days before area Union 22:17 elections in order for Starbucks employees to listen to you give a speech on why they should vote against forming 22:24 a union a meeting the nlrb has determined was a viol of the law I think 22:29 this is another area that I hope I get a chance to speak about for the last 12 months my involvement my engagement and 22:37 my return to Starbucks has been primarily I would say 95% focused on the 22:43 operations of our business are you aware Mr Schultz that an administrative law judge ordered you to record and 22:50 distribute a video of yourself reading a notice to Starbucks employees about 22:56 their rights under the national Labor Relations Act how Starbucks violated 23:01 those rights and to assure that Starbucks will not infringe upon those rights in the future and that this 23:08 notice must be posted in all Starbucks stores and shared digitally to all of 23:14 Starbucks employees are you prepared to read that notice no I am not because 23:21 Starbucks Coffee Company did not break the 23:26 law under your leadership Starbucks has repeatedly refused to bargain with any 23:32 of the 7,000 workers in nearly 300 stores where workers have voted to 23:38 represent themselves through Union the first group of workers to win their election have been waiting more than 460 23:46 days to reach a first contract Mr Schultz will you commit right now that 23:53 within 14 days of this hearing Starbucks will exchange proposals with the Union 23:59 something it has refused to do for more than 450 days so that meaningful progress can 24:06 be made to bargain a first contract in good faith will you make that commitment 24:12 because the arrangement that was made by the union and the nlrb in Buffalo to 24:18 negotiate one single store at a time we have met over 85 times for a single 24:25 store we've tried to arrange over 350 separate meetings we've said publicly 24:30 and I say it here again that we believe that face-to-face negotiations is the 24:35 way to proceed and the reason I want to make that point is that there have been safety issues in which Starbucks 24:41 managers have been outed on social media there are privacy issues we don't want 24:47 to do it on Zoom we are prepared to meet face Toof face on a single store issue will you make a promise to this 24:55 committee that you will exchange proposals with with the Union so that we can begin to make 25:02 meaningful progress on a single store basis we will continue to negotiate in good faith that's what we'll do 25:09 Starbucks walked out on our store's only scheduled bargaining session after just 30 minutes on May 3rd the company 25:16 announced that Partners who were organizing or had already unionized would not receive a series of important benefit increases that non-union stores 25:23 would be granted my partners along with thousands of Partners across the country still do not have access to these 25:29 benefits nor do we have a company that is willing to sit across the table with us and bargain for them this is part of 25:36 my stores campaign story but if you look to the 7500 Plus members of Starbucks Workers United you will find thousands 25:43 of stories that detail similar or more grotesque accounts of Starbucks behavior during their scorched Earth union 25:49 busting campaign you cannot be Pro partner and anti-un it's well passed 25:55 time for the company to bargain in good faith help us hold them accountable 26:00 thank you for allowing Partners to have a seat at this table alongside former CEO Howard Schultz because that is 26:05 significantly more than he was willing to offer to Starbucks new CEO laxman Nar 26:11 simhan you have an opportunity to chart a different course to truly make Starbucks the different kind of company 26:17 Schultz promised but failed epically to produce this is a chance for your company to stop its unprecedented 26:24 campaign of union busting and instead partner with us your so-called partners and and our Union to build a company 26:31 that truly lives up to its stated Progressive values are our memories so 26:37 short that we have learned nothing from the 2008 Wall Street 26:46 Crash the biggest bank collapsed since the 2008 financial crisis the last time 26:51 we really went through a situation like this was uh 2008 Silicon Valley Banks 26:56 failure was the the largest in the US since the 2008 financial [Music] 27:04 crisis the major banks that we are deregulating in this bill were forced to 27:11 pay over $49 billion in fines for a wide 27:16 variety of fraudulent and deceptive activity these very same Banks received 27:24 a taxpayer bailout of $47 billion from the treasury and trillions of financial 27:32 assistance from the Federal Reserve this legislation makes it more likely that we 27:38 will see another financial crisis the bank stock lost 80% of its value this week 60% in one day alone yesterday the 27:46 entire banking industry is feeling the impact US Banks at one point had lost over $100 billion in stock market value 27:52 in just two days and there are fears now that this could spread Beyond banking to other parts of the economy