U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) talks to reporters before meeting with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh at the U.S. Capitol on December 1, 2022 in Washington, D.C.

(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WATCH: Bernie Sanders Delivers Speech on 'State of the Working Class'

"Now is the time for Congress—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—to have the courage to take on the lobbyists and powerful special interests," said the incoming Senate HELP Committee chair.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday evening delivered a speech in Washington, D.C. about "the state of the working class" and how to address the urgent and overlapping crises it now faces.

Sanders (I-Vt.) is the incoming chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee—a development that has healthcare industry lobbyists worried, particularly given his support for Medicare for All and recent remarks about corporate greed, union-busting, high prescription drugs prices, and the use of subpoena power.

The speech, delivered from the Capitol Visitor Center, was livestreamed by C-SPAN as well as on Sanders' Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube accounts. Watch:

State of the Working Classwww.youtube.com

"Before we can effectively go forward in terms of economic policy, it's necessary to know where we are at," Sanders said in a statement promoting the event. "And for working families in this country, the situation is not good."

"Now is the time for Congress—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—to have the courage to take on the lobbyists and powerful special interests," he added, "and show the American people that our government can work for them, and not just the 1%."

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