Two hundred summers ago, this Democratic Party was
founded by the man whose burning pen fired the spirit of the
American Revolution -- who once argued we should overthrow our
own government every 20 years to renew our freedom and keep pace
with a changing world. In 1992, the party Thomas Jefferson
founded invokes his spirit of revolution anew.
Our land reverberates with a battle cry of frustration
that emanates from America's very soul -- from the families in
our bedrock neighborhoods, from the unsung, workaday heroes of
the world's greatest democracy and economy. America is on the
wrong track. The American people are hurting. The American
Dream of expanding opportunity has faded. Middle class families
are working hard, playing by the rules, but still falling behind.
Poverty has exploded. Our people are torn by divisions.
The last 12 years have been a nightmare of Republican
irresponsibility and neglect. America's leadership is
indifferent at home and uncertain in the world. Republican
mismanagement has disarmed government as an instrument to make
our economy work and support the people's most basic values,
needs and hopes. The Republicans brought America a false and
fragile prosperity based on borrowing, not income, and so will
leave behind a mountain of public debt and a backbreaking annual
burden in interest. It is wrong to borrow to spend on ourselves,
leaving our children to pay our debts.
We hear the anguish and the anger of the American
people. We know it is directed not just at the Republican
administrations that have had power, but at government itself.
Their anger is justified. We can no longer afford
business as usual -- neither the policies of the last 12 years of
tax breaks for the rich, mismanagement, lack of leadership and
cuts in services for the middle class and the poor, nor the
adoption of new programs and new spending without new thinking.
It is time to listen to the grassroots of America, time to renew
the spirit of citizen activism that has always been the
touchstone of a free and democratic society.
Therefore we call for a revolution in government -- to
take power away from entrenched bureaucracies and narrow
interests in Washington and put it back in the hands of ordinary
people. We vow to make government more decentralized, more
flexible, and more accountable -- to reform public institutions
and replace public officials who aren't leading with ones who
will.
The Revolution of 1992 is about restoring America's
economic greatness. We need to rebuild America by abandoning the
something-for-nothing ethic of the last decade and putting people
first for a change. Only a thriving economy, a strong
manufacturing base, and growth in creative new enterprise can
generate the resources to meet the nation's pressing human and
social needs. An expanding, entrepreneurial economy of high-
skill, high-wage jobs is the most important family policy, urban
policy, labor policy, minority policy and foreign policy America
can have.
The Revolution of 1992 is about putting government back
on the side of working men and women -- to help those who work
hard, pay their bills, play by the rules, don't lobby for tax
breaks, do their best to give their kids a good education and to
keep them away from drugs, who want a safe neighborhood for their
families, the security of decent, productive jobs for themselves,
and a dignified life for their parents.
The Revolution of 1992 is about a radical change in the
way government operates -- not the Republican proposition that
government has no role, nor the old notion that there's a program
for every problem, but a shift to a more efficient, flexible and
results-oriented government that improves services, expands
choices, and empowers citizens and communities to change our
country from the bottom up. We believe in an activist
government, but it must work in a different, more responsive way.
The Revolution of 1992 is about facing up to tough
choices. There is no relief for America's frustration in the
politics of diversion and evasion, of false choices or of no
choices at all. Instead of everyone in Washington blaming one
another for inaction, we will act decisively -- and ask to be
held accountable if we don't.
Above all the Revolution of 1992 is about restoring the
basic American values that built this country and will always
make it great: personal responsibility, individual liberty,
tolerance, faith, family and hard work. We offer the American
people not only new ideas, a new course, and a new President, but
a return to the enduring principles that set our nation apart:
the promise of opportunity, the strength of community, the
dignity of work, and a decent life for senior citizens.
To make this revolution, we seek a New Covenant to
repair the damaged bond between the American people and their
government, that will expand opportunity, insist upon greater
individual responsibility in return, restore community, and
ensure national security in a profoundly new era.
We welcome the close scrutiny of the American people,
including Americans who may have thought the Democratic Party had
forgotten its way, as well as all who know us as the champions of
those who have been denied a chance. With this platform we take
our case for change to the American people.
I. OPPORTUNITY
Our Party's first priority is opportunity -- broad-
based, non-inflationary economic growth and the opportunity that
flows from it. Democrats in 1992 hold nothing more important for
America than an economy that offers growth and jobs for all.
President Bush, with no interest in domestic policy,
has given America the slowest economic growth, the slowest income
growth, and the slowest jobs growth since the Great Depression.
And the American people know the long Bush recession reflects not
just a business cycle, but a long-term slide, so that even in a
fragile recovery we're sinking. The ballooning Bush deficits
hijacked capital from productive investments. Savings and loan
sharks enriched themselves at their country's expense. The stock
market tripled, but average incomes stalled, and poverty claimed
more of our children.
We reject both the do-nothing government of the last
twelve years and the big government theory that says we can
hamstring business and tax and spend our way to prosperity.
Instead we offer a third way. Just as we have always viewed
working men and women as the bedrock of our economy, we honor
business as a noble endeavor, and vow to create a far better
climate for firms and independent contractors of all sizes that
empower their workers, revolutionize their workplaces, respect
the environment, and serve their communities well.