and against 27:59 my strong opposition then Congress and the Federal Reserve provided the largest 28:05 tax pay a bailout in the history of the world to these huge Banks because they 28:10 were too big to fail but now 10 years later hoping that we forget all about 28:18 that these large financial institutions are back 28:23 again how pathetic is that was it a mistake to roll them back or do you 28:29 disagree with her I don't think there's anything this in this piece of legislation that would have changed the 28:34 outcome had it not existed in what would happened in Silicon Valley Bank the Congressional budget office told us that 28:42 the legislation we are debating today will and I quote increase the likelihood 28:48 that a large Financial firm with assets of between 100 billion and 250 billion 28:55 would fail end of quote that's the CBO but I can honestly say that I have not 29:04 heard one person come up to me and say Bernie we have got to 29:10 deregulate 25 of the largest banks in this country with cumulative assets of 29:17 $3.5 trillion no one has ever come up to me and said that that is a major priority 29:25 for the American people just 10 years ago 10 years ago as a result of the 29:31 greed and the recklessness and the illegal behavior on Wall Street this 29:36 country was plunged into the worst economic crisis since the Great 29:42 Depression as a result of the illegal behavior of Wall 29:48 Street American households lost over $13 trillion in 29:54 savings which shattered retirement dreams wiped out life savings and made 30:01 it impossible for kids to send their kids to college since the 30:07 1990s the financial sector has given more than 3.2 billion dollar in campaign 30:16 contributions and last year alone spent over $200 million on lobbying you want 30:23 to hear about the corruption of the American political system here it is 30:30 since the 1990s the financial sector has given more than 30:35 3.2 billion in campaign contributions and last year alone spent over $200 30:43 million on lobing and that is why Congress will be spending day after day 30:51 trying to make life easier for these large financial institutions while at 30:58 the same time ignoring the needs of Working Families no we can't get a bill 31:04 on the floor of the Senate that will lower the cost of prescription drugs we can't do that the American people 31:12 overwhelmingly want us to act on gun violence can't do that we're not able to 31:18 protect the 1.8 million young people who are eligible for the docker program we 31:23 can't do that but we can spend a week or two worrying about the needs of some of 31:30 the largest financial institutions in this country and that Mr President is 31:36 why the American people are disgusted with what goes on in Washington DC the 31:42 NIH and other federal agencies work with Mna to research develop and distribute 31:49 the covid vaccine that so many of our people have effectively used while madna 31:56 may wish to re write history it is widely acknowledged that both madna and 32:02 the NIH created this vaccine together us taxpayers spent 12 32:10 billion on the research development and procurement of the NIH Mna covid 32:17 vaccine and here is the thank you that the taxpayers of this country received 32:24 from madna for that huge investment they are thanking the taxpayers of the 32:30 United States by proposing to quadruple the price of the covid vaccine 32:37 to as much as $130 once the government stockpile runs 32:43 out at a time when it costs less than $3 to manufacture the vaccine my 32:51 question to you is given the fact that you have made billions of dollars that your company has made huge profits on 32:59 behalf of the taxpayers of this country will you reconsider your decision to quadruple 33:06 the price of the vaccine so chairman Sanders what we have 33:11 to do is to deal with a complexity I described and I'm happy to go into more detail through this hearing this is not 33:16 the same product we used to have 10 doors in each VI now we're going to have 33:22 every Val will have a different dose this is not the same I understand but quadrupling the price is huge and I will 33:30 hope I would hope very much that you will reconsider that decision it's going to cost the taxpayers of this country billions of 33:37 dollars that something you can do the volume we had during the pandemic gave 33:43 us economies of scale we won't have anymore am I hearing from you that in fact you are prepared not to charge 33:51 $130 uh for a vaccine to the US government but less than that is that what I hear 33:58 what I'm saying Mr chairman is p a least price it depends if it's a single dose 34:03 product or prefill Sur range product there a lease price around $130 and then with different customers 34:09 they're going to be discussions but you know that's an issue that many have raised we have no transparency in 34:16 pricing it is a totally insane situation everybody pays a different price the 34:21 United States government help you develop That vaccine it is a huge consumer are you prepared to 34:27 substantially charge less for