Andy Kim’s First Senate Speech: Tackling Problems, Aiming for Lasting Impact in Washington

Senator Andy Kim delivered his first official speech in the U.S. Senate, reflecting on the challenges he hopes to tackle during his tenure. Calling it his “maiden speech,” Kim emphasized problem-solving and long-term impact, promising that the duration between his first and farewell speech will be measured by the solutions he implements, not years in office.

#AndyKim #SenateSpeech #USPolitics

Transcript

00:00Mr. President, a year ago, my two little boys sat right up there in the gallery above as I

00:10raised my right hand here on the floor. It was a moment unlike any other moment I've ever had in

00:16my life. My dear colleagues, I hope it's never lost upon us that we get to work a job whose

00:23job description is written in the Constitution of the United States. What a deeply humbling

00:28experience, one we should treasure every chance we get. Never in my life have I felt the call to

00:37serve so strongly and viscerally as I do right now. I believe we are in a moment of extraordinary

00:44consequence and magnitude that the next five years will shape the next five decades. There is

00:52nowhere else I'd rather be than to be able to have a voice in this room and a vote in this chamber

00:59of monumental decisions that will shape our nation's future through tumultuous times.

01:06But there's a bittersweet taste now, a year later, as I look back upon the day that I was sworn in.

01:13By my children's side, as they watched me a year ago, were my parents, both born during the Korean

01:19War, born into poverty and struggled to survive. Both saw America as a place where they could achieve

01:27the closest thing that they could get to a guarantee that the family that they raised would have a better

01:32life than they did. It was actually predecessors in this room that passed the immigration reform that

01:39allowed my parents to come here. Had it not been for those decisions made here, our family story would

01:46have no choice and no chance in America. And the decisions we are making now are shaping families

01:52for generations to come. I am in awe of what this nation has afforded my family in just one generation.

02:00But now I think through an episode that happened a few weeks ago. I was with my father at the doctor's

02:06office, and the doctor asked my father, tell me about your son. Tell me what he does for a living,

02:12as I was seated right next to him. My father fell silent. He turned to me and looked with embarrassed

02:20eyes and said, I don't know. My father no longer remembers being in this chamber a year ago.

02:29He no longer remembers that momentous day I had hoped that our family would never forget.

02:35He no longer remembers that his hard journey from the Korean War to immigrating to America

02:40America that led to his son being sworn in as the very first Korean American senator ever.

02:48And it got worse. The next question the doctor asked him was, what job did you have? What was your

02:55life's work? And my father stared at the ground and paused and said the same three words. I don't know.

03:04Three words that I'm sure I will hear a lot more of from him. Because that was the day that my father

03:12was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Now, what made this all the more painful is that the answer to my,

03:18to the doctor's question, what did my father do for his career? The answer is that my father was a

03:24geneticist, a medical researcher who spent his life trying to cure cancer and Alzheimer's. And now,

03:32as I was there witnessing Alzheimer's erased from my father's memory, any recollection of his efforts

03:38to try to erase Alzheimer's from our world. I couldn't help but feel that Alzheimer's had won.

03:45I remember dropping him off after the appointment and sitting in the car alone, left to grapple with

03:54our new future, realizing for the first time that to my list of core identities, as a son, as a brother,

04:02a husband, a father, an American, a public servant, I now add caregiver. But with all of these other

04:11identities that I've assumed, I've embraced them. They've brought me joy and opportunity. They brought

04:16me my partner for life. They brought me the most precious boys I could ever imagine. But this new

04:23identity as a caregiver felt like it brought my family certain pain. The doctor warned me that the

04:30next year or two of my life would be hell. I remember having to rush back to the Capitol for votes after

04:38that doctor's appointment. And I was actually standing in this very spot when one of you came

04:42to me and started telling me about a bill that you wanted me to look at. And I remember politely

04:47saying, I'm sorry, but I'm barely keeping it together right now. My father's not well. Can we please

04:56talk about this tomorrow? And instead of walking away, my colleague stayed with me, showed me comfort,

05:03opened about their own struggles and challenges in their family. And I responded by sharing my growing

05:10fears about the uncertainty that lay ahead, that I would be forced to seek not the best care that my

05:16father could get, but instead the best care for my father that my family could afford. And suddenly I

05:23felt inadequate as a son and I panicked. I couldn't help but play back the last few years and I beat myself

05:29up that I didn't see this coming. Was there something I could have done to better prepare

05:34for this moment? I should have seen the warning signs and took the precautions to provide better

05:39care for my father and my family. And I fixated on a singular question, why is it so hard to provide

05:46care in this country? And from that question comes others. Why is providing care so insanely complicated?

