discussing policy issues that impact you. coming up this morning, electoral talks about -- elise gould talk about how the pandemic has affected america's workforce and why robust covid-19 financial relief measures are needed. then "washington times" national billity correspondent gertz with the latest. "washington's journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern and join with your phone calls, facebook messages, text messages and tweets. >> president-elect joe biden spoke after the electoral college certified the vote count declaring him the official winner of the white house. mr. biden spoke from willington -- wilmington, delaware, saying

the results were clear and that the american people have spoken. this was about 15 minutes. pres.-elect biden: good evening, my fellow americans. have -- the electors have certified the winning candidates. today, a member of the electoral college representing the certified winner cast their votes for vice president of the united states in an act as old as the nation itself. , the rule of law, our constitution, and the will of the people prevailed.

our democracy pushed, tested, threatened or approved to be resilient. the electoral college vote which occurred today reflects the fact that even in the face of a public health crisis unlike anything we have heard in our lifetimes, the people voted. more americans voted this year than have ever voted in the history of the united states of america. over 155 million americans were determined to have their voices heard and their votes counted. in the start of this pandemic, this crisis, many were wondering how many americans would vote, but those fears proved to be unfounded. we saw something that few predicted or even thought possible, the biggest voter turnout in the history of the united states of america. this election now ranks as the

clearest demonstration of the true will of the american people. more than 81 million of those votes were cast. any person has received in the history of america. , vice president-elect harris and i earned 306 electoral votes, well exceeding the 270 votes needed to secure victory. 306 electoral votes is the same number of electoral votes that donald trump and vice president pence received in 2016. at the time, president trump called the electoral college tally a landslide.

by his own standards, these numbers represent a clear victory then and i respectively suggest they do so now. if anyone didn't know before, they know now, what beats deep in the hearts of american people is this, democracy, the right to be heard, to have your vote counted, to choose leaders of this nation, to govern ourselves. in america, politicians don't take power. people grant power to them. the flame of democracy was lit in this nation a long time ago. we now know nothing, not even a pandemic or an abuse of power can extinguish that flame. and as the people kept it aflame, so did courageous state and local officials and election workers. american democracy works because america makes it work at a local level. one of the extraordinary things

we saw this year was that everyday americans, our friends and neighbors, democrats, republicans, independents, demonstrated absolute courage. they showed a deep and unwavering faith in and a commitment to the law. they did their duty in the face of a pandemic. and they could not and would not give credence to what they knew was not true. they knew this election was overseen. it was overseen by them. it was honest, free, and fair. they saw with their own eyes and they wouldn't be bullied into saying anything different. it was truly remarkable because so many of these patriotic americans were subject to so much enormous political pressure, verbal abuse, even threats of physical violence.

we all wish that our fellow americans in these positions will always show such commitment to free and fair elections. it is my sincere hope we never again see anyone subjected to the kind of threats and abuse we saw in this election. simply unconscionable. we owe these public servants a debt of gratitude. they didn't seek the spotlight. our democracy survived because of them. which is proof once more that it is everyday americans, infused with honor, character, and decency, driving the heart of this nation. in this election, their integrity was matched by the strength, independence, and the integrity of our judicial system. in america, when questions are raised about the legitimacy of an election, those questions are resolved through legal processes. that is what happened here. the trump campaign brought dozens and dozens of legal challenges to contest the

result. they were heard again and again. and each of the times they were heard, they were found to be without merit. time and again, president trump's lawyers present arguments to state officials, state legislatures, state and federal courts, and ultimately to the united states supreme court, twice. they are heard by more than 80 judges across this country and in every case, no cause or evidence was found to reverse or question or dispute the results. a few states went for recounts. all the counts were confirmed. the results in georgia were counted three times. didn't change the outcome. the recount conducted in wisconsin actually saw our margin grow. the margin we had in michigan was 14 times the margin president won that state by four years ago. our margin in pennsylvania was

nearly twice the size of the trump margin four years ago. and yet none of this has stopped baseless claims about the legitimacy of the results. even more stunning, 17 republican attorneys general and 126 republican members of the congress actually signed on to a lawsuit filed by the state of texas. that lawsuit asked the united states supreme court to reject the certified vote counts in georgia, michigan, pennsylvania, and wisconsin. this legal maneuver was an effort by elected officials to try to get the supreme court to wipe out the votes of more than 20 million americans in other states. and to hand the presidency to a candidate who lost the electoral college, lost the popular vote, and lost each and every one of the states whose votes they were trying to reverse.

