impeachment for president trump and arguments are set for february 9th. this week, more votes are possible and senators continuing with president biden's nominees. watch live coverage of the senate on c-span2. >> outgoing national committee chair tom perez reflected on the meeting and welcomes jaime harrison who previously was in the democratic party. vice-president kamala harris called in to congratulate jaime harrison on his election. >> good afternoon. >> good morning, good evening, depending where you are. the stage is everybody's home or wherever you're sitting, a little different from what we're used to. i hereby call the national committee to order. good afternoon again, good morning, good evening,

depending where you are. i really appreciate your being here. as you well know and witnessed yesterday we ushered in a new day for our country and i know you are all moved-- we were all moved by the remarkable inaugural event. and as many of you know, we would normally have this meeting here in d.c. in person the day after the inauguration, and i'm so sorry that it's not possible, but i am certain that under the leadership. new administration we will be able to get together as soon as possible to celebrate and appreciate the effective and skillful work being done by president biden and vice-president harris to lead us out of the pandemic and our other challenges. before we beginning, i want to remind members of virtual protocol. if you have any questions on points of procedure, please use the chat option in zoom and speak with our associate director in the office of the

secretary, who is our associate director in party affairs and just use that chat function and you'll be able to communicate with them. we always start out our meetings as you know by saying the pledge of allegiance so i would ask you to please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god undivisible with liberty and justice for all. thank you so much. it's now my pleasure to introduce to deliver our invocation one of the newest members of the united states senate from the wonderful state of georgia. you may have seen yesterday there were three new senators who were sworn in by our remarkably new and exciting vice-president and one of them is going to deliver our

invocation. senator raphael warnock. senator warnock is georgia's first ever black u.s. senator and only the 11th in the country. he has spent his entire career fighting for equality, fighting for affordable health care, fighting to make sure that everybody had a seat at the table, that every voice is heard. in scripture, we say who has humbled shall be exalted and he who has exalted shall be humbled. senator warnock is a humble man and by those before him he'll use his platform to help bring our country together around issues that unite us. please welcome me in -- please join me in welcoming senator warnock for our innovation. >> hello, everybody. it's wonderful to join you in the winter democratic national committee.

how grateful we are for the leadership of tom perez. thank you for your kind and generous introduction. i'm excited, also, that jaime harrison will be the new chair of the party. jaime, of course, hales from the great state of south carolina. he man an amazing race for the united states senate. he inspired and encouraged me and so many others, thank you, jaime, for your voice and for your vision. it will not be forgotten, i'm sure in south carolina and all across our country. how excited i am that my mayor, the mayor of atlanta, keisha lance bottoms, will be the vice chair now of our party. we've had excellent leadership. we have excellent leadership going forward. thank you so much to all of you for your support for the two senate races here in georgia.

who would have thought that when the dust settled on november 3rd there would be two senate races and runoffs in our country, and that both of those runoffs would be in georgia, and that they would determine the balance of the united states senate, thus our ability to move forward on the agenda that we must have in order to do the work necessary for all of our people. i'm so excited that georgia was able to deliver and that is in this defining moment in american history the state of georgia is sending to the united states senate jon ossoff, a young jewish man, the son of an immigrant and yes, raphael warnock, a kid who grew up in public housing, the pastor of ebenezer baptist church where dr. king searched

to the united states senate. this is what our party has been about and this is what america is about at its best. and so, i'm excited to be with you, we gather virtually, we trust as we do the hard work of getting this virus under control, of distributing the vaccine safely and efficiently of following the science rather than the politics, sooner than later we'll be able to gather in person. but thank you so very much for this privilege. i'm deeply honored to serve now in the united states senate, that someone like me who grew up in public housing now gets to ar gou-- argue for families like mine for the united states senate. reminds us that america is still a great nation, the greatest country on the planet.

let us recommit ourselves to doing the work of building what dr. king called the beloved community. and so, i come to you as a proud democrat, but i come to you as a proud american. i look forward to rolling up my sleeves and doing the hard work necessary to make sure that every person has access to affordable health care that we defend the dignity of work, and the dignity of workers that we reward their work with a livable wage. if we call them essential workers we ought to pay them essential wages. that we stand up for the ideals of our party and i believe the ideals of america. thank you so very much. will you bow with me in prayer? god is known by many names, worshipped in many houses, but

i saw a great multitude of men and women, boys and girls, people from every nation standing shoulder to shoulder. they hailed from the diverse corners of the world. they were variegated in their humanity, yet, they looked into each other's eyes and they were not afraid. and i ask the one who was standing there, what is this? and the angel said, this is the kingdom of god imbued with love and justice. and so, i asked where is this? and the answer came, it exists

in the hearts of those who have the courage to believe and fight. and so i asked what is this? the angel said when we learn a simple art of loving one another as sisters and brothers. so, oh gracious god, give us courage to stand up for the highest and the best. in the name of the one who loves us and to freedom and frees us into loving, amen. god bless you. keep the faith and keep looking up. >> thank you so much, senator, for your inspiring words, and again, congratulations to you. we're so, so excited and we were so proud to be a partner

in those successful efforts in georgia. let me turn now to jason ray, our distinguished secretary from the great state of wisconsin for the determination of a quorum. >> thank you, mr. chairman. and good afternoon, good morning, good evening democrats. i want to start by saying we appreciate your patience and grace as we continue to navigate the virtual meetings. thank you so much for that and i know i can't wait to be together in person again. and look forward to the return of our regular meetings, but well, two challenges, mr. chair. have been filed with the committee. neither challenge is currently under consideration by the committee, as such, those members are allowed to participate in the business before the dnc today. and i report before our meeting we're joined by members participating virtually from across the country and around the world and we definitely have a quorum of numbers

