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HIGH LIGHTS FROM DEMOCRATS PLAN FOR AMERICA: SECURITY: A Strong, Respected America Government has no greater purpose than the security and welfare of its people. Democrats stand ready to meet that responsibility with a plan to protect our people and safeguard our values; to build a stronger, safer America, once more respected throughout the world. We offer a vision grounded in the tough-minded tradition of engagement and leadership that was forged by Wilson and Roosevelt in two World Wars, then championed by Truman and Kennedy during the Cold War. Our overriding goals are to protect our people and our way of life; and to help build a safer, more peaceful, more prosperous, more democratic world. Alone among nations, America was born in pursuit of an idea—that a free people with diverse beliefs could govern themselves in peace. It is an idea that has changed the course of history and transformed the world, bringing hope and freedom to millions. For more than a century, America has spared no effort to defend, encourage, and promote that idea around the world. Over and over, we have done it by exercising American leadership to forge powerful alliances—with longtime allies and reluctant friends, with nations already living in the light of democracy and with peoples struggling to join them. The might of those alliances has been a driving force in the survival and success of freedom—in two World Wars, in the Cold War, in the Gulf War, and in Kosovo. America led instead of going it alone. America extended a hand, not a fist. We respected the world—and the world respected us. Democrats believe that respect is an indispensable mark of our nation’s character— and an indispensable source of our nation’s strength. And it is the indispensable bond of America’s mighty alliances. Unfortunately American leadership in the world and embraced a new—and dangerously ineffective—American disregard for the world
Democrats believe in an America that people all around the world admire and look up to, because they know that we cherish not just our freedom, but theirs. Not just our democracy, but their hope for it. Not just our peace and security, but the world’s. We believe in an America that cherishes freedom, safeguards Americans, forges alliances, and commands respect. And that is the America we are going to build. Today, nation faces three great challenges above all others:
first, to win the global war against terror; second, to stop the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons; and third, to promote democracy, development, and freedom around the world, starting by winning the peace in Iraq.
To meet these challenges, we need a new national security policy guided by four new imperatives: first, America must launch and lead a new era of alliances for the post-9/11 world. Second, we must modernize the world’s most powerful military to meet the new threats.
Third, in addition to our military might, we must deploy all that is in America’s arsenal—our diplomacy, our intelligence system, our economic power, and the appeal of our values and ideas. Fourth and finally, to secure our full independence and freedom, we must free America from its dangerous dependence on Mideast oil.
DEFEATING TERRORISM :
Victory in the war on terror requires a combination of American determination and international cooperation, and not walking alone.
★ A sustained effort to deny terrorists any more recruits by working for peace, promoting democracy, economic growth and development, and improved education, and by conducting effective public diplomacy.
Defending our people.
We will always be prepared to use military force to defeat terrorists before they strike at us.
Improving public diplomacy.
STRENGTHENING OUR MILITARY
Expanding active duty personnel.
Modernizing our military.
Standing up for military families.
Keeping our Promise to American Veterans.
Making better use of the National Guard.
KEEPING WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION OUT OF THE HANDS OF TERRORISTS
Defend America against attack at all costs.
Secure and reduce existing nuclear weapons and material.
End production of new fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Lead international efforts to shut down nuclear programs in North Korea, Iran, and elsewhere.
Enhance international efforts to stop trafficking n nuclear materials.
Make prevention of nuclear terrorism a top national security priority.
PROMOTING DEMOCRACY, DEVELOPMENT, PEACE, AND SECURITY :
Promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law is vital to our long-term security—Americans are safer in a world of democracies. We will restore America’s ability and commitment to act as a credible force for democracy and human rights, starting in Iraq. Torture is unacceptable—we both share the American people’s revulsion at the incidents at Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities. Democrats believe in upholding international standards for the treatment of prisoners advances America’s national security, the security of our troops, and the values of our people.
We can still succeed in promoting stability,democracy, protection of minority and women’s rights, and peace in the region if we construct and follow a realistic path. To accomplish this, America must do the hard work to get the world’s major political powers to join in this mission.
We must share responsibility with those nations that answer our call, and treat them with respect. We must lead—and we must listen.
We should: ★ Make the creation of a stable and secure environment our immediate priority in Iraq in order to lay the foundation for a sustainable democracy,
★ Plan for Iraq’s future by working with our allies to forgive Iraq’s multi-billion dollar debt and by supporting the development of a new Iraqi constitution and the political arrangements needed to protect minority rights.
So many other plans…….
