00:00Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker pro tem. Quite the year we have had here, 2025. I'm
00:09proud of this chamber, proud of my colleagues for meeting this moment with
00:16courage. President Trump wants us to be intimidated and his playbook is a simple
00:26one. Bully, threaten, and silence. Then rig the rules to hang onto power. And we are
00:40here today because California will not be a bystander to that power grab. We are
00:48not intimidated and we are acting openly, lawfully, with purpose and
00:56resolve to defend our state and to defend our democracy. And look, Donald Trump, he
01:07does not believe in democracy. He is terrified of losing and he will do
01:15whatever it takes to cling on to power. We saw this on January 6th when he
01:25unleashed a violent mob on our nation's capital. And he did this to overturn an
01:33election.
01:36We saw it yesterday in the state of Texas where Republicans advanced a mid-decade map
01:44designed to flip up to five congressional seats and lock in a partisan edge in the
01:51U.S. House of Representatives at President Trump's order.
01:57Again, this is the same dangerous playbook. If Trump can't win fairly, he'll try to make
02:08it impossible for Republicans to lose. And why? Because Donald Trump knows what we know. Voters
02:20are ready to hold him accountable from California to New York, from north to south.
02:29But of course, President Trump, he doesn't want to be held accountable for his failures in an election,
02:36especially the next one. And that's why he is trying to rig it. And of course, our Republican colleagues in this chamber
02:46don't want their party to be held accountable by voters, and certainly not in California.
02:54Accountable for ripping away $1.25 billion from our state for food assistance, for hungry kids, hungry children,
03:04our most vulnerable families. Accountable for the millions of Californians who will lose their health care coverage
03:13because of this president. Accountable for the cuts to our disaster preparedness while our communities burn
03:22and flood. Accountable for the communities in our state torn apart by ice raids. Neighbors, friends,
03:35the people who put food on our tables, the people who put food on our tables, shoved into unmarked vans by men wearing masks,
03:44taken without warning or due process. Accountable for tariffs that are driving up our grocery prices every single day.
03:57Accountable for corruption. Accountable for corruption. That makes Trump, his family, and his friends richer while everyone else struggles to get by.
04:10In California, in California, we will do whatever it takes to ensure that voters, not Donald Trump, will decide the direction of this country.
04:23This is a proud moment in the history of this assembly.
04:31Californians, we believe in freedom.
04:34We will not let our political system be hijacked by authoritarianism.
04:40And today, we give every California the power to say no.
04:45To say no to Donald Trump's power grab, and yes, to our people, to our state, and to our democracy.
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