present for today's proceeding, mr. chair. >> awesome, thank you so much, mr. secretary. thank you for your great work and to your team as well. and thanks to all of dnc members who are here today. really, really appreciate it. before we get going with other business, we wanted to start out with a tribute to somebody, a real giant in the democratic party. last month we lost that giant when chairman don fowler passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. literally weeks before he passed away, don called me and we had regular conversations and the conversations basically were -- i could summarize in four words, put me to work. he always wanted to be put to work. i'm not talking two, three years ago. i'm talking like the middle of november of last year when he was battling his cancer and he

always answered the bell. he lived and breathed the democratic party and his life of service to our party and our nation should indeed inspire us all. if we had a hall of fame for democrats, don fowler would be a first ballot inductee and i take great comfort in knowing he lived long enough to see through the cause he spent the last few months of his life fighting for, and that was the election of joe biden and kamala harris as our next president and vice-president. together don and his wife carol, dynamic duo who embodied the values of our party fighting tirelessly for a brighter future, working families. today we honor the late, great don fowler, former chair of this great party and the amazing legacy he has left for all of us to carry on. so let's please turn your attention now to a video

tribute that has been prepared. >> there's a saying that we stand on the shoulders of giants. i stand on the shoulders of don fowler. >> don fowler was a wonderful, loyal friend of mine, i along with everyone else miss his leadership so much. >> he has a lasting legacy, we love you, we know you'll keep it alive and we'll be alongside doing the work and remembering don. >> carol and donny, we know you are suffering a special loss, but we share fully in your grief. >> i very, very much am going to miss him and to donny and carol and cynthia, let me just say, don fowler was aces in my view. >> he was truly a faithful, devoted friend to me and many, many others. >> i want to thank don fowler for all he gave to the democratic party and to the united states of america and i

thank you for the example you're going to continue to be. >> don fowler would always be remembered as the chairman's chair and he will always be for me, mr. chair. >> the democratic party is so much better off because of don fowler, the united states of america is so much better off because of don fowler. >> we got to see the don that everyone here new and loved, the professor, the doctor, the colonel of all the titles don's had, i'm the most pleased that i was his friend. >> i was one of many young, people who he mentored and, yes, received those infamous handwritten letters. >> nobody fought harder for the democratic party than don fowler. he was simply the best. >> whenever i think of the democratic party i think of don. he was the best of our party. he made one proud to be a

democrat. >> as a teacher, he taught generations of students about government and elections, dnc chairman he helped to reelect bill clinton. thank you for sharing don with us. >> don was an excellent dnc chair who agreed to my call to serve and continued to work to help our candidates to win up and down the ballot. i'll always be grateful for his leadership and the friendship he gave to me. the counsel he gave to so many of us, and the support he gave to our party. >> don's contributions to our democratic party have been incalcuable and his legacy will endure forever. >> distinguished with character and compassion, was a legendary leader and hero in politics. don never stopped finding ways to give back to his country. >> don worked endlessly to unify the party by building bridges. he recognized the more we

invest in communities the more we're harvesting for the future. he was a gentlemen's gentleman and to follow. stay true to your roots, organize, organize, organize with a great piece of advice, i'll always be grateful to don for giving it to me. >> don fowler was my mentor and friend and when he came to me back in the '88 political cycle and said his son donny, jr. wanted to work for the gephardt campaign. i took his son under my wing. we. >> don, we're going to miss you, the work you've done for carol for this party for years and years and years, you've been a great inspiration to every democrat. we are a better party and we are a better country because of you, don. >> his dedication and commitment to helping to build and strengthen our party. your work has not been in vain. we will all go forth helping to build and strengthen our

democratic party. >> the democrats in the south always had don fowler in their corner. and two democratic seats in the state and wherever you are i'm sure' smiling ear to ear. hits generosity and loyalty during the toughest times he was there, for the friendship that we had with don will be with us for the rest of our lives. >> i would venture to say he is one of the most irreplaceable we have in democratic politics. >> don fowler knew every state chair, every vice-chair and candidates and the issues. he was a remarkable person and deeply in love with the democratic party. >> he had a fierce and fervent belief in economic and social justice as our party, which continues to fight for him. >> god has been my hero and been the epitome--

don has been my hero and been the epitome of what a good party person is. >> and i think when he was born, i think his crib said, don fowler, democrat. >> and don fowler was the democrat's democrat. >> democrats, he carried the heart and soul of our party wherever he went. thanks, don. >> thank you. >> thanks so much, don. >> thank you, don. >> we're going to miss you, don. >> god bless you. >> god bless you, don. >> rest well, my friend. >> may he rest in peace. >> rest in peace. >> rest in peace my dear friend, don fowler. >> we will miss him. >> 85 years and 85 seconds. my dad was born in south carolina 85 years ago and died in south carolina. one of my father's stories that he told me when i was a kid and

he was the director and state party chair he was doing some of the first outreach as a white person to black voters in south carolina and he talked about having to sneak into the back downstairs of black churches at night hoping that no-- that there was no reporter nearby to see him. i asked him a couple of times why are you, a white man, southerner, with conservative church-going parents who are not political, why are you a democrat? there's nothing to suggest you should be. and his answer was quick and the same, because of my faith. because of my faith. >> one of the stories that encapsulates my father's life when they brought him home flt hospital for the last time, they had to drug him. he was on morphine and other things just so he would go to sleep and in his half sleep, half stupor, he called out,

hey, jesus! the next morning, the last day he was here, he was half awake and he looked at carol and he said, where is jesus? i figured when he got to the gates of st. peter he was already known and probably got to walk in so that's my father, 85 years and 85 seconds. >> >> these are the moments i hate zoom meetings because if we were together, we would all stand up, we would all cheer, and we would all say thank you. so let's just take a moment to

reflect on don, his life, and his legacy. [moment of silence] to see the whole fowler family we can't replace don, but i hope you know na the whole dny family will be here for you and i hope i'll continue to get the calls and i know i will from the fowlers. how can i help? and we have another video and put it together after the tribute to don. don was about getting the work done and communicating our values and living our values day in and day out. as we reflect here the day

