00:00That's great. It's going to get better and better. You watch. Thank you very much. Delicia.
00:07Thank you so much, Mr. President. It is a complete honor to be here with you today.
00:13Thank you for saving Memphis. My name is Delicia Ballinger, and I'm a lifelong Memphian,
00:20and I'm a mother. And I wanted to speak with you today, not just as a citizen,
00:25but as a mom who's lived through what Memphis has become. I remember a different Memphis.
00:31I remember when the city felt alive, when families didn't have to think twice about safety,
00:37when kids could just go outside and just be kids. We had places to go, things to do,
00:44and a sense of pride about where we come from. But over the years, that Memphis has faded,
00:49and what it was replaced with was fear. Before the Memphis Safe Task Force,
00:56I just didn't hear about crime. I lived it. I watched friends and people that I love lose their
01:02lives to the senseless violence. I've attended funerals that never should have happened.
01:08I've seen families torn apart, mothers grieving, and children growing up without parents,
01:14all because of violence that felt like it would never end. And those moments stay with you.
01:21They change how you see everything.
01:26But nothing's changed anymore than becoming a mother.
01:33Because now, it wasn't just my life that I was worried about. It was my children.
01:41There were days where I wouldn't let them go outside, not because I didn't want them to,
01:45but because I was afraid what would happen if I did. And the fear of stray bullets,
01:51the sounds of gunshots at night, constantly wondering if they were truly safe. And that fear
01:57became real in a way that no mother should ever have to experience.
02:04It's just five years old. I could have lost my son.
02:11There was a drive-by shooting and a random bullet came through my home and it's sitting at very same
02:17space that my son played. And to that day, this bullet hole is still in my wall,
02:24a permanent reminder of how close I came to losing everything.
02:29My family, we are good people. We work hard every day to have everything that we have,
02:37only to have it taken away from us. We've experienced multiple burglaries in our home.
02:43And it wasn't just the material things that were stolen. It was our sense of security, our peace,
02:50our livelihood. And that violence just wasn't inside of our home. It was all around us.
02:56Just only four houses down from where I live, a grandmother and her child was shot.
03:01I remember what sounded like almost 30 gunshots ring out. Yellow tape covered the street.
03:09After that day, those neighbors never returned. Their home now with a for sale sign stands as a reminder
03:18of a fear so deep that they couldn't come back to the place where they almost lost their lives.
03:24And that feeling that fear is something that my family knows all too well.
03:29That is not how families are supposed to live. That is not how children are supposed to grow up.
03:37We've reached out for help. For years, we looked to our local leaders hoping that something,
03:42anything will change. But nothing did. And that was until you, my president, stepped in.
03:51I need you to understand what that meant for families like mine. Because in a matter of weeks,
03:57we felt a difference. Today, I can sit down on my porch and drink tea and peace.
04:03My children can go outside and play in our backyard again. And for the first time in five years,
04:10I don't hear any gunshots in my neighborhood. It's been
04:23It's been almost six months and it's like a whole new world. That silence means everything to me.
04:31It means safety. It means peace. It means that I can breathe again as a mother. What years of waiting
04:40couldn't fix? You did it in just three weeks. And I'll never forget that. My family will never forget
04:49that. And what's even more powerful is that that impact did not stop there. Because of the Memphis Safe
04:55Tax Force, it has sparked continued efforts right here at home, like the Make Memphis Matter movement,
05:00led by the incredible, the most awesome state Senator Brent Taylor, starting in 2023, who is putting his
05:08best foot forward every day to continue the mission to make it a safer Memphis and to hold our SOARS
05:15back
05:15DA accountable at a state level and partnering with amazing Senators Haggerty and Blackburn on the federal
05:23level. And it's because of leadership like that, I believe that Memphis can become that place that I
05:30once remembered. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for seeing communities like mine.
05:37Thank you for taking action. Thank you for putting Americans first, especially right here in Shelby
05:45County in Memphis, because this isn't politics for me. This is my life.
05:52This is my, and this is for my children. In fact, President Trump, my son, my beautiful son is here
05:57today. And he would like to wave and say thank you because now he's free to live a normal childhood.
06:03Braylon, stand up for me, baby.
06:14And because of that change, we finally have a sense of normal again.
06:20Again, from the bottom of my heart, I truly don't have the words to share how much
06:26I appreciate you. Thank you so much, sir. Memphis loves you, President Trump. Thank you.
06:33Thank you very much. Well, I don't know, Delisha. I think we're going to have to give her MVP, right?
06:42MVP, Delisha. That's a great job. Thank you very much.
06:47Thank you, sir. Thank you very much, sir.