the vaccine to the United States government and our agencies given the situation at 34:34 hand Mr chairman we have no idea of the volume that we need this year we have 34:40 very increased complexity yeah you have complexity but you have money for stock BuyBacks by the billions and you guys 34:46 became billionaires that doesn't seem too complex to me let me ask you this question at least the United States pays 34:53 the people in our country pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs in general something 34:59 this committee will work on will you at least tell us today that the price you are charging for the 35:05 vaccine will be lower than what other countries around the world are paying or are once again 35:11 we're going to pay the highest prices so Mr chairman the price will depend on the value in each country the 35:17 cost of healthcare is different in each country that's not the answer that's a whole all right I'm asking you a simple 35:23 question your vaccine was developed with the help of the United States government 35:29 I am asking you whether or not we're going to continue to pay the highest prices in the world for That vaccine I 35:35 understand everything is complex but I also understand you have money for stock BuyBacks and exorbitant compensation 35:41 packages for yourself will you at least tell the taxpayers of this country that the price we pay for the vaccine will be 35:48 less than other countries I canot I cannot say that the price will be lower than other countries 35:54 all right let me ask you this um 36:01 you know when you talk about value it's an interesting philosophical Concept in your 36:08 judgment what does value mean to a woman who lost her 36:15 husband because the family cannot afford the price the outrageous price of a prescription Troke is that a value that 36:22 we should consider or is it only is that a value that we should consider we believe in Access Mr chairman and as 36:30 I said our products we're going to work really hard for the uninsured that they are available for no cost and I 36:36 understand I I I'm maybe asking you a broader question than just mno uh Senator Mary mentioned fisa having a a 36:43 cancer drug for 175,000 I believe is what he said all right another company that's another 36:49 company of course I know that but I'm asking you your statement is you talk about value and the value is well we 36:56 helped the economy and we've done all these things true enough but what about the value of a 37:04 human lives that are lost or the suffering while companies make billions 37:09 and people can't afford the price is that a value to be considered of course Mr chairman we need 37:16 to work together industry and the governments and all the players in the healthcare system to figure out how do 37:21 we make sure the products are available I completely agree with you we work hard to make medicine and to do science 12 37:27 people Alexander Fleming developed penicillin a huge advance for medicine 37:33 saved what millions of lives Frederick Banting sold his intellectual property 37:40 for $1 for insulin all right what do you think about those guys and those scientists who said you know what our 37:47 function in life is to create wonderful drugs that will ease human suffering and 37:54 save lives not to become excessively Rich do you think they were crazy I 38:00 think what they did was very Noble I think what we have to do is to invest in the technology if we didn't have a 38:06 technology when the pandemic happened there would have been no more than a vaccine Mr chairman look we all agree that we need 38:13 the technology but what I am asking you and some of my friends here are saying 38:18 is that the only thing that motivates you is to become a billionaire that's not true all right but then can we have 38:25 a science where people get paid well I have no problem with madna making money 38:31 but you're hearing here massive cash paybacks you becoming a multi-billionaire do we should we 38:38 develop a Counter Culture perhaps which says your motive is not just making billions but developing all of the drugs 38:45 we need for the terrible diseases that this world faces and that's what we're doing Mr chairman that is why mod is a 38:51 different company our number one investment this year is an R&D as I mentioned $4.5 billion as as I how much 38:59 do you put in stock BuyBacks sorry how much do you provide in stock BuyBacks we have not decided yet as a board the the 39:04 number of a stock buyback that's still open is 2.8 billion I think our number priority is R&D if we could invest more 39:11 in R&D we would the the challenge we have is phas free studies takes time to happen Mr chairman let me ask you this 39:19 and again I'm not I'm directing it to you but it really applies to the whole industry if we would to say to you the 39:25 government would to say to you look we're interested in cures and cancer obviously diabetes all the other 39:31 Alzheimer's all the other terrible illnesses we Face we are prepared to make sure that your company 39:38 makes a good profit maybe you don't become