after the historic inauguration of joe biden and kamala harris, the work that we've done to rebuild the party to rebuild trust, i really want to start out by saying thank you so much to all of you because, folks, four years ago we had a lot to do and we have done so much to work and build our party's infrastructure and build trust and help take back the house in 2018, seamlessly integrate into the biden operation and work together this past november. please watch this video that highlighted so much of the work that we did together and so much of the work that don was calling me up, tom, what else can we do? how can i help? well, don, you helped in a huge way and this video is in no small measure a tribute to you and everybody here today who put so much time into rebuilding our democracy. you are all, indeed, first

responders in our democracy. so let's have the accomplishments video, if you will. >> the dnc has been history the last four years. down the ballot. >> and lieutenant kim gordono. >> in 2017 you could see the beginning of the tide. >> selecting the most diverse array to congress. >> in total 114 women were elected in the mid terms. >> since 2017 we flipped seven governor's seats. >> four attorney general's seats four secretary of state seats. >> four senate seats. >> and more than 400 state legislative seats. >> we did that while winning back and keeping the democratic majority in congress. >> we've traveled and organized across the country made it our priority to listen to every voice. >> and we had the grass roots funding and raised nearly $450

million overall to win campaigns. >> that's more than any dnc in history. >> we reimagined our tech structure. >> a new voter file data base and developing new strategies to combat disinformation and cyber security attacks. >> and organizing corps 2020. >> we invested in communities of colors with a variety of nation-wide initiative. >> we built a voter infrastructure. >> and including those that protected voters right. >> and helps our team identify the individuals at risk from being purged from voter roles. >> that meant we expanded our voter assistance hotline and made it available in english and spanish and disability communities. >> we had the voters in dnc history. >> we restructured the way we struck our primary for a fair

primary process. >> we have meaningful discussions how it make the promise of america work for all of us. >> our candidates fueled the momentum behind the democratic community fund. >> to develop new strategies in order to meet voters where they are. >> for how to safely vote and whatever way worked for them. >> and most importantly, we never stopped fighting. >> joseph r biden, jr. is elected the 46th president. >> joe biden and kamala harris will receive the most votes of any presidential ticket ever. >> together. >> we took back the white house. we know this work is just the beginning, but with your support, we will continue to make history together. >> in speaking of history, yesterday was truly historic. i had the privilege of being there at the inauguration and

i'll tell you, slept a lot better last night. i wonder if you slept better last night? i sure did. it was truly an honor and a pleasure. it still hasn't gotten old when i hear the following, president joe biden and vice-president kamala harris. at the very site where a violent mob attacked our democracy two weeks ago, where they turned the u.s. capitol into a crime scene, we watched them swear an oath to serve our nation with courage and integrity, a testament, i think, to the endurance of the world's greatest democratic experiment, the great united states of america. it truly was a momentous occasion for our party, for our country and frankly for the world. the entire world was watching and i can't wait to see what the biden-harris administration accomplishes over the next four years. i think about simply today.

today dreamers have hope as a result of executive action. our climate, our climate crisis, we've already taken steps by reentering the paris climate accord. we're back into the global community to address the pandemic by rejoining the world health association. the muslim ban, which is so insidious and unconstitutional, that has been put in the scrap heap so many other executive actions to live our values and to help improve the lives of people. and we're a little over 24 hours into this administration. it truly was a momentous day for everybody involved. our party, our country, and the world. and of course, as you know, because you were involved, this moment didn't arrive out of thin air. we worked night and day to make it happen and i hope you did take a moment to celebrate the incredible work that you've done over the last four years, to bring the democratic party

roaring back because we have come a long way, folks. when we took over in 2017, when i had the privilege of getting elected, boy, we were in a ditch, folks. we had 15 democratic governors now we have 23. we were in the teens in attorneys general and now we have 24. we didn't have the house, didn't have the senate, didn't have the white house. we had lost hundreds and hundreds of seats in state legislatures. we had to rebuild our infrastructure and rebuild trust and i believe we've made great progress in both those areas. we began rebuilding our infrastructure by recruiting the top work force. this is not my first turn-around job. make no mistake, i believe that one of the most important things you do when turning around an organization is hiring great people. the dnc has become a destination employer again and i am so proud of our work force, so proud of our

partners. partners like all of you. so proud of our partners in the democratic eco system. yes, we've shared fund raising efforts and grass roots donors like never before. we've also completely reimagined and revamped our data and technology infrastructure night and day from where we were before. frankly, we inherited a radioshack and turned it into a fifth avenue apple store. we bolstered our cyber security and our cyber readiness and worked together with all of you to protect our voter infrastructure. i'm so proud of our state parties and grateful for the leadership of my friend ken martin and others in the state party we all did this together at a time when voter suppression, for instance, is so rampant and voter protection was so integral to winning elections. we helped facilitate the create

the democratic he think -- exchange and we tested out the ddx, having this tool made a huge difference. folks, what i'm excited about with this infrastructure we're built to last. we used to talk about in our campaign, jaime, you'll remember this, we talked about the accordian model. we'd expand every four year and contract in between and wonder why we're losing elections. we've thrown the accordian out. we're built to last and we need to make sure that it does last because the dnc is a critical part of success and that infrastructure is so important to that success. as joe biden will attest. we had to rebuild trust as well. we know that the last dnc chair race. it it wasn't about me, it wasn't about keith ellison or

jaime or anyone else, it was about bringing the party together. and i spoke to keith yesterday and he said say hello to everyone. his role and leadership was indisexpensable as we worked closely to rebuild our trust. the work of the unity reform was indispensable. and those who worked for that commission, we provided a forum for everyone to make their voices heard and participate in the rebuilding of our party. and we have passionate discussions, passionate agreements, passionate disagreements and that's what families do. and you know, thanks to work of folks like jim roosevelt and lorraine miller, we were able to translate those from the unity reform commission and to concrete action. super delegate reform, primary and caucus reform and look at those that became primary states and 14 in 16, 7 caucus dates in 2020.