We believe in free enterprise and the power of market
forces. But economic growth will not come without a national
economic strategy to invest in people. For twelve years our
country has had no economic vision, leadership or strategy. It
is time to put our people and our country first.
Investing In America. The only way to lay the
foundation for renewed American prosperity is to spur both public
and private investment. We must strive to close both the budget
deficit and the investment gap. Our major competitors invest far
more than we do in roads, bridges, and the information networks
and technologies of the future. We will rebuild America by
investing more in transportation, environmental technologies,
defense conversion, and a national information network.
To begin making our economy grow, the President and
Congress should agree that savings from defense must be
reinvested productively at home, including research, education
and training, and other productive investments. This will
sharply increase the meager nine percent of the national budget
now devoted to the future. We will create a "future budget" for
investments that make us richer, to be kept separate from those
parts of the budget that pay for the past and present. For the
private sector, instead of a sweeping capital gains windfall to
the wealthy and those who speculate, we will create an investment
tax credit and a capital gains reduction for patient investors in
emerging technologies and new businesses.
Support for Innovation. We will take back the
advantage now ceded to Japan and Germany, which invest in new
technologies at higher rates than the U.S. and have the growth to
show for it. We will make the R&D tax credit permanent, double
basic research in the key technologies for our future, and create
a civilian research agency to fast-forward their development.
The Deficit. Addressing the deficit requires fair and
shared sacrifice of all Americans for the common good. In 12
Republican years a national debt that took 200 years to
accumulate has been quadrupled. Rising interest on that debt now
swallows one tax dollar in seven. In place of the Republican
supply-side disaster, the Democratic investment, economic
conversion and growth strategy will generate more revenues from a
growing economy. We must also tackle spending, by putting
everything on the table; eliminate nonproductive programs;
achieve defense savings; reform entitlement programs to control
soaring health care costs; cut federal administrative costs by 3
percent annually for four years; limit increases in the "present
budget" to the rate of growth in the average American's paycheck;
apply a strict "pay as you go" rule to new non-investment
spending; and make the rich pay their fair share in taxes. These
choices will be made while protecting senior citizens and without
further victimizing the poor. This deficit reduction effort will
encourage private savings, eliminate the budget deficit over
time, and permit fiscal policies that can restore America's
economic health.
Defense Conversion. Our economy needs both the people
and the funds released from defense at the Cold War's end. We
will help the stalwarts of that struggle -- the men and women who
served in our armed forces and who work in our defense industries
-- make the most of a new era. We will provide early notice of
program changes to give communities, businesses and workers
enough time to plan. We will honor and support our veterans.
Departing military personnel, defense workers, and defense
support personnel will have access to job retraining, continuing
education, placement and relocation assistance, early retirement
benefits for military personnel, and incentives to enter
teaching, law enforcement and other vital civilian fields.
Redirected national laboratories and a new civilian research
agency will put defense scientists, engineers and technicians to
work in critical civilian technologies. Small business defense
firms will have technical assistance and transition grants and
loans to help convert to civilian markets, and defense dependent
communities will have similar aid in planning and implementing
conversion. We will strongly support our civilian space program,
particularly environmental missions.
The Cities. Only a robust economy will revitalize our
cities. It is in all Americans' interest that the cities once
again be places where hard-working families can put down roots
and find good jobs, quality health care, affordable housing, and
decent schools. Democrats will create a new partnership to
rebuild America's cities after 12 years of Republican neglect.
This partnership with the mayors will include consideration of
the seven economic growth initiatives set forth by our nation's
mayors. We will create jobs by investing significant resources
to put people back to work, beginning with a summer jobs
initiative and training programs for inner-city youth. We
support a stronger community development program and targeted
fiscal assistance to cities that need it most. A national public
works investment and infrastructure program will provide jobs and
strengthen our cities, suburbs, rural communities and country.
We will encourage the flow of investment to inner city
development and housing through targeted enterprise zones and
incentives for private and public pension funds to invest in
urban and rural projects. While cracking down on redlining and
housing discrimination, we also support and will enforce a
revitalized Community Reinvestment Act that challenges banks to
lend to entrepreneurs and development projects; a national
network of Community Development Banks to invest in urban and
rural small businesses; and microenterprise lending for poor
people seeking self-employment as an alternative to welfare.
Agriculture and the Rural Community. All Americans,
producers and consumers alike, benefit when our food and fiber
are produced by hundreds of thousands of family farmers receiving
fair prices for their products. The abundance of our nation's
food and fiber system should not be taken for granted. The
revolution that lifted America to the forefront of world
agriculture was achieved through a unique partnership of public
and private interests. The inattention and hostility that has
characterized Republican food, agricultural and rural development
policies of the past twelve years have caused a crisis in rural
America. The cost of Republican farm policy has been staggering
and its total failure is demonstrated by the record number of
rural bankruptcies.
A sufficient and sustainable agricultural economy can
be achieved through fiscally responsible programs. It is time to
reestablish the private/public partnership to ensure that family
farmers get a fair return for their labor and investment, so that
consumers receive safe and nutritious foods, and that needed
investments are made in basic research, education, rural business
development, market development and infrastructure to sustain
rural communities.