Middle East peace.
We believe that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths. We will: ★ Bring genuine resolve and direct personal involvement to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
★ Work to transform the Palestinian Authority to promote new and responsible leadership, committed to fighting terror and promoting democracy,
★ Support the creation of a democratic Palestinian state dedicated to living in peace and security side by side with the Jewish State of Israel. We believe that the creation of a Palestinian state should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel,
Africa.
We must also work with the United Nations and Africa’s regional organizations to address Africa’s persistent, disproportionate share of the world’s weak, failing states and chronic armed conflicts, and promote sustainable economic development. We support extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which provides a door to a brighter future for many of the continent’s poorest countries. We will also support effective relief efforts when there is a humanitarian crisis—particularly at this moment in Darfur, Sudan, where genocide is underway. And we will continue to promote policies to support democracy, economic reform, and respect for human rights.
Asia. We believe that we must engage with China effectively to secure Chinese adherence to international trade, nonproliferation, and human rights standards. We support Taiwan’s vibrant democracy and robust economy.
We must strengthen the already strong relationship with Japan..
We will actively seek to enhance relations with our historic ally South Korea in order to advance our collaborative efforts on economic and security issues. We will continue to work together with South & North Korea to bring about the complete, irreversible and verifiable end to North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
We must also work with our friends, India and Pakistan, in their efforts to resolve longstanding differences.
Europe.
We are committed to restoring our alliances with European countries and revitalizing the Atlantic partnership. Throughout the 20th century, America’s most trusted and reliable allies were the democracies of Europe; together, the two sides of the Atlantic ensured that democracy and free markets prevailed against all challenges. allies. We look forward to working together with a prosperous and unified Europe in meeting today’s security challenges and expanding the global economy.
We are committed to the resumption of genuinely active, high-level participation in the Northern Ireland peace process. We support giving undocumented workers who have lived and worked here for five years, who pay taxes, and who are successfully screened for security purposes, a path to citizenship. We are also aware of the deportee cases and will take a fresh look at them.
Latin America and the Caribbean.
We will return U.S.-Latin American relations to a place marked by dialogue, consensus, and concerted action to address common concerns.
We are committed to strong and steady support for democratic processes and institutions in our hemisphere, and believe that we should exercise our considerable diplomatic and moral force in support of democratically elected leaders.
Global health. We believe that addressing global health challenges is a humanitarian obligation and a national security imperative. Epidemics can decimate societies and contribute to failed states. We will restore American leadership to the international community’s effort to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We will double U.S. funding to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. We are committed to maximizing the effectiveness of our funds by providing those who need treatment with safe, effective, and affordable generic drugs.
A strong global public health system is essential to effectively combating bio-terror threats. Our global health policy will bring the best of our scientific knowledge, financial resources, management skills, and compassion to the challenge of improving health conditions around the world. And we will restore America’s leadership in global health by rejecting policies driven by ideology instead of science.
Together, we can make our country a safer America, a stronger America, a respected America. We can do it in a way that safeguards all the greatness of America, by protecting our people, securing our homeland, and reinforcing our values—faith and family, duty and service, individual freedom and a common purpose to build one nation under God. We can do it in a way that keeps faith with the best measures of American leadership around the world—the builder of alliances, the defender of freedom, the champion of human rights. We can do it, and we will.
HOMELAND SECURITY
The first responsibility of government is to protect its citizens from harm.
We offer a new strategy for homeland security that addresses five major challenges. Our plan will: ★ Improve our ability to gather, analyze, and share information so we can track terrorists down and stop them before they cause harm,
★ Better secure our airports, seaports, and borders, ★ Harden likely terrorist targets and critical infrastructure, ★ Improve domestic readiness, ★ Protect freedom and justice even as we protect our people and our homeland.
★ Better secure our airports, seaports, and borders, ★ Harden likely terrorist targets and critical infrastructure, ★ Improve domestic readiness, ★ Protect freedom and justice even as we protect our people and our homeland.
Better intelligence.
We will: ★ Create a true Director of National Intelligence with realcontrol over all intelligence personnel and budgets, ★ Transform our intelligence services to ensure that they have sufficient personnel with the skills, languages, training and orientation needed to meet today’s threats, ★ Break down the bureaucratic barriers that prevent vital information-sharing between intelligence agencies and law enforcement at both the national and local levels, including granting security clearances to state and local officials where appropriate.
More secure borders.