voter participation in those states skyrocketed and that was our goal and we wanted more people to participate, we want today return power to the grass roots. we had an unprecedented number of candidates in the presidential primary process. unprecedented. and everybody came together around our nominee, because we ran a fair, transparent and inclusive primary process. and we always put our values into action. our values of making sure everyone got a fair shake. our values of making sure that when we had debates, we had diverse moderators and this was the most diverse array of debate moderators in the history of our party. and that didn't happen by chance. we insisted on it because we lived our values at every turn. and when our pandemic hit, we reimagined our convention together.

and while it was unconventional convention, it was truly a memorable convention and we will always eat calamari with a different eye as a result of the parade of the states and the great state of rhode island. so, folks, we didn't do this alone. we all worked hand in hand. we had times when we were having a lot of discussions, some disagreement, but we always came together. now, i want to thank every single person involved. we worked hand in hand with all of you, our state party partners, our grass roots brothers and sisters, all of the other lead towers ensure victory. and the results as i said before speak for themselves. this is a remarkable moment. four years ago, we were shut out of governance and it had terrible effects for people. when i left the labor department in 2016 about four years ago, four years and two days ago, someone asked me what are you going to miss most about the labor department.

and that was an easy question. i'm going to miss helping people of scale because i said to them then, you know, when you have the right people in the right places, you can help people of scale. and when the wrong people are in those places, bad things happen to people of scale and that's what we've seen the last four years and because of your great work, we have come such a long way. i'm so proud of joe biden and kamala harris. joe biden is the uniter in chief and he has done so much for so many people during his distinguished career and kamala harris has provided inspiration to every person in america about what we can all accomplish. it was just such an honor to see her there yesterday in this historic moment. women and girls across america are saying, that can be me some day. and i want to say thank you.

we are in a transition period at the dnc and there were so many people on our staff and team who helped out. our officers who are-- many of whom are outgoing officers. some who are sticking around. i want to say thank you. our ceo's past and present. leah daughtry, mary beth cahill, my officer partners, michael blake, maria, bill, chris, ken martin. grace, karen carter peterson, jason ray, keith ellison and of course, my good friend and our incoming chair, jaime harrison. jaime's a rockstar. in order to know jaime you've got to meet his mother. i say this all the time. you can tell a lot about a person if you spend time with a person's mother. jaime's mother taught him well.

jaime is a person of -- you didn't make it to the mountain top, but you put up a great fight and we'll keep fighting. we know we have a lot of work ahead of us and the challenges before our nation, we have a pandemic to battle, a climate crisis to tackle, systemic racism to dismantle and democracy to safeguard for future generation. the time has come for real leadership in the white house and it has arrived. the time has come to put the american people over, and compassion, facts, science, and fights for our nation's most vulnerable. that's what the american people voted for in november and voted in record numbers and that's what we're going to see over the next four years, grace,

dignity, empathy, boldness, accomplishments. under joe biden and kamala harris, the first black and asian-american woman to serve as our nation's vice-president, again, we've already made history, but we've only begun to build our nation back better and i know the dnc will be a critical part of this work and that's why again, i am so excited to be passing the mantle to jaime because i am confident that jaime will take where we are now and bring us to even higher heights. you are a dedicated public servant, jaime, a brilliant leader and an even better person and it's been a privilege to call you a friend and colleague for these past years and it's going to be an honor in a few short minutes to call you mr. chairman for the next four. the democratic party will be stronger because we have joe biden and kamala harris leading us and jaime harrison as our

remarkable chair and i can't wait to see what you accomplish and i'll be there for you. we will have an orderly transition the next few weeks so we make sure we're getting everything right. you know, folks, we know we're going to have hard days ahead. we've got challenges that i've articulated. we know this mid term election cycles when we have the house the senate and the white house, sometimes you run into headwinds, but you know what the best way to offset that is to make sure that we deliver for the american people. deliver results, bring this pandemic to an end. build back better, get people back to work. and address the climate crisis, address the civil rights pandemic, meaningful improve people's lives and i know jaime, and i'll tell you, i don't think you're surprised about what i'm about to say, there will be some tough days and will be some bumpy roads,

but nothing worth fighting for ever comes easy. you'll hit some speed bumps, and you know the motto of the civil rights movements. >> when we fall down we get back up. our nation has fallen down and gotten up big time as of yesterday. so let's make sure we woring together because you know what? yeah, you might get hit every so often with the cheap shots and cheap seats and some days i would advise you, jaime, not to read twitter, but you know how to do this and as long as we stay true to our party's values and help elect more democrats up and down the ballot and we continue to help joe biden and kamala harris, and we communicate our accomplishments to the american people, i think we're going to do great. we're going to continue to win elections and we need to support this president and this

administration. we need to combat this most dangerous level of misinformation and i'm so proud of the infrastructure that we've built, but we know that the other side is going to continue to try to obfuscate, going to continue to misinform and we saw with the insurrection at the capitol, a lot of folks feel they're not only entitled to their own opinions, but their own set of facts. undeniably we have our work cut out for us, but we're far better off than four years ago, thanks to all of you. it's been a remarkable honor to have the privilege of serving as your chair and i know that movements are built by the many, they're not built by the few and i am so proud to have been part of this continuing movement with all of you, and i may not be your chair as of a little while from now, but i will always be part of the family and always be fighting for the values of this party.