Workers' Rights. Our workplaces must be revolutionized
to make them more flexible and productive. We will reform the
job safety laws to empower workers with greater rights and to
hold employers accountable for dangers on the job. We will act
against sexual harassment in the workplace. We will honor the
work ethic -- by expanding the earned income tax credit so no one
with children at home who works full-time is still in poverty; by
fighting on the side of family farmers to ensure they get a fair
price for their hard work; by working to sustain rural
communities; by making work more valuable than welfare; and by
supporting the right of workers to organize and bargain
collectively without fear of intimidation or permanent
replacement during labor disputes.
Lifelong Learning. A competitive American economy
requires the global market's best educated, best trained, most
flexible workforce. It's not enough to spend more on our
schools; we must insist on results. We oppose the Bush
Administration's efforts to bankrupt the public school system --
the bedrock of democracy -- through private school vouchers. To
help children reach school ready to learn, we will expand child
health and nutrition programs and extend Head Start to all
eligible children, and guarantee all children access to quality,
affordable child care. We deplore the savage inequalities among
public schools across the land, and believe every child deserves
an equal chance to a world class education. Reallocating
resources toward this goal must be a priority. We support
education reforms such as site-based decision-making and public
school choice, with strong protections against discrimination.
We support the goal of a 90 percent graduation rate, and programs
to end dropouts. We will invest in educational technology, and
establish world-class standards in math, science and other core
subjects and support effective tests of progress to meet them.
In areas where there are no registered apprenticeship programs,
we will adopt a national apprenticeship-style program to ease the
transition from school to work for non-college bound students so
they can acquire skills that lead to high-wage jobs. In the new
economy, opportunity will depend on lifelong learning. We will
support the goal of literacy for all Americans. We will ask
firms to invest in the training of all workers, not just
corporate management.
A Domestic GI Bill. Over the past twelve years
skyrocketing costs and declining middle class incomes have placed
higher education out of reach for millions of Americans. It is
time to revolutionize the way student loan programs are run. We
will make college affordable to all students who are qualified to
attend, regardless of family income. A Domestic G.I. Bill will
enable all Americans to borrow money for college, so long as they
are willing to pay it back as a percentage of their income over
time or through national service addressing unmet community
needs.
Affordable Health Care. All Americans should have
universal access to quality, affordable health care -- not as a
privilege, but as a right. That requires tough controls on
health costs, which are rising at two to three times the rate of
inflation, terrorizing American families and businesses and
depriving millions of the care they need. We will enact a
uniquely American reform of the health care system to control
costs and make health care affordable; ensure quality and choice
of health care providers; cover all Americans regardless of
preexisting conditions; squeeze out waste, bureaucracy and abuse;
improve primary and preventive care including child immunization
and prevention of diseases like Tuberculosis now becoming rampant
in our cities; provide expanded education on the relationship
between diet and health; expand access to mental health treatment
services; provide a safety net through support of public
hospitals; provide for the full range of reproductive choice --
education, counseling, access to contraceptives, and the right to
a safe, legal abortion; expand medical research; and provide more
long term care, including home health care. We will make ending
the epidemic in breast cancer a major priority, and expand
research on breast, cervical and ovarian cancer, infertility,
reproductive health services and other special health needs of
women. We must be united in declaring war on AIDS and HIV
disease, implement the recommendations of the National Commission
on AIDS and fully fund the Ryan White Care Act; provide targeted
and honest prevention campaigns; combat HIV-related
discrimination; make drug treatment available for all addicts who
seek it; guarantee access to quality care; expand clinical
trials for treatments and vaccines; and speed up the FDA drug
approval process.
Fairness. Growth and equity work in tandem. People
should share in society's common costs according to their ability
to pay. In the last decade, mounting payroll and other taxes
have fallen disproportionately on the middle class. We will
relieve the tax burden on middle class Americans by forcing the
rich to pay their fair share. We will provide long-overdue tax
relief to families with children. To broaden opportunity, we
will support fair lending practices.
Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Development. We
reject the Republican myth that energy efficiency and
environmental protection are enemies of economic growth. We will
make our economy more efficient, by using less energy, reducing
our dependence on foreign oil, and producing less solid and toxic
waste. We will adopt a coordinated transportation policy, with a
strong commitment to mass transit; encourage efficient
alternative-fueled vehicles; increase our reliance on clean
natural gas; promote clean coal technology; invest in R&D on
renewable energy sources; strengthen efforts to prevent air and
water pollution; support incentives for domestic oil and gas
operations; and push for revenue-neutral incentives that reward
conservation, prevent pollution and encourage recycling.
Civil and Equal Rights. We don't have an
American to waste. Democrats will continue to lead the fight to
ensure that no Americans suffer discrimination or deprivation of
rights on the basis of race, gender, language, national origin,
religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, or other
characteristics irrelevant to ability. We support the
ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment; affirmative action;
stronger protection of voting rights for racial and ethnic
minorities, including language access to voting; and continued
resistance to discriminatory English-only pressure groups. We
will reverse the Bush Administration's assault on civil rights
enforcement, and instead work to rebuild and vigorously use
machinery for civil rights enforcement; support comparable
remedies for women; aggressively prosecute hate crimes;
strengthen legal services for the poor; deal with other nations
in such a way that Americans of any origin do not become
scapegoats or victims of foreign policy disputes; provide civil
rights protection for gay men and lesbians and an end to Defense
Department discrimination; respect Native American culture and
our treaty commitments; require the United States Government to
recognize its trustee obligations to the inhabitants of Hawaii
generally, and to Native Hawaiians in particular; and fully
enforce the Americans with Disability Act to enable people with
disabilities to achieve independence and function at their
highest possible level.
