Dear President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris,

We write to you as some of the top, diverse organizations mobilizing the youth vote throughout the country. We represent tens of thousands of young people in all 50 states that are working together every day to see change in our communities. We have reached out to you before to urge you to listen to our generation, and today we are asking you once again to work with us to fight for better. 

We are a generation that grew up through crisis, but we have big dreams. We dream of a country where we all have access to health care no matter what, where we don’t have to hide under our desks during school shooter drills, where families aren’t broken apart at the border, where we’re not crushed by student loan debt, where we have clean air, clean water, and a livable future, and where our leaders can expansively hold safety for all of us and vigorously fight for a lasting ceasefire and against Islamophobia and anti-semitism, rather than write blank checks for genocide. 

Going into 2024, you must run on a bold and progressive agenda that invests in our generation and recognizes the need for immediate action to combat the issues of our time. We need you to prove to our generation that you are fighting for us every step of the way. 

We want to acknowledge the leadership your presidency has provided – from the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act to the announcement of the American Climate Corps, to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and the establishment of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, your administration’s attempt to cancel student loan debt, and your solidarity with United Auto Workers on strike and the halting of Liquified Natural Gas projects – we appreciate these efforts.

At the same time, we hope you can understand this is not enough. We need far more. We came of age through a financial crisis and a Donald Trump presidency. In the last two years, we’ve watched as Roe v. Wade was reversed, mass shootings in Uvalde and over 500 other places killed thousands of children and innocent people, student loans continued to crush young people, and the hottest years on record.  We watched as your government waived dozens of environmental laws to enable construction at the border wall, and now we watch in horror as innocent Palestinians are killed by bombs our government funded and provided. Through all this, Black, brown, and Indigenous young people are disproportionately impacted and feeling increasingly uncertain that our government works for our generation. 

With another four years in power, a Democratic administration could achieve so much. But to do so, you will need to unite the party by inspiring young voters to get to the ballots next fall. As some of the most prominent youth organizations in the country, we are offering a clear outline of what we need you to fight for in order for that to happen. 

Young people are key to winning elections. Voters under the age of 29 have made the difference in every election since 2018, breaking for Democrats at higher rates than any other generation. Without the engagement of young people in 2022, there would have been a Red Wave. 

You say you want to ‘finish the job.’  In addition to calling for a lasting ceasefire, we’ve laid out the key policies on the top of young voters’ minds. If you commit to prioritizing these actions, young people will turn out and make ‘finishing the job’ a reality. To invest in America, invest in us.

– Sunrise Movement, Gen-Z for Change, United We Dream Action, and March For Our Lives