>> mr. chairman, i think i've just been informed by staff that we actually have another video to play so if we could cue up that video here. >> oh, certainly. >> thank you for your leadership, thank you so much for your friendship. >> thank you for the many personal sacrifices you have made. >> thank you for your hard work. >> and the democratic party has chose and new national leader. >> dnc tom perez, tom perez. >> tom, thank you for joining us. >> great to be with you. >> and hi, tom. >> hi tom. >> hi chairman, my friend who has given the last four years of his life to serve our country. >> because of tom we translated the people's activism into commitment, votes and victories. >> you think of your accomplishments we've got the house of representatives. >> the senate. and we have the white house back again. >> it's amazing the work that

you have done under the circumstances that we have been in in the past four years. >> but you deserve an immense amount of credit for a remarkable party with our state parties. >> you've known and worked almost every district in the country and know every chair and vice chair by name because of you and the dnc you led michigan was able to stand up a strong field operation year round. >> all of that was possible because of your leadership and your steady hand m making sure that state parties had what we needed to be successful. >> from the first day you hit the helm, you took the ground running. you helped build the most diverse team in dnc history and worked hard to make sure that our party truly represents americans in every state and territory. >> you stepped up at maybe one of the darkest moments in our lifetime in politics for our party, four our country. >> despite the dramatic

lem liitations from covid-19, under chairman perez's leadership our nomination process was smooth and effectively. >> we thought we could and you made sure that we did and we'll be forever grateful in your debt. >> you ran for chair knowing the extraordinary challenges facing you, you rolled up your sleeves. you worked with all of your energy and commit. >> you made constituency engagement the north star of the dnc as you believed every voter has the right to be pursued and have the right to have their vote protected. >> i remember as if it were yesterday you as the secretary of labor and i as a senior senator from ohio flew with joe biden to columbus, ohio to announce the overtime rule which changed the lives of millions of americans and put money in their pockets for the work they did. you have continued that fight for workers in the democratic party in my state and across

the country. >> you're leaving the dnc in a much better place than saw you found it. >> and i want a person note to see such a successful latino dnc chair making us proud. >> i'm especially proud because you're our own maryland's favorite son. >> to my favorite buffalo bill fans and red sox fan, and i can't believe i combined those into one and thank you for being our chairman, my friend and my brother. >> hi, it's me, and i feel so lucky to know you and to love you and to-- >> i'm super proud of all you've done for the country over the last four years and can't wait to see you soon. >> hi, dad. we are so proud of you and we are so glad it's over. we are excited to see what you do next and take a little break. i hope you do.

thank you for being the best dad we could ask for. >> hi, tom, it's me, your favorite sister, your only sister. what many of you may not know is that three weeks after the election in 2016 my daughter suddenly passed away and i called you and you came that night and stayed for the next week with me and my family in boston and all the family came together, but you, you led us and you led me especially doing really, really dark time. it's not just the qualities of a true leader, but a compassionate person, uncle, friend and brother. >> few people know how hard

your job is. i do, and i saw you perform it exquisitely. >> i truly believe that you're the greatest chair the democratic committee has known. >> joe biden will be a great president and you have a big hand in getting him to be president. >> i know it hasn't been an easy road at all, but really, our country and our party is so much better and we're so thankful to you. >> cheers to tom perez for doing the spectacular job. i've made a friend for life. i look forward to helping you in whatever your future endeavors are. >> thank you for a job well done. thank you for laying the foundation upon which we were able to build a successful campaign. >> thank you for the biggest lesson of all, that's considered a strength in our department and democracy working day in day out each and every year to engage the communities. >> thank you, tom. >> i have big shoes to fill because we have one heck of a chairman and that is you.

thank you again for your friendship and for your support, tom. >> thank you, what you've done for our party, to help our glass roots the work you did on the data file. >> thank you, tom for your tireless efforts, your vision, your humor. >> thank you so much for engaging and empowering our dnc members. >> thank you on behalf of all of your dnc colleagues. >> thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve. >> thank you tom. >> thank you for everything shall. >> thank you, tom. >> thank you, tom. >> congratulations, tom perez on four remarkable years as dnc chair. it's no secret when you took over, we had some work to do and that's why he made sure that anytime someone walked into his office they'd see a countdown on the wall that would say days until the weekend. he'd say it to everyone, safe, donors and candidate.

we have 200 days until the weekend. we have 123 days until the weekend. and of course, tom was talking about the time until the next election. and he wanted to keep people focused on the big goal and, man, did it work. under tom's leadership, we took back the house, and the senate, and, yes, the presidency. at the state level we flipped hundreds of state legislative seats, gained eight governorships, and won offices up and down the ballot. we broke five republic super majorities and gained seven democratic ones and somehow i don't think that tom ever got tired of all the winning. heck even as buffalo bills even started winning playoff games. in all seriousness, it's a remarkable record, a testament to the resilience of the son of immigrants who worked on the back after trash truck to pay for college. when tom finished his time as

my labor secretary i said he would go down as one of the best we've ever had and now go down as one of the best chairs our party has ever seen. all of this is possible only because of the tireless dedication at the staff the at the dnc. for everyone logging long hours strategy guising, donors events, calling lists and i simply want to say, thank you, and i hope that millions of americans thank you, too. so, tom, i hope you're proud of your legacy, i hope you're proud of the infrastructure you've built, and now, i hope you can enjoy a nice long weekend. you've earned it. >> thank you. please don't call me this

sunday between 3:00 and 9:00 east coast time because for those of you who don't know, my wife is from wisconsin and my father-in-law is a life long -- was a life long season ticket holders of the packers. he had tickets to the famous ice bowl game which was the famous game of bart stars and the packers won. he didn't go to the game that sunday because he was a staunch catholic and he'd forgotten to go to the vigil mass before. i explained to him that lambeau field is a place of worship and god would have granted a dispensation to him, but we didn't know each other back then so we've dreamed over the last 35 years of having a buffalo bills-green bay packers super bowl and it's never, ever been really close to fruition until this weekend, and so we're going to be doing that this weekend.