Our plan will improve security at our borders, seaports, and airports. We will: ★ Improve the detection equipment in our shipping systems, ★ Ensure that private companies obtain adequate information about items they are shipping, ★ Work with other nations to increase inspections of seaborne cargo, ★ Adopt tighter controls on air cargo, tons of which goes uninspected every day, ★ Replace the unsuccessful airport screening system with a new system that identifies security threats while honoring American values, ★ Work with Canada, Mexico, and Caribbean nations to strengthen border controls, using better technology and more personnel to improve inspections while speeding up commerce.
Hardened targets. We will launch a major effort to harden our critical infrastructure and most vulnerable targets—from chemical and nuclear plants to rails, tunnels and key cyber networks— and better protect them from attack. We will: ★ Better protect nuclear plants and weapons facilities as an urgent priority, ★ Require new security standards at chemical plants, including more guards, better fencing, and use of less dangerous chemicals where possible, ★ Improve railroad and subway security by taking steps such as providing chemical release detectors and tightening security at critical entry points.
Domestic readiness.
Our plan will improve domestic readiness so people on the frontlines have the training and equipment to respond to any attack with all the speed, skill, and strength required.
We will: ★ Provide assistance to police and fire departments to end serious shortages of manpower, training, and equipment, ★ Modernize our emergency warning system to provide localized warnings, treat frontline fighters as partners ,and give families all the information they need, ★ Enlist citizens in homeland security efforts through an expanded AmeriCorps national service program, and a “21st Century Neighborhood Watch” initiative focused on emergency response needs.
We lack adequate supplies, drugs, and vaccines. We will: ★ Put one person in charge of overseeing all bioterrorism programs, budgets, and strategic priorities in order to establish a coordinated, national response strategy, ★ Work with state and local leaders to establish the benchmarks for state and local preparedness required by law and still missing today, ★ Revitalize our public health system to improve monitoring of disease outbreaks, ★ Harness America’s bioscience genius to improve preparedness for a bioterror attack by creating a Medical Arsenal of Democracy dedicated to speeding drug and vaccine development, ★ Strengthen our hospitals and ensure they have emergency plans to address a surge in medical needs under mass casualty and exposure conditions.
Guarding liberty.
We must be on constant guard not to sacrifice the freedom we are fighting to protect. Our government should never round up innocent people only because of their religion or ethnicity, and should always honor our Constitution. We believe in an America where freedom is what we fight for—not what we give up.
★ An Energy Independent America
No strategy for American security is complete without a plan to end America’s dangerous dependence on Mideast oil. We must ensure that our dependence on Mideast oil no longer hampers our ability to act as a strong moral force in the world. Dependence on foreign oil is an economic problem because it gives other countries that do not always share all of our key interests the power to disrupt economic growth in the United States, Europe, and East Asia by manipulating oil prices and supplies. And dependence on oil is an environmental and health problem. Achieving energy independence will improve our ability to protect our values and interests around the world. We invented and built the cars, home energy systems, and power plants of today. And we can invent and build the energy-efficient products and technologies of tomorrow.
Our energy plan will marshal the same concentration of brainpower, willpower, and innovation to create new energy sources and technologies and put us on a path toward energy independence. We will pursue three avenues at once by: ★ Exploring and developing new energy sources, ★ Improving energy efficiency and developing renewable energy technologies, ★ Diversifying existing energy sources and reducing prices.
Exploring and developing new energy sources. To reach that goal, our plan will: ★ Expand the Production Tax Credit for wind and biomass energy to cover the full array of renewable energy sources, ★ Increase Department of Energy research into renewable energy sources and their applications, ★ Create a new public-private partnership to help finance renewable energy research and development in the private sector, ★ Our plan will also expand the use of renewable fuels to power our cars, trucks, and SUVs. We will put 100,000 hydrogen-fueled vehicles on the road by 2010, and 2.5 million by 2020. To meet these goals we will: ★ Increase the use of renewable fuels such as ethanol to5 billion gallons by 2012, ★ Expand federally sponsored research into renewable fuels for automobiles, ★ Create a Hydrogen Institute to unite scientists and researchers in the drive to accelerate hydrogen fuel cell and other advanced fuel technology.
Diversifying and reducing prices for current energy sources.
We must take immediate steps to reduce gasoline prices.
OPPORTUNITY I believe the measure of a strong economy is a growing middle class, where every American has the opportunity to succeed. John Edwards
★ Building a Strong Economy A strong America begins at home. We must restore the broad economic growth that expands and strengthens the middle class and leaves a stronger foundation to build prosperity for all our people in the generations to come.
