Speaking at the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference in Kansas City, Mo. on Monday, 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said that the most important way to make America “the greatest country the world has ever seen,” is to improve the nation’s education system.
Specifically, Sanders referenced the legislation he introduced to the Senate back in May that would make “public universities in this country tuition free.” The fact that there are too many young people “who want to go to college but can’t because their families can’t afford it,” is “grossly unfair and dumb to the future of this country.”
He added that the education system’s main goal should be to guarantee that “all of our kids are either in school, or getting job training, or have quality jobs.”
Sanders also touched on the need to implement a responsible pathway to citizenship for immigrants that is “achievable for people at the lower end of the economic spectrum.” Immigrants, he said, “are the fabric of America,” and called upon the House of Representatives “to pursue [immigration reform] policies that are humane and sensible and keep families together … not tear them apart.”
Finally, the Senator from Vermont closed by challenging Americans “to think big, not small,” and join him in “being a voice for those who do not have one.”