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Pelosi Remarks at New York ‘Enough is Enough’ Bill Signing Ceremony

July 7, 2015

Contact: Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi delivered remarks today at a ceremony celebrating New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's signing of an "Enough is Enough" bill to curb sexual assault on college campuses. Below is a transcript of the Leader's remarks:

"By now, is it afternoon? Good afternoon everyone. May I be the first to take us into this next part of this great day? Majority Leader Flanagan said it's a day of celebration, a day to celebrate. Assembly[member Glick] said that it was an important day. The Governor said it was a great day. It is a tipping point day, in my view, when the state of New York, in a bipartisan way, has come together to have so many Members of the Assembly and the State Senate present here, with the Governor, with the Lieutenant Governor, with the President – we call them president in California – Majority Leader Flanagan here, and of course, with the great leadership of Deborah Glick.

"I'm here as the Democratic Leader of the House of Representatives to say, on behalf of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, on both sides of the Capitol: Thank you, New York, for setting an example; for being a model; for showing the way. Now, I say that as a Californian, too. Governor, as you know, we passed legislation in California last fall: ‘Yes [Means] Yes' – that there had to be affirmative consent. But the New York law does us one better. It goes from ‘Enough is Enough' to a victims bill of rights that separates it from the law that we passed. And it is an example for us, to put some of that legislation in place there. Two great states; two important pieces of legislation; one tremendous issue which is really – campus sexual assault is an all-hands-on-deck epidemic in America.

"Listening to the speakers – to the Governor, and to the Majority Leader in the State Senate, and listening to Assembly[member] Glick – it's kind of emotional. It's kind of an emotional thing, hearing the Majority Leader talk about his family, and the Governor about his family. And I think about my family. I have five children, four of them born in Manhattan. One of them still lives here – or has come back to live here. Four of them daughters. Okay, let's hear it for the fact that I have New York bona fides.

[Applause]

"In fact, she lives in Greenwich Village. President Sexton, thank you, again, for your hospitality. But when you think about when your children are going away to college, it's a very emotional occasion. The empty nest – well eventually, with five, eventually the empty nest.

[Laughter]

"…And you think of all of the opportunity; the learning, the growth, the enjoyment of coming into their own. It's a glorious, glorious thing. And then, when you think of what they might be challenged with when they get there – we never really thought about that in my day, either because of denial, or because we just didn't know so much of what was going on. And when I say in my day – when my daughters went to college; now, I'm getting ready for my grandchildren to go to college. So this is really important.

"I remember the first time I met Kathy Hochul. She was a candidate for Congress, and we were in Manhattan for an event for her. And she talked about this subject then, as a candidate for Congress. And she talked about this subject with a marriage equality decal on her jacket. So she has been out there, seeing the connection between issues that center around respect. The Governor talked about the fact that discrimination against women is widespread – not only campus violence, but domestic violence. And his sister, Maria Cuomo, has talked about this in her film about violence in the military, as well. So it is out there, and we have to change that, and we can do it in an important way.

"We just saw – as we went into the Fourth of July weekend – we saw two important Supreme Court decisions that were liberating, that were about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, a healthier life, the liberty to pursue your happiness with upholding the Affordable Care Act and, of course, the transformational decision: marriage equality.

"But this is about freedom, too. It's about freedom for kids, young people to go to school, to learn, freedom to go to school, to grow, and not fear that they are not going to be safe, any threat to their safety or to their reputation. So I want to thank Abigail for her presence today.

"There are all kinds of people who serve in legislatures and in public affairs, committed to their values, dedicated to principles to make the future better. One important adjective is one that makes a big difference, and that is – everybody is committed and dedicated and hard-working and enthusiastic – who is courageous? And Abigail has demonstrated such great courage. And her courage has made a difference. Thank you, Abigail.

[Applause]

"So I am honored to be here with my colleague, Charlie Rangel, a great leader in the Congress of the United States. He knows that this is an important issue for President Obama that he has set up a White House task force to protect students from sexual assault – ‘Not Alone' it is called. And the task force campaign is ‘It's On Us'. But it's all the same – Enough is Enough, It's On Us to make the difference. And to these young people: you are not alone. Joe Biden heads up that task force and that's so appropriate because he was the author of the Violence Against Women Act in the 90s and, of course, saw to its reauthorization 20 years later last year.

[Applause]

"It's all hands on deck. So the Governor challenges us, Charlie, to do something in Congress. From New York, Carolyn Maloney has been a leader on legislation to address this crisis, and we thank you for her leadership, Congresswoman Maloney. We're not in her district. She's uptown. Is that what we would say? That's what we said when I lived here. That would be uptown. And Representative Jackie Speier from California. So, again, California and New York, such large states with such, shall we say imagination on how to get things done. And the results are what we are interested in. We can have a conversation all we want. We can talk about it forever, but that doesn't make the difference. It's good to bring it out into the open; it's better to act upon it as the Majority Leader and the Speaker of the Assembly [have done]. We all know, I mean, we praised the Governor for his leadership whether it's marriage equality, whether it's gun safety, whether it's this issue – to get it done it's important to have the courage of the members of the Assembly and the members of the State Senate. Right, Deputy Speaker? Is that not correct?

"So we thank you all for your courage, as well. So it is really an honor for me as a mom, as a grandmother, a personal honor for me to be here but also as one who loves and respects New York and proud of the Cuomos. I'll just close by saying what Mario Cuomo said when I was elected the first woman Speaker of the House. They said that Gov. Cuomo is on the phone, so I picked up the phone – this is before Andrew was governor so I knew which Gov. Cuomo they meant.

[Laughter]

"…I pick up the phone and he says – if you're not Italian, you won't understand this. He says, ‘Madonne!' Would that be what he would say? But in any event, this is a family affair because this is a family matter. And families do matter to our country. It is such a joy to be with all of you and I extend my hardiest congratulations to each and every one of you, advocacy groups and all the rest who played such a role. And I'm here to also pay great tribute to Andrew Cuomo, the governor who got the job done. Thank you so much."

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