a multi-billionaire but you make a good profit and if you develop a cure 39:47 for that particular disease you're going to make money on it but we're going to take the intellectual property and make 39:53 it available to the whole world so the people all over over the world at a very reasonable price will be able to benefit 40:00 from that Discovery you make money the world benefits everybody affords it what do you think about that concept so what 40:06 is really hard in this industry Mr chairman is the risk of failure most drugs fail 90 plus per of drugs in 40:14 clinical trial fail as you are aware and that's what makes it really really hard but if we said to you yeah all right 40:20 we're going to cover you're not going to fail you'll be compensated right we're willing to pay you good money you're 40:25 going to got Rich maybe not a multi-billionaire you'll do very very well we'll cover the risk but if you 40:34 succeed that formulation is going to be available to people all over the world 40:40 so that they can get that drug we covered the risk what do you think about that I will have to look into the 40:47 details Mr chairman because again the risk is I don't know how you you manage very I mean are you suggesting in that 40:54 thought process that the governments will pay all of R&D or theti exactly what I'm suggesting okay that's the deal 41:00 we're going to cover the R&D you succeed you're going to make profit but the 41:05 product goes all over to the world so the people can afford it I think we have to understand the details to to have an 41:11 opinion Senator Moy made the point that I think millions of people appreciate you can come up with all the great drugs 41:18 in the world we appreciate that but if people can't access them they go broke or they go bankrupt having to buy them 41:24 it doesn't mean anything to those people and certainly by the way we're talking about America the wealthiest country on Earth what about Africa and poor people 41:31 around the world should they die because they cannot afford that prescription trug but it turns out that on one of the 41:38 most important matters facing the American people Democrats Republicans 41:45 Independents progressives moderates and conservatives are all 41:52 United and they are united on the need need to take on the outrageous corporate 42:00 greed in the pharmaceutical industry and to substantially 42:05 lower the incredibly high prices we pay for prescription drugs in this country 42:11 on that issue the American people are quite United today millions of Americans are 42:19 forced to make the unacceptable choice between feeding their families or buying 42:26 medicine they need to ease their pain or to stay alive seniors from Vermont to 42:32 Alaska are forced to split their pills in half because they don't have enough 42:39 money to fill their prescriptions Madame President all over this country in every 42:46 state in this country the American people are asking some pretty simple 42:54 questions they want to know how does it happen that in the United 42:59 States we pay by far not even close the highest prices in the world for 43:06 prescription drugs how does that happen why is it people are asking that 43:13 nearly one out of every four Americans cannot 43:18 afford the prescriptions that their doctors write think about how crazy that 43:24 is people walk into a doctor's office to get a diagnosis doctor writes out a 43:29 script they can't afford to fill that prescription they get sicker maybe they end up in the emergency room maybe they 43:36 end up in the hospital maybe they die people are asking how does it happen 43:44 that nearly half of all new drugs in the United States cost more than 43:52 $150,000 a year $150 ,000 a year how 43:58 does it happen that in Canada and other major countries same exact 44:04 medications manufactured by the same exact companies are sold for a fraction of the 44:10 price that we pay in America simple question question Democrats Republicans 44:17 Independents everybody wants an answer to it well the truth is that the answer 44:22 to that question my view is not complicated and in fact it can be summed 44:27 up in just three words and that is unacceptable corporate greed 44:35 unacceptable corporate greed is it morally acceptable that the business model of 44:42 the pharmaceutical industry today is primarily not to create the 44:50 lifesaving drugs we need for cancer Alzheimer's heart disease diabet I 44:56 abetes and so many other terrible illnesses but rather through their 45:03 excessive greed to make as much money as they 45:10 possibly can there was once a time when the inventors of life-saving drugs were 45:16 not obsessed with making youe sums of money but were instead obsessed with 45:25 ending the terrible illnesses that plagued Humanity in 1921 Dr Banting 45:31 along with two other scientists at the University of Toronto invented insulin 45:37 insulin drug we're hearing a whole lot about now when Dr banty was asked why he 45:43 wouldn't patent insulin and why he sold the rights to his invention for 45:51 $1 $1 he replied quote insulin