Transcript: Governor Hochul Speaks at Annual Gala

Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the New York State Association Of Black & Puerto Rican Legislators annual scholarship gala.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor’s remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor’s Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

You can do better than that. You're a little tired, aren't you? Okay. Okay. All right. I feel the love from you, I truly do.

It's been a long weekend, but what a weekend of conversation and engagement and commitment to re-engaging the fight. And this organization is the powerhouse that not just the State needs to take the fight to Washington, but the whole country is counting on us here in the State of New York.

The genesis of the Civil Rights Movement; the founding of the Niagara Movement, gave us the NAACP; the Women’s Rights Movement started right here; the LGBTQ+ movement started right here; the environmental justice movement started right here. I will tell you, in Stonewall, what they're doing to our trans community, making them feel like a “T” does not matter on websites and in our museums and places of history — this is what I'm talking about, my friends. We've been down a road like this before. We've had to fight back injustice, discrimination, hatred, but we are ready for the fight.

And I want to thank the leaders of this organization. Senator Latrice Walker, thank you so much for bringing us to this point, you've done amazing. It's so great to see you in action. I want to thank our Majority Leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins; Speaker Carl Heastie; our Attorney General, Tish James; our Senator Chuck Schumer is right behind me, you're going to hear from him in a couple minutes.

But here's my one message, my friends, we will not sit on the sidelines during this fight. We will be engaged. We'll be ready. Just like we've had to fight things in our own state, we must take on the fight for America. We've done a lot here. We passed Clean Slate to give people a second chance at life. We have a reparations commission to say, “We must undo the injustices of the past.” We've doubled the amount of investment in higher education and TAP programs. You know what we're going to do next? Free community college for people 25 to 55 going into specific careers, because they should have another shot at the American dream. And we're going to put $5,000 back in the pockets of everyday New Yorkers because they're so sick and tired of getting beaten down when they're trying to pay their utility bills and pay the grocery bill at the end of the day.

We're there for them, and that is the message that Democrats, and all of us in the elected office, must deliver. We are the fighters. We're the ones who are going to stand up. And whatever Washington sends our way, we are ready on the front lines to kick back and fight back hard. It's coming from here. You're part of the team. Let's get it done. Thank you, everybody.