People all across our state and our country, to stay engaged.
This 250-year project of ours is one that is very tenuous.
Every generation of Americans is responsible for keeping it going for another generation.
We are not going to be the ones who drop the baton.
And whatever happens in this election, I want you all to remember, remember who we are.
Don't ever lose sight of it.
Don't ever let anybody tell you that it's not who we are.
And I want to thank you again.
God bless you.
God bless Texas.
And may God continue to bless the greatest country in the history of the world, the United States of America.
Thank you so much.
Democratic Congressman Andy Kim has been elected to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate.
He defeated Republican challenger Curtis Bashaw.
Congressman Kim becomes the first Korean American in the U.S. Senate.
I can't tell you how incredible this is.
I'm having a hard time processing this moment right now.
I'll be honest with you.
There have been only a few moments in my life where I've felt the weight of the moment as I do right now.
Like a gravity generated by the magnitude of the consequence in our country.
It isn't about me.
It is about this moment in America and what we each individually tried to do to meet that moment.
I look out in this room and I can tell you I see so many people from all different moments of my life.
You are here in this room because in one way or another you have touched my life.
You have helped me in ways I may never fully, you have helped me in ways I may never fully be able to express to all of you.
whether i met you in elementary school or on the campaign trail i want to start by saying thank you let's start with my congressional team
For the last six years, we've served the third congressional district and I hope that we have made the people of the third congressional district proud of the work that we've done.
We have a team of incredible public servants of all different ages, everyone working together, many of them here.
And I just have to say how proud I am of that team.
To my campaign team, who carried out our message of change going forward, I know that many of you took risks to join this campaign.
You had people doubt your choice to join this campaign.
You worked long hours and struggled and stressed about the challenges we confronted.
I hope you take pride in this moment.
Whoever says young people don't care about politics haven't met the young people that are the engine, power.
And to our supporters, look what we've accomplished.
Look what we've been able to accomplish.
By most standards of what is possible, this moment right now should not be occurring.
A year ago.
Six years ago, few believed we could show what we could accomplish.
That we showed that politics isn't some exclusive plug just for the well-off and the well-connected.
That we built something that epitomizes the grassroots.
I hope this experience has brought you closer to understanding the essence of our democracy, that you have a deeper understanding of what it means to be a citizen of this great country, and that you feel empowered by that.
You've heard me say this line a lot, and I'll say it again tonight, that I believe that the opposite of democracy is apathy.
And by ascension, I hope that you see our campaign as a means of being the opposite of that helplessness.
I hope this moment is every bit as meaningful for you as it is for me.
I want to say thank you to my family.
My parents and my sister are here, who gave me the grounding in service and purpose that powers me every day.
To my wife, Cammie.
Cammie, look what we've accomplished.
Look what we've done.
For them, right?
I'm just so proud of our family and what we've been able to do, our humble family, be able to take this kind of action.
To my boys, I'm proud of the two of you.
You know, I know that this has been tough.
I know it hasn't been easy.
And I know there have been moments where I haven't always been there for you in the way that I wish I was as a father.
But I hope you're proud of me.
And I hope that when you learn about this moment in America, that you come to understand why I did what I did and why I fight for you.
I chose this hotel for a particular reason.
37 years ago, when I was five years old, my family and I lived out of this hotel for several weeks when we first moved to New Jersey.
My first nights in the state were right here in this hotel.