i'm really speechless from the nice tributes. so i think i'm just going to stop there and say, keep up the work. i was actually trying to calculate how many days until november of 2022, but my math bills were not quick enough. so, i know you will keep it up. i know i will keep in touch and i hope when we get back in person, i really want to go to the first in-person meeting so that we can catch up in earnest and celebrate, albeit belatedly, our friendships and partnerships. thank you. so i'm looking at our next thing here. one of my last official duties is to announce the results of the election for the next slate

of officers. as you know, our rules require the dnc will meet sometime the first quarter of the year following the election to elect officers for the next term. when we win the general election our tradition is that the dnc meets the day after the inauguration to elect the officers. the rules and bylaws committee led by the incomparable jim roosevelt and the incomparable lorraine miller the rules that govern this, a rules and proposed rules and procedures is the first item on the ballot and members ratified the rules 318 in favor, 15 opposed and 11 ab tang. last thursday the biden-harris transition team announced the enforced slate of officers, led by our friend and our family member, jaime harrison. truly represents the best of our party. these leaders know the importance of building on our party's successes and are

committed to continuing to build party infrastructure in the states and the other advances that we have achieved over the last four years. again, i want to thank all the outgoing officers and i want to say thank you to all the incoming officers. we're replacing one a-team with another a-team. and according to the rules and given the nature of the meeting, dnc members were given a ballots for those qualified and ballots are due by noon and pleased to report the following officers have been elected by a vote 407 in favor and 4 opposed and are ready to serve our great party. our chair, jaime harrison. mayor keisha lance bottom vice chair of, governor gretchen

whitmer vice chair. jason ray secretary. virginia mcgreggor treasurer and chris, a national finance chair and pleased to announce my good trend ken martin reelected to the association of the state democratic chairs at assc meeting earlier today and will rejoin this amazing group of officers as an automatic vice chair and we're glad to have you back, ken and it is my distinct honor now and privilege to turn this meeting over to my friend and our new chairman jaime harrison. mr. chairman, congratulations and you're way overdressing me now and making me look bad, okay? [laughter] >> well, tom, you know my mom is on and she's watching tonight so i needed to make sure that i represented or

otherwise i was going to hear from her. >> good afternoon. >> know that. >> good afternoon, everyone and thank you, chair perez, for that introduction. thank you to president biden and vice-president harris for having the faith and confidence in me to lead our party and serve our nation during these historic and uncertain times. ... i also want to thank my wife, my two beautiful boys, and all of my family who are watching from across the country. i want to thank them for their love and their unwavering support. thank you for always believing in me.

i literally would not be here without all of you. and my friends, in spite of everything with been through in the past year, i am excited here because the day we are embarking upon a new mission, to build back better and bring hope back to this great nation. together, we are working to create opportunity so that more people can tell a story similar to my own. as the son of a single mom in south carolina i didn't grow up with much. he lived with my grandparents and even though they worked hard we relied on food stamps and incumbent assistance to make ends meet. my grandparents had to stop school in fourth grade and eighth grade. after i learned to read i was sit at the kitchen table and help them read their bills each month. the words didn't always make sense to me but their faces had everything. we didn't have the money, but regardless of what we were missing, we always had our

values. my family taught me to work hard and tell the truth, say what you mean and mean what you say. and they showed me there is no greater honor than serving your community in any way you can. i have dedicated my life to those values and they will continue to shine through in my new role at the dnc. now chairman perez, tom, you are a hard act to follow, my friend. this time four years ago we didn't have the white house, we didn't have a house, we didn't have the senate. but under tom, that all changed. from the organizing to every zip code, we rebuild our party from the ground up. and this was not overnight success. it was hard work. it was the result of smart and strategic investment. it was the result, the result of tireless grassroots organizing and engagement, so let me say,,

tom, on behalf of a very proud party, thank you, my friend. thank you. and thank you to all of our outgoing officers, the brilliant dnc staff, and the tens of thousands of volunteers who have been working so long and so hard. thank you to our caucus and our counsel chairs. the party and the country are all standing on your shoulders. we are all a part of a movement that you all started. and we are nowhere near done. i have no intention of letting victory turning to deficiency. because we've seen what happens when we don't invest everywhere. i plan to get to work to lift up the biden-harris administration, build on our progress and strengthen our party. our record, 81 million americans made their voices heard, and cast their votes for joe biden and kamala harris. their message was clear.

they wanted to leadership in the white house, leadership grounded in hope and compassion, not cowardice and hate. leadership that unites not divide. leadership based on science, not falsehoods or conspiracy theories. leadership that sees them, here's them and values them. yesterday we swore in those leaders at the united states capital, and in doing so we ushered in a in a new era s for our nation. and i and i know that joe bd kamala harris will lead an administration that represents and fight for all americans, not just those who voted for them. my friends, there is important work ahead of us as the president and vice president outlined yesterday. this pandemic still rages. our economy struggles and our climate crisis demands bold action. and we as a party will fight to empower workers and protect everyone's right to healthcare.

the dnc will offer complete support to president biden vice president harris, as they take on these challenges. our work begins by guilty on the strategies of chair pai tom price and howard dean, and yes my friend late don fowler. i'm committing to a 50 state and seven tory strategy that takes no voter and no community for granted. we are done looking at the map, going to read while we focus on a few purple areas. we are done with just focusing on our cities while forgetting those living under our roofs. when i look at the map i see an entire country that is at stake. my old boss jim clyburn likes to say we are no more or less than the sum of our experiences. that is true of this country. we are no more or less than the 50 states and seven territories. and in spite of our differences, our total is one big and

beautiful nation looking for leadership, looking for opportunity, looking for hope. my friends, instead of planning just for the next cycle, let's plan for the next ten years. let's continue to invest built and fortify our infrastructure. we know progress doesn't come from the top down pick a come from the bottom up. let's learn from the successes of the organizers like stacey abrams and maintain a constant present in communities, not just leading up to an election. because the democratic party can't just be a political organization. we have to be a community organization addressing the needs of people across this country. let's heed the advice of black brown native organizers on the ground, let's empower them and register voters in every part of the country from cities to rural towns. we are the party of the working people, and we cannot take them for granted. it's on us to win back our

brothers and sisters and the families. it's on us to take action for the people of color who consistently give us their support. it's on us to reach out to rural voters who don't feel heard by our party. it's on us to inspire young people just starting out or place their trust in us. and we will not turn anyone away. just like our president, we would unite rather than divide. if you stand for opportunity, safety and hope for a better future, then you stand with the democratic party. the america 2030 would be built by the diversity youthful democratic bench we will build together. we will find and nurture talent on the local level and that will come by working closely with our state and counterparties. as a former state party chair i have no illusions about the challenges that state parties face each and every day. the success of the dnc, the success of the democratic party depends on the strength of our