Commonwealths and Territories. We recognize the
existing status of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the strong
economic relationship between the people of Puerto Rico and the
United States. We pledge to support the right of the people of
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to choose freely, and in concert
with the U.S. Congress, their relationship with the United
States, either as an enhanced commonwealth, a state or an
independent nation.
We support fair participation for Puerto Rico in
federal programs. We pledge to the people of American Samoa,
Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands just
and fair treatment under federal policies, assisting their
economic and social development. We respect their right and that
of the people of Palau to decide freely their future relationship
with the United States and to be consulted on issues and policies
that directly affect them.
II. RESPONSIBILITY
Sixty years ago, Franklin Roosevelt gave hope to a
nation mired in the Great Depression. While government should
promise every American the opportunity to get ahead, it was the
people's responsibility, he said, to make the most of that
opportunity: "Faith in America demands that we recognize the new
terms of the old social contract. In the strength of great hope
we must all shoulder our common load."
For twelve years, the Republicans have expected too
little of our public institutions and placed too little faith in
our people. We offer a new social contract based neither on
callous, do-nothing Republican neglect, nor on an outdated faith
in programs as the solution to every problem. We favor a third
way beyond the old approaches -- to put government back on the
side of citizens who play by the rules. We believe that by what
it says and how it conducts its business, government must once
again make responsibility an instrument of national purpose. Our
future as a nation depends upon the daily assumption of personal
responsibility by millions of Americans from all walks of life --
for the religious faiths they follow, the ethics they practice,
the values they instill, and the pride they take in their work.
Strengthening The Family. Governments don't raise
children, people do. People who bring children into this world
have a responsibility to care for them and give them values,
motivation and discipline. Children should not have children.
We need a national crackdown on deadbeat parents, an effective
system of child support enforcement nationwide, and a systematic
effort to establish paternity for every child. We must also make
it easier for parents to build strong families through pay
equity. Family and medical leave will ensure that workers don't
have to choose between family and work. We support a family
preservation program to reduce child and spousal abuse by
providing preventive services and foster care to families in
crisis. We favor ensuring quality and affordable child care
opportunities for working parents, and a fair and healthy start
for every child, including essential pre-natal and well baby
care. We support the needs of our senior citizens for productive
and healthy lives, including hunger prevention, income adequacy,
transportation access and abuse prevention.
Welfare Reform. Welfare should be a second chance, not
a way of life. We want to break the cycle of welfare by adhering
to two simple principles: no one who is able to work can stay on
welfare forever, and no one who works should live in poverty. We
will continue to help those who cannot help themselves. We will
offer people on welfare a new social contract. We'll invest in
education and job training, and provide the child care and health
care they need to go to work and achieve long-term self-
sufficiency. We will give them the help they need to make the
transition from welfare to work, and require people who can work
to go to work within two years in available jobs either in the
private sector or in community service to meet unmet needs. This
will restore the covenant that welfare was meant to be: a promise
of temporary help for people who have fallen on hard times.
Choice. Democrats stand behind the right of every
woman to choose, consistent with Roe v. Wade, regardless of
ability to pay, and support a national law to protect that right.
It is a fundamental constitutional liberty that individual
Americans -- not government -- can best take responsibility for
making the most difficult and intensely personal decisions
regarding reproduction. The goal of our nation must be to make
abortion less necessary, not more difficult or more dangerous.
We pledge to support contraceptive research, family planning,
comprehensive family life education, and policies that support
healthy childbearing and enable parents to care most effectively
for their children.
Making Schools Work. Education is a cooperative
enterprise that can only succeed if everyone accepts and
exercises personal responsibility. Students must stay in school
and do their best; parents must get involved in their children's
education; teachers must attain, maintain, and demonstrate
classroom competency; school administrators must enforce
discipline and high standards of educational attainment;
governments must end the inequalities that create educational
ghettos among school districts and provide equal educational
opportunity for all; and ensure that teachers' pay measures up to
their decisive role in children's lives; and the American people
should recognize education as the core of our economy, democracy
and society.
Labor-Management Responsibilities. The private sector
is the engine of our economy and the main source of national
wealth. But it is not enough for those in the private sector
just to make as much money as they can. The most irresponsible
people in all of the 1980s were those at the top of the ladder:
the inside traders, quick buck artists, and S&L kingpins who
looked out for themselves and not for the country. America's
corporate leaders have a responsibility to invest in their
country. CEOs, who pay themselves 100 times what they pay the
average worker, shouldn't get big raises unrelated to
performance. If a company wants to overpay its executives and
underinvest in the future or transfer jobs overseas, it shouldn't
get special treatment and tax breaks from the Treasury. Managers
must work with employees to make the workplace safer, more
satisfying and more efficient.
