Castro Campaign Press Release - Julián Castro Delivers Opening Statement at Detroit Debate

"We're not going back where we came from. We're going to go forward."

SAN ANTONIO, TX (July 31, 2019) – Tonight, at the CNN Democratic debate in Detroit, Michigan, presidential candidate, former Obama Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, Julián Castro delivered his opening statement citing the importance of public service, the everyday struggles American families fight to overcome and his plan to move our country forward and make it better than ever before.

Secretary Castro's opening statement can be found below:

Good evening.

You know, just a few days ago we were reminded and inspired by our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico, that public service is not fundamentally about any of us. It's about you and your family.

I want you to know that if I'm elected president that I will work hard every single day, so that you and your family can have good health care, when you need it; so that your children and grandchildren can get a good education; so that they can reach their dreams. And that you can have good job opportunities, whether you live here in a big city like Detroit, or a small town in our country. I know we have a wonderful special nation, but that too many people are struggling, and I know what that's like too. I grew up with a single mom in a poor neighborhood.

But like many of you, I don't want to make America, anything. again, I don't want us to go backward, we're not going back to the past. We're not going back where we came from. We're going to move forward. We're going to make America better than it's ever been in the years to come. Let's do that together.