state parks. i want to say something directly to every dnc member. being a dnc member will mean more than just sitting through a series of meetings a few times a year. through training and workshop, we will help you shine brighter and speak louder. i will listen to you and support you to be effective leaders back home in your communities. i will always be in your corner. my friend the late john lewis once a democracy is not a state, it is an act. it's not guaranteed. it cannot be taken for granted. and we have to continue working at it to make it work. what happened in the capital two weeks ago was a stark reminder. we suffered an assault of the most important symbol of our democracy. i had the honor and privilege of serving under that dome for nearly a decade. in the evening walking home seeing the don't let up, a beacon of hope, , i was humbledo work in a shrine to the idea of

government of, by, and for the people. for me it was reminder of dr. king's words, that darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. my friends, the future of democracy is under assault. we cannot, we will not let it win. we all have a role to play in protecting our democracy. and i'm grateful to have such an amazing team joining the on this journey, our vice chair mayor bottoms, senator duckworth, congressman, governor witmer, virginia mcgregor, who represent the diversity of our parties grassroots. our returning secretary and are returning finance chair, all of them are dedicated for savvy political mind at all of them are patriots. patriots. you know, that word has been distorted in recent years.

claimed by those who harbor hate for any part of our country that doesn't look, talk, and think like them. those used on the capital, those in congress and the white house who incited the insurrection, they call themselves patriots. but we are not fooled by prejudice dressed up as patriotism. because we know patriotism is that determined by the color of your skin or the country of your origin. it's not defined by the language you speak or the thank you practiced it is not decided by who you love or how you identify. no. the true measure of the patriot is the fundamental american values of opportunity, justice and democracy. it is believing that the american people can come together to achieve great things. it's believing in the endless possibility of this country, a place where a -- can go growo

work in the united states congress, run for the united states senate and serve as the chairman of the democratic national committee. it's about our dedication to building a more perfect future. that's what makes someone a patriot. that's what makes president biden a patriot. that's what makes vice president harris a patriot. and i am proud to join all of you, my fellow patriots, in this fight. and and i can't wait to see we accomplish together. so ladies and gentlemen, i think what we're going to do is turn to the video that we will play next. so please enjoy the video that we will play right now. >> the people of this nation have spoken. >> joseph r biden, jr. is

elected the 46 president of united states. >> you ushered in a new day for america. >> kamala harris is set to be, the first woman and the first person of color to be the vice president. >> we are reminded tonight of those who fought so hard to make this happen. >> joe biden has made history. he is gotten of the most votes of in a presidential election. >> to our campaign staff and volunteers, , poll workers and election officials, and to the american people for turning out in record numbers to make your voices heard. >> i will govern as an american president. let this premiere of the demonization began to end here and now. >> you chose hope and unity, decency, science, and yes, truth. >> we are always looking ahead, i had to an america more just, that creates jobs with dignity and respect. the broadest and most diverse coalition in history.

democrats, republicans, independents, gay, straight, transgender, wife, lynne latina, and especially those moments where the county was at the lowest end, the african-american yesterday stood up. you've always had my back and i will have yours. >> of the road ahead will not be easy but america is ready, and so are jill and i. [cheers and applause] >> -- joe and i. >> -- someone who's become such a dear friend, someone who has inspired so many young people with her emergence as the new vice president of the united states. my friends, please welcome our vice president, the honorable kamala harris.

>> oh, thank you, chairman jaime harrison. it is a good to hear your voice. thank you for your years of leadership and in particular the way you have organized democrats -- [inaudible] i don't know if you're -- digitally did you come from the beginning? i'm going to repeat myself. hello? >> can you hear us? >> i can. >> okay. >> jamie, okay. thank you jaime harrison, chairman for that introduction. i am so excited about your continued role leadership of the democratic party. i have seen what you've done in south carolina, the people of

south carolina know how you been a leader there and we are very fortunate to have you take on this new role. i want to thank tom perez for his steadfast leadership. these have not been -- these up in difficult times by all measures, and yet throughout, tom, you've done the work that is been about taking initiative and being innovative in a way that brought the campaign and the election home here so congratulations to you, tom, for all you work. jaime, congratulations and welcome. thank you for your continued focus on the people and issues that matter most to them, fighting for working people, fighting for all those who have been overlooked or left out, fighting for what we need to do to see the possibilities of our country, and fight to achieve that. so thank you all. i just want to say, like to thank all the officers past and

present, wherever you are, and everywhere that you are. because joe and i, the president and i would not be here without you. you all did the work, and you were not able to knock on doors of this year but you call people and you texted people. you may not have been able to attend rallies in person that you zoomed in and said he may not of been able to travel to wisconsin for our convention but you created the best roll call america has ever seen anywhere anytime. i'll never forget sitting in my sweats watching the roll call while i was in delaware, and it was just, it was so, it was invigorating because you bring so much energy and passion to the work that you do. and, of course, in the end more voters turned out in the 2020 election than ever before. and so i want to thank you all. we've had such great victories and was also had great loss, the

president and i as you know we join together with all of you from around the country to memorialize and to remember those over 400,000 folks who passed away this year from covid, but we also remember that in addition to folks like chairman don fowler who for all of these years, and he's showed up and where all the time,, whether he was carrying a title or not, and so i do want to mention him, and just the point about who we are as a party and the kind of leadership that we have had and continue have in you. so thank you all for all that you have done, and today was our first full day of work for me and the president, and you heard the president state yesterday in his inauguration speech, the covid crisis, the resulting economic crisis, the climate crisis, the racial equity prices, all of these demand

urgent action and 24 hours in the president has already been acting and yesterday we of course extended student loan relief. we rejoin the international climate agreement and reversed the refugee ban. today we are working to change the course of epidemic from a testing and more protections and better public health standards. and, of course, we are also looking of course as we should multitasking looking to the future and that's about our plan to bring high-speed broadband to every corner of the country, which i know something jaime and some others who live in rural america are concerned about. we have plans to take on child poverty and before our criminal justice system and, of course, fix our broken immigration system and so much more. this is what i call american aspiration. i gave a speech about that last night, but american aspiration. because what i see is our ability to understand and see what can be unburdened by what