Workers must also accept added responsibilities in the
new economy. In return for an increased voice and a greater
stake in the success of their enterprises, workers should be
prepared to join in cooperative efforts to increase productivity,
flexibility and quality. Government's neutrality between labor
and management cannot mean neutrality about the collective
bargaining process, which has been purposely crippled by
Republican administrations. Our economic growth depends on
processes, including collective bargaining, that permit labor and
management to work together on their common interests, even as
they work out their conflicts.
Responsibility for the Environment. For ourselves and
future generations, we must protect our environment. We will
protect our old growth forests, preserve critical habitats,
provide a genuine "no net loss" policy on wetlands, reduce our
dependence on toxic chemicals, conserve the critical resources of
soil, water and air, oppose new offshore oil drilling and mineral
exploration and production in our nation's many environmentally
critical areas, and address ocean pollution by reducing oil and
toxic waste spills at sea. We believe America's youth can serve
its country well through a civilian conservation corps. To
protect the public health, we will clean up the environmental
horrors at federal facilities, insist that private polluters
clean up their toxic and hazardous wastes, and vigorously
prosecute environmental criminals. We will oppose Republican
efforts to gut the Clean Air Act in the guise of competitiveness.
We will reduce the volume of solid waste and encourage the use of
recycled materials while discouraging excess packaging. To avoid
the mistakes of the past, we will actively support energy-
efficiency, recycling, and pollution prevention strategies.
Responsible Government. Democrats in 1992 intend to
lead a revolution in government, challenging it to act
responsibly and be accountable, starting with the hardest and
most urgent problems of the deficit and economic growth. Rather
than throw money at obsolete programs, we will eliminate
unnecessary layers of management, cut administrative costs, give
people more choices in the service they get, and empower them to
make those choices. To foster greater responsibility in
government at every level, we support giving greater flexibility
to our cities, counties and states in achieving Federal mandates
and carrying out existing programs.
Responsible Officials. All branches of government must
live by the laws the rest of us obey, determine their pay in an
open manner that builds public trust, and eliminate special
privileges. People in public office need to be accessible to the
people they represent. It's time to reform the campaign finance
system, to get big money out of our politics and let the people
back in. We must limit overall campaign spending and limit the
disproportionate and excessive role of PACs. We need new voter
registration laws that expand the electorate, such as universal
same-day registration, along with full political rights and
protections for public employees and new regulations to ensure
that the airwaves truly help citizens make informed choices among
candidates and policies. And we need fair political
representation for all sectors of our country -- including the
District of Columbia, which deserves and must get statehood
status.
III. RESTORING COMMUNITY
The success of democracy in America depends
substantially on the strength of our community institutions:
families and neighborhoods, public schools, religious
institutions, charitable organizations, civic groups and other
voluntary associations. In these social networks, the values and
character of our citizens are formed, as we learn the habits and
skills of self-government, and acquire an understanding of our
common rights and responsibilities as citizens.
Twelve years of Republican rule have undermined the
spirit of mutual dependence and obligation that binds us
together. Republican leaders have urged Americans to turn
inward, to pursue private interests without regard to public
responsibilities. By playing racial, ethnic and gender-based
politics they have divided us against each other, created an
atmosphere of blame, denial and fear, and undone the hard-fought
battles for equality and fairness.
Our communities form a vital "third sector" that lies
between government and the marketplace. The wisdom, energy and
resources required to solve our problems are not concentrated in
Washington, but can be found throughout our communities,
including America's non-profit sector, which has grown rapidly
over the last decade. Government's best role is to enable people
and communities to solve their own problems.
America's special genius has been to forge a community
of shared values from people of remarkable and diverse
backgrounds. As the party of inclusion, we take special pride in
our country's emergence as the world's largest and most
successful multiethnic, multiracial republic. We condemn
antisemitism, racism, homophobia, bigotry and negative
stereotyping of all kinds. We must help all Americans understand
the diversity of our cultural heritage. But it is also essential
that we preserve and pass on to our children the common elements
that hold this mosaic together as we work to make our country a
land of freedom and opportunity for all.
Both Republican neglect and traditional spending
programs have proven unequal to these challenges. Democrats will
pursue a new course that stresses work, family and individual
responsibility, and that empowers Americans to liberate
themselves from poverty and dependence. We pledge to bolster the
institutions of civil society and place a new emphasis on civic
enterprises that seek solutions to our nation's problems.
Through common, cooperative efforts we can rebuild our
communities and transform our nation.
Combatting Crime and Drugs. Crime is a relentless
danger to our communities. Over the last decade, crime has swept
through our country at an alarming rate. During the 1980s, more
than 200,000 Americans were murdered, four times the number who
died in Vietnam. Violent crimes rose by more than 16 percent
since 1988 and nearly doubled since 1975. In our country today,
a murder is committed every 25 minutes, a rape every six minutes,
a burglary every 10 seconds. The pervasive fear of crime
disfigures our public life and diminishes our freedom.
None suffer more than the poor: an explosive mixture of
blighted prospects, drugs and exotic weaponry has turned many of
our inner city communities into combat zones. As a result, crime
is not only a symptom but also a major cause of the worsening
poverty and demoralization that afflicts inner city communities.