We offer America a new economic plan that will put jobs first. We believe in progress that brings prosperity for all Americans, not just for those who are already successful. We believe that good jobs will help strengthen. and expand the middle class, the strongest middle class the world has ever known. We believe Americans are the smartest, toughest competitors in the world. And we believe companies can keep jobs in America without sacrificing competitiveness.
CREATING GOOD JOBS The opportunity to build a better future starts with a good job. And our plan is designed to create high paying, high-quality jobs. Our economic strategy begins with an all-out effort to jump start the growth of high-paying jobs. Our plan will fight to protect the jobs of today and create the high-wage jobs of tomorrow.
AMERICAN INVESTMENTS IN RESEARCH AND NEW COMPANIES CREATE JOBS, LAUNCH INDUSTRIES, AND IMPROVE OUR LIVES
Startup capital and early stage loans can turn one entrepreneur’s big idea into a Fortune 500 company.
We will draw on our experience with small businesses to create tax incentives that encourage investment in small businesses.
We need more free trade—but it must be more fair trade also.
We will: ★ Complete a comprehensive review of all existing trade agreements within the first 120 days of our administration, ★ Aggressively pursue the remedies available through the World Trade Organization and under domestic trade laws to stop violations of those agreements and unfairtrade practices,
RESTORING FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY IN WASHINGTON
We must restore responsibility and fiscal discipline to our government, or the debt we pass on to our children will strangle opportunity for the next generation of middleclass Americans.
BUDGET DEFICITS HURT AMERICAN FAMILIES
When the government borrows huge amounts of money it means there is less money available to everyone else, which increases the price of borrowing, and drives interest rates up. Families end up paying more for everything from home mortgages to student loans to car payments. Economists have a simple rule: every one percentage point increase in the government’s budget deficit forces up interest rates by almost half a percentage point. Our plan will cut the budget deficit in half within four years while reversing policies that will explode the deficit down the road if we do not act now.
Specifically, we will: ★ Repeal President Bush’s tax cuts benefiting those earning over $200,000 a year while expandingmiddle-class tax cuts, ★ Bring back “pay-as-you-go” budget rules that require Congress to come up with offsets to pay for newspending or tax cut initiatives, ★ Bring back tough caps on domestic discretionary spending ,reinforced by mandatory across-the-board cuts, if necessary, so that total discretionary spending, outside security and education, grows no faster than inflation, ★ Reduce the number of government contractors by 100,000, ★ Freeze the federal travel budget, ★ Reform student loan programs to eliminate guaranteed, government-provided profits for banks, ★ Enact the Kerry-McCain proposal for a Corporate Subsidy Commission to identify wasteful and economically inefficient corporate welfare items and force Congress to deal with them on a single, up-or-down vote, ★ Eliminate corporate tax loopholes, like the ones Enron used, which enable companies to avoid paying their fair share, ★ Create a constitutionally acceptable line-item veto power,to enable the president to kill pork-barrel projects unless Congress specifically re-enacts them.
STANDING UP FOR THE GREAT AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS: A PLAN TO EASE THE SQUEEZE
Under our plan 98 percent of Americans will pay lower taxes than they would under current law. We will provide new tax cuts to help families meet the key economic challenges of their everyday lives— health care, tuition, and child care. In total, we provide more than twice as much in new middle-class tax cuts than this administration—and every dime is fully paid for without increasing the deficit. Specifically, we will offer: ★ Tax credits to help families afford health care, including tax credits for small businesses, ★ A tax credit to make four years of college affordable to all Americans. Specifically, we will offer a tax credit on $4,000 of tuition for all four years of college, ★ A tax credit to make child care more affordable, cutting taxes by $800 for the typical middle-class family with two children in child care.
Our plan is not just aimed at strengthening families in the middle class; we are deeply committed to helping families join the middle class. Our plan will: ★ Raise the minimum wage to $7.00 an hour by 2007. At this minimum wage a family of four with a full-time worker would no longer be forced to raise their children in poverty, ★ Increase tax credits for child care, an essential ingredient in ensuring the continued success of work-based welfare eform, ★ Defend and strengthen the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), increasing the reward to work for the most hard-pressed families and lifting millions out of poverty, ★ Invest in programs like Youthbuild that educate and prepare disadvantaged young people for jobs, ★ Encourage more women and minorities to pursue degrees in math and science, which lead to high paying jobs, ★ Invest in lifelong learning so that workers of all skill levels can access education and training to move up to better, higher paying jobs, ★ Encourage entrepreneurship in all our communities through initiatives like the New Markets venture capital initiative.
RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE IS A WORKING WOMEN’S ISSUE
Women make up only 48 percent of the overall American workforce, but 61 percent of the people who will get a raise when we increase the minimum wage. Our proposal to increase the minimum wage will especially help working mothers.There are 1.4 million working mothers who will get a direct raise, and another 3 million who could be helped.This will help mothers lift their families out of poverty and put more food on the table. We need to enforce civil rights laws that bar employers from discriminating based on skin color or disability, and we need new protections, like one banning on-the-job discrimination based on sexual orientation. We understand that a strong America today means a strong and growing middle class. We will champion middle-class interests and put middleclass values at the heart of all that we do. We will lift middle-class incomes and cut middle-class taxes.
INVESTING IN TOMORROW’S ECONOMY
Our plan will help America’s innovators and entrepreneurs maintain our edge in tomorrow’s economy through two major avenues. The first is support for basic scientific research. We will: ★ Boost the research budgets at the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Energy, all of which have lost critical research resources during the Bush administration, ★ Support the Advanced Technology Program which helps finance high-potential projects that struggle to obtain private-sector financing, ★ Extend the Research and Development Tax Credit for private R&D efforts, ★ Restore the scientific integrity of federal science review panels, which the Bush administration has often stacked with political appointees, ★ Invest aggressively in biotechnology research, where huge breakthroughs affecting human health, agricultural production, and new industrial projects are already visible on the horizon, ★ Reverse the Bush administration’s ban on federally supported stem cell research which could soon produce cures for a variety of lethal chronic diseases, including diabetes, Parkinson’s Disease, and cancer.
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
Signed by 48 Nobel Laureates, June 21, 2004 Presidential elections present us with choices about our nation’s future.We support John Kerry for president and urge you to join us. The prosperity, health, environment, and security of Americans depend on presidential leadership to sustain our vibrant science and technology; to encourage education at home and attract talented scientists and engineers from abroad; and to nurture a business environment that transforms new knowledge into new opportunities for creating quality jobs and reaching shared goals. ………………….. John Kerry will restore science to its appropriate place in government and bring it back into the White House. He is the clear choice for America’s next president.
★ INVESTING IN BROADBAND IS AN INVESTMENT IN AMERICA’S FUTURE ★ Building a strong economy starts with world-class education and training.
LEE IACOCCA: WHY JOHN KERRY IS BETTER FOR BUSINESS
Lee Iacocca is one of America’s most respected can-do leaders. He made his career responding to a changing world. Lee Iacocca believes John Kerry is the best choice in this election to lead America through the challenges we face ahead.
★ Our plan to build a strong economy is broad and ambitious, but also specific and responsible. It is based on proven strategies, but it is adapted to today’s challenges. All we have to do is return to a path shaped by the enduring values of America: opportunity, responsibility, honesty, fair play, and great rewards for hard work..
That is how we give all our people the chance to succeed. That is how we keep on building the America we believe in. That is how we keep the promise of America.
FAMILY Chapter Three We can build an America with strong, healthy families where quality health care and world-class education are affordable and available to every American. John Kerry
A World-Class Education for All
Family is the center of everyday American life. Our parents are our first protectors, first teachers, first role models, and first friends. We believe that a strong America begins at home with strong families, and that we can help empower parents to build strong families.
We believe in an America that offers the best education to all our children— wherever they live, whatever their background. Period. That means: ★ Every child comes to school ready to learn, ★ Every student is held to high standards, and every school has the resources and responsibility to meet those standards, ★ Every classroom has a great teacher, and every student gets enough personal attention to foster a talent and help with a difficulty, ★ Every teenager expects to graduate from high school with a meaningful diploma, ★ Every qualified young person who wants to go to college can afford it, ★ Every adult who needs additional job training can get it.
Nothing has a bigger impact than a teacher on the quality of a child’s education. We will make an intensive effort to put a great teacher in every classroom, starting with a new bargain: offering teachers more, and asking more in return. Our plan will: ★ Raise teacher pay, especially in the schools and subjects where great teachers are in the shortest supply, ★ Improve mentoring, professional development, and new technology training for teachers, instead of leaving teachers to sink or swim, ★ Create rigorous new tests for new teachers, ★ Provide higher pay for teachers who have extra skills and excel in helping children learn, ★ Ensure fast, fair procedures for improving or removing teachers who do not perform well on the job, while preserving protections from arbitrary dismissal.