05:57Why does it feel like we are so alone when we try to provide care to the people we love?

06:03And for many, the disease or injury is only part of the problem. We are the richest, most powerful

06:10country in the world. Why does it cost so much to provide care? The answers explain my anxiety. The

06:18median cost for a private room in a senior care facility in New Jersey is $14,788 per month.

06:27That's over $177,000 per year. That is outrageous. It should be unacceptable. Who can afford that? I'll

06:38tell you, I can't. I look at the costs and I look at our finances and the cost of caregiving have been

06:44catastrophic for my family this year. But this is the reality for millions of Americans. And so many

06:51countless families are in much more dire circumstances than mine. They tell me how they are

06:58basically having to bankrupt themselves. A neighbor told me how she had to sell her forever home that

07:04they had hoped to grow old in just to pay her husband's bills for his dementia care. This is the

07:11storm after the storm. A storm of our own making. And out of this strain and stress, we feel alone.

07:19It shouldn't have to be this hard. And on top of this, I feel overwhelmed by a nagging feeling that

07:26my new identity as a caregiver is in direct competition with my other identities. That it

07:32diminishes and drains what I can provide to my kids as their father and to others that I love.

07:39I can't save for their education like I had planned to. I think of all the costs that we have endured over

07:45the years, daycare, healthcare, all the other experiences that I want to provide my kids that

07:50I might no longer be able to. And even if you can afford this, what an anxiety-filled time it is to

07:59be raising kids. You can try to keep them off their phones or social media, but it dominates the

08:05conversations they have with their friends. You can try to give them the best education, but you look at

08:12the future where AI dominates and you worry if they will be able to find a job that provides them

08:17the stability and security you want for them. And I see a world around us, the wars and the divisiveness.

08:25It's so much at times it feels hard to breathe. And I ask myself question, what kind of America are my

08:33two boys, your kids and your grandkids, going to grow up in? Regardless of the political parties to

08:42which we belong, I think we can all agree that a nation this powerful and this extraordinary should

08:48not be mired in this level of division. My boys are now eight and ten. That gives me about 15 years

08:57before they're off on their own. And I know actually many of you have told me that it will be much longer

09:02than that because they'll probably move back into my basement after college. But that's my timeline.

09:09I got about 15 years to try and fix this. So that is why I'm here. That is why I take a seat in the US

09:18Senate. I'm a father willing to do everything I humanly can to try to fix this country for my kids

09:26and my family. But I'm worried. I'm worried because we stand here in this chamber under this ubiquitous

09:35phrase, e pluribus unum, out of many one, centered in the most prominent position in this room.

09:44It is the same motto that perches over the Capitol Rotunda, the house chamber, the oval office.

09:50But I ask you, does it ring true, especially in this divided moment? It often feels that it's more

10:00like out of many, many, e pluribus multis. But I still believe in that phrase. I still believe in

10:08e pluribus unum. It's a beautiful and telling phrase. But as I've been thinking about it, I realize

10:14that there's something missing. How does many turn into one? The phrase, it's missing the verb.

10:24How do we actually get from many to one? It doesn't just happen on its own. Now, being the nerd that I

10:31am, I dug around and I tracked down the origin of the phrase back to Cicero at the dawn of republics,

10:38and I found the missing verb. He says, when each person loves the other as much as himself,

10:45it makes one out of many. The missing verb is to love. But how do we express that to each other,

10:55not just here in this chamber, but across this great land? Another way to think about it

11:01is when we care for one another as we would care for ourselves. Care is how we manifest love of nation,

11:11love of each other. And it is this realization that I have come to. E pluribus unum requires love

11:19and care. How we become one out of many is to become caregivers to one another, that we here in this

11:27chamber are to be caregivers to this nation, a nation that right now needs healing, a nation whose

11:33future is uncertain and unsteady. My role as a caregiver has taken on new meaning. The care with

11:41which I transfer my father to his wheelchair and wash his disabled body is but an example of the care

11:48with which we must handle a nation in fragile times. And in my new role, I've learned that care must

11:55flow in all directions, not just towards those that we feel affinity to. I've not shared this publicly

12:02before. But my father and I have had a difficult relationship over our lives. We've gone through

12:09tough times of division and separation. And I'd be lying to you if I told you that being a caregiver to

12:16him is easy and flows naturally from a boundless love. It's hard to provide care if it doesn't

12:24always feel reciprocal. And there are times that I feel guilty when I feel trapped.