is been. it's about the determination to do, not just a dream but to do. even in hard times and especially in hard times, and i will tell you yesterday in addition to being inaugurated as your vice president, i then went over to my old stomping grounds at the united states senate to swear in our three new senators, and that was a joy for me. it was my replacement california the first latino to hold position of united states senator from california, , alex padilla. and then of course the victory that you all were such an important part of in georgia, and that was reverend raphael warnock and jon ossoff rick and it was quite a sight for those three incredible leaders to be sworn in at one time as my first official act after being sworn in as vice president. so thank you all. we have a lot to be proud of and a lot more to do, and i look

forward to working with you and, of course, the president looks forward to working with you, and again we both thank you so very much for all you do. so be well, be well and chairman harrison, congratulations again. >> thank you, madam chair vice president. thank you for just inspiring so many of us in speaking for us and fighting for us. we got your back, madame vp. so if you need anything we are right here. we are just a call so thank you again for everything that you are doing and will do for this great nation. >> thank you, thank you. i am pleased to and take care everybody. >> thank you. >> such a great honor to have our vice president be a part of today's meeting. i was also honored when i got the call from president biden to serve, and to serve as chair of

the democratic national committee. and i look forward to working with him and his the team te sure that we are all doing all that we can to support the important work that they are doing to build back better. we are living in unprecedented times and have extraordinary challenges acing our country. i know that we all agree that the biden-harris administration will work tirelessly to unify our nation and tackle the challenges we face. please join me in welcoming president joe biden for an important message to all of our dnc members. >> hi, everyone. thanks, tom perez and the whole team, and congratulations to jaime harrison and the entire slate of vice chairs and officers. folks, from both the broadest and most diverse coalition ever, and we will do it again with a strong dnc working together with state parties, we can truly unite the country. i know we can. despite everything i have never

been more optimistic about the future of america so let's get to work. >> raised to write in a repeat after me. >> i joseph robinette biden, jr. to solace where. >> i do solace where that i will faithfully execute the office of president of the united states. >> that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states. >> against all enemies foreign and domestic. >> that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the same. >> and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> and i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation. >> that i will and safely discharge the duties of the office upon which i'm about to enter. >> so help me god. >> congratulations, mr. president. [cheers and applause] >> today, my whole soul is in

this bringing a together, uniting our people, uniting our nation. >> without unity there is no peace, only bitterness. no progress, only exhausting outrage. this is our historic moment of crisis and challenge. the unity is out forward. >> we will get through this together, together. may this be the story that guides us it's a story that inspires us and the story that we answer the call of history, we make the moment, democracy and hope, truth and justice did not die on our watch but thrived. that america's security liberty at home listed once again as a beacon to the world. may god bless america, and may god protect our troops. thank you, america.

[applause] >> thank you to president biden and vice president harris for joining us today. i don't know about you that after these past four years i am more determined than ever to do all that i can to support this administration, because there's so much we have to do to restore our country. at this time i will recognize -- there's a few announcements for our members. secretary? >> thanks to all our members for joining us today. i want to start by thanking the staff and office of the sector, the entire dnc staff for the work in helping pull off and ask you this meeting today and unprecedented time so thank you tremendously to our staff and

the dnc for the what i look for to getting to work with all of our members. as you heard chair harrison say, we'll put our dnc members to look so will be circling back in short order on we shouldn't get involved and plugging to help us. it's important for this new administration and build back better. with that, mr. chairman, altering the coproduce. >> thank you for all that you do. friends, we have come the end of our agenda. i am so honored to be working with you and look forward to the time when we all can be together in person. i think my bar bill would a little extent to because i owe many of you some drinks. but in the meantime i know that you will join me in the work of supporting a biden-harris administration and building our parties infrastructure to help elect democrats in red, purple and blue states over this country. before we conclude this meeting i i would like to thank the dnc staff our production team, and our sign language interpreters

for all their work in making this meeting happen. i want to thank you all again as well, our dnc vice chairs,, chairs, executive directors, counsel and caucus chairs, , and all of our community leaders and chairs for all that you have done, all the time. i'm looking forward to really rolling up our sleeves and working with you to build back better than nation and our democratic party. since there is no further business, this meeting is adjourned so we can all get back to work. with that, god bless you all take care, and can't wait to see you at our next dnc meeting. >> at 1:00 eastern law professors talk about federal court reform, the brookings institutions host the conversation possible changes to u.s. supreme court as well as federal courts. live coverage on c-span2.

the senate votes to get on confirmation of former fed chairman janet yellen to be the next treasury secretary. the debate begin soon after they gavel in at 3 p.m. eastern with vote scheduled for 5:30 p.m. you can watch online c-span.org or listen on the free c-span radio app. >> here's the timeline for the impeachment trial of former president trump. not that senate leaders chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell have agreed to delay opening argument by couple of weeks. today the house since the article of impeachment to the senate to be read aloud by house impeachment managers charging the president with inciting the january 6 riot at the u.s. capitol. that is scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern. on tuesday senators will be sworn in as jurors and a summons will be issued to former president trump. then both sides will have two weeks to draft legal briefs and prepare opening arguments due to start february 9. you can watch coverage of use

senate and all the steps leading to the impeachment of former president trump starting today at 3 p.m. eastern live on c-span2. biden nominees will be on capitol hill this week for their confirmation hearings. tuesday at 10 a.m. eastern rhode island governor, commerce secretary nominee, testifies before the senate commerce committee, and wednesday at 3 p.m. eastern former white house chief of staff denis mcdonough nominated for secretary of veterans affairs testifies before the senate veterans affairs committee. watch the confirmation hearings live on c-span, on-demand at c-span.org or listen on the c-span radio app. >> you are watching c-span2 your unfiltered view of government. c-span2 wasre