We will expand access to college and make it more affordable. The centerpiece of our plan is a college opportunity tax cut for middle-class families and a new bargain with the states.
We will: ★ Offer a College Opportunity Tax Credit on $4,000 of tuition for all four years of college that will dramatically reduce college costs for millions of students, especially those who pay their own way and can least afford college now, ★ Simplify the student aid process, with shorter forms and better information about how to get aid, ★ Offer states $10 billion for higher education, if they will keep tuition increases in line with inflation for the next two years, ★ Offer hundreds of thousands of young people the opportunity to pay for college by serving our country for two years. We will pay for that initiative by reforming our student loan system—making sure that the profits of banks are set by an auction in the marketplace, not by lobbyists in Congress.
PROVIDING OPPORTUNITY THROUGH SERVICE: JOHN KERRY AND YOUTHBUILD
“One of my proudest achievements as a senator is the YouthBuild program.In 1991 I visited a YouthBuild program and was deeply impressed by the young people I met and the impact the program had on their lives.When I wrote the legislation that provided the funding for the national YouthBuild program, I knew that it was a wonderful program that had the potential to help young people, but over the years I have been amazed by how successful the program has been and the difference it has made in the lives of young people. YouthBuild is the only national program that gives young adults the chance to contribute to their community through housing construction and the opportunity to learn basic education toward a diploma, learn skills training toward a decent paying job, develop leadership, find adult mentors and participate in a supportive community. Over the past ten years, 25,000 young people have produced over 10,000 unites of low-income housing. Burntout shells and abandoned buildings have come to life as attractive homes in communities where there’s a critical need for housing. And at the same time that YouthBuild is turning around communities, it is turning around lives. Because what the students are building is not just houses, but a better future for themselves and their families.” —John Kerry
We will work with states to establish a more rigorous high school curriculum—one that prepares students for college or for higher-paying jobs. And we will create a small but strategic College Completion Fund that rewards colleges for graduating more of the students who have the highest risk of dropping out. Nothing is more important to America’s economic success today than our excellence in math and science. We will boost the number of scientists and engineers our colleges and universities produce.
Our plan will: ★ Improve math and science teaching in our high schools, by giving teachers special training and partnering schools with colleges and science-based businesses, ★ Double National Science Foundation scholarships for graduate studies in math, science, and engineering, ★ Create a national campaign to attract women and minorities into math and science studies beginning in middle school, with innovations that include girls-only science and math schools, specialized afterschool programs, summer camps, and innovative ideas championed by leaders like Sally Ride, America’s first female astronaut.
Balancing work and family.
We believe that helping parents balance their work and family obligations is vital to building strong families. We will also help parents afford high-quality child care. High-quality early care and education are critical to success in school, the ability to have good relationships, and healthy development.
We will support faith-based efforts, including providing financial support, in a way that honors our Constitution and civil rights laws, and in a way that values the role of faith in building stronger families and communities.
★ Affordable Health Care for All Americans
We believe not just that a strong America begins at home, but that a strong America begins in the home. And just as government’s first responsibility is the health and safety of its people, parents’ first responsibility is the health and safety of their children.
Skyrocketing health care costs not only hurt our families—they hurt our economy. Small businesses cannot expand because they cannot afford to provide health coverage for their employees. Bigger businesses have trouble competing in the global economy because of the high cost of health care. Raises that workers need and deserve are swallowed by rising insurance premiums.
Families and businesses across the country are struggling to pay for rising health care costs. Our goal is simple: quality, affordable health coverage for all Americans to keep our families healthy, our businesses competitive, and our country strong.
Affordable and accessible health care for all Americans.
It is morally wrong to tolerate an America with so many uninsured and underinsured Americans. We see Working Americans who do not have health insurance every day behind the counter and around the corner. American families, more than others, tend to fall through the cracks of our health care coverage system: ★ Employees who work for small businesses that cannot afford to provide health insurance, ★ Middle-class families whose breadwinners are between jobs, ★ Self-employed Americans, independent contractors, and part-time or temporary workers who cannot get coverage from their employers and cannot afford to buy coverage on their own, ★ People near, but not at, the age where Medicare becomes available, who often cannot get affordable private health insurance. This is even more likely for those who lose their jobs, retire early, or suffer from chronic diseases, such as diabetes.
A health care plan for every child. A strong, healthy nation starts with healthy children. Under our plan, every child in America will have health insurance, and every parent will have a little more peace of mind. Giving all Americans access to the same quality health care offered to Congress.