it is a position so extreme, we've never seen it before. a position that refused to respect the will of the people, refused to respect the rule of constitution. law, and refused to honor our constitution. thankfully, a unanimous supreme court immediately and completely rejected this effort. the court sent a clear signal to president trump that they would be no part of an unprecedented assault on our democracy. every single avenue was made available for president trump to contest the results. he took full advantage of each and every one of those. president trump was denied no course of action he wanted to take. he took his case to republican governors, a republican secretary of state, republican state legislatures, republican appointed judges at every level.

and in a case decided after the supreme court's rejection, a judge appointed by president trump wrote, this court has allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case and he has lost on the merits. end of quote. even president's own cybersecurity chief, overseeing our elections, said it was the most secure election in american history. and summarily was let go. let me say it again. his own cybersecurity chief overseeing this election said it was the most secure in american history. respecting the will of the people is at the heart of our democracy. even when we find those results hard to accept. but that is the obligation of those who take a sworn duty to uphold the constitution. four years ago when i was a sitting vice president, it was

my responsibility to announce the tally of the electoral college votes in a joint session of congress that voted to elect donald trump. i did my job. and i'm pleased but not surprised by the number of my former republican colleagues in the senate who have acknowledged the results of the electoral college. i thank them and i'm convinced we can work together for the good of the nation on many subjects. that is the duty owed to the people, to our constitution, to our history. in this battle for the soul of america, democracy prevailed. we the people voted. faith in our institutions held. the integrity of our elections remains intact. now it is time to turn the page, to unite, to heal. as i said in this campaign, i will be president for all americans. i will work just as hard for

those of you who didn't vote for me as i will for those who did. there is urgent work in front of us. getting this pandemic under control and getting the nation vaccinated against this virus, delivering immediate economic help so badly needed by so many americans who are hurting today, and building our economy back better than it ever was. in doing so, we need to work together, to give each other a chance to lower the temperature, and most of all, to stand in solidarity as fellow americans, to see each other, our pain, our struggles, our hopes and our dreams. we are a great nation. we are good people. we come from different places, whole different beliefs, but we share in common a love for this country, a belief in its limitless possibilities.

for we, the united states of america, have always set the example to the world for a peaceful transition of power. we'll do so again. i know the task before us won't be easy. it is tempered by the pain so many of us are feeling today. our nation passed a grim milestone. 300,000 deaths due to this virus. my heart goes out to each of you in this dark winter of the pandemic. about to spend the holidays and the new year with a black hole in your heart, without the ones you loved at your side. my heart goes out to all of you who have fallen on hard times through no fault of your own, unable to sleep at night, staring at the ceiling, weighed down by the worry of what tomorrow will bring for you and for your family. but we've faced difficult times

before in our history. i know we will get through this one together. that is how we get through it together. as we start the hard work to be done, may this moment give us the strength to rebuild this house of ours upon a rock that can never be washed away. as in the prayer of st. francis, for where there is discord, union. where there is doubt, faith. where there is darkness, light. this is who we are as a nation. this is the america we love. and that is the america we are going to be. so thank you all. may god bless you and may god protect our troops and all of those who stand watch over our democracy. thank you. >> [inaudible]

pres.-elect biden: thanks for the congratulations. appreciate it. >> stay with c-span for our continuing coverage of the transition of power as president-elect joe biden moves closer to the presidency. with the electoral college votes cast from states across the country, join us on january 6 live at 1:00 p.m. eastern for the joint session to count the votes and declare the winner, then friday at noon on january 20, the inauguration of the 46th president of the united states. 7:00coverage begins at p.m. -- 7:00 a.m. eastern. >> coming