December 5, 2021
Albany, NY

Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Delivers Remarks at Grace Baptist Church Virtual Service

Earlier this morning, Governor Kathy Hochul delivered remarks at the Grace Baptist Church virtual service.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks are available below:

I'm privileged to join you once again, and all the friends and family we have a Grace Baptist, an institution that has been there since almost the beginning of time, when some brave, courageous women stood up and said "We need a chance to be able to worship together." So I appreciate an institution that understands the power of women, through the power of women of color, when they stand together, and fight great things happen. So thank you for your leadership. I just saw you recently at a very important event that we're dealing with our Congressman, and our great mayor was there and Congressman Bowman, our mayor was there, as well as many elected officials, right in Mount Vernon, literally 10 days ago, to talk about the crisis of gun violence and how we're losing too many of our children, our sons, particularly in communities of color that have been hit so hard. So I want you to know that is continuing to be one of my high priorities.

But to be able to be here, to join all of you, and many of you have finally been able to come back in person, which is a beautiful thing. I praise God for that experience that you're having communally together, but also those who continue to watch these important messages, and also here's a word that we all need to energize our souls as we go forth, those of you who are watching virtually as well, I will not take a lot of time, I suspect many of you did not join today to say, "I can't wait to hear what the governor or the politicians have to say," you want to hear the word of God, and I understand that.

Let me just make a couple observations in some points about what we're dealing with right now, and that is, we have been through not just a healthcare crisis, but a crisis of faith, because so many people lost loved ones, and grandparents and family members. And sometimes even children. They've lost their jobs in many cases, they lost their small businesses where they put their heart and soul into it. Sometimes they even lost their homes. And a lot of them lost their faith. And that is something where the human condition is sometimes so fragile that it doesn't take that much to put us over, we have an increase in domestic violence, an increase in suicide, an increase in drug overdose. And I understand this whole cycle here, that we have been dealing with, people are saying, "When is it going to be over? We've had enough doing what you're supposed to do. Please deliver us from this." And I as your governor hear that pain and anxiety, and I'm going to continue working with our faith leaders and Dr. Reverend Richardson. You have been extraordinary in terms of what you did with our vaccine hub to make sure that we use all the levers that are out in the community, all the places of influence all the thought leaders, all the trusted ones. And when you talk about trusted ones, we're not talking about the elected officials.

We're talking about the clergy; people trust the people who give them the word of God every week and nurse their hearts and souls and are there in their greatest time of need. So, I'm going to ask one more time. Yes, we need to continue getting vaccinated. Of course we do, you understand this. We wouldn't be in-person if you weren't vaccinated. But we have more people who need to get the booster shot.

We just had that allowed by the federal government a couple of weeks ago. And let me tell you why, that booster could save your life. I just had to make the announcement that that new variant Omicron is now in the state of New York. It spreads quickly, started in South Africa a short time ago.

It's already taking over the country. Now I'm not saying that everybody's going to end up in the hospital. The good news is if you're vaccinated and have that booster shot, that's that extra layer of protection around you to help you fight this off. Especially as we head into the blessed Christmas season, we want to finally be together so many were isolating along the last year.

We want to have that human connection as we celebrate the birth of Christ. So that's my message to you. Continue to do what you've been doing, you've been so smart. And I thank you for that but talk to other people about the ones who are still reluctant, saying we can get through this together. This is the path that God has put us on by giving us not just hope, but opportunities and smart scientists and doctors and people who can make this all happen.

So that is my commitment to all of you. To continue protecting not just your health, but also you as human beings, protect people to make sure that they don't give up hope, that they have the faith to get up every day and praise God for giving them that moment of life that we cherish every day. So, thank you very much, Grace Baptist.

I look forward to visiting Grace soon in person but want to make sure you had that message about, please get the boosters, get the children vaccinated, and that's how we'll get through this together. God bless all of you and have a blessed holiday season. Merry Christmas to all of you.

Thank you.

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