12:32But for all the faults that he and I embody, it doesn't diminish responsibility. And I will give him

12:39a good and decent life as best that I can provide. I will bring that same sense of responsibility right

12:46here into this chamber with a nation divided. I believe that one can and should care for one another,

12:54even in the face of division and disagreement. Just as caregivers have a responsibility to those in

13:01their care. We as senators, as Americans, have a responsibility to one another, as community members,

13:09as people. And here in the Senate, it's where we should exemplify this action of care.

13:17I have seen glimpses of what the Senate can be, this sacred ground that we get the honor to embody.

13:23It's not just a place of heated debate and consequential votes. It can be a place of care. It must be a place

13:31of care, not just for those of us in this chamber, but for the nation. The care you have shown me,

13:38from the ears with which you have listened to my telling of my troubles, let us pour that out of

13:43these doors and give it towards the seven million Americans afflicted with Alzheimer's. The tens of

13:49millions more who are families struggling with the struggles of their loved ones. Let our care pour out

13:56to the tens of millions of parents who struggle to give their kids the kind of life they want.

14:02Let us build a caregiver movement to care for our family and also our nation.

14:09Today, in this maiden speech, I make a promise to the people of New Jersey and the people of this

14:13country that for as long as I have to serve here, I will do everything I can to give you the care you

14:21deserve. I will care for your parents and grandparents as hard as I will for mine. I will care for your

14:28kids and grandkids as much as I care for mine. I will not be perfect and I will stumble at times,

14:35but I've learned as a caregiver I have no other choice but to endure. Whether it's the emergency

14:41calls in the middle of the night or the drop everything moments where I have to rush to the

14:46hospital, there is no alternative. As a caregiver, we are the backstop. We here in this chamber need

14:56to be that for the ailing nation. We are the backstop. And there are times where it will be

15:04to again quote my father's doctor, hell, not just for my family but for our country. But there is no

15:11greater cause than care. No bigger responsibility exists than the one we have to the people we love

15:19and that extends to the nation that we love. And there's no larger obligation that we have as senators,

15:25as Americans, to make it easier to look after each other. This is my maiden speech.

15:35And one day I will stand here again to give my farewell speech. And the duration between these

15:43two speeches will, I hope, not be measured in years, but instead by the problems I sought to tackle and

15:49solve. That in between these speeches, I hope we meet the urgency and lead our nation forward with

15:56strategy and purpose. I've often said that we work in what's arguably the most reactionary building in

16:03America, reacting to the headlines, the social posts. But it doesn't have to be this way.

16:10Instead, we can be a Senate that sets out real goals and builds the strategy to meet them.

16:15Where do we want our nation to be in 10, 20, 30 years from now? I want to be a part of that Senate.

16:25A Senate unafraid to pursue big ideas.

16:28I hope in my future farewell speech, I can say that I was part of the Senate that finally delivered

16:37universal health care for our nation. A Senate that found a way to provide child care to every family

16:44and long-term care for every senior in need. A Senate that catalyzed innovation that led to prevent

16:51and cure Alzheimer's and other wretched diseases. A Senate that finally gave care to our caregivers,

16:58who for so long have felt invisible and taken for granted. A Senate that stood up against corruption and

17:06restored trust of the American people back into our democracy and governance. A Senate that helped

17:13restore American global leadership, which shaped a world where peace and prosperity fosters freedom and

17:20innovation for everyone. And a Senate that created the kind of America where I can ease my anxiety as a parent,

17:33as I watch my boys become men. Colleagues, I ask for your help here, because I cannot do this alone.

17:43None of us have this power alone. And the nation is looking to us right now to right the ship and give a vision that we can be proud of.

17:57To my staff, I promise you that this will be a noble journey you will be proud to be a part of.

18:04I know this will be hard and could very well fall short of our lofty goals.

18:13But I want no regret in my time here in this sacred chamber.

18:17That I can say I did everything I could, that I have no regrets about the time I spent here,

18:26being a caregiver to our great nation, to make one out of many.

18:32I'm ready. Let's get to work. And with that, I'll give back.

18:37I'll give it to you all.

18:42Thank you very much.

18:56You

Andy Kim’s First Senate Speech: Tackling Problems, Aiming for Lasting Impact in Washington | APT

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended