contested. the delegates will think about two things. number one, who can win in the fall? about who can win a nomination, this is about who can defeat hillary clinton. and number two, because of the importance those delegates are going to inherit at that convention, they are also going to ask themselves, who, at the end of the day has the experience and the record and the ability to bring this country together? who can be the best president of the united states. i maintain to you, i will leave cleveland as the nominee. it will happen. thank you new york, i love you. [applause] >> also speaking at the republican fundraiser in new york city on thursday, republican presidential candidate senator ted cruz of texas. new york hold its presidential primaries next tuesday. senator cruz's remarks are about

20 minutes. [applause] sen. cruz: god bless the great state of new york. [applause] i am thrilled to be here with so many friends, so many patriots, so many lovers of liberty. i have nott to you, built any buildings in new york city. but i have spent my entire life fighting to defend the constitution and the bill of rights. [applause] evening at ahis time of crisis for our nation. we are bankrupting our country.

our constitutional rights are under assault each and every day, and america has receded from leadership in the world. i am here today with a word of hope and encouragement. i want to tell you, something incredible is happening all across the country, new york, and this nation. people are waking up. election this next will be about three critical issues. jobs, freedom, and security. let's talk for a minute about jobs. today, we have the lowest percentage of americans working since 1977, people are hurting. median wages have stagnated for over a decade. moms, we have single three part-time jobs, who have had their hours 29 hours aduced to

week, because obamacare kicks in at 30 hours a week. we have truck drivers, steelworkers, plumbers, mechanics, machinists, union members, who are seeing wages stagnate year after year. the cost of living goes up, but their wages don't keep pace. people coming out buried in student loans and scared, what does the future hold for me? will i get a job? what kind of future will i have? the media tells us that this is the new normal, this is as good as it gets. everyone here understands, that is not the case. economy is notr washington, d.c. is hearts of our economy small businesses all across the united states of america.

[applause] and if you want to see the economy take off, it is very simple. you lift the boot of the federal government off from the next of small businesses. [applause] if i am elected president, we will repeal every word of obamacare. [applause] we will pass commonsense help -- health care reform to make insurance personal, affordable, and keep government from getting between us and our doctors. simple, flatass a tax. [applause] it is a tax day. many people in this room will be writing very large checks. usi am elected, every one of

will fill out our taxes on a postcard, and abolishing the irs. [applause] -- abolish the irs. [applause] regulators reign in that have honed in on small businesses, killing jobs across the country. we will stop amnesty, secure the borders, and sanctuary cities, and and welfare benefits for those here illegally. let me tell you what will happen when we do all that. we are going to see millions and millions of high-paying jobs coming back to america, jobs coming back from mexico, china. we will see wages rising again for working men and women. see opportunity growing as young people come out of 5 job with 2, 3, 4, opportunities. that is what this election is

about. bringing back the opportunity that your parents and my parents had in america. the opportunity for anyone to start with nothing and achieve anything. the second critical issue in this election is freedom. just a few weeks ago, with the passing of justice scalia, it of thisred the stakes election. our supreme court is perilously the next 4-4, fourdent may appoint up to justices. if you care about religious liberty, the freedom of all of us, christians, jews, muslims, atheist, and the ability to live our lives how we want without the government getting in the way, this election is critical. if you care about the second amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, this election is

pivotal. if you care about preserving u.s. sovereignty from the international court and international law, and maintain the authority of we the people to decide our laws, this election is pivotal. [applause] and i give you my solemn commitment that every justice i appoint to the supreme court will be a principled constitutionalist who will follow the constitution, and will not legislate from the bench. the third critical issue in this election is security. for seven years, we have seen an administration abandon our friends and allies. weakness and appeasement to our enemy. three years ago i was at this dinner. if i had suggested that this dinner three years ago, that the

elected prime minister of israel would counter the united states and address a joint session of congress, and he would be boycotted by the president of the united states, the vice president of the united states, and every member of the cap -- cabinet, that would have been laughed at. that could not possibly be true, surely we were not living in that environment? and yet, as i sat on the floor of the house of representatives listening to prime minister netanyahu give a speech that was ian, no onechurchill was willing to join us in the house. we have a president who insults and ridicules the prime minister of israel. we have a president that celebrates a nuclear deal with believe poses the single greatest threat to our national security of anything in

the world. [applause] my opponents in this race, all four of them, pledged to maintain that iranian nuclear deal. let me be very clear. as president, on the very first day of office, i will rip to shreds this catastrophic iranian nuclear deal. [applause] and if you feel a sense of despair, can we keep america safe after seven years of retreating from the world? it is worth remembering that foreign policy can perhaps change. this samenuary, 1981, nation, the nation of iran released our hostages the very day ronald reagan was sworn into office. [applause] that is the difference a strong

commander in chief can make, and that is the difference as president i will make, unequivocally clear to iran. their they shut down nuclear program, or we will shut it down for them. [applause] new york city is hallowed ground. of the worste terrorist attack on united states soil. and yet in the 15 years since 9/11, many in washington have forgotten. ,oday, when we see an attack whether in paris, brussels, san , inevitably president obama goes on national television, refuses to say the terrorism,al islamic and instead, lectures the american people on islamophobia.

i want to be clear that come january 2017, our military will no longer be governed by political correctness. [applause] and every against the united states of america, if you seek to murder innocent americans, we are coming to get you. we are not coming to interrogate you. we are not coming to you to read you your rights. we are coming to kill you. [cheers and applause]

we understand that we need a president who stands with our friends and allies and i will , il you this as president will stand unapologetically with the nation of israel. and we understand the need for a commander-in-chief with

clear eyes as to the threat we face and the willingness and ability to rebuild our military and defeat our enemies. but as the men and women in this room know, none of that matters if we can't win. if we cannot win the election, if hillary clinton becomes the next president for four or eight more years, the people of new york know full well what comes from that. and so the question we have to ask collectively is, how do we win? we need a candidate, number one, who could win the primary. in the state of pennsylvania, donald trump is losing pennsylvania and hillary and i are tied for the general election in the state of pennsylvania. and among young people, i would encourage you to look at the fox news poll of three weeks ago. in the last two elections, barack obama won young people 70-30. according to the fox news poll from three weeks ago, i am beating hillary clinton by 14

points among young people. [applause] and it's not complicated math that if the democrats are losing young people by double digits, hillary clinton ain't going to win the general. so i stand with you today with a request that we rise and stand together. it was 1957 that my father fled cuba. he has seen the ravages of oppression. my father was tortured and imprisoned in cuba as a teenager. and when my dad came to america, he had nothing. he had $100 in his underwear and he washed dishes making 50 cents an hour working to pay his way through school to achieve the american dream. when my dad was a -- when i was a kid, my father said to me over and over again, when we faced oppression in cuba, i had a

place to flee to. if we lose our freedom here, where do we go? that is why the men and women gathered here, are here tonight, and if we stand together united, if we stand as one, if we bring together our party behind shared values -- and i would note, jobs, freedom, security, these are not 51% narrow wedge issues. every one of these are 60%, 70%, 80% broad, unifying issues that bring us together. if we stand united we will win the nomination in cleveland. we will win the general election in november. we will defeat hillary clinton and we will turn this country around. thank you and god bless you.

[applause] >> senator ted cruz, a principled conservative and a fighter for our liberties and constitutional rights. let's give him another hand! [applause] >> on sunday c-span's road to the white house coverage continues with a campaign rally in brooklyn, new york for the credit presidential candidate senator bernie sanders of firman. also, hawaiian representative tulsi gabbard, actors danny to veto and the rock band grizzly bear. live coverage at 4 p.m. on c-span.