To empower America's communities, Democrats pledge to
restore government as the upholder of basic law and order for
crime-ravaged communities. The simplest and most direct way to
restore order in our cities is to put more police on the streets.
America's police are locked in an unequal struggle with crime:
since 1951 the ratio of police officers to reported crimes has
reversed, from three-to-one to one-to-three. We will create a
Police Corps, in which participants would receive college aid in
return for several years of service after graduation in a state
or local police department. As we shift people and resources
from defense to the civilian economy, we will create new jobs in
law enforcement for those leaving the military.
We will expand drug counselling and treatment for those
who need it, intensify efforts to educate our children at the
earliest ages to the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse, and curb
demand from the street corner to the penthouse suite, so that the
U.S., with five percent of the world's population, no longer
consumes 50 percent of the world's illegal drugs.
Community Policing. Neighborhoods and police should be
partners in the war on crime. Democrats support more community
policing, which uses foot patrols and storefront offices to make
police officers visible fixtures in urban neighborhoods. We will
combat street violence and emphasize building trust and solving
the problems that breed crime.
Firearms. It is time to shut down the weapons bazaars
in our cities. We support a reasonable waiting period to permit
background checks for purchases of handguns, as well as assault
weapons controls to ban the possession, sale, importation and
manufacture of the most deadly assault weapons. We do not
support efforts to restrict weapons used for legitimate hunting
and sporting purposes. We will work for swift and certain
punishment of all people who violate the country's gun laws and
for stronger sentences for criminals who use guns. We will also
seek to shut down the black market for guns and impose severe
penalties on people who sell guns to children.
Pursuing All Crime Aggressively. In contrast to the
Republican policy of leniency toward white collar crime -- which
breeds cynicism in poor communities about the impartiality of our
justice system -- Democrats will redouble efforts to ferret out
and punish those who betray the public trust, rig financial
markets, misuse their depositors' money or swindle their
customers.
Further Initiatives. Democrats also favor innovative
sentencing and punishment options, including community service
and boot camps for first time offenders; tougher penalties for
rapists; victim-impact statements and restitution to ensure that
crime victims will not be lost in the complexities of the
criminal justice system; and initiatives to make our schools
safe, including alternative schools for disruptive children.
Empowering The Poor and Expanding The Middle Class.
We must further the new direction set in the Family Support Act
of 1988, away from subsistence and dependence and toward work,
family and personal initiative and responsibility. We advocate
slower phasing out of Medicaid and other benefits to encourage
work; special savings accounts to help low-income families build
assets; fair lending; an indexed minimum wage; an expanded Job
Corps; and an end to welfare rules that encourage family breakup
and penalize individual initiative, such as the $1,000 limit on
personal savings.
Immigration. Our nation of immigrants has been
invigorated repeatedly as new people, ideas and ways of life have
become part of the American tapestry. Democrats support
immigration policies that promote fairness, non-discrimination
and family reunification, and that reflect our constitutional
freedoms of speech, association and travel.
Housing. Safe, secure housing is essential to the
institutions of community and family. We support homeownership
for working families and will honor that commitment through
policies that encourage affordable mortgage credit. We must also
confront homelessness by renovating, preserving and expanding the
stock of affordable low-income housing. We support tenant
management and ownership, so public housing residents can manage
their own affairs and acquire property worth protecting.
National Service. We will create new opportunities for
citizens to serve each other, their communities and their
country. By mobilizing hundreds of thousands of volunteers,
national service will enhance the role of ordinary citizens in
solving unresolved community problems.
The Arts. We believe in public support for the Arts,
including a National Endowment for the Arts that is free from
political manipulation and firmly rooted in the First Amendment's
freedom of expression guarantee.
IV. PRESERVING OUR NATIONAL SECURITY
During the past four years, we have seen the corrosive
effect of foreign policies that are rooted in the past, divorced
from our values, fearful of change and unable to meet its
challenges. Under President Bush, crises have been managed,
rather than prevented; dictators like Saddam Hussein have been
wooed, rather than deterred; aggression by the Serbian regime
against its neighbors in what was Yugoslavia has been met by
American timidity rather than toughness; human rights abusers
have been rewarded, not challenged; the environment has been
neglected, not protected; and America's competitive edge in the
global economy has been dulled, not honed. It is time for new
American leadership that can meet the challenges of a changing
world.
At the end of World War II, American strength had defeated
tyranny and American ingenuity had overcome the Depression.
Under President Truman, the United States led the world into a
new era, redefining global security with bold approaches to tough
challenges: containing communism with the NATO alliance and in
Korea; building the peace through organizations such as the
United Nations; and advancing global economic security through
new multilateral institutions.
Nearly a half century later, we stand at another pivotal
point in history. The collapse of communism does not mean the
end of danger or threats to our interests. But it does pose an
unprecedented opportunity to make our future more secure and
prosperous. Once again, we must define a compelling vision for
global leadership at the dawn of a new era.
Restructuring Our Military Forces.
We have not seen the end of violence, aggression and the
conflicts that can threaten American interests and our hopes for
a more peaceful world. What the United States needs is not the
Bush Administration's Cold War thinking on a smaller scale, but a
comprehensive restructuring of the American military enterprise
to meet the threats that remain.
