1992 Democratic Party Platform
(8,636 words, 29 pages)
A New Covenant with the American People
Preamble
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.
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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.
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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.
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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
organizations. 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. Operating
assistance would be continued for as long as necessary.
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.
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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. This is our new covenant with
the American people.