does not 45:56 belong to me it belongs to the world end of quote Frederick Banting while Dr 46:03 Banting sold his patents for insulin for $1 so that Humanity could benefit from 46:11 his Discovery I should point out that Eli Lily one of our nation's largest 46:17 drug companies has increased the price of insulin by 46:22 1,200% over the past 27 years to 46:28 $275 while it costs just $8 to manufacture selling it for 275 bucks 46:35 cost $8 to manufacture not quite the spirit of Frederick Banting now is the 46:42 time to stand with the American people and substantially lower prescription 46:49 drug prices in our country and the health education labor pension committee 46:55 is is going to be actively involved in that process every year despite partisan 47:01 sometimes very contentious partisan fights on all manners of things you name it big fights 47:09 going on Congress somehow comes together very quietly little debate to vote for 47:16 the one thing that they agree on and that is more and more money for the 47:22 Pentagon and right now despite all of the enormous needs facing Working Families 47:31 in this country over half of the federal discretionary budget goes to the 47:38 military got it over half of the federal discre discretionary budget goes to the 47:46 military Madam president I support a strong military people don't have to 47:52 convince me why we need a strong military but I will oppose 47:58 this legislation this defense authorization bill for four major reasons first more military spending 48:07 right now is unnecessary the United States Remains the world's dominant military power and 48:14 is in no danger of losing that position alone we account for roughly 40% of 48:22 global military spending this comes despite the end of the war in 48:27 Afghanistan and despite the fact that the United States now spends more on the 48:33 military than the next 10 countries combined most of whom are our allies we 48:42 spend more than the next 10 countries combined most of whom are our allies 48:49 last year we spent more than three times what China is spending on the military 48:55 and more than 10 times what Russia spent and while this year this year's defense 49:02 authorization act would merely match the pentagon's record-breaking request in 49:09 most recent years Congress has seen fit to give the Department of Defense more 49:16 money than it even asked for imagine that according to the government accountability office the GAO over an 49:24 11-year period the Pentagon returned an astonishing 49:30 $128 billion in excess funds to the treasury 49:35 in other words we gave them so much money they couldn't even spend it and they have to return some that so that's 49:43 reason number one why I oppose this legislation number 49:48 two the Pentagon cannot keep track of the dollars it already has 49:56 leading to massive waste Fraud and Abuse in the sprawling military industrial 50:02 complex the Pentagon accounts for about 2third of all federal Contracting 50:08 activity obligating more money every year than all civilian federal agencies 50:14 combined yet the Department of Defense Remains the only major federal agency 50:24 that cannot pass an independent audit more than 30 years after Congress 50:33 required them to do so so we're throwing hundreds and hundreds of billions of 50:39 dollars into the Pentagon 30 years ago Congress said we want an audit we want to know what's going on a reasonable 50:47 request it's only been 30 years we still have not gotten an independent 50:53 audit Madam president last year the Department of Defense was unable to 50:59 account for over half of its assets which are in excess of $3 51:06 trillion or roughly 78% of what the entire federal government owns the government accountability 51:14 office Gio reports that the Department of Defense still cannot accurately track 51:19 its finances or capture and post transactions to the current accounts 51:26 much of this additional military spending will go to line the pockets of hugely profitable defense 51:34 contractors it is corporate welfare by a different name almost half of the 51:40 Pentagon budget goes to private contractors some of whom are exploiting 51:46 their Monopoly positions and the trust granted them by the United States to 51:52 line their pockets repeated investigations by the dod Inspector 51:58 General the GAO and CBS News have uncovered numerous instances of 52:05 contractors massively overcharging the Department of Defense helping boost 52:11 these companies profits to nearly 40% profit margins to nearly 40% and 52:20 sometimes as high as over 4,000% while costing us taxpayers 52:25 hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars trans locked Martin Boeing and 52:31 Ron are among the offenders dramatically overcharging taxpayers while reaping 52:37 enormous profits seeing their stock prices s and handing out massive executive compensation packages just one 52:46 example loed Mart received 46 billion in unclassified Federal contracts last year 52:54 reach returned 11 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock BuyBacks and paid