Military Strength. America is the world's strongest
military power and we must remain so. A post-Cold War
restructuring of American forces will produce substantial savings
beyond those promised by the Bush Administration, but that
restructuring must be achieved without undermining our ability to
meet future threats to our security. A military structure for
the 1990's and beyond must be built on four pillars: First, a
survivable nuclear force to deter any conceivable threat, as we
reduce our nuclear arsenals through arms control negotiations and
other reciprocal action. Second, conventional forces shifted
toward projecting power wherever our vital national interests are
threatened. This means reducing the size of our forces in
Europe, while meeting our obligations to NATO, and strengthening
our rapid deployment capabilities to deal with new threats to our
security posed by renegade dictators, terrorists, international
drug traffickers, and the local armed conflicts that can threaten
the peace of entire regions. Third, maintenance of the two
qualities that make America's military the best in the world --
the superiority of our military personnel and of our technology.
These qualities are vital to shortening any conflict and saving
American lives. Fourth, intelligence capabilities redirected to
develop far more sophisticated, timely and accurate analyses of
the economic and political conditions that can fuel new
conflicts.
Use Of Force. The United States must be prepared to use
military force decisively when necessary to defend our vital
interests. The burdens of collective security in a new era must
be shared fairly, and we should encourage multilateral
peacekeeping through the United Nations and other international
efforts.
Preventing And Containing Conflict. American policy must be
focused on averting military threats as well as meeting them. To
halt the spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction,
we must lead a renewed international effort to get tough with
companies that peddle nuclear and chemical warfare technologies,
strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency, and enforce
strong sanctions against governments that violate international
restraints. A Comprehensive Test Ban would strengthen our
ability to stop the spread of nuclear weapons to other countries,
which may be our greatest future security threat. We must press
for strong international limits on the dangerous and wasteful
flow of conventional arms to troubled regions. A U.S. troop
presence should be maintained in South Korea as long as North
Korea presents a threat to South Korea.
Restoring America's Economic Leadership.
The United States cannot be strong abroad if it is weak
at home. Restoring America's global economic leadership must
become a central element of our national security policies. The
strength of nations, once defined in military terms, now is
measured also by the skills of their workers, the imagination of
their managers and the power of their technologies.
Either we develop and pursue a national plan for
restoring our economy through a partnership of government, labor
and business, or we slip behind the nations that are competing
with us and growing. At stake are American jobs, our standard of
living and the quality of life for ourselves and our children.
Economic strength -- indeed our national security -- is
grounded on a healthy domestic economy. But we cannot be strong
at home unless we are part of a vibrant and expanding global
economy that recognizes human rights and seeks to improve the
living standards of all the world's people. This is vital to
achieving good quality, high paying jobs for Americans.
Trade. Our government must work to expand trade, while
insisting that the conduct of world trade is fair. It must fight
to uphold American interests -- promoting exports, expanding
trade in agricultural and other products, opening markets in
major product and service sectors with our principal competitors,
and achieving reciprocal access. This should include renewed
authority to use America's trading leverage against the most
serious problems. The U.S. government also must firmly enforce
U.S. laws against unfair trade.
Trade Agreements. Multilateral trade agreements can
advance our economic interests by expanding the global economy.
Whether negotiating the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) or
completing the GATT negotiations, our government must assure that
our legitimate concerns about environmental, health and safety,
and labor standards are included. Those American workers whose
jobs are affected must have the benefit of effective adjustment
assistance.
Promoting Democracy.
Brave men and women -- like the hero who stood in front
of a tank in Beijing and the leader who stood on a tank in Moscow
-- are putting their lives on the line for democracy around the
world. But as the tide of democracy rose in the former Soviet
Union and in China, in the Baltics and South Africa, only
reluctantly did this Administration abandon the status quo and
embrace the fight for freedom.
Support for democracy serves our ideals and our
interests. A more democratic world is a world that is more
peaceful and more stable. An American foreign policy of
engagement for democracy must effectively address:
Emerging Democracies. Helping to lead an international
effort to assist the emerging -- and still fragile -- democracies
in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union build democratic
institutions in free market settings, demilitarize their
societies and integrate their economies into the world trading
system. Unlike the Bush Administration, which waited too long to
recognize the new democratic governments in the Baltic countries
and the nations of the former Soviet Union, we must act
decisively with our European allies to support freedom, diminish
ethnic tensions, and oppose aggression in the former communist
countries, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, which are struggling to
make the transition from communism to democracy. As change
sweeps through the Balkans, the United States must be sensitive
to the concerns of Greece regarding the use of the name
Macedonia. And in the post-Cold War era, our foreign assistance
programs in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and elsewhere
should be targeted at helping democracies rather than tyrants.
Democracy Corps. Promoting democratic institutions by
creating a Democracy Corps to send American volunteers to
countries that seek legal, financial and political expertise to
build democratic institutions, and support groups like the
National Endowment for Democracy, the Asia Foundation, and
others.
China Trade Terms. Conditioning of favorable trade terms
for China on respect for human rights in China and Tibet, greater
market access for U.S. goods, and responsible conduct on weapons
proliferation.
