NEW HAMPSHIRE—(ENEWSPF)—December 29, 2015. At a midday town hall meeting in Portsmouth, NH, Clinton continued to talk about her newly released, $2 billion-per-year plan to prevent, effectively treat and make a cure possible for Alzheimer’s by 2025. Clinton noted that Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States and is the only cause in the top 10 that we cannot currently prevent, cure, or even slow.
Earlier in the day, Hillary for America released a powerful new video clip from Clinton’s town hall event last week in Fairfield, Iowa, where she talked with an Iowan who had lost her husband to this tragic disease. Today is Hillary Clinton’s final campaign swing of 2015.
Please see a full transcript of the remarks below:
“Wow. Thank you, thank you all. Thank you. I am really delighted to be here on the first winter day of this season, to be here in this beautiful city and church that has been the site of a lot of occasions. And especially to be introduced by Brenda, who, as she said, I first met in a town hall in Dover all those months ago. And you know, when you call on people in town halls, as you’ll see in a minute, you have no idea what they’re going to say or what they’re going to ask.
“And when I called on her, she basically said, ‘I have a husband with early onset Alzheimer’s. I have a mother with Alzheimer’s. I’m taking care of them. What are you going to do about Alzheimer’s’ And it really caused me to think hard about the kind of president that I want to be. Obviously I want to be a president who gets the economy moving for everybody, and gets incomes rising and more good-paying jobs, and I want to be a president that keeps us safe and secure and takes on the threats and dangers that we face. But I also want to be a president who understands that the problems that keep you up at night are ones that we also have to take seriously. So it means the world to me to have her support in this campaign.
“And as I have said to her and to others who have raised issues with me during the course of my time here in New Hampshire, I will do everything I can to try to find answers. And Alzheimer’s, as she said, we have 5 million people currently suffering, the projection is for many millions more. It is the sixth leading cause of death in America, but unlike the other causes in the top ten, there’s no real path to prevention or effective treatment, or a cure, as there is with other diseases that take so many lives. So, my proposal is that we tackle all three of those — what can we do to try to prevent it, what can we do to try to more effectively treat it? And what would it take to invest in finding a cure? And after talking to experts, the leading experts in our country — not just in Alzheimer’s but in other neuro-degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s — the overwhelming response was if we invested just $2 billion more a year, we would make tremendous progress, and we would have a real shot at understanding more about this disease, and trying to cure it. And the heaven’s support [laughter] what we are going to do on behalf of Alzheimer’s and the patients, the families, and the caregivers.
“I want to thank my friend, Terie Norelli, who I see here, for her great service and leadership over so many years, and for her friendship. And I just want to make a few other quick acknowledgements and then we will move on to be ready for the questions. The mayor, I want to thank the mayor. Where’s Mayor Lister? I saw him earlier, he’s here somewhere. There he is! There he is. Thank you so much, Mayor. Wonderful to see you, thank you for your support. And, to the South Church, thank you for letting us be here today. And to the overflow, which I stopped by to see on my way here [applause, inaudible] good time watching, and we’re delighted they’re here as well.
“As Brenda said, on January 20th, 2017, someone will raise a hand and take the oath of office and become our 45th president. That person will, after being sworn in and the celebrations that go along with an inauguration, go into the White House, go into the Oval Office, and face the challenges that await. This will be a consequential election in so many ways, because we have work to do. I’m excited by the work, I’m confident and optimistic about the work we can do together. But I need all of you to be part of this campaign, to be part of the first in the nation primary because, in many ways, you are the first — or depending upon how you define it — last line of defense.
“The decision that New Hampshire makes is so important. And I’ve had a great time travelling across the state, meeting, by now, thousands and thousands of people, having a chance to set forth my ideas, and to answer questions on whatever might be on someone’s mind. And I know that we are going to make the right decision. Not because my name will be on the ballot, but because all of us know what the stakes are, and how high they happen to be. So, I’m excited and very much looking forward to the sprint toward the primary and to have a chance to hear even more from more folks here in the Granite State about what is on your mind. About the big economic challenges, the security issues, and all those problems that keep you up at night. I’ve learned a lot listening to folks here in New Hampshire — learned a lot about the struggles, the opportunities, the disappointments.
“As you know, I’ve had two full town hall meetings just on the issue of substance abuse. When I made a list of what I was going to talk about in this campaign, it wasn’t on that list. But on my first trip here to New Hampshire in Keene, that was what was raised with me. And then on visit after visit, I was given mass cards, showing the pictures of beautiful, young people no longer with us because of overdoses. I met those in recovery who thankfully were able to get help when they needed it. I met grandmothers like myself raising children because their children couldn’t — lost to opioid addiction, heroine addiction. So that’s why it became a big issue to me. I will never stop leading with the values that I was raised with about who we are as Americans, what we’re capable of doing. I will never stop listening, learning about what’s on people’s minds. I think you actually learn more when you listen. And I will never stop trying to work with you to solve problems. That’s the America I was raised in, that’s the America I think we all cherish, and that’s the America that I’m going to do everything I can as your President to make sure it’s stronger and better and fairer for everybody going forward.”
Source: http://www.hillaryclinton.com