its CEO $25 53:02 million these companies are fully reliant on the US taxpayer yet their 53:08 CEOs make over a hundred times more than the Secretary of Defense and 500% more 53:15 than the average newly enlisted service member if we're really looking what true security is about it means everything 53:23 that we can do to improve the lives of ordinary Americans true security is that 53:28 we address the crisis of a declining life expectancy the gap between the lifespan of the wealthy and the working 53:36 class of this year is over 10 years if you are working class in this country 53:41 you're going to die 10 years shorter than the wealthy is that not an issue of 53:47 National Security do we not want to make sure that all of our people whether 53:52 they're rich or poor or middle class have the right to live full and productive and healthy lives I think so 54:00 that's called National Security National Security has to do 54:06 with the issue of education for our kids how are we secure if our young people 54:13 from Child Care to graduate school are not getting the quality of Education Madam president there are 54:19 millions of children who today in America as we speak are food insecure 54:25 there are days go by when they are hungry how do we talk about National Security and not talk about the crisis 54:32 of childhood hunger not to mention childhood poverty in general how do we 54:37 talk about National Security when people are sleeping out on the street how do we 54:43 in any sense of the word talk about National Security without understanding 54:49 the weather in Texas in the Southwest is now hitting record-breaking levels 54:54 people people are dying from the heat oceans are getting hotter we're looking at drought we're looking at extreme 55:01 weather disturbances my own State just several weeks ago the worst natural 55:06 disaster torrential rainfalls that we have had since 55:11 1927 that is National Security where the people get forced out of their homes 55:17 because of flooding die from heat stroke that's called National 55:24 Security this body the Senate could decide to have one or two 55:30 fewer ballistic missile submarines saving almost 15 billion over the next 55:37 decade and we could put that money and we go a long way toward housing the homeless or feeding the 5 million 55:44 children in this country who are food insecure instead day after today here in 55:50 Washington many of my colleagues tell the American people that we we just don't have the money we can't do what 55:57 every other major country on Earth does guarantee Health Care to all people can't provide affordable housing can't 56:03 provide affordable child care can't provide nutrition to Kids In 56:08 America who are hungry we just can't afford to do any of those things but 56:15 come the military budget and all the lobbyists around here from the defense contractors my guide we can't stop 56:22 throwing money at them so Madame President uh what I would say 56:30 is that the time is long overdue for our country to get our national priorities 56:37 right and one small step forward would be to say no to this very bloated and 56:45 wasteful military budget and start reordering our priorities so that we pay 56:53 attention to the needs of the middle class and working class and low-income people rather than just defense 57:00 contractors and with that Madam president I deal many of the families and again these are people thrown out of 57:07 their homes they don't know where they're going they don't know who will accept them they don't know if they're ever going back to their homes and 57:13 they're poor to begin with and do we really want to deny those people aid 57:19 from the UN and other agencies to feed the children to provide water for them is that really what we are about so of 57:27 course it goes without saying that we have got to do everything that we can to 57:32 make sure that not one nickel goes to the murderous Kamas 57:38 organization but at the same time we have got to stand with the innocent 57:43 women and children in Palestine who are suffering 57:48 today and are facing an almost unprecedented modern humanitarian 57:59 disaster so Madame President today in the midst of this 58:07 crisis us and un assistance in Gaza is aimed squarely at addressing the 58:14 basic needs of the Palestinian people including humanitarian Aid and water and 58:20 health programs the US and the UN go to Great Lengths to ensure that Aid gets to the 58:26 people needed and is not diverted as do trusted Partners like Catholic relief 58:34 services the Israeli government itself recognizes the importance of this un 58:40 humanitarian Aid and has long supported it today in the midst of this horrific 58:48 crisis the United States and the International Community are working to secure humanitarian access and what 58:55 media reports I have seen recently we may be making some progress in that so 59:01 that the UN can get food and water and fuel and medicine to the million or more 59:08 people in Gaza who need essential supplies that should be our Focus there 59:15 are people now facing hunger they are facing incredible 59:20 desperation and we cannot cannot turn our backs on them if you think this is going to be good for Israel if you think 59:27 that the suffering of the Palestinian people long term is good for Israel I think you are solely mistaken 59:34 the world is looking at us and the world understands that what Kamas did was 59:40 terrible but they don't want to see our great country turn its back on innocent 59:45 women and children that in my view is not what 59:50 this country is about this is a tough issue there been four Wars there in the 59:56 last 15 years and ain't going to be solved tomorrow but while we do our best to 1:00:02 support Israel and Destroy Kamas please let us not turn our back on the 1:00:08 suffering people in Gaza this is not what we should be doing 1:00:14 not what Congress should be doing and therefore I object the situation in Gaza 1:00:20 today is a disaster Congress must take action the 1:00:27 administration must take action the world must take 1:00:33 action today three weeks after hamas's barbaric attack against civilians in 1:00:41 Israel which began this war many hundreds of thousands of 1:00:47 innocent men women and children in Gaza are on the 1:00:53 brink over the past 3 weeks it is estimated that some 1:00:59 8,000 people in Gaza have been killed in 1:01:05 bombings including more than 3,000 children and far more have been 1:01:12 wounded more than a million people in Gaza have been displaced from their 1:01:18 homes and some 670,000 are Sheltering in un 1:01:26 installations where they are down to one liter of 1:01:32 water one liter of water per person per day they lack sufficient food water 1:01:41 medical supplies or fuel the hospitals and medical 1:01:47 facilities there are in nightmarish conditions with hundreds of babies in 1:01:55 incubators and patients on life support at risk of death should the generators 1:02:02 that sustain them run out of fuel cives aligned with injured and 1:02:09 displaced people and overwhelmed doctors must turn 1:02:15 patients away or operate without anesthesia or 1:02:23 antibiotics the humanitarian crisis is dire and getting worse by the 1:02:30 minute there must be a humanitarian pause 1:02:35 now so that sufficient supplies food water medicine fuel can reach the people 1:02:43 of Gaza if not thousands more will die 1:02:50 needlessly we cannot allow that to happen 1:02:55 a stop to the bombing is critical to save innocent lives and secure the safe 1:03:03 return of hostages Mr President let us never 1:03:09 forget the lives of all children all people are 1:03:15 sacred whether they are Palestinian children Israeli children or American 1:03:22 children and we must do everything we can to protect 1:03:28 them but Mr President if we are going to make any real progress in 1:03:35 addressing this NeverEnding conflict between Israel and 1:03:41 Kamas there have been five wars in the last 15 1:03:46 years we need to understand somewhat as to how we got to where we 1:03:53 are today if peace is to come to that troubled 1:04:00 region and if the Palestinian people are ever going to be able to enjoy lives of 1:04:07 security and dignity there must be a vision of 1:04:14 where we go in the future so let us be 1:04:20 clear the living conditions in God 1:04:26 before October 7th were horrific and 1:04:33 inhumane and that is before Kamas ignited the latest 1:04:40 War before this conflict in Gaza nearly 1:04:46 80% of people there lived in poverty and 2third were 1:04:52 reliant on humanitarian assistance almost half the 1:04:58 population and over 70% of young people were unemployed in Gaza what kind of 1:05:06 life could they look forward to electricity there was 1:05:13 intermittent with 11 to 12h hour blackouts every day water and sanitation systems were 1:05:22 inadequate and there were constant shortages of all basic 1:05:29 necessities Gaza was mostly cut off from the world with Israel and Egypt severely 1:05:36 limiting the number of people and types of goods that could go in or out in fact 1:05:45 many observers describe gazer as quote an 1:05:50 openair prison end quote and all of that is before October 1:05:59 7th Mr President if we are serious about bringing freedom and 1:06:05 dignity to the Palestinian people that is a situation that can 1:06:11 never be allowed to be returned to the Palestinian people are entitled 1:06:18 to much more than that this last year saw wed Israeli settlement growth in the 1:06:24 West Bank where more than 700,000 Israelis 1:06:30 now live in areas the United Nations and United States agree are occupied 1:06:38 territories despite that the Israeli government authorized thousands of new 1:06:44 homes for settlers and opened up new areas to construction while bulldozing 1:06:50 thousands of Palestinian homes and schools and further restricting 1:06:55 Palestinian movement legal experts agree these policies constituted nothing 1:07:03 less than illegal annexation all of these policies and 1:07:10 more greatly increased tension in the West Bank before October 7th 1:07:19 179 Palestinians had been killed in 2023 179 Palestinians on the West Bank which 1:07:27 made it the deadliest year in two decades since October 7th 121 more 1:07:35 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank including some by 1:07:40 settlers these tensions were part of why so much of the IDF the Israeli Defense Force was 1:07:47 deployed in the West Bank rather than the border with Gaza 1:07:54 and then came October 7th and hamasa 1:08:00 atrocities that began this latest and horrific War the Kamas attack was 1:08:08 unspeakable over 1300 innocent men women and children in Israel were killed over 1:08:17 200 Israelis and Americans taken hostage including young children and 1:08:22 grandparents young people were gunned down in Cold Blood at a music festival babies and 1:08:30 older people brutally murdered in their homes and let's remember that Hamas did 1:08:35 not primarily Target the military no they intentionally targeted 1:08:42 civilians their goal was to kill civilians their attack was designed to 1:08:48 provoke a response and in that they succeeded 1:08:54 Mr President many Israelis are now 1:08:59 understandably Furious and they want to strike back forcefully I think we can all understand 1:09:06 that but rage and revenge do not make useful 1:09:13 policy and here in the United States after the attack on 911 in this 1:09:19 country we acted with rage and revenge and I think many people Now understand 1:09:26 that that was a horrific mistake Mr President killing innocent 1:09:33 Palestinian women and children in Gaza will not bring back to life the innocent 1:09:40 Israeli women and children who have been killed by Hamas like any other country Israel has 1:09:47 the right to defend itself and Destroy Kamas terrorism but it does not have 1:09:53 have the right to kill thousands of innocent men women and children in Gaza 1:09:59 Israel does not have the right to endanger the lives of millions of 1:10:05 Palestinians half of whom are children by shutting off water food Fuel and 1:10:11 electricity that type of action against a helpless and impoverished population 1:10:17 is morally unacceptable and in violation of international law 1:10:24 Israel does not have the right to bomb an entire neighborhood to Target one 1:10:29 Kamas leader or installation but that is what the Israeli government is doing one need 1:10:36 only look at the satellite imagery and photography of Gaza to see that this is 1:10:41 not a carefully calibrated campaign these are not surgical 1:10:49 strikes yesterday Israel struck the densely populated 1:10:55 jabala refugee camp and killed a Hamas Commander but they also killed some 50 1:11:03 other people and injured hundreds more though the exact toll is not yet known 1:11:10 and that was actually the fourth air strike on that community and October 9th air strike 1:11:17 killed 60 and October 19th air strike killed 18 and October 262nd air strike 1:11:24 killed 30 according to outside researchers unra reported yesterday that 1:11:31 their head of security that is the United Nations uh relief agency their head of 1:11:38 security was killed along with his wife and eight children in total 1:11:45 67 uh United Nations relief agency workers have been killed and 44 United 1:11:53 Nations facilities have been damaged since October 1:11:59 7th Mr President the current Israeli 1:12:06 strategy must end Israel must begin the 1:12:12 process of restoring water and electrical services to areas where they 1:12:17 are still operable the International Community must also Rush generators and solar 1:12:25 capacity to gazin medical facilities to address acute needs and reduce Israeli 1:12:31 fears of diversion to Kamas Israel will not stop going after 1:12:37 Kamas but it must do it in a very very different way and additional pauses will 1:12:45 be needed Mr President let me conclude by saying that Israel must also begin the 1:12:52 process of laying out a political strategy it cannot bomb its way to a 1:12:57 solution such a strategy must include as minimum first steps a clear promise that 1:13:04 Palestinians displaced in the fighting will have the absolute right to safely 1:13:10 return to their homes a commitment to broader peace talks to advance a two tier two-state solution in the wake of 1:13:18 this war an abandonment of Israeli efforts to carve up and anex the West Bank 1:13:24 and a commitment to work with the Palestinian Authority to build genuine governing 1:13:30 capacity the United States must make it clear that these are the conditions of 1:13:36 our solidarity just as we want Justice for the Israelis murdered by Hamas we also 1:13:43 want Justice for the Palestinian people and that is not going to happen with 1:13:49 Hamas Palestinians need a state of Their Own contiguous with the freedom of 1:13:55 movement and access that can sustain a vibrant economy Mr President this will be a long 1:14:02 and difficult Road it will take concerted us and international support 1:14:08 and a doubling down of our political commitment to a two-state solution but the first step right now 1:14:16 must be to stop the bombing and bring in as much humanitarian Aid as possible -->