South Africa. Maintenance of state and local sanctions
against South Africa in support of an investment code of conduct,
existing limits on deductibility of taxes paid to South Africa,
and diplomatic pressure until there is an irreversible, full and
fair accommodation with the black majority to create a democratic
government with full rights for all its citizens. We deplore the
continuing violence, especially in Boipatong Township, and are
concerned about the collapse of the negotiations. The U.S.
Government should consider reimposing Federal sanctions. The
Democratic Party supports the creation of a South
African/American Enterprise Fund that will provide a new interim
government with public and private funds to assist in the
development of democracy in South Africa.
Middle East Peace. Support for the peace process now
underway in the Middle East, rooted in the tradition of the Camp
David accords. Direct negotiations between Israel, her Arab
neighbors and Palestinians, with no imposed solutions, are the
only way to achieve enduring security for Israel and full peace
for all parties in the region. The end of the Cold War does not
alter America's deep interest in our longstanding special
relationship with Israel, based on shared values, a mutual
commitment to democracy, and a strategic alliance that benefits
both nations. The United States must act effectively as an
honest broker in the peace process. It must not, as has been the
case with this Administration, encourage one side to believe that
it will deliver unilateral concessions from the other. Jerusalem
is the capital of the state of Israel and should remain an
undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.
Human Rights. Standing everywhere for the rights of
individuals and respect for ethnic minorities against the
repressive acts of governments -- against torture, political
imprisonment, and all attacks on civilized standards of human
freedom. This is a proud tradition of the Democratic Party,
which has stood for freedom in South Africa and continues to
resist oppression in Cuba. Our nation should once again promote
the principle of sanctuary for politically oppressed people
everywhere, be they Haitian refugees, Soviet Jews seeking U.S.
help in their successful absorption into Israeli society, or
Vietnamese fleeing communism. Forcible return of anyone fleeing
political repression is a betrayal of American values.
Human Needs. Support for the struggle against poverty
and disease in the developing world, including the heartbreaking
famine in Africa. We must not replace the East-West conflict
with one between North and South, a growing divide between the
industrialized and developing world. Our development programs
must be reexamined and restructured to assure that their benefits
truly help those most in need to help themselves. At stake are
the lives of millions of human beings who live in hunger,
uprooted from their homes, too often without hope. The United
States should work to establish a specific plan and timetable for
the elimination of world hunger.
Cyprus. A renewed commitment to achieve a Cyprus
settlement pursuant to the United Nations resolutions. This goal
must now be restored to the diplomatic agenda of the United
States.
Northern Ireland. In light of America's historic ties to
the people of Great Britain and Ireland, and consistent with our
country's commitment to peace, democracy and human rights around
the world, a more active United States role in promoting peace
and political dialogue to bring an end to the violence and
achieve a negotiated solution in Northern Ireland.
Preserving The Global Environment.
As the threat of nuclear holocaust recedes, the future
of the earth is challenged by gathering environmental crises. As
governments around the world have sought the path to concerted
action, the Bush Administration -- despite its alleged foreign
policy expertise -- has been more of an obstacle to progress than
a leader for change, practicing isolationism on an issue that
affects us all. Democrats know we must act now to save the
health of the earth, and the health of our children, for
generations to come.
Addressing Global Warming. The United States must
become a leader, not an impediment, in the fight against global
warming. We should join our European allies in agreeing to limit
carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000.
Ozone Depletion. The United States must be a world
leader in finding replacements for CFCs and other ozone depleting
substances.
Biodiversity. We must work actively to protect the
planet's biodiversity and preserve its forests. At the Rio Earth
Summit, the Bush Administration's failure to negotiate a
biodiversity treaty it could sign was an abdication of
international leadership.
Developing Nations. We must fashion imaginative ways of
engaging governments and business in the effort to encourage
developing nations to preserve their environmental heritage.
Population Growth. Explosive population growth must be
controlled by working closely with other industrialized and
developing nations and private organizations to fund greater
family planning efforts.
* * * *
As a nation and as a people, we have entered into a new
era. The Republican President and his advisors are rooted in
Cold War precepts and cannot think or act anew. Through almost a
half century of sacrifice, constancy and strength, the American
people advanced democracy's triumph in the Cold War. Only new
leadership that restores our nation's greatness at home can
successfully draw upon these same strengths of the American
people to lead the world into a new era of peace and freedom.
In recent years we have seen brave people abroad face
down tanks, defy coups, and risk exodus by boat on the high seas
for a chance at freedom and the kind of opportunities we call the
American Dream. It is time for Americans to fight against the
decline of those same opportunities here at home.
Americans know that, in the end, we will all rise or
fall together. To make our society one again, Democrats will
restore America's founding values of family, community and common
purpose.
We believe in the American people. We will challenge
all Americans to give something back to their country. And they
will be enriched in return, for when individuals assume
responsibility, they acquire dignity. When people go to work,
they rediscover a pride that was lost. When absent parents pay
child support, they restore a connection they and their children
need. When students work harder, they discover they can learn as
well as any on earth. When corporate managers put their workers
and long-term success ahead of short-term gain, their companies
do well and so do they. When the leaders we elect assume
responsibility for America's problems, we will do what is right
to move America forward together.