Too many people who do not have employer-based coverage do not have access to affordable health insurance. In addition to guaranteeing access to the Congressional Health Plan for all Americans, we will provide additional help for those who need the most help:
★ Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 years old often have the hardest time finding an affordable health plan, because they tend to have more expensive health needs. Our plan provides millions of low and moderate income Americans in this age group with a 25 percent tax credit to help pay the cost of their premiums, ★ Americans who are between jobs often cannot afford health insurance, and some of them are not eligible for any plan at all. Our plan helps low and moderate income Americans between jobs by offering them a 75 percent tax credit to help pay for their premiums, ★ Small business employees are far less likely to have health insurance than employees of large business because health insurers tend to charge small businesses higher premiums for the same coverage. We will make health care more affordable for small businesses by offering them a tax credit that covers up to 50 percent of their premium contribution for low- to moderate income employees,
★ Finally, low-to-moderate income individuals whose employers do not provide them with coverage will get a tax credit to help pay the cost of participating in the Congressional Health Plan.
Under our plan, we will make sure that 95 percent of Americans, including all children, have health coverage.
Keeping down spiraling health costs.
At the center of our strategy to address the health care crisis is a plan to control spiraling health care costs. We have a plan to hold down costs, eliminate waste, and promote preventive care, better medicine, and disease management. We have a plan to hold down costs, eliminate waste, and promote preventive care, better medicine, and disease management. This innovative plan will reduce a family’s annual health care premiums by up to $1,000 and help expand employer-based coverage.
To promote an information-age revolution in our health care system, Our plan will: ★ Require private insurers who do business with the federal government—through programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans Administration—to adopt advanced information systems to manage medical records and financial book-keeping, ★ Give health care providers bonuses for streamlining paperwork and using electronic medical record and billing systems, ★ Establish a goal to ensure that all Americans have secure, private medical records by 2008. This will not only cut costs, but eliminate unnecessary tests and drastically reduce medical errors.
We are committed to affordable health care, and we are committed to quality health care. We will not accept one without the other.
★ REDUCING HEALTH CARE COSTS IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS:
★ The next part of our plan to reduce health care costs will improve the quality of care, reduce medical errors, and ensure healthier lives for all Americans by encouraging and rewarding disease management and prevention efforts. To reduce injuries and deaths from inadequate care, our plan would:
★ Provide financial incentives to help providers and purchasers improve quality, including upfront capital investments for enhancing infrastructure in hospitals and other medical facilities, ★ Reward health care organizations and physicians with financial bonuses for investing in modern information systems, ★ Provide economic incentives to encourage the use of computers in prescribing medicine, because this can reduce medication errors by 80 percent or more, ★ Making medical errors transparent by changing the culture and habits in health care so that errors and patient injuries are immediately discovered and disclosed to prevent them from happening again.
Finally, our plan will take steps to curb the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance, which not only raises overall health care costs but also threatens Americans’ choice of providers in the health care system.
our plan to reduce health care costs focuses on applying 21st century efficiency to a system that has gone decades without real reform.
Making prescription drugs affordable.
Our plan for prescription drugs for seniors will: ★ Give Americans access to the discounts available in Canada and other countries by allowing re-importation of safe, FDA-approved prescription drugs, ★ End artificial barriers to the availability of less expensive generic drugs, ★ Require the federal government to negotiate better prices for prescription drugs through programs like Medicare, ★ Demand disclosure of real costs and profits from the pharmacy benefit managers who control drug benefits for more than 200 million Americans under both public and private health plans,
★ Give states incentives to negotiate better drug prices for participants in Medicaid and state employee health plans, ★ Overhaul the new Medicare drug benefit to ensure that seniors are not forced into HMOs.
Protecting seniors’ health care.
We are committed to guaranteeing quality health care for seniors, offering them real options for health coverage, and ensuring that they have access to affordable longterm care. Our plan will: ★ Ensure quality care throughout Medicare in every part of the country, ★ Give seniors a meaningful choice in health plans, and not coerce them into HMOs, ★ Ensure quality nursing home care with adequate inspections, faster reimbursements, and better training for nursing home workers, ★ Oppose efforts to abandon the national commitment to long-term care by cutting Medicaid or forcing states to take over key aspects of the program, ★ Let Medicaid pay for home and community-based care options, ★ Give caregivers involved in long-term care greater access to information, training, respite and counseling services.
Passing a Patients’ Bill of Rights.
We will enact a real Patients’ Bill of Rights to put doctors and nurses back in charge of making medical decisions with their patients—instead of allowing HMO bureaucrats to make medical decisions. Americans deserve the right to choose their own doctor and have access to the specialists they want to see.
We will also protect patients by guaranteeing: ★ A right to see the specialists they need, ★ A right to real emergency protections, ★ A real external appeals process that allows patients to appeal an HMO decision, ★ Whistleblower protections that allow health care workers to report quality problems without fear of retaliation.
Investing in science to battle disease.
Americans deserve access to the best information about illnesses and potential medical therapies and cures. We must look to the future with hope and confidence that advances in medicine will advance our best values. From working toward therapies for AIDS to working toward a cure for cancer, America has always been a land of discovery— of distant horizons and unconquered frontiers.
Helping vulnerable Americans.
Many of us have friends, family, co-workers, or neighbors who struggle with a mental illness. We are committed to ending discrimination against Americans with mental illnesses and ensuring equal treatment for mental illness in our health system.
Our vision is for an America that ensures freedom, independence, and choices for people with disabilities. Part of that vision includes ensuring access to affordable health overage and removing barriers to work.
In order to renew America’s promise to its veterans, we will:
★ Fight for mandatory funding for veterans health care,
★ Streamline the process so that veterans hear in a timely manner about their status and their benefits,
★ End fully and immediately the “disabled veterans tax,” under which military retirees who receive both veterans’ pensions and disability compensation must surrender a dollar from their military retirement pay for every dollar they get for disability ompensation,
★ Support legislation to provide access to TRICARE, the military’s health care system, for all members of the National Guard and Reserves.
Our goal, and our plan, is to make the best medicine the standard for our health care system, and to make the best of our health care system available and affordable for every American.
Conclusion: One America
Together, we will build one America.
One America—where every child has health insurance and the best health care is affordable for every individual.
One America—where all our children go to schools that their parents can be proud of, and that prepare them to build a great life.
One America—where all our people have the chance to prosper together; where the middle class is growing; where incomes are rising because work is honored—not just the wealth it creates; and where opportunity is a birthright that needs only responsibility to redeem.
One America—where all our people can be proud of the role we play in the world, and where people all around the world look to us for inspiration and with respect. With your help, we will build one America—strong at home, respected in the world.
The America we believe in is not a divided nation.
The America we believe in is one great nation—built by people persecuted for their own beliefs; brought to life with a declaration that we are all created equal; and raised up by the courage of citizens in each successive generation determined to make our American Dream come true. That is the America we are meant to be. That is the America we are fighting for. That is the America, with your help, we will build.
Quotations:
“Equal Justice and the Courts” Remarks of Senator John Kerry at the Drake Law School Supreme Court Celebration Des Moines, Iowa March 8, 2003
★I believe that a new army of American patriots stands ready for a new era of service. They only await a call to service that is certain and true. It is time to sound that call again. And that’s why I am running for president. Thank you. John Kerry.
“A Return to Fiscal Responsibility” Remarks of Senator John Kerry at Georgetown University Washington, D.C. April 7, 2004
“Protecting Our Environment for Future Generations” Remarks by Senator John Kerry on Earth Day 2004
Excerpts from “A Contract with America’s Middle Class” Remarks of Senator John Kerry at the American Society of Newspaper Editors
★ “50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education: Let America be America Again” Remarks of Senator John Kerry at the Kansas State Capitol
O’ let my land be a land where liberty Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath But opportunity is real, and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe.
★ “Security and Strength for a New World” Remarks of Senator John Kerry at Pier 62
★ “Strengthening Our Military” Remarks of Senator John Kerry at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum Independence, Missouri June 3, 2004
★ “Creating a New Community of the Americas” Remarks of Senator John Kerry to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials June 26, 2004
★ Excerpts from “Restoring American Leadership” Remarks of Senator John Edwards at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Washington, D.C. October 7, 2002
Excerpts from “Protecting the Homeland” Remarks of Senator John Edwards at the Brookings Institution
Excerpts from “Strategy of Prevention, Not Preemption” Remarks of Senator John Edwards at Des Moines Public Schools Central Campus
★ Excerpts from “Two Americas” Remarks of Senator John Edwards
What we believe—what I believe—is that you should never look down on anybody, that we should lift people up. We don’t believe in tearing people apart. We believe in bringing people together. We believe, I believe, that the family you’re born into and the color of your skin in our America should never control what you are able to do. Join this mpaign. Join this cause to build one America. You and I can do this